The Gateway Church @ Leek Trustees Report
Year ending 31 December 2021
The Gateway Church @ Leek: Registered charity No. 1052556 (In fellowship with the Assemblies of God)
Charity objects:
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i. The advancement of the Christian religion by the proclamation and furtherance of the gospel of God concerning His Son Jesus Christ the Lord and the preaching and teaching of the word of God by the church in accordance with the statement of fundamental truths of the Assemblies of God in Great Britain and Ireland as approved by the general council from time to time (the statement).
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ii. Such other charitable purposes as shall further the attainment of the above objects of the church or any of them.
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iii. The furtherance of the other charitable work of the church consistently with the statement.
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iv. The furtherance of the work of Assemblies of God in Great Britain and Ireland and the promotion of the spiritual teaching and the maintenance of the statement and promotion of religious observances that manifest the statement.
Over the last year the church has sort to fulfil the objects in the following ways: -
2021 has been another year of navigating Covid-19 issues. This has presented the church with a lot of challenges, yet also a lot of opportunities. When the church was first in lockdown, we decided to do our services online via Facebook live and Zoom and have continued with this in 2021. We made another investment in new equipment to help with this. We believe this has been a positive experience for the church and one we are still planning to continue with into the future.
We have introduced a “Leadership Development” stream to our church for present and potential leaders moving forward. This is so we can be the best leaders we can in every area of church life to support and help others find their place in the body of Christ. We ran 5 sessions in 2021, including a team building day run by an outside agency and we also connected online to an event run by Arena Church.
One of the challenges for the church leadership has been continually adapting to circumstances as they change so often. We made our building & services Covid secure and have been doing in-person services as and when the guidance has allowed. Not gathering is a real challenge for a church and online provision only goes so far, especially for those who have mental health needs. We have made use of WhatsApp groups to connect people but with the Covid restrictions pastoral care has, again, been a challenge. The overall giving to the church through the Covid period has remained good with a small increase for which we are thankful.
In 2021 we also had a conference that celebrated 90 years as a church in Leek. Through our ongoing connection with Arena Church Ilkeston we were able to have visiting speakers from that church as well as mark Birch-Machin from Speakers of Life who is a long standing friend of the fellowship.
The church meets Once on a Sunday at 10.30am where we proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and teach the word of God to all who attend. At the morning service we also give every opportunity
The Gateway Church @ Leek Trustees Report
Year ending 31 December 2021
to all who come along to worship and take communion together as a community of believers. We have a membership of 40 adults.
We have a ministry team of 8 members who discuss & agree upon the teaching themes for each month and a number of people within our fellowship who take responsibility for teaching and preaching and we also had input from regular visiting speakers.
On a Tuesday evening we hold our church bible study/prayer meeting where we come together to pray for any church, local community and global needs. Also all our members are encouraged to attend our fortnightly Connect groups which take place in host houses and are a place for pastoral care and mutual spiritual growth.
On the first Saturday morning of every month we have a men's breakfast where we seek to grow together in our faith & practice of Christianity.
Throughout the week we open the church to provide activities and services for the community. The church runs a mother and toddler groups on a Tuesday that is open to all and has an attendance of approximately 45 toddlers plus parents/guardians, and on a Friday evening we provide a children's club that is open to all young people between the ages of 4 and 8 years. At this group we promote a safe environment where young people can grow and learn together in appropriate year groups. The activities at this club is designed to promote mutual respect, teamwork and our personal worth and value to God and we also promote and teach the word of God relevantly by various means and overall approximately 25 young people attend. All our children's & youth workers are DBS checked.
We have developed a close relationship with our umbrella organisation at the Assemblies of God in the form of local area ministers meetings, Zone meetings, area and national events. Additional to this we are in a partnership for leadership development with a larger church in Ilkeston. Through this partnership we attend 3 in person events per year as well as monthly Zoom calls for support and instruction.
We support several missionary activities around the world and in the UK. We again had a visit in the year from the organisation "Open Doors" that seeks to raise awareness of the plight of Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith in Jesus. They spoke to us about this and encouraged us to support the persecuted church in prayer and through other practical means. We have a visit once a year and also in "in-house" presentation on the work of "Open Doors" presented by all members' from our missions department 6 months after their visit.
The Church contributes to Christian mission overseas supporting a variety of organisations, individuals and work in such places as Eastern Europe, Brazil, Israel, Pakistan, Asia, Russia, Africa, and Peru. These works all include the advancement of the Christian faith as well as providing relief work against poverty and disaster, Education, care of orphans, building homes and community facilities and information services.
Over the last year we have continued to make our building available for the furtherance of the local Foodbank and they use a few rooms in our building as their warehouse and distribution centre. This
The Gateway Church @ Leek
Trustees Report Year ending 31 December 2021
Foodbank is run under the umbrella of The Trussell Trust and has continually served needy people in our community throughout the year. The Foodbank also has close working relationships with many of the professional services in our community.
In our home town we lend our support to the "Street Pastors" project that runs every Friday in amongst the night time economy of Leek. The Pastors help to bring peace, help and a safe environment to the town working in conjunction with the local police on Friday evenings.
Signed by the Trustees
Paul Sherwin - (Chairman) Cristian Tudosie
David Smith
Church Income 2021
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Little Treasures
Missions
Gift Aid
Interest
Other Revenue
Tithes & Offerings
Direct Expenses
Church expenditure 2021 Advertising & Marketing
Audit & Accountancy fees
Cleaning
Consuling
Depreciation Expense
Missions
Food and drink
General Expenses
Insurance
IT Software and Consumables
Legal Expenses
Light, Power, Heating
Printing & Stationery
Rates
Repairs & Maintenance
Staff Training
Subscriptions
Telephone & Internet
Travel - National
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Church Income
Church Expenditure
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Little Treasures 0.5% 271
Missions 11.0% 5,972
Gift Aid 12.3% 6,663
Interest 0.0% 1
Other Revenue 2.0% 1,070
Tithes & Offerings 74.2% 40,263
Total Income 54,241
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Direct Expenses 35.7% 19,560
Advertising & Marketing 0.2% 119
Audit & Accountancy fees 2.3% 1,249
Cleaning 0.8% 428
Consuling 0.1% 50
Depreciation Expense 8.8% 4,841
Missions 15.9% 8,735
Food and drink 0.7% 370
General Expenses 1.0% 532
Insurance 4.0% 2,181
IT Software and Consumables 0.3% 165
Legal Expenses 1.3% 740
Light, Power, Heating 8.9% 4,879
Printing & Stationery 0.1% 38
Rates 2.4% 1,326
Repairs & Maintenance 13.7% 7,542
Staff Training 0.1% 80
Subscriptions 2.5% 1,379
Telephone & Internet 0.7% 369
Travel - National 0.5% 284
Total Expenditure 54,865
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Indep•nd•nt Examln•Vs Report to the PAembersrfnt8es of Tho Gataway Church, LOOK StsfftirdshSro. I report on the accounts for ts wicMJ ended 31 Decmber 2021. which are set out on pa to Respective respon8ibilitie8 of TNstees and Indeper Examiner. tru8tee8 conslder that an audit is nL required for this year under 144{2) of the Charitie8 Acl 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that w Kperlent examination 18 needed. It 16 my re8pon8ibilrty to". oxamino the acccwxts urKler eedion 145 of the 2011 Act; to follow the wocedures laKI dMI in the gen8ral 'redI& given by the Charlty Commission under 8ection 145{5)(b) of ts 2011 Act.. and to State whether parts'cular matters have come to my attentth. 8a•l• of Ind•p•nd•nl •Mmln•V• r•port Chanty Commi88ion. An examination includes a reviv of the accounting re¢ord8 kept by t ¢h8nty and a compari80n of the accounts presented with those records. It al80 include8 consideration of any unusual item8 or di8dosures in the accounts, and Seeking explanation8 from you a8 tru8tee8 concerning any 8uth matter8. The wocedure8 undertaken do not provide all the evthnce that woukl be required in an almdit arKI con8aqu8ntly no opinion i• given 08 to whether the accounts we8ent a Irue arKI fair view, and the report 18 h'mrted to tho88 matter8 set out in th8 8tatem•nt below. Ind•p•nd•nt •x•mln•rf• •t•t•m• In conn•ction with my examinatim. rK> matter ha8 c£ to my attention.. (1) lch gives me rea8(xth c8u8e to belleve ttHt in any malerial re8FeCt the requirement8'. to keep accounting records in accordanc4 with SeCtn 130 of th8 2011 Act., and to wepare accounts which acc<)rd with the accourtino records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 AL# {2) to which, in my qxnion, attention sh(KAd be drawn in order to enable a prop understanding of the aco)unts to be reached. Slgn•d: Nam•: John Al•xand•r ACIAA CGIAA Addross: 12. Cosby Drfve. East L••ke. Loughborough, LE12 6AD Dats: 29 March 2022