K~ English Reformed.1(.)1Church Amsterdam

ANNUAL REPORTSTo be presented at the

Annual General Meeting

Place: ChurchAddress: Begijnhof48Date: Sunday 17th March 2013Time: After morning worship

1 Minutes of the 2012 Annual General Meeting2 Reports

i. Ministero ii. Scribaiii. Youth Workeriv. Property Convenerv. Treasurer

Minutes of the ERe Annual General Meeting, 2012

Held in the English Reformed Church on Sunday March 25.,2012

1. OpeningThe Reverend John Cowie opened the meeting with prayer at12:15.

2. Minutes of the AGMApril 3, 2011The minutes were approved and seconded by two members of the ERe.Minister's report 9This AGMwas the Rev. Cowie's 23rd. Eight people present at this rmeeting had also attended the Reverend's first AGM. Nine of thetoday's attendees had been in the congregation less than five years.

On the previous Sunday the annual survey was carried out, showing thatthe average age of the people that Sunday was 43, coming from 40countries.

The Reverend Cowie expressed his gratitude to the church for beingable to employ Julia five years ago, followed by Michael. We are amature congregation, growing in faith and understanding. It takesmaturity from young and old. It takes time to talk and listen to oneanother.

It takes maturity to worship alongside people from differentnationalities and Christian upbringings. Sharing time and food togetheris important as well.

Thank you to Consistory, present and past, for executing carefulmanagement along with enthusiasm.

And a big thank you to everyone involved in all the different areas inthe church.

Gillian Cowie spoke about the visit to Mulanje that she and theReverend made along with Astrid and Thorsten König. She focused onthe schools around Mulanje Mission, being an experienced educatorherself.

A school is formed by teachers, pupils, a building and equipment. Thesituation of the Primary School was worrying. The head master had beensuspended, the building could qualify as derelict, the quality of theteachers was doubtful and they were not up to the task to get theschool ready for a new year.

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The Secondary school was more hopeful. It was doing well, withteachers taking ownership of the tasks at hand.

When you do not have a lot; it is how you value the little you have thatcounts. We have to pray for everyone involved.

Rev. Cowie referred to other details from the written report and dosednoting that Michael and Laura,Mair will leave for Scotland at the end ofJune. We were looking for replacement and for a structural way offunding the position of an associate minister and have to ask the help ofthe congregation in doing so.

4. Student Associate Minister's report

~ During the second year Of,Michael Mair's stay with the ERChe had to travel~ 'back and forth to Scotland to meet with other other candidates more

regularly.

Michaef noted the following events of the last period:

the second European Youth Presbytery in Brussels last February.

• the reception of the 20·30's group with the Moderator

the Burns supper

Michael and his wife Laura felt at home here.

He expressed his thanks to the Rev. John Cowie for sharing responsibility andshowing him the ropes. And thanks to Consistory and the Congregation.

Laura described her experiences in Amsterdam. The first year she hadworked as a nanny, now she was doing a Master's degree in Leiden.

Staying in Amsterdam had been very special as she felt valued as anindividual, not as 'the wife of'. The period in Amsterdam also markedgrowth in their marriage, since they'd spent two thirds of it in Amsterdam."We are going away with lifelong friends

(""" 5. The Treasurer's report

The financial report for 2011 was presented by Jolmer Gerritse as hestepped down as Treasurer at the end of last year, completing a full term of12 years.

The year ended with a surplus. The income had decreased by about 10%, butso have the expenses by 11%in comparison to 2010, the latter due to adecrease in maintenance after the completion of the renovation of thechurch.

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A maintenance plan for the coming years has been put together, whichinvolves costs of about € 100.000 for five years.

The ERCcollected and donated' about € 30.000 to charities.

The Associate Minister's fund needs attention, after receiving donations in2010, we are faced with a budget deficit.

The Consolidated Annual accounts show that the Friends has € 180.000 inassets.There is still silence from the Gemeente regarding the Church Hall.

All in all we can conclude that the financial situation of the ERCis fairlysolid.Thorsten König has taken over the position of Treasurer. Jolmer willcontinue his work in the ERCas Treasurer of the Friends Fund.

Sb. The Audit Committee

The Rev. Cowie asked the Audit Committee, Carla Bergsma-Griffioen andHenk Keizer, for their evaluation of the financial reports.

The committee again had an easy job: the reports were transparent, thefinancial situation of the church healthy and compliments were given toJolmer Gerritse.

The Audit Committee was confident that the accounts give a clear andaccurate picture of the financial state of the ERe.

The Audit Committee would like to advise Consistory on two matters:

build up a Maintenance Fund

give attention and priority to fire protection in the church.

The Rev. Cowie expressed his appreciation for the work Carla Bergsma andHenk Keizer had put in the committee.

Carla and Henk will act as the Audit Committee for one more year, next year IHenk's seat will come up for replacement.

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6. The Property Convener's report

Thijs Polstra started by stating that again we were waiting for subsidies tobe granted.Last year was a relatively quiet year. Work was carried out on theplasterwork in the church after some leakage, lots of repairs had to be donein the Church Hall which is in much need of renovation and there is someoutstanding work in the Manse.

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This was Thijs' last report to the AGM as Property Convener. Thijs joinedConsistory in 1992. Somany things had changed in these last 20 years, e.g.tlie typewriter being used for making minutes had been completely replacedby email etc.

Thijs ended his report by explaining the significance of one of thedecorations painted on the ceiling of the church (part now of the logo of thechurch). They are the brass clasps on ships trunks. Appropriate since thatpart of the church is called 'the ship'.

Thijs Polstra 'ended his membership of Consistory at the end of 2011, uponcompletion of a full term as elder.

Seppo Stout has become the new Property Convener.

r 7. The Scriba's ReportFionaPoot-Campbelltook part in her first Presbyterymeeting a week ago.Sheaskedthe ministersto present their ideasof the meaningof celebrationof the Lord's Supper.Shewas surprisedby the wide variety in answersshereceived.Ourcongregationalsoreflects a wide variety of people, aswe heard in theRev.Cowie's report. Consistorytherefore alsoneededto reflect this broadwidth. Weneed tots of different opinionsand experiences.

With Jolmer GerritseandThijs Polstra leaving, Consistoryfound two newmembersin Mattia Falcone(29, economist, Italian) andThijs Glasz(43, HRprofessional,Dutch, studied in the USAand married to Virginia).

In this AGMwe officially paid tribute to Jolmer andThijs, after theirinformal departure from Consistoryin December2011.Jolmer, alwaysmeticulous in performing his tasks, great in cleaning up and a manof theoutdoors. Thijs, payingattention to details, doing hiswork alwayswithpeople in mind. Theyworked together sowell andsomuchduring all theyearsof preparing, executing andwinding down the renovationof thechurch.

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(" We thanked both Jolmer andThijs for all their great work and the goodspirit in which they did it.FionapresentedJolmer andThijs both with a gift on behalf of theCongregation.Fionaconcludedher report by lookingforward. Wewould look into allaspectsof the service, bearing in mind the diversity in our congregationandthe growth of the numberof youngpeople.

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8. Behind the ScenesIn this AGMwe reflected on some of the work that was being done 'behindthe scenes'.Susan Polstra-Strickler, Church Officer

Before taking the meeting through the work of the Church Officer, a postshe took over from Riet van Hoek 5 years ago, Susanstressed that she doesnot live in the church,an image she was presented with regularly. Susan'swork consisted for a big part of preparing for services and weddings,shopping for supplies. She also supervised the cleaning, Joe and David domost of the work but Susanalso helps., Olja Buço, Riet, Kenneth Ewen andoccasionally guides put in some work if need be.

And of course once a year we have the big cleaning, after which theCongregation was treated to the smell of waxed pews.

The church is used for services by the ERC,the Dienst met Belangstellenden

V (DMB, they began 40 years ago) and the Alledagkerk (they've been comingfor 8wears). A few times a year it is used for a service of three jointScandinavian churches. It is also used for weddings, an occasional funeral,private baptisms and sometimes special one-offs such as book launches etc.And of course concerts, organised by Kenneth.

This shows how wide spread the use of the church is.

Many people were involved in the work: Olja, Riet, Kenneth and ReintHuizinga, who lays out the Bibles and hymn books on Sundays.

Once a month a meeting of the ERCstaff takes place (John Cowie, MichaelMair, Kenneth, Olja and Susan) to discuss the matters at hand.

~After mentioning some highlights from the rich history in wedding services,Susanended by saying that she is enjoying her job so much: everyone who isin Church wants to be there and you are always among friends.

Ans van Saagsvelt, preparing for the Lord's Supper

Before giving the meeting information about the preparations for the Lord'sSupper (a task Ans has been doing together with her husband Charles vanSaagsvelt for the last 40 years, the last years assisted by Margaret Richards),she give a brief history of the silver the church owns.

In 1771, the original silver pieces were acquired with contributions from theCongregations, with a first donation to the amount of 250 guilders fromHope, the banker. The silver was dedicated "For the use of the CommunionTable of the English Established Church forever."

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The silver was kept in the Amsterdam HistorischMuseum,apart from fourbeakers and a mahogany box that were in use in the church. Unfortunatelythe church was ransacked in 1999 and some of our silver beakers stolen.Replacements were made and these are now in use during our services.

Ans and Charles buy the wine and bread (casino white, each sliced cut into25 squares) for the communion table. On the morning of CommunionServices they come in very early to set everything up at the altar and in thedeaconry, as stylish as possible for the Lord and the Congregation. Thelinen, donated by Lottie Veelbebr, is handled with great care by Ans athome, washing, starching and ironing.

And after the service all the beakers, cups and plates are carefully cleaned,polished, counted and stored away.

After 40 years Ans and Charles felt it is time to hand over these beautifultasks to someone else. Anyone who is interested can contact Ans or amember of Consistory.

9. Olja Buço, Organist and Choir Director

Olja started by paying tribute to the great work Ans and Charles do.

For 14 years Olja has been organist, choir director and responsible for themusic and instruments in the ERe. Her work consists of preparing for theservices, directing the choir, playing as soloist during services andac;companying other musicians and a lot of rehearsing during the week. Sheoften practises during the church open hours throughout the week, whenlots of visitors pass through the doors.

Every week is different.

Olja feels at home in the church, and was particularly happy with all theprofessional musicians that worship or come specially to play.

Olja ended by saying that she enjoys working in such great team.

10. The meeting was closed at 13:45 with prayer.

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Minister's ReportDearFriends,It's hard to knowwhere to start this year's report. Let me beginwith ourservice to the poor. Someof you may remember that over 10yearsagoJoeAlibasahnoticed breadand cakesbeing thrown awaydaily. A well knownAmsterdamdepartment store had the practice of only selling producemadethe sameday. Joethen organizedthe BreadRunwhich still delivers food tomanyof the charitable institutions which feed the homelessand poor inAmsterdam.

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The problemsof the poor havenot decreasedin the current economicclimate so I wasgrateful to lain Majcher for suggestingwe get involved incookingfor and feeding the homelessin the Kloof where heworks. Manypeople havenow participated in that ministry to the poor. Others sharedtheweekly collection for the food bankduring September- leading to a decisionbyConsistorythat the collection shouldcontinue throughout the year asasignof our concernfor thosewho rely on the fcodbank for their meals. It'snever goingto be enoughbut the weekly gift of sharingis important.

The other important project aimedat the poor involved our support forMulanjeMissionhospital. That is firstly a monthly challenge. Throughofferings and direct gifts we havebeenable to provide a vital €1000permonth of-emergencymoneyfor the hospital, usedmainly to buy the medicalsuppliesthey can't get any other way. The secondpart is pur effortsthrough the MulanjeConcert. I learned in the daysbefore writing this reportthatthe project to supplysolar panels,which started in 2011and continuedthrough 2012,hasrecently beencompleted. Babieswill no longerdie in thechildren's ward when the electricity fails. Light will bring life thanksto thepanelswe raisedmoneyfor. The2012project, to provide a piece of lifesavingequipment for the theatre will end very soon.Thankyou.

Movingon to the faith we share, this hasbeena wonderful year forprofessionsof faith. Youwill seein the Scriba's report howmanynew Cmemberswe haveaddedin 2Q12.Hot for usto delight in numberslikemiserscountingextra pennies, but to delight asa family which is growing. Itis alwaysa great delight andpleasure for me to sharethis journey withthem. Howeverthe work of the congregationin encouragementandwelcome is vital asyou are a Christianexampleto them.

Weoften celebrate the multicultural nature of our community; andcertainlythe 2012surveyrevealed that we hapover 40 nationalities in church on aSundayin March, from over 20 different Christiandenominations.Just asimportant however, is the fact that we are blessedby the presenceof

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people of all agesand backgroundsin our community - young and old, menand women,we sharetogether in worship andcommunity as ademonstrationof the way the world shouldbe. Not only existing together inthe city, but sitting together, eating together when we can, andcelebratinglife together.

I've beengrateful this past year for the support of first MichaelMair as heworked amongusasa student minister, before going to Edinburghto finishhis formal training in the Churchof Scotland,and then Oliver who is doing agreat job asour youth worker for the 20s30s,aswell asparticipating inother areasof our community life.

Our links to other Christianshavebeenstrengthened this pastyear; withScotlandthrough the visit of ministers, and especiallywith the visit of theReverendDavidArnott, the Moderatorof the GeneralAssembly;and toothers worshipingwith local congregationsof different denominations.There was no Kerkennachtin 2012 (it will be held again in 2013)but we stillwelcomedmany, many, people to our church almost every day of the week.

Our missionandministry is supported by the life we have together in prayerandworship, so I acknowledgeagainour thanks to everyonewho is involvedweekly in worship, in musicandwords, prayer and thoughtfulness, aswell asof coursein cleaning andcoffee-making.

Asyou read the reports from the Scriba, the treasurer and the fabricConveneryouwill get an insight into someof the work that goeson, byConsistorymembersand by others, in our life as a congregation.Youwill seehowmuchmoneyis raised to support the work and spent to fulfil andmaintain it. I remain grateful for the support, the time and talents sogenerouslygiven iii Christ's name.

AsalwaysI finish by offering my thanks to mywife Gill for her persistentencouragementand support in ministry.

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Scriba's Annual Report 2012Membership

New membersLorenz VerslaatAurellia NellMaja ViunnerlingCarl DarlingtonLucy CorrellRoosCavanaghBrenda RobertsKobi AmpomaArjen RiezeboschHarm HitversAnna- Uisa Springham

Mark GotzJanis GotzKwame AddoAndrew AddoRicky AddoPriscilla AddoTsamoh TazehPhilip Okereke OfforJulia van den BurgValerie ForbesMelissa Ytsma

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BaptismsNoaa Alfredo Olavi ObandoAurelia Hanna Luigia AielloChristian-Marlo TringaliAlvyn OsongNgahHelena Oghenekevwe SchotsmanDylan LandohKobi ArnpornaUv Achiaa Ampoma-Nketia

DiedCoby HolmBram AlibashaMay Berkouwer-Sommerhoff

Our membership last year totalled 390 (370 the previous year) The series ofenquirers classes our minister runs really gathered momentum promptingscintillating discussions and sometimes hefty disagreement this year. Thisclass is for all those wishing to join the church but is also equally worthwhileif you want to think about your faith more deeply and discuss big questions \with the minister and others in the group. I wish I had time to make anannual habit of it just for the spiritual growth I know it would provide butI'm glad Somany people made thetime for it this year including for the firsttime a family, Kwame Addo and his 3 grown up children.

Kobi AmpomaUv Kerstin VerslaatBrechtje Tessel Christine deBruijnAndy AddoPriscilla AddoRicky AddoArya Sophia Berry Singh

Crèche

The crèche room remains a tight but happy squeeze for the young childrenthat attend. Nancy Sekyere does a great job of keeping the rota going andfor most of tast year had 13 people to help care for the children. I've

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encountered some lovely momentswith children playing and enjoyingthemselvesthere, someare even reluctant to be prized awaywhen theserviceends. It's warming to seehow the little peopleare makingfriendswith eachother and seemto feel so at home in the church andwith thecongregation.Let's hopethey're able to maintain that feeling and theirfriendships for manyyearsto come.

SundaySchoolWeseelittle of what happensin SundaySchoolasthe children depart 3 outof 4 Sundaysafter the children's talk and crossover to the hall but the factthat somanycomealong is an encouragingsign. Normallyaround20 takepart in the activities organisedby the teachers, coordinated byHeleenKoning. During.specialserviceslike EasterSundayup to 40 can attend. Theteachersare keen to see ifanother classcan be introduced so the childrencan be in a more agespecificgroup, this will dependon the availability of anew spaceor a drastic changeto the hall which sadlydoesn't seemimminent.Virginia and Thijs Glaszsteppeddown from teaching and ElisabethCatranisand ChristaOudshoorn-Hobojoined the 9 strong team. Thisyear's NativityPlaywasmagnificent with somanychildren and junior church involved. Thecostumes,the scripting (the humour) and the confidence the childrenbrought to their messagewasimpressive.Manythanksto Gill Cowiefor sucha strong script and to Christa for directing the excited cast.After 14yearsof teaching and 9 yearsasco-ordinator HeleenKoninglet gothe SundaySchoolreignsat the end of the year. It's a great pity to lose herasshe is an excellent organiserand teacher but it seemsit will continue togrow in goodhands. ChristaOudshoorn-Hoboand VeronicaGarcia-Roblesvolunteered to take over the task together.

ConsistoryThorsten KoenigandSeppoStout got to gripswith their new roles asTreasurerand Property Convener;both are extremely competent in theirfield and servethe congregationand consistorywell. Jokede Bruin retiredaselder. Joke hasbeen involved with manyaspectsOfchurch life since 1965including SundaySchool,the coffee rota, the choir andchurch hallcoordinator. Shehada quiet demeanourand her wisdomand thoughtfulinsightsmadeher a highly valuedmember of Consistory.I particularlycherishedher role aspart of the visitation committee. Shekept in touchwith manypeoplewho hadworshipped regularly but who couldn't come tochurch anymore. Shealso helped peoplewith getting to the serviceand sentbirthday cards to older members. I am glad shewill continue someof theseresponsibilities. Elisabethvan Oudgaarden,Giles FrancisandMelissaYtsmajoined Consistoryasdeacons.

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For Michael and Laura Mair it was definitely good bye this summer after 2years of great dedication. Consistory were glad of their decision to extendtheir stay an extra year and Michael developed his theology and wit to a highdegree. He's now fulfilling 15 months in a small village just across the forthroad bridge from Edinburgh called South Queensferry for 15 months while ..-Laura chews over her PhD at Edinburgh University. They've bought a houseand a dog so seem to have put down roots in that part of the world.

We created a new job in the church, that of youth worker. It seemedsensiblewith sucha thriving youth community to allocate someonetooverlook their activities and create new opportunities and after aninteresting interview processwe appointed Oliver Lewis. He'd already beencomingto church for a year white studying persuasivecommunicationat UvAand seemedan ideal personto work more fully within the church. He's been {attending consistorymeetingsto report on his activities and hasbecomesomuchpart of what we do, which is what we hoped. Hiswillingnessto sharehis gifts (very wide ranging) and time is exceptional.lain Majcher left hisConsistoryduties and beganto explore his call to theministry. Hepoppedup in variousparts of the serviceandwill continue todo so next year. Wewish him every blessingwith his journey.Consistoryalsocontinued a processwe're calling focussessions.It involveslookingat all aspectsof our church andcommunity, lookingat what we'redoing, what we want to do better and howwe might like to do thingsdifferently. Thesort of headingswe're working under are YouthMinistry,stewardshipandcommunity.Weaimed to complete this in 2012but we still havea few topics still to dealwith. In order to speedup the processwe're dearing spaceduring ourConsistorymeetingsto discussthese relevant issuessoto complete it in2013.ConcertsLastyear the concert agendawaskept fairly full andour concert managerKennethEwanpretty busy. There were 57eveningand afternoon concerts, (6 lunchconcerts, 6 organ recitals, a corporate bookingandwhat's becomethe annualMulanjeMissionconcert, this wasthe 6th. Theconcert wasvariedand very exciting and involved the highest numberof musicianssofar. Notonly wer:ewe able to listen to the majesty of RonaldBrautigambut alsoConcertgebouw'sfirst flautist Emily Beynonplayingwith the SerafinoTrioandanwonderful combination of talent to perform the Trout Quintet bySchubert.Whilewe enjoyed an eveningof wonderful musicandmusicianshipmoneywas raisedto refurbish the operating theatre in the MulanjeMissionhospital in Malawiwhich madethe eveningevenmore magical.

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Thanks to John Cowie for being the brains behind the series, Giles Francisfor nudging many friends to play for free and Kenneth for his incredibleefficiency and energy in keeping the concerts going so well.

Summary

Along with the usual Scriba work this was my first year as Presbytery elderso I've had the opportunity to travel to Bochum, Germany and Valetta,Malta. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing so many ministers' present differentaspects of Presbytery work, usually starting with a thoughtful or amusinganecdote before continuing with their business (that was sometimes lessenthralling) This involvement helps us be aware of the wider family of Godacross the globe and our place in it. Our visit from the Moderator, DavidArnott was also a reminder of that. I've listened back to his sermon on thechurch website many times. He underlines the importance of depending oneach other, helping each other and letting each other know they matter. Letus do that, let us enjoy bringing the best out of each other in the yearahead. Fiona Poot-Campbell

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YouthWorkerseptember 2012 - March 2013As the Youth Worker at the English Reformed Church (ERC),my work onlybegan in September 2012. As such I will review the entirety of my ..-employment with the ElK from September 2012 to March 2013. In that time,I feel like I have achieved a: lot, however, I also realise there is a constantflow of work and always room for improvement and development.

I have enjoyed my time at the ERCso far, getting to know many members ofthe congregation through various activities and, I believe, helping tostrengthen and develop our ministry to children and young people. In thisshort report I provide a brief overview of what I have been getting up toover the past six months or so. It is by no means exhaustive. I hope you findit [nteresting and maybe even en~ightening about some aspects of church lifewith which you are not so familiar.

Junior ChurchThe Junior Church has been a challenge since I started my role - low andirregular attendance from young people meant that conducting JuniorChurch sessionswas difficult. Indeed before Christmas, only a handful ofsessionswent ahead. However since the New Year, Junior Church has metalmost every week and this fills me with optimism for the year ahead.Indeed in early March we are planning a joint Junior Church with VineyardChurch - another English speaking congregation in the city centre. I lookforward to reporting on how this went at the AGM. Stimulating sessionswithstrong leadership is what we aim to provide. I am pleased that this year wehave been able to welcome Celeste Majcher and Astrid Koenig to the .teaching roster following the departure of Laura Mair and lain Majcherwhose focus is now on his training for ministry. We will be sad to see MelissaYtsma leave the rota when she heads to Russiato lead a discipleship trainingcourse for her organisation YWAM. Melissa has been a Junior Church teacherfor several years now and we are very grateful to her for her thoughtful andaccessible teaching. ~

20s305

The 20s30sgroup has continuedto grow over the last few months.Indeed on our mailing list we nowhave over 100 addresses. Whilstnot all of these attend churchregularly or at all any more, thissuggests we are a growing and

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healthy group. We have had a steady programme of Bible studies since theautumn, looking at the book of Acts and since the New Year looking at Paul'sletter to the Galatians. These sessionstake place twice a month, nnSunday's after church, at the home of different members with differentpeople leading the sessionstOQ. I am very grateful to all those who haveinvited us in to th/eir home and to those who have invested time and effortpreparing sessions. The Bible studies also provide a time of fellowship aswell as study and we share lunch together before the session. The 20s30shave also been ice-skating as a group, biking in Hoge Veluwe, shared awonderful Christmas meal and enjoyed various other fellowship activitiestoo.

European Youth Presbytery

The European Youth Presbytery(EVP)took place in Regensburg,Germany in February ..The EVPisan opportunity for young peoplefrom the various congregations inthe Presbytery of Europe to cainetogether in faith and fellowship, toshare with one another and tolearn about the Church of Scotland in Europe and hopefully inspire them inleadership positions in the future. It was a great event with roughly 20 or sodelegates from the various congregations and a good representation fromyoung people in Regensburg too. Our delegate Sarah - Katharina Hopper hada great time - do ask her about it if you get the chance,

I helped the team in Regensburg to organise the weekend a bit - doingmainly the functional things like setting out a timetable for action andregistering participants, leaving them to organise the sessions, catering andaccommodation. I had a great time and f hope that the young people thatattended did too. My weekend finished with preaching the sermon at theworship on the Sunday - this came as a surprise to me, but I think it wentwell; indeed John quoted part of it in his Sermon at the familyService inFebruary, which was also a nice surprise.

Presbytery

As well as organising and helping to lead the EVP, I have also had thepleasure ofvtsiting Malta for presbytery in October. To see another one ofour congregations and the work that they do was a great experience. TheirMission project "Out of Africa ...in to Malta" was moving to see and quiteinspiring. The meetings themselves gave me an insight in to the Church ofScotland in Europe that I didn't have before. The trip also provided anopportunity to see how Presbytery was done in advance of Amsterdam

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hosting in March 2013. I am involved with the organisation for that and Ihopeto report that the weekendwasa great successat the AGMthefollowing week.Bible StudyWhenJohnwas awayon study leave, I led the weekly Bible study onWednesdayevenings.Wefollowed a courseon unselfish prayer. This lookedat howwe can build stronger andmore meaningful relationshipswith Godinour prayer lives. Thiswascertainly a challenge- it took more time toprepare than I had imagined it would and the subject wasone that is notnecessarilythat tangible - difficult to conceptuatise and often would meandifferent things to c;lifferentpeople. However, I am glad that I had theopportunity to do this and I am hopeful that I will be able to do somethingsimilar again.Other ActivitiesAs I saidat the start of this report, my role is varied and this report is not anexhaustivereview of the activities I am involved with. Thingssuchas theBreadService,FamilyService,administrative duties, coffee rnörnings,meetingswith other English-speakingministers, missionprojects andvolunteering work alsokeepme busy.I hopeyou have found this report interesting and informative. As I end, Iwould just like to finish by sayinghowmuch I am enjoyingworking for thiscongregationand this community and I would like to thank all thosewhohaveencouragedandsupportedme in mywork for you. I look forward topresentingat the AGMand to hearingyour thoughts and questions.

Oliver Lewis, YouthWorker,March2013

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Property Convener's Annual Report 2012This is my first report as your Property Convener. In 2Q12 I took over fromThijs Polstra, who has very profiCiently overseen many great fabric projectssuch as the reconstruction of the Müller-Flentrop Organ and the last majorrestoration. Many, many thanks to Thijs.

The Property Convener is the contact for the congregation and Consistory foranything relating. to fabric and property. One of the strengths of our churchis the fact that quite often things are not officially organised orcommissioned by Consistory, but simply get done by very committed andtalented people. Anybody in the congregation can contribute, so everybodycan benefit from the expertise and experience in the congregation. Togetherwe are and make the church, and many hands make work light.

The congregation, together with those with more pronounced roles, such asguides, cleaners, the Church Officer, the Concert Organiser, the Organist,the kosters and technicians from the DMBand ADK, form the ears, eyes andhands of the church. Together We can keep an eye on these beautiful oldwalls and take good care of the building.

We are very fortunate and grateful we can continue to rely on committedpeople like Thijs, other former Consistory members and other people in thecongregation as sources of invaluable .experience and insight. Together withthe Treasurer, who helps organise the financial aspects of the PropertyProjects and keeps the budget healthy, we form a Property Committee.

In the preparation and execution of the various projects we callanprofessional experts, such as architects, Monumentenwacht (MonumentWatch), Bouwadvies Groot Holland (formerly known as Monumentenzorg orMonument Care) and various contractors.

Church

Our church is an historic building and a monument, and it needs constantmonitoring and maintenance. Every year the church is thoroughly inspected

'(0 and recommendations are made to what maintenance and repair work needsto be carried out. In an ideal situation we would immediately have all thework done, but that is economically unfeasible.

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Based on the outcome of the inspections and recommendations, every fiveyears a Periodical Máintenance Plan (Periodiek InstandhoudingsPlan, PIP) isdrawn up, which gives us a good overview of everything that needs to bedone, and helps us to decide what items have priority. The last PIP is from20.11.

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Although, of course, the church building itself is our main item of churchproperty, in 2012 only the regular inspections and minor repairs were carriedout. Most of the Property Committee's effort went into the application forthe Dutch government monument maintenance subsidy, a process thatalready started before 2011.Before the current difficult economic situation, ownership of a monumentwould almost automatically assert the right to State maintenance subsidy.Now, unfortunately, the Dutch State has had to rigorously cut back onsubsidies. Due to limited means, a subsidy lottery was instituted, andfinally, in 2012, the outcome proved favourable to us. Since then we haveentered the phase of getting estimates. We hope to start and finish thiswork in 2013. As said, our church needs constant monitoring andmaintenance.

TowerWe as a church congregation also own the tower, but the City of Amsterdamhas committed to the responsibility for the maintenance of the tower since1979. Although the structure and foundations of the tower are in goodshape, the tower also needs constant monitoring and maintenance. Plans forrepairs and maintenance of the tower have been incorporated in those forthe whole church.

Church HallThe Church Hall is where we meet for coffee and tea after services, but it isalso one of our tools for mission in the city. We provide a meeting place formany groups of people in need that otherwise could not afford to rent a citycentre space.The City of Amsterdam is owner of the building, and also our landlord. Forseveral years we tried to acquire the property to secure it for the church. Inthat case we would have invested in it to improve it to suit our needs.During these negotiations the City had not done any maintenance at all sothe facilities as,the kitchen and toilets are very run down.

In 2012 the City of Amsterdam finally came to the conclusion that it couldnot sell the Hall to us, so we continue to rent the Hall from the City. We arereluctant to invest too much money and energy into something we do notown, but the City of Amsterdam as our landlord has the responsibility tokeep the facilities up to date. As with the church, we hope to start andfinish this work in 2013.

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ManseApart from regular maintenance and painting, no major work was done onthe Manse. In 2012 a new video intercom system was installed and anobligatory owners' association (Vereniging van Eigenaren) was set up.

Lekstraat

We rented the apartment on the Lekstraat as an Associate Minister'sResidence from 2010 until June 2Q12 for Michael and Laura Mair.

Begijnhof Accessibility

For most of us the Begijnhof is simply the place where our church building isbut, for the residents of the Begijnhof, it is also where their home is. TheBegijnhof is also a popular tourist attraction in Amsterdam, and anincreastng number of tourists visit every year, making the Begijnhof an everbusier place.

Some of the residents feel these great numbers of tourists impose on theirdomestic peace and should be limited. Other residents have over the yearsexpressed growing, concerns about feeling unsafe and intimidated bystrangers and have called for a more closed character of the Begijnhof.

We work to contribute to the safety, tranquillity and sanctity of theBegijnhof without compromising our right of unhindered access to ourchurch. In this we work together with all those involved, the differentcongregations, the residents, the Stichting Het Begijnhof, and the City ofAmsterdam.

We aim to have a good relationship with all our neighbours in the Begijnhof.

Seppo Kristian Stout.

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