Great Hollands Free Church
because Jesus sets us free
Annual Report
& Accounts for 2020
Message from the Pastor
Mark Wigston
Being Church and Doing Church - during a pandemic
We were pretty busy during January and February 2020, so we were not paying much attention to the news. There was talk of some illness in Wuhan that was affecting lots of people, but somehow it was “out there” and unlikely to affect us “over here”. Then I remember seeing those seven buses on TV, with police escort, transporting passengers from the evacuation flight out of China, from RAF Brize Norton to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, where they would stay in quarantine for two weeks.
Much closer to home, I went to the Look In Café in Great Hollands, to meet someone who never showed up. Whilst there though, I started talking to a man, who told me that life as we know it, was going to change massively in the near future. At that time, schools, shops, pubs and churches were all open as normal and it seemed that nothing had changed. We did decide however, as a precaution, to cancel the Children’s Party and Barn Dance, which were due to take place soon. It was not long after this, that I realised how right the man in the Café had been. Life did indeed change massively.
This provided a great challenge to the Church. How would we respond to all the changes? How would we continue to “Be Church”, even when we could not meet face to face as a church?
I would like to thank everyone within the church who really committed themselves to Being Church and supporting each other using any method available, both old and new. People found their landline phones and started phoning each other again, as well as discovering WhatsApp, Zoom and Google Meet. People were doing shopping for each other and caring for those in need.
Likewise, the Church leaders had to find meaningful ways to worship in what became the new normal. To start with, we produced recorded messages that were available on our website, together with written messages and Psalms, in a section called Church 2 Go.
After a few weeks, we started meeting for Sunday worship on-line using Google Meet. The format has evolved over the months and we now have a full program offering songs, prayers, readings, the spoken message and time for a chat at the end too. We had special celebrations for Harvest and
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Christmas with our children and teenagers from One 2 Free taking part, and we also celebrate communion together regularly. It is great to meet together every Sunday in this way, but I think we all look forward to being able to meet up again, face to face.
When there are so many changes going on around our world, many of us have been asking the question: when will Jesus return? The Bible teaches us that no one, apart from Father God, knows the answer. So, for that reason, we have focussed our Sunday teaching, not on that question, but on one that we can answer: How can I prepare for Jesus’ return? I hope that you have been enjoying our teaching series: Whispers of Eternity.
Many of us met up socially, over the year, as we were able, according to the rules in place at the time. People were meeting up in gardens or on walks when it was appropriate. As we approached Christmas, we were aware that the year had been particularly hard for retired folk living alone and for our children and teenagers. With this in mind, we made up gift bags and delivered them by hand, as a little encouragement, with love from the church.
Thank you to our wonderful God who has loved us and sustained us through all the ups and downs this last year. Thank you also, to everyone within our church, for playing your part too. It has not been easy, but it has been good. I feel that we are more united as a result of the last year. Maybe I can finish with the wonderful words of the Apostle Paul, from Ephesians 3:17-19 where he talks about the Four Dimensional Love of God:
I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
As you read through the rest of this report, you will see further examples of how we have adapted, so as to Be Church and Do Church during the Covid era.
One 2 Free
Fiona Marston
The year 2020 started with the three groups looking at different studies. The youngest group looked at Elijah and Elisha; the middle group looked at 1 Peter: Out of Darkness; and the oldest group looked at The Kingdom of Heaven.
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The lockdown in March meant that we were unable to meet together. This has been the situation throughout the remaining part of the year, apart from a video story in the summer, and the occasional worksheet or link to online resources.
The young people have contributed to the Harvest and Christmas online services through drama, prayers, poems and artwork. We thank God for the gifts He has given them, and for their willingness to share.
Please continue to pray for the young people, as they trust in God for their future and in the present circumstances.
One 2 Free Xtra Fiona Marston
One 2 Free Xtra is aimed at our young people from Year 8 and upwards. We aim to meet about once a month for fellowship and food.
This year, due to restrictions on meeting together in person, we have only managed to meet online for one or two One 2 Free Xtra meetings. However, some of the young people from the group do meet together online regularly for chat, quizzes and games.
Please pray for our young people – our future church leaders! Pray for them to continue to trust in God for their protection and peace.
Children’s Events
Fiona Marston
Our planned events were cancelled this year, due to Covid restrictions.
The Truth Mark Wigston
In normal times, this is a group that meets in various people’s homes to dig deep into the Bible and to pray together. At the turn of the year, we were using a study guide called the Big Picture, which looks at the basis of our faith. Starting with the perfection of creation, we moved on to the problem of sin. We then looked at some temporary solutions before looking at God’s permanent solution. Next, we asked the question: “How can I enter into relationship with God?” The course ended with modules on: Living a new life , Baptism and Communion . (If you have never done this course and would like to, please contact me.)
We were just about to start looking at the Old Testament book of Ruth when the first lockdown came. When everything had to move on-line, we decided to have a Church Prayer Meeting on Wednesday evenings, which has replaced this group for the time being.
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Brothers-in Arms
Rob Mead
Unfortunately, as with all the 'face-to-face' church meetings, we have not been able to meet for nearly a year.
However, the regular Wednesday evening prayer meeting, started during lockdown, has in some ways taken its place.
We pray that this situation will soon be over and we can meet together again.
Wednesday Prayer Meeting
Mark Wigston
Early on during lock-down, we knew that we needed to meet weekly as a church for prayer. Therefore, in the summer we set up an on-line prayer meeting which takes place at 7:30pm each Wednesday. This has been well attended, and because it is on-line, people really have been able to come just for one hour, without any additional travelling time. We have a Bible focus each week and then pray for a whole variety of situations and needs, both close to home and overseas too. We have also had topical evenings where our prayers have been motivated by current affairs, such as Youth during Lockdown, Race Relations, Front-line Workers and The Persecuted Church. If you have never joined us, we would love to welcome you.
The Life
David Warrilow
The aim of the group is to provide fellowship and mutual support for those who are available during weekdays. We generally meet in the afternoon in various homes on the second Thursday of each month during school term times and attract up to about 12 people per meeting. The group has not met since March 2020 due to Covid restrictions.
Our varied programme looks at spiritual and societal issues. Our speakers have come from both inside and outside GHFC. Topics in the first three months of 2020 were “Life before Bracknell” by our pastor, “Mums in Prayer” by Claire Bumpass and “Home-Start Bracknell Forest” by Anne Jenkins.
We hope to be able to resume the programme in some form once the pandemic is over and we would welcome ideas about how the group could develop further and also suggestions for speakers and / or topics.
Belovèd (including Bitesize)
Fiona Marston
Belovèd is a Bible study, prayer and fellowship group for ladies - presently up to 12 of us - who usually meet on Fridays at 10am (term time only), to study God’s word and to build our faith and relationship with Him.
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2020 has looked very different for us all. We started the year by completing our study of Joel and Amos, and then due to the lockdown, we were unable to meet together. Beloved continued as ‘Bitesize’ each week throughout the Spring and Summer in the form of a devotional, which was sent out by WhatsApp to the ladies of the church to encourage them. We restarted weekly online meetings in September looking at the fruits of the Spirit, and finished the year with an Advent devotional.
The group continues to be encouraged as we meet together (albeit remotely at the present time) for prayer, study and reflection. Mums in Prayer Clare Bumpass
Due to the Covid Pandemic, 2020 was naturally a challenging year for everyone and the Mums in Prayer ministry was no exception.
Our local groups were able to meet in person for the first few weeks of the year but could no longer continue as the need for social distancing became more apparent.
Fiona showed true leadership and was able to move her group online very quickly. Due to extensive building work at Clare’s house (which was halted during the first long lockdown), it was difficult at times for her group to meet. Fiona kindly welcomed these mums to her online group, which met on Tuesday mornings.
Clare was able to re-start her group online in September and has met regularly on Wednesday mornings. One of the advantages of meeting online is that mums from other regions have been able to join in which will hopefully help them start groups of their own at some point. Clare has a mum from London join each week and occasionally a mum from Aldershot.
Additionally, Clare prays with the UK leadership team via Skype once a month.
Due to work commitments, Sarah’s group has folded for the time being, but as she is working in a school, she continues to have a good ‘window’ into the prayer needs of young people and schools.
We continue to pray for ‘multiplication’ of MIP groups both locally and we all continue to pray for the vision of Mums in Prayer International – that every school in the world is covered by prayer!
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Great Hollands Free Church
Church Report 2020
Mark Wigston
Being Church – near and far
As the family of God, we have to be compassionate about situations close to home, and we must also be willing to help others, much further away too, whose needs and situations may have become more intense in the current climate of Coronavirus.
Locally
We have supported a number of people within Bracknell who have been struggling financially over the last year, and some of our members have been supporting the Bracknell Foodbank in various ways.
We have also been supporting Yeldall Manor drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre, which offers healing, hope and practical support to those struggling with substance abuse. Some of us have also taken part in their supporter events, which have moved on-line for obvious reasons.
We also make the recommended donation to FIEC every year. This is the group of over 600 churches in the UK, to which we belong. They are committed to seeing healthy, independent, evangelical churches sharing the good news of Jesus across our land.
Around the world
We have continued to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who are suffering for their faith. Much of our information on this is from Open Doors . We have sent them a further gift to help them, in their work on the ground.
We have also continued to support Eyerusalem, a student living in Ethiopia, through Compassion UK . Our donations have been a blessing to her as she moves on to independence.
Off-Road Walking Group
Gareth Jenkins
We started the year with walks in January and February, but after that, we had to cancel the walks due to the various Covid restrictions. The plan is to restart them later in 2021 when it is allowed.
If anybody would like details of potential walking routes for their daily exercise then please get in touch and I can share some with you.
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Church Report 2020
Great Hollands Free Church
Lunch Club
Mark and Gabi Wigston
We started our Lunch Club in March 2019 and continued meeting, once a month, right up until March 2020. We meet at a local pub and folk can have anything they want from the menu, with most people getting a meal and complimentary tea or coffee, all for just £5. We always have a great crowd join us, but obviously, we have not been able to hold the club since the start of lock-down.
Knowing that our friends love meeting up, we decided to invite all of them to join us, when we started holding on-line Quiz Nights, which you can read about below.
Quiz Nights
Gareth Jenkins
Great Hollands Community Association organised one of their normal quiz nights in January and a number of people for GHFC participated (and won). This is a good opportunity to meet the local community as well as having an enjoyable evening.
During the lockdown we have organised online quizzes for people within the church and also extended it to people in the community – particularly our friends from the Lunch Club. We have found these a worthwhile break from the loneliness of lockdown and we intend to continue with these until normality returns.
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School Lessons
Mark and Gabi Wigston
Do you ever feel that have done something… just in time? That is how we felt when we visited one of our local primary schools for three days from 4[th] to 6[th] March – just before they stopped having outside volunteers due to the pandemic.
It was a joy to meet the children again, whom we have come to know over the last few years. We taught seven classes over the three days, with lessons lasting about 40 minutes each. We always agree a topic with the school in advance and create lessons especially for them. Our chosen topic this time was Generosity versus Greed and we came up with two great slogans:
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Giving is better than Grabbing
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Generosity is better than Greed
We shared with them, Jesus’ words from the Bible:
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
We always like to keep the lessons fast-moving and use slides, discussions, games, competitions and word puzzles.
It is a privilege to teach at this school, where the staff and children are always so pleased to see us.
School Gardening Club
Gabi Wigston
During the autumn of 2019, together with some of the children at one of our local primary schools, we cleared the garden of dead flowers and vegetable plants, placing them in the composter, getting ready for a new start in spring 2020. Everyone hoped and assumed that we would be together again in the spring, rejoicing in the first shoots and flowers of the year. We also assumed that we would be smelling and tasting the green beans in the summer.
However, as we all know, the year did not turn out as we had planned. Let’s pray that our Creator will enable us to start the school Gardening Club again soon.
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Church Membership on 30[th] November 2020
Beth Allwright Jean McCandless Clare Bumpass Rob Mead Peter Burch Gill Mead Sarah Burch Paul Michael Nikolay Dachev Mei Michael Radoslava Nestorova Lawrence Millwood Richard Elsbury Kyoko Millwood Sue Elsbury Jolame Nalumisa David Goodall Asena Nalumisa Sandy Goodall Val Pheney Peter Goodson Emily Pheney Richard Greenidge James Pheney Sheila Hopkins *Karen Rogers Gareth Jenkins Kelly Scott Anne Jenkins Pam Simmonds Andrew Lawson David Warrilow Pavlina Lawson Sheena Warrilow Chris Malunguza Dave Weston Elizabeth Malunguza Dawn Weston Fiona Marston Mark Wigston John Marston Gabi Wigston
Total membership: 42
- Indicates a new member in 2020
Changes to the Leadership Team
Peter Burch served the church as a deacon and as our Church Secretary for 6 years from 2014 until 2020. We would like to thank him for all his work and dedication over the years.
We were very pleased to welcome Fiona Marston as a deacon in 2020. She has already been a great blessing to the team.
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Treasurer’s Report: Year ending 30[th] November 2020
| Notes Budget 2021 1 £23,388.06 £41,760.00 -£48,954.02 ----------------- £16,195.64 £32,960.00 2 £8,600.00 3 £50.00 4 £150.00 5 ----------------- £41,760.00 £40,534.42 7 £2,247.60 6 £3,236.00 8 £2,936.00 9 ----------------- £48,954.02 £7,192.42 |
Notes Budget 2021 1 £23,388.06 £41,760.00 -£48,954.02 ----------------- £16,195.64 £32,960.00 2 £8,600.00 3 £50.00 4 £150.00 5 ----------------- £41,760.00 £40,534.42 7 £2,247.60 6 £3,236.00 8 £2,936.00 9 ----------------- £48,954.02 £7,192.42 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | 2020 | 2019 | Budget 2021 |
|
| 1 | ||||
| Opening Balance 1/12 | £23,647.58 | £31,544.43 | £23,388.06 | |
| Income | £46,852.95 | £44,757.60 | £41,760.00 | |
| Expenditure | -£47,112.47 | -£52,654.45 | -£48,954.02 | |
| ----------------- | ----------------- | ----------------- | ||
| Closing balance 30/11 | £23,388.06 | £23,647.58 | £16,195.64 | |
| Income | ||||
| Freewill Gifts | £38,740.95 | £32,960.00 | 2 | |
| Refund from Inland Revenue |
£7,875.67 | £8,600.00 | 3 | |
| Miscellaneous | £45.00 | £50.00 | 4 | |
| Bank & Building Society Interest |
£191.33 | £150.00 | 5 | |
| ----------------- | ----------------- | |||
| Total | £46,852.95 | £41,760.00 | ||
| Expenditure | ||||
| Employment Costs | £40,560.18 | £40,534.42 | 7 | |
| Gifts | £2,707.27 | £2,247.60 | 6 | |
| Miscellaneous | £2,262.02 | £3,236.00 | 8 | |
| Hire Fees | £1,583.00 | £2,936.00 | 9 | |
| ----------------- | ----------------- | |||
| Total | £47,112.47 | £48,954.02 | ||
| Decrease in Funds | £259.52 | £7,192.42 |
| Notes | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Balance | 2020 | 2019 | |||
| Various Floats | -£243.84 | -£2.68 | 10 | ||
| Cash in hand | £19.83 | £14.93 | 11 | ||
| Current Account | £141.22 | £115.21 | 12 | ||
| Deposit Account | £4,460.76 | £5,683.30 | |||
| 60 Day Account | £19,010.09 | £17,836.82 | |||
| Total | £23,388.06 | £23,647.58 | |||
| Liabilities | -£217.08 | -£599.42 | 13 |
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Notes on the Accounts
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The 3 columns of figures represent the following:
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a) The first column shows the amounts for the year ending 30th November 2020
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b) The second column shows the amounts for the previous year (ending 30th November 2019) for comparison
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c) The third column represents my estimate for the current year (ending 30th November 2021) for budgetary purposes
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This represents all freewill offerings made to the Church. They can be further broken down as follows:
| 2020 | 2019 | Budget 2021 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Designated (External) | £535.48 | £1,272.42 | £520.00 | a) | ||
| Designated (Internal) | £306.27 | £464.07 | £300.00 | b) | ||
| Regular Gifts | £20,305.00 | £20,820.00 | £17,040.00 | c) | ||
| Collection | £2,601.20 | £6,546.95 | £2,100.00 | d) | ||
| Other Donations | £14,993.00 | £7,856.71 | £13,000.00 | e) | ||
| ----------------- | ----------------- | ----------------- | ||||
| Total | £38,740.95 | £36,960.15 | £32,960.00 |
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a) ‘Designated (External)’ represents gifts that were received specifically for the support of other Christian organisations (see note 6 for details). In some cases, these gifts were also received such that the tax is reclaimable by the Church and passed on to the relevant organisation.
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Also included in this category is the ‘small change’ collection, which was designated as being a contribution towards the support of Eyerusalem in Ethiopia.
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b) ‘Designated (Internal)’ represents gifts that were made for the support of specific activities within the Church. This year it was partly cash gifts towards food for the Barn Dance and Children’s parties (which were subsequently cancelled) but mainly of gifts to purchase equipment for the sound system and songs for use in our online services.
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c) ‘Regular Gifts’ represent those gifts that are made by regular donations. The majority of these are subject to reclaims from the Inland Revenue. Since April 2000, any gifts made by a
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taxpayer can be ‘Tax Efficient’ provided that they are not made anonymously.
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d) ‘Collection’ covers the money in the collecting box each Sunday. Since April 2013, any loose cash in the collection box (which means any amount less than £30) can be assumed to be subject to Gift Aid. However, if the amount is greater than £30 (for example a bundle of notes that have been put in together), then Gift Aid cannot be reclaimed. During this year, £1,750 has been put in the box for which Gift Aid is not claimable. If this had
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money been given Tax Efficiently, then a further £437 could have been reclaimed from the Inland Revenue. The collection is significantly less than last year due to the fact we stopped meeting in the school in mid-March due to Covid. However this was more than made up for by an increase in Oneoff gifts.
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e) ‘Other Donations’ covers other one off gifts. A number of people have made such gifts during the year as they were unable to use the Collection box. I do not expect all such gifts to be repeated next year. Gift Aid is reclaimable on most of these.
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This represents the money that the Church has been able to reclaim from the Inland Revenue and corresponds to the tax paid on gifts made to the Church using the Gift Aid Scheme. This year I have made a reclaim for Gifts received during the 2018 - 19 Financial Year, and so we are up to date on our Gift Aid reclaims. If anyone would like to know more about how to make their giving ‘Tax Efficient’, then please speak to me about it. Note that higher rate taxpayers should ensure that they declare any Gift Aid donations on their Income Tax returns, since they will receive tax relief on such gifts.
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This represents payments received by the Church for a specific purpose. This year it represented money received for Bible Notes used by Belovèd.
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This represents the interest we receive on our bank accounts.
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This represents gifts made to other individuals or organisations. The following table gives details of all the gifts made and indicates where part of the gift had been given to the Church specifically for that purpose. Note that if money is given specifically for a cause,
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then at least that amount of money is always passed on. In most cases, Gift Aid is claimable on such gifts and the anticipated Gift Aid claim is also passed on to the intended organisation. Note that the donation for Foodbank was received at the end of November 2020 so it was passed on in the 2020-21 Financial year.
The ‘Collection for Eyerusalem’ has been used towards our payments to Compassion for the support of Eyerusalem in Ethiopia. This year there was a shortfall of about £110 between the money collected (and the Gift Aid reclaimable on that) and the money we are committed to giving in support of Eyerusalem, (£28 per month) due to the fact that the collection box hasn’t been on display.
| Gifts For / To | Totals | Totals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Received | Given | ||
| Collection for Eyerusalem | £180.81 | £334.00 | |
| Yeldall Manor | £354.67 | £906.27 | |
| Open Doors | £450.00 | ||
| Foodbank | £50.00 | £0.00 | |
| Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches |
£967.00 | ||
| External Speakers | £50.00 | ||
| ---------------- | ---------------- | ||
| Totals | £585.48 | £2,707.27 |
The total amount given during the year represents about 6% of our income.
- This represents the Employment costs of the Church, namely the Salary and Pension contributions we pay to Mark and Gabi Wigston including Tax and National Insurance. From April 2016, there has been a special dispensation for most organisations such that the first £3,000 (increased to £4,000 in 2020) of Employers’ National Insurance Contribution each year doesn’t need to be paid. In our case, that covers all of our Employers’ National Insurance and this saving should apply in future years.
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8. This covers all the other expenditure. The following provides a more detailed breakdown:
| detailed breakdown: | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2019 | Budget 2021 | ||||
| Annual | £834.14 | £890.90 | £900.00 | a) | ||
| Banking | £60.00 | £60.00 | £96.00 | b) | ||
| Printing | £63.24 | £149.58 | £150.00 | c) | ||
| Magazines,Books etc. | £46.25 | £93.75 | £90.00 | d) | ||
| Allowances | £199.00 | £259.75 | £420.00 | e) | ||
| Belovèd | £32.32 | £28.93 | £50.00 | f) | ||
| Publicity | £0.00 | £100.00 | £150.00 | g) | ||
| Youth Work | £40.86 | £316.73 | £350.00 | h) | ||
| DBS Checks | £137.40 | £233.20 | £200.00 | i) | ||
| Capital Fund | £155.06 | £130.98 | £300.00 | j) | ||
| Internal Gifts | £0.00 | £120.00 | £100.00 | k) | ||
| Refreshments | £86.94 | £300.99 | £200.00 | l) | ||
| Stationeryand Stamps | £29.34 | £25.37 | £30.00 | m) | ||
| Other | £577.47 | £106.71 | £200.00 | n) | ||
| --------------- | ---------------- | ----------------- | ||||
| Total | £2,262.02 | £2,816.89 |
£3,236.00 |
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a) ‘Annual’ represents one-off annual charges such as Insurance, our PO Box and our Copyright Licence.
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b) ‘Banking’ represents our monthly bank charges.
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c) ‘Printing’ represents the costs for Bulk Printing and consumables for the Church Printer.
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d) ‘Magazines, Books etc.’ represents the costs of purchasing Evangelicals Now.
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e) ‘Allowances’ represents mileage payments made to Mark plus costs of books and an allowance for his phone.
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f) ‘Belovèd’ represents the cost of Bible Notes bought for Belovèd.
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g) ‘Publicity’ covers the cost of publicity for the Church. The main cost now is for our ongoing advert in Great Hollands Matters which wasn’t invoiced for during the year due to Covid.
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h) ‘Youth Work’ represents the cost of materials for the children's and youth work on Sundays. In 2019 this included the cost of the Children’s parties (which is where most of the money was spent).
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i) ‘DBS Checks’ represents the cost carrying out DBS checks on youth workers.
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j) ‘Capital Fund’ represents one-off capital expenditure. The main expenditure was for sound equipment in the hall (which had been donated).
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k) ‘Internal Gifts’ represents gifts to members of the fellowship to mark special occasions. There was no such expenditure during this year.
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l) ‘Refreshments’ represents the cost of refreshments on Sundays and for special events. In many cases, the costs have been donated to the Church.
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m) ‘Stationery and Stamps’ also includes payments made to people for printing on their own printers.
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n) ‘Other’ covers anything that doesn’t fall into any other category. The main cost were for renewal of our Website Hosting, The purchase of songs from iSing and for anti-virus software on the Church’s PC.
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This represents the costs of hiring the School, and the Community Centre each Sunday and on other occasions. This was much lower than usual due to Covid. The forecast represents 6 month's hire at current rates (assuming we can start meeting again in June 2021).
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A number of people who regularly spend small amounts of money are given cash floats which are topped up when necessary, and accounted for at an appropriate time. This sum represents the money which is held in these floats but which has not yet been spent. The fact that this is negative indicates that people were then owed money by the Church (which has since been repaid).
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This represents cash (and possibly cheques) that I have received, but not banked yet.
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This represents the amount nominally in the bank.
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This represents payments that are due, but which have not yet been made. The outstanding payments were: the Tax and NI deducted in October and November but not yet paid to IR; and money received for the Foodbank that has not yet been passed on.
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Church Report 2020
Financial Outlook for 2021: As can be seen from the summary on page 10, the projected income for 2021 is expected to be about £7,000 less than the expenditure. In other words, we are spending more than we are getting in each month. We need to close this gap moving forward, as our reserves are being rapidly used up. Therefore we all need to consider increasing our giving towards the work of the Church (tax efficiently wherever possible!).
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Peter Goodson and Elizabeth Malunguza for carrying out an independent examination of the accounts. I would also like to thank those who have helped in checking the collection each Sunday while we were meeting in the school.
Gareth I Jenkins
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Church Report 2020
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WHAT WE BELIEVE - THE FIEC BASIS OF FAITH
1. GOD
There is one God, who exists eternally in three distinct but equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is unchangeable in his holiness, justice, wisdom and love. He is the almighty Creator, Saviour and Judge who sustains and governs all things according to his sovereign will for his own glory.
2. THE BIBLE
God has revealed himself in the Bible, which consists of the Old and New Testaments alone. Every word was inspired by God through human authors, so that the Bible as originally given is in its entirety the Word of God, without error and fully reliable in fact and doctrine. The Bible alone speaks with final authority and is always sufficient for all matters of belief and practice.
3. THE HUMAN RACE
All men and women, being created in the image of God, have inherent and equal dignity and worth. Their greatest purpose is to obey, worship and love God. As a result of the fall of our first parents, every aspect of human nature has been corrupted and all men and women are without spiritual life, guilty sinners and hostile to God. Every person is therefore under the just condemnation of God and needs to be born again, forgiven and reconciled to God in order to know and please him.
4. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and lived a sinless life in obedience to the Father. He taught with authority and all his words are true. On the cross he died in the place of sinners, bearing God’s punishment for their sin, redeeming them by his blood. He rose from the dead and in his resurrection body ascended into heaven where he is exalted as Lord of all. He intercedes for his people in the presence of the Father.
5. SALVATION
Salvation is entirely a work of God’s grace and cannot be earned or deserved. It has been accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ and is
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offered to all in the gospel. God in his love forgives sinners whom he calls, granting them repentance and faith. All who believe in Christ are justified by faith alone, adopted into the family of God and receive eternal life.
6. THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven to glorify Christ and to apply his work of salvation. He convicts sinners, imparts spiritual life and gives a true understanding of the Scriptures. He indwells all believers, brings assurance of salvation and produces increasing likeness to Christ. He builds up the Church and empowers its members for worship, service and mission.
7. THE CHURCH
The universal Church is the body of which Christ is the head and to which all who are saved belong. It is made visible in local Churches, which are congregations of believers who are committed to each other for the worship of God, the preaching of the Word, the administering of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, for pastoral care and discipline, and for evangelism. The unity of the body of Christ is expressed within and between Churches by mutual love, care and encouragement. True fellowship between Churches exists only where they are faithful to the gospel.
8. BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper have been given to the Churches by Christ as visible signs of the gospel. Baptism is a symbol of union with Christ and entry into his Church but does not impart spiritual life. The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of Christ’s sacrifice offered once for all and involves no change in the bread and wine. All its blessings are received by faith.
9. THE FUTURE
The Lord Jesus Christ will return in glory. He will raise the dead and judge the world in righteousness. The wicked will be sent to eternal punishment and the righteous will be welcomed into a life of eternal joy in fellowship with God. God will make all things new and will be glorified forever.
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Greal Hollands Free Church Page 19 Church Report 2020
Church Officers as at 30[th] November 2020
Elders
Mark Wigston (Pastor)
Deacons
Gareth Jenkins (Church Treasurer)
Gill Mead
Rob Mead Fiona Marston
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Church Contacts Details:
Postal Address:
P O Box 3975 BRACKNELL Berkshire RG12 8ZE
Meeting Place:
Great Hollands Primary School Wordsworth Great Hollands BRACKNELL RG12 8YR
Tel: 01344 286359
- E mail: Info@ghfc.org.uk
Website: www.ghfc.org.uk Charity Number: 1053868
Editor: Gareth Jenkins
Published March 2021
Great Hollands Free Church
because Jesus sets us free
Annual Report
& Accounts for 2020
Message from the Pastor
Mark Wigston
Being Church and Doing Church - during a pandemic
We were pretty busy during January and February 2020, so we were not paying much attention to the news. There was talk of some illness in Wuhan that was affecting lots of people, but somehow it was “out there” and unlikely to affect us “over here”. Then I remember seeing those seven buses on TV, with police escort, transporting passengers from the evacuation flight out of China, from RAF Brize Norton to Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, where they would stay in quarantine for two weeks.
Much closer to home, I went to the Look In Café in Great Hollands, to meet someone who never showed up. Whilst there though, I started talking to a man, who told me that life as we know it, was going to change massively in the near future. At that time, schools, shops, pubs and churches were all open as normal and it seemed that nothing had changed. We did decide however, as a precaution, to cancel the Children’s Party and Barn Dance, which were due to take place soon. It was not long after this, that I realised how right the man in the Café had been. Life did indeed change massively.
This provided a great challenge to the Church. How would we respond to all the changes? How would we continue to “Be Church”, even when we could not meet face to face as a church?
I would like to thank everyone within the church who really committed themselves to Being Church and supporting each other using any method available, both old and new. People found their landline phones and started phoning each other again, as well as discovering WhatsApp, Zoom and Google Meet. People were doing shopping for each other and caring for those in need.
Likewise, the Church leaders had to find meaningful ways to worship in what became the new normal. To start with, we produced recorded messages that were available on our website, together with written messages and Psalms, in a section called Church 2 Go.
After a few weeks, we started meeting for Sunday worship on-line using Google Meet. The format has evolved over the months and we now have a full program offering songs, prayers, readings, the spoken message and time for a chat at the end too. We had special celebrations for Harvest and
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Christmas with our children and teenagers from One 2 Free taking part, and we also celebrate communion together regularly. It is great to meet together every Sunday in this way, but I think we all look forward to being able to meet up again, face to face.
When there are so many changes going on around our world, many of us have been asking the question: when will Jesus return? The Bible teaches us that no one, apart from Father God, knows the answer. So, for that reason, we have focussed our Sunday teaching, not on that question, but on one that we can answer: How can I prepare for Jesus’ return? I hope that you have been enjoying our teaching series: Whispers of Eternity.
Many of us met up socially, over the year, as we were able, according to the rules in place at the time. People were meeting up in gardens or on walks when it was appropriate. As we approached Christmas, we were aware that the year had been particularly hard for retired folk living alone and for our children and teenagers. With this in mind, we made up gift bags and delivered them by hand, as a little encouragement, with love from the church.
Thank you to our wonderful God who has loved us and sustained us through all the ups and downs this last year. Thank you also, to everyone within our church, for playing your part too. It has not been easy, but it has been good. I feel that we are more united as a result of the last year. Maybe I can finish with the wonderful words of the Apostle Paul, from Ephesians 3:17-19 where he talks about the Four Dimensional Love of God:
I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
As you read through the rest of this report, you will see further examples of how we have adapted, so as to Be Church and Do Church during the Covid era.
One 2 Free
Fiona Marston
The year 2020 started with the three groups looking at different studies. The youngest group looked at Elijah and Elisha; the middle group looked at 1 Peter: Out of Darkness; and the oldest group looked at The Kingdom of Heaven.
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The lockdown in March meant that we were unable to meet together. This has been the situation throughout the remaining part of the year, apart from a video story in the summer, and the occasional worksheet or link to online resources.
The young people have contributed to the Harvest and Christmas online services through drama, prayers, poems and artwork. We thank God for the gifts He has given them, and for their willingness to share.
Please continue to pray for the young people, as they trust in God for their future and in the present circumstances.
One 2 Free Xtra Fiona Marston
One 2 Free Xtra is aimed at our young people from Year 8 and upwards. We aim to meet about once a month for fellowship and food.
This year, due to restrictions on meeting together in person, we have only managed to meet online for one or two One 2 Free Xtra meetings. However, some of the young people from the group do meet together online regularly for chat, quizzes and games.
Please pray for our young people – our future church leaders! Pray for them to continue to trust in God for their protection and peace.
Children’s Events
Fiona Marston
Our planned events were cancelled this year, due to Covid restrictions.
The Truth Mark Wigston
In normal times, this is a group that meets in various people’s homes to dig deep into the Bible and to pray together. At the turn of the year, we were using a study guide called the Big Picture, which looks at the basis of our faith. Starting with the perfection of creation, we moved on to the problem of sin. We then looked at some temporary solutions before looking at God’s permanent solution. Next, we asked the question: “How can I enter into relationship with God?” The course ended with modules on: Living a new life , Baptism and Communion . (If you have never done this course and would like to, please contact me.)
We were just about to start looking at the Old Testament book of Ruth when the first lockdown came. When everything had to move on-line, we decided to have a Church Prayer Meeting on Wednesday evenings, which has replaced this group for the time being.
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Brothers-in Arms
Rob Mead
Unfortunately, as with all the 'face-to-face' church meetings, we have not been able to meet for nearly a year.
However, the regular Wednesday evening prayer meeting, started during lockdown, has in some ways taken its place.
We pray that this situation will soon be over and we can meet together again.
Wednesday Prayer Meeting
Mark Wigston
Early on during lock-down, we knew that we needed to meet weekly as a church for prayer. Therefore, in the summer we set up an on-line prayer meeting which takes place at 7:30pm each Wednesday. This has been well attended, and because it is on-line, people really have been able to come just for one hour, without any additional travelling time. We have a Bible focus each week and then pray for a whole variety of situations and needs, both close to home and overseas too. We have also had topical evenings where our prayers have been motivated by current affairs, such as Youth during Lockdown, Race Relations, Front-line Workers and The Persecuted Church. If you have never joined us, we would love to welcome you.
The Life
David Warrilow
The aim of the group is to provide fellowship and mutual support for those who are available during weekdays. We generally meet in the afternoon in various homes on the second Thursday of each month during school term times and attract up to about 12 people per meeting. The group has not met since March 2020 due to Covid restrictions.
Our varied programme looks at spiritual and societal issues. Our speakers have come from both inside and outside GHFC. Topics in the first three months of 2020 were “Life before Bracknell” by our pastor, “Mums in Prayer” by Claire Bumpass and “Home-Start Bracknell Forest” by Anne Jenkins.
We hope to be able to resume the programme in some form once the pandemic is over and we would welcome ideas about how the group could develop further and also suggestions for speakers and / or topics.
Belovèd (including Bitesize)
Fiona Marston
Belovèd is a Bible study, prayer and fellowship group for ladies - presently up to 12 of us - who usually meet on Fridays at 10am (term time only), to study God’s word and to build our faith and relationship with Him.
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2020 has looked very different for us all. We started the year by completing our study of Joel and Amos, and then due to the lockdown, we were unable to meet together. Beloved continued as ‘Bitesize’ each week throughout the Spring and Summer in the form of a devotional, which was sent out by WhatsApp to the ladies of the church to encourage them. We restarted weekly online meetings in September looking at the fruits of the Spirit, and finished the year with an Advent devotional.
The group continues to be encouraged as we meet together (albeit remotely at the present time) for prayer, study and reflection. Mums in Prayer Clare Bumpass
Due to the Covid Pandemic, 2020 was naturally a challenging year for everyone and the Mums in Prayer ministry was no exception.
Our local groups were able to meet in person for the first few weeks of the year but could no longer continue as the need for social distancing became more apparent.
Fiona showed true leadership and was able to move her group online very quickly. Due to extensive building work at Clare’s house (which was halted during the first long lockdown), it was difficult at times for her group to meet. Fiona kindly welcomed these mums to her online group, which met on Tuesday mornings.
Clare was able to re-start her group online in September and has met regularly on Wednesday mornings. One of the advantages of meeting online is that mums from other regions have been able to join in which will hopefully help them start groups of their own at some point. Clare has a mum from London join each week and occasionally a mum from Aldershot.
Additionally, Clare prays with the UK leadership team via Skype once a month.
Due to work commitments, Sarah’s group has folded for the time being, but as she is working in a school, she continues to have a good ‘window’ into the prayer needs of young people and schools.
We continue to pray for ‘multiplication’ of MIP groups both locally and we all continue to pray for the vision of Mums in Prayer International – that every school in the world is covered by prayer!
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Great Hollands Free Church
Church Report 2020
Mark Wigston
Being Church – near and far
As the family of God, we have to be compassionate about situations close to home, and we must also be willing to help others, much further away too, whose needs and situations may have become more intense in the current climate of Coronavirus.
Locally
We have supported a number of people within Bracknell who have been struggling financially over the last year, and some of our members have been supporting the Bracknell Foodbank in various ways.
We have also been supporting Yeldall Manor drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre, which offers healing, hope and practical support to those struggling with substance abuse. Some of us have also taken part in their supporter events, which have moved on-line for obvious reasons.
We also make the recommended donation to FIEC every year. This is the group of over 600 churches in the UK, to which we belong. They are committed to seeing healthy, independent, evangelical churches sharing the good news of Jesus across our land.
Around the world
We have continued to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who are suffering for their faith. Much of our information on this is from Open Doors . We have sent them a further gift to help them, in their work on the ground.
We have also continued to support Eyerusalem, a student living in Ethiopia, through Compassion UK . Our donations have been a blessing to her as she moves on to independence.
Off-Road Walking Group
Gareth Jenkins
We started the year with walks in January and February, but after that, we had to cancel the walks due to the various Covid restrictions. The plan is to restart them later in 2021 when it is allowed.
If anybody would like details of potential walking routes for their daily exercise then please get in touch and I can share some with you.
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Lunch Club
Mark and Gabi Wigston
We started our Lunch Club in March 2019 and continued meeting, once a month, right up until March 2020. We meet at a local pub and folk can have anything they want from the menu, with most people getting a meal and complimentary tea or coffee, all for just £5. We always have a great crowd join us, but obviously, we have not been able to hold the club since the start of lock-down.
Knowing that our friends love meeting up, we decided to invite all of them to join us, when we started holding on-line Quiz Nights, which you can read about below.
Quiz Nights
Gareth Jenkins
Great Hollands Community Association organised one of their normal quiz nights in January and a number of people for GHFC participated (and won). This is a good opportunity to meet the local community as well as having an enjoyable evening.
During the lockdown we have organised online quizzes for people within the church and also extended it to people in the community – particularly our friends from the Lunch Club. We have found these a worthwhile break from the loneliness of lockdown and we intend to continue with these until normality returns.
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School Lessons
Mark and Gabi Wigston
Do you ever feel that have done something… just in time? That is how we felt when we visited one of our local primary schools for three days from 4[th] to 6[th] March – just before they stopped having outside volunteers due to the pandemic.
It was a joy to meet the children again, whom we have come to know over the last few years. We taught seven classes over the three days, with lessons lasting about 40 minutes each. We always agree a topic with the school in advance and create lessons especially for them. Our chosen topic this time was Generosity versus Greed and we came up with two great slogans:
-
Giving is better than Grabbing
-
Generosity is better than Greed
We shared with them, Jesus’ words from the Bible:
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
We always like to keep the lessons fast-moving and use slides, discussions, games, competitions and word puzzles.
It is a privilege to teach at this school, where the staff and children are always so pleased to see us.
School Gardening Club
Gabi Wigston
During the autumn of 2019, together with some of the children at one of our local primary schools, we cleared the garden of dead flowers and vegetable plants, placing them in the composter, getting ready for a new start in spring 2020. Everyone hoped and assumed that we would be together again in the spring, rejoicing in the first shoots and flowers of the year. We also assumed that we would be smelling and tasting the green beans in the summer.
However, as we all know, the year did not turn out as we had planned. Let’s pray that our Creator will enable us to start the school Gardening Club again soon.
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Church Membership on 30[th] November 2020
Beth Allwright Jean McCandless Clare Bumpass Rob Mead Peter Burch Gill Mead Sarah Burch Paul Michael Nikolay Dachev Mei Michael Radoslava Nestorova Lawrence Millwood Richard Elsbury Kyoko Millwood Sue Elsbury Jolame Nalumisa David Goodall Asena Nalumisa Sandy Goodall Val Pheney Peter Goodson Emily Pheney Richard Greenidge James Pheney Sheila Hopkins *Karen Rogers Gareth Jenkins Kelly Scott Anne Jenkins Pam Simmonds Andrew Lawson David Warrilow Pavlina Lawson Sheena Warrilow Chris Malunguza Dave Weston Elizabeth Malunguza Dawn Weston Fiona Marston Mark Wigston John Marston Gabi Wigston
Total membership: 42
- Indicates a new member in 2020
Changes to the Leadership Team
Peter Burch served the church as a deacon and as our Church Secretary for 6 years from 2014 until 2020. We would like to thank him for all his work and dedication over the years.
We were very pleased to welcome Fiona Marston as a deacon in 2020. She has already been a great blessing to the team.
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Treasurer’s Report: Year ending 30[th] November 2020
| Notes Budget 2021 1 £23,388.06 £41,760.00 -£48,954.02 ----------------- £16,195.64 £32,960.00 2 £8,600.00 3 £50.00 4 £150.00 5 ----------------- £41,760.00 £40,534.42 7 £2,247.60 6 £3,236.00 8 £2,936.00 9 ----------------- £48,954.02 £7,192.42 |
Notes Budget 2021 1 £23,388.06 £41,760.00 -£48,954.02 ----------------- £16,195.64 £32,960.00 2 £8,600.00 3 £50.00 4 £150.00 5 ----------------- £41,760.00 £40,534.42 7 £2,247.60 6 £3,236.00 8 £2,936.00 9 ----------------- £48,954.02 £7,192.42 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | 2020 | 2019 | Budget 2021 |
|
| 1 | ||||
| Opening Balance 1/12 | £23,647.58 | £31,544.43 | £23,388.06 | |
| Income | £46,852.95 | £44,757.60 | £41,760.00 | |
| Expenditure | -£47,112.47 | -£52,654.45 | -£48,954.02 | |
| ----------------- | ----------------- | ----------------- | ||
| Closing balance 30/11 | £23,388.06 | £23,647.58 | £16,195.64 | |
| Income | ||||
| Freewill Gifts | £38,740.95 | £32,960.00 | 2 | |
| Refund from Inland Revenue |
£7,875.67 | £8,600.00 | 3 | |
| Miscellaneous | £45.00 | £50.00 | 4 | |
| Bank & Building Society Interest |
£191.33 | £150.00 | 5 | |
| ----------------- | ----------------- | |||
| Total | £46,852.95 | £41,760.00 | ||
| Expenditure | ||||
| Employment Costs | £40,560.18 | £40,534.42 | 7 | |
| Gifts | £2,707.27 | £2,247.60 | 6 | |
| Miscellaneous | £2,262.02 | £3,236.00 | 8 | |
| Hire Fees | £1,583.00 | £2,936.00 | 9 | |
| ----------------- | ----------------- | |||
| Total | £47,112.47 | £48,954.02 | ||
| Decrease in Funds | £259.52 | £7,192.42 |
| Notes | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current Balance | 2020 | 2019 | |||
| Various Floats | -£243.84 | -£2.68 | 10 | ||
| Cash in hand | £19.83 | £14.93 | 11 | ||
| Current Account | £141.22 | £115.21 | 12 | ||
| Deposit Account | £4,460.76 | £5,683.30 | |||
| 60 Day Account | £19,010.09 | £17,836.82 | |||
| Total | £23,388.06 | £23,647.58 | |||
| Liabilities | -£217.08 | -£599.42 | 13 |
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Notes on the Accounts
-
The 3 columns of figures represent the following:
-
a) The first column shows the amounts for the year ending 30th November 2020
-
b) The second column shows the amounts for the previous year (ending 30th November 2019) for comparison
-
c) The third column represents my estimate for the current year (ending 30th November 2021) for budgetary purposes
-
This represents all freewill offerings made to the Church. They can be further broken down as follows:
| 2020 | 2019 | Budget 2021 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Designated (External) | £535.48 | £1,272.42 | £520.00 | a) | ||
| Designated (Internal) | £306.27 | £464.07 | £300.00 | b) | ||
| Regular Gifts | £20,305.00 | £20,820.00 | £17,040.00 | c) | ||
| Collection | £2,601.20 | £6,546.95 | £2,100.00 | d) | ||
| Other Donations | £14,993.00 | £7,856.71 | £13,000.00 | e) | ||
| ----------------- | ----------------- | ----------------- | ||||
| Total | £38,740.95 | £36,960.15 | £32,960.00 |
-
a) ‘Designated (External)’ represents gifts that were received specifically for the support of other Christian organisations (see note 6 for details). In some cases, these gifts were also received such that the tax is reclaimable by the Church and passed on to the relevant organisation.
-
Also included in this category is the ‘small change’ collection, which was designated as being a contribution towards the support of Eyerusalem in Ethiopia.
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b) ‘Designated (Internal)’ represents gifts that were made for the support of specific activities within the Church. This year it was partly cash gifts towards food for the Barn Dance and Children’s parties (which were subsequently cancelled) but mainly of gifts to purchase equipment for the sound system and songs for use in our online services.
-
c) ‘Regular Gifts’ represent those gifts that are made by regular donations. The majority of these are subject to reclaims from the Inland Revenue. Since April 2000, any gifts made by a
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taxpayer can be ‘Tax Efficient’ provided that they are not made anonymously.
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d) ‘Collection’ covers the money in the collecting box each Sunday. Since April 2013, any loose cash in the collection box (which means any amount less than £30) can be assumed to be subject to Gift Aid. However, if the amount is greater than £30 (for example a bundle of notes that have been put in together), then Gift Aid cannot be reclaimed. During this year, £1,750 has been put in the box for which Gift Aid is not claimable. If this had
-
money been given Tax Efficiently, then a further £437 could have been reclaimed from the Inland Revenue. The collection is significantly less than last year due to the fact we stopped meeting in the school in mid-March due to Covid. However this was more than made up for by an increase in Oneoff gifts.
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e) ‘Other Donations’ covers other one off gifts. A number of people have made such gifts during the year as they were unable to use the Collection box. I do not expect all such gifts to be repeated next year. Gift Aid is reclaimable on most of these.
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This represents the money that the Church has been able to reclaim from the Inland Revenue and corresponds to the tax paid on gifts made to the Church using the Gift Aid Scheme. This year I have made a reclaim for Gifts received during the 2018 - 19 Financial Year, and so we are up to date on our Gift Aid reclaims. If anyone would like to know more about how to make their giving ‘Tax Efficient’, then please speak to me about it. Note that higher rate taxpayers should ensure that they declare any Gift Aid donations on their Income Tax returns, since they will receive tax relief on such gifts.
-
This represents payments received by the Church for a specific purpose. This year it represented money received for Bible Notes used by Belovèd.
-
This represents the interest we receive on our bank accounts.
-
This represents gifts made to other individuals or organisations. The following table gives details of all the gifts made and indicates where part of the gift had been given to the Church specifically for that purpose. Note that if money is given specifically for a cause,
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then at least that amount of money is always passed on. In most cases, Gift Aid is claimable on such gifts and the anticipated Gift Aid claim is also passed on to the intended organisation. Note that the donation for Foodbank was received at the end of November 2020 so it was passed on in the 2020-21 Financial year.
The ‘Collection for Eyerusalem’ has been used towards our payments to Compassion for the support of Eyerusalem in Ethiopia. This year there was a shortfall of about £110 between the money collected (and the Gift Aid reclaimable on that) and the money we are committed to giving in support of Eyerusalem, (£28 per month) due to the fact that the collection box hasn’t been on display.
| Gifts For / To | Totals | Totals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Received | Given | ||
| Collection for Eyerusalem | £180.81 | £334.00 | |
| Yeldall Manor | £354.67 | £906.27 | |
| Open Doors | £450.00 | ||
| Foodbank | £50.00 | £0.00 | |
| Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches |
£967.00 | ||
| External Speakers | £50.00 | ||
| ---------------- | ---------------- | ||
| Totals | £585.48 | £2,707.27 |
The total amount given during the year represents about 6% of our income.
- This represents the Employment costs of the Church, namely the Salary and Pension contributions we pay to Mark and Gabi Wigston including Tax and National Insurance. From April 2016, there has been a special dispensation for most organisations such that the first £3,000 (increased to £4,000 in 2020) of Employers’ National Insurance Contribution each year doesn’t need to be paid. In our case, that covers all of our Employers’ National Insurance and this saving should apply in future years.
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8. This covers all the other expenditure. The following provides a more detailed breakdown:
| detailed breakdown: | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2019 | Budget 2021 | ||||
| Annual | £834.14 | £890.90 | £900.00 | a) | ||
| Banking | £60.00 | £60.00 | £96.00 | b) | ||
| Printing | £63.24 | £149.58 | £150.00 | c) | ||
| Magazines,Books etc. | £46.25 | £93.75 | £90.00 | d) | ||
| Allowances | £199.00 | £259.75 | £420.00 | e) | ||
| Belovèd | £32.32 | £28.93 | £50.00 | f) | ||
| Publicity | £0.00 | £100.00 | £150.00 | g) | ||
| Youth Work | £40.86 | £316.73 | £350.00 | h) | ||
| DBS Checks | £137.40 | £233.20 | £200.00 | i) | ||
| Capital Fund | £155.06 | £130.98 | £300.00 | j) | ||
| Internal Gifts | £0.00 | £120.00 | £100.00 | k) | ||
| Refreshments | £86.94 | £300.99 | £200.00 | l) | ||
| Stationeryand Stamps | £29.34 | £25.37 | £30.00 | m) | ||
| Other | £577.47 | £106.71 | £200.00 | n) | ||
| --------------- | ---------------- | ----------------- | ||||
| Total | £2,262.02 | £2,816.89 |
£3,236.00 |
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a) ‘Annual’ represents one-off annual charges such as Insurance, our PO Box and our Copyright Licence.
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b) ‘Banking’ represents our monthly bank charges.
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c) ‘Printing’ represents the costs for Bulk Printing and consumables for the Church Printer.
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d) ‘Magazines, Books etc.’ represents the costs of purchasing Evangelicals Now.
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e) ‘Allowances’ represents mileage payments made to Mark plus costs of books and an allowance for his phone.
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f) ‘Belovèd’ represents the cost of Bible Notes bought for Belovèd.
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g) ‘Publicity’ covers the cost of publicity for the Church. The main cost now is for our ongoing advert in Great Hollands Matters which wasn’t invoiced for during the year due to Covid.
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h) ‘Youth Work’ represents the cost of materials for the children's and youth work on Sundays. In 2019 this included the cost of the Children’s parties (which is where most of the money was spent).
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i) ‘DBS Checks’ represents the cost carrying out DBS checks on youth workers.
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-
j) ‘Capital Fund’ represents one-off capital expenditure. The main expenditure was for sound equipment in the hall (which had been donated).
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k) ‘Internal Gifts’ represents gifts to members of the fellowship to mark special occasions. There was no such expenditure during this year.
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l) ‘Refreshments’ represents the cost of refreshments on Sundays and for special events. In many cases, the costs have been donated to the Church.
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m) ‘Stationery and Stamps’ also includes payments made to people for printing on their own printers.
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n) ‘Other’ covers anything that doesn’t fall into any other category. The main cost were for renewal of our Website Hosting, The purchase of songs from iSing and for anti-virus software on the Church’s PC.
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This represents the costs of hiring the School, and the Community Centre each Sunday and on other occasions. This was much lower than usual due to Covid. The forecast represents 6 month's hire at current rates (assuming we can start meeting again in June 2021).
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A number of people who regularly spend small amounts of money are given cash floats which are topped up when necessary, and accounted for at an appropriate time. This sum represents the money which is held in these floats but which has not yet been spent. The fact that this is negative indicates that people were then owed money by the Church (which has since been repaid).
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This represents cash (and possibly cheques) that I have received, but not banked yet.
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This represents the amount nominally in the bank.
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This represents payments that are due, but which have not yet been made. The outstanding payments were: the Tax and NI deducted in October and November but not yet paid to IR; and money received for the Foodbank that has not yet been passed on.
Page 15
Great Hollands Free Church
Church Report 2020
Financial Outlook for 2021: As can be seen from the summary on page 10, the projected income for 2021 is expected to be about £7,000 less than the expenditure. In other words, we are spending more than we are getting in each month. We need to close this gap moving forward, as our reserves are being rapidly used up. Therefore we all need to consider increasing our giving towards the work of the Church (tax efficiently wherever possible!).
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Peter Goodson and Elizabeth Malunguza for carrying out an independent examination of the accounts. I would also like to thank those who have helped in checking the collection each Sunday while we were meeting in the school.
Gareth I Jenkins
Page 16
Church Report 2020
Great Hollands Free Church
WHAT WE BELIEVE - THE FIEC BASIS OF FAITH
1. GOD
There is one God, who exists eternally in three distinct but equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is unchangeable in his holiness, justice, wisdom and love. He is the almighty Creator, Saviour and Judge who sustains and governs all things according to his sovereign will for his own glory.
2. THE BIBLE
God has revealed himself in the Bible, which consists of the Old and New Testaments alone. Every word was inspired by God through human authors, so that the Bible as originally given is in its entirety the Word of God, without error and fully reliable in fact and doctrine. The Bible alone speaks with final authority and is always sufficient for all matters of belief and practice.
3. THE HUMAN RACE
All men and women, being created in the image of God, have inherent and equal dignity and worth. Their greatest purpose is to obey, worship and love God. As a result of the fall of our first parents, every aspect of human nature has been corrupted and all men and women are without spiritual life, guilty sinners and hostile to God. Every person is therefore under the just condemnation of God and needs to be born again, forgiven and reconciled to God in order to know and please him.
4. THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
The Lord Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, and lived a sinless life in obedience to the Father. He taught with authority and all his words are true. On the cross he died in the place of sinners, bearing God’s punishment for their sin, redeeming them by his blood. He rose from the dead and in his resurrection body ascended into heaven where he is exalted as Lord of all. He intercedes for his people in the presence of the Father.
5. SALVATION
Salvation is entirely a work of God’s grace and cannot be earned or deserved. It has been accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ and is
Great Hollands Free Church
Church Report 2020
Page 17
offered to all in the gospel. God in his love forgives sinners whom he calls, granting them repentance and faith. All who believe in Christ are justified by faith alone, adopted into the family of God and receive eternal life.
6. THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Holy Spirit has been sent from heaven to glorify Christ and to apply his work of salvation. He convicts sinners, imparts spiritual life and gives a true understanding of the Scriptures. He indwells all believers, brings assurance of salvation and produces increasing likeness to Christ. He builds up the Church and empowers its members for worship, service and mission.
7. THE CHURCH
The universal Church is the body of which Christ is the head and to which all who are saved belong. It is made visible in local Churches, which are congregations of believers who are committed to each other for the worship of God, the preaching of the Word, the administering of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, for pastoral care and discipline, and for evangelism. The unity of the body of Christ is expressed within and between Churches by mutual love, care and encouragement. True fellowship between Churches exists only where they are faithful to the gospel.
8. BAPTISM AND THE LORD’S SUPPER
Baptism and the Lord’s Supper have been given to the Churches by Christ as visible signs of the gospel. Baptism is a symbol of union with Christ and entry into his Church but does not impart spiritual life. The Lord’s Supper is a commemoration of Christ’s sacrifice offered once for all and involves no change in the bread and wine. All its blessings are received by faith.
9. THE FUTURE
The Lord Jesus Christ will return in glory. He will raise the dead and judge the world in righteousness. The wicked will be sent to eternal punishment and the righteous will be welcomed into a life of eternal joy in fellowship with God. God will make all things new and will be glorified forever.
Church Report 2020
Great Hollands Free Church
Page 18
Greal Hollands Free Church Page 19 Church Report 2020
Church Officers as at 30[th] November 2020
Elders
Mark Wigston (Pastor)
Deacons
Gareth Jenkins (Church Treasurer)
Gill Mead
Rob Mead Fiona Marston
Church Report 2020
Great Hollands Free Church
Page 20
Church Contacts Details:
Postal Address:
P O Box 3975 BRACKNELL Berkshire RG12 8ZE
Meeting Place:
Great Hollands Primary School Wordsworth Great Hollands BRACKNELL RG12 8YR
Tel: 01344 286359
- E mail: Info@ghfc.org.uk
Website: www.ghfc.org.uk Charity Number: 1053868
Editor: Gareth Jenkins
Published March 2021
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAM) A140 W5 Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to tho trustoMI m•mbers of Great Hollands Free Church On accounts for tho year •nded 30 November 2020 Charlty no (If any) 1053868 S•t out on p•ge$ 10t016 I report to th8 trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (Ihe Trust.) for the year ended 3011112020. Responslbllhle8 and basls of report As the ¢harrVs trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the a¢unt$ in accordance with the requirements of the Charitie8 Act 2011 (Ihe Act.). I report in resF*d of my examination of the TNst'8 accounts Carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination. I have followed all the apICable Direcbons given by the Chanty Commission under section 145{5)Ibl of the Act. Independent I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have •xamln•r's ststsm•nt come to my attention in connection with the examination lolher than that disdosed below ') which gNes me cause to believe that in, any material respect: the accounting re¢¢)rd8 were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act., or the accounts dKI not accord wrth the accounting records.. or the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements onceming the fomi and content of accounts sel out in the Charitie8 {Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requ1ment that the accounts give a Irue and fair, view bvhich 18 not a matter Considered as part of an independent examination. I have concems and have come auoss no other matters in connection with the examination to vthich attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understandiNJ of the accounts lo be reached. ' Please delete the words in the brackets rf they do not apply. Slgn•d: Date: 202 Name: Elizabeth Malunguza Relevant profes$lonal quallficallonls) or body South African InstrtLrte of Chartered Accountants- 04859452 9 Mahler Close Basingstoke RG22 4NA Addr•8s: IER Oct 2018