PraiseWay Church AOG 27-31 Straight Road Colchester CO3 9BY ## **Trustees Annual Report for Period 2020** ## **Aim of the Church** PraiseWay AOG is part of the Assemblies of God movement in the Uk and is located at 27-31 Straight Road Colchester. The church is a registered charity (number 120441) The church is administered and managed by a small leadership team and a church council. The members of the church council are also the composition of the board of Trustees. These people were specifically chosen from the congregation as suitable for this position for their good standing and suitable abilities. The aim of the leadership and council is to actively promote the pastoral, evangelical and social purposes of the church. The church has a full time pastor Mr Sean McIntyre together with his wife Joyce. The Pastor is the chairman of the board of trustees. ## **Objectives and Activities** The aim of Praiseway is the growth, sustenance and nurturing of a healthy and vibrant community that is both an asset to the community at large and a valuable resource to all its members. The practice and promotion of spiritual and practical matters in regards to the welfare, leadership and general encouragement of all the members of the church comprises the primary objective and activity of the church. This is also extended to all visitors who attend. These objectives are achieved in the main through its regular activities which are offered in the church, which encompass fellowship, corporate worship and teaching. The church’s activities are put into practice via our regular services and a variety of less formal meetings that take place during the week. It is during these regular meetings that the core values of the church are expressed and promoted wherever appropriate. These meetings were translated into ‘Bubbles’ during 2020, which were groups that met on-line via Zoom to maintain fellowship and encouragement in the face of the worldwide pandemic that called for maximum isolation and exclusion from meetings. Every member of the church is encouraged and enabled to express their individual beliefs in the medium of worship, teaching, prayer and faith based activities during our meetings. The church maintains a strong commitment to pastoral care of its members and anyone else it comes into contact with through practical support, advice and the promotion of lifestyles that reflect goodwill, care and the advancement of faith. The church also makes a valuable contribution to missionary work across the world through an ongoing commitment of financial support and prayer. ## **Performance** During 2020 the church endeavoured to offer a Sunday Service week by week, which changed in format regularly as new rules and restrictions were enforced as Covid 19 began to become more prominent. The church’s sense of community was never more profound than in this period of isolation, where the church endeavored to constantly promote communication and support wherever and whenever possible. Ad-hoc meetings were re-invented as often as conditions and rules changed week-by-week as the pandemic unfolded across the nation. The church offered essential support, primarily to its members but also to anyone else connected, from shopping and phone calls to prayer and advice in a fluent situation that highlighted the need to promote community to a very isolated church. The midweek bible study group continued to meet via zoom and maintained its core values of discussion, teaching and reflection as well as encouragement and fellowship. In addition to this several new ‘bubbles’ or group meetings were started, where members of the church were designated to belong, which included those who would attend on-line as well as other members who would not but were cared for pastorally by the group members to maximise a community spirit throughout 2020. The church also took the opportunity in these bubbles to teach and encourage its members through the use of the Multiply Movement online teaching materials which prepares individuals for exercising evangelism in their own lives. ## **Church Site** During 2020, the church building was improved with the addition of cladding to the frontal portion of the church to update and improve its appearance. Funding for this was taken from the building fund and has given the church a fresh look with a hope of attracting more interest in the site. The church continues to employ the services of a local gardener infrequently, who will continue to maintain the various flower beds and shrubbery, the costs of which were borne by the Building Fund. ## **Pastoral Care** Pastoral care for the members of Praiseway was severely limited during 2020 due to the Corona Virus and the social distancing rules that limited personal contact and interaction. The majority of contact for members of the church was conducted via Zoom meetings to which all were invited, though of course due to age and other restrictions some members have had a very limited amount of contact, some not being familiar with the technical requirements to attend these meetings. Due to long term illnesses and requirements to isolate due to risk, some members had actually benefited from the exposure to online meetings as it has enabled them to attend when it would have been not possible normally. The Youth group has continued to meet online during 2020 with a healthy proportion of the young members of the church getting connected. ## **Missions** Praiseway firmly believes in missionary work and as such contributes to several projects around the world, with financial support and prayer. In particular the church continues to support CAM international that funds missionaries working in schools in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is also financially supporting the Barnabas Fund in Mombasa, a christian organisation that provides help and support to Christian minorities who experience persecution for their faith and provide real means to fund projects in the local environment that benefit the community. ## **Administrative Information** PraiseWay church is part of the Assemblies of God and is situated in the district of Lexden and Stanway in Colchester. The address is 27-31 Straight Road, Colchester, Essex CO3 9BY ## **Financial Report for the Activities of Praiseway** The financial period ending 31st December 2020 represented a moderate increase in the income of the church in comparison with the last year. The church ended the period with small credits held with the utilities companies due to none use of the premises and therefore a reduction in usage and costs, this will translate into a real time reduction in Standing Orders payments in the next period saving the church expenses in 2021. Despite the global pandemic of the corona virus and its unprecedented effect on the global economy, the overall General Purpose Fund of the Church shrunk by just £35 for the period. Not only is this a remarkable improvement on the previous year, but a triumph in light of the overwhelming challenges the year presented to the survival of the church. The overall bank balance of the church shrunk by £3,295 but this was due to expenditure from the Building Fund , primarily for the payment for cladding of the front of the building to give the church a much needed facelift for the passing appearance of the building. Building Fund aside, overall, the liquid assets of the church, namely cash held at bank, was maintained during this financial period which is a considerable achievement. 2021 however will show a downturn in Gift Aid Small Donations due to the nature of giving which has been affected by a lack of cash giving on a regular basis. ## **PRAISEWAY ASSEMBLY OF GOD** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2020** **Charity Trustees** **David Nott Michael Eavery Steve Oxley Geraldine Nott Sean McIntyre Joyce McIntyre** ## **Independent Examiner** **Mrs Carole Cowgill ACA 4 Penny Meadow Capel St Mary Ipswich IP9 2UU** |**Contents**
**Trustees' Report**
**Independent Examiner's Report**
**Receipts and Payments Account**
**Statement of Assets and Liabilities**
**Notes to the Accounts**|**Page**
**3 to 7**
**8**
**9**
**10**
**11**| |---|---| 2 **DRAFT** ## **PRAISEWAY ASSEMBLY OF GOD** ## **RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT** ## **AS AT 31ST DECEMBER 2020** |||**Unrestricted **|**Restricted**|**Designated **|**Total Funds**| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**Funds**|**Funds**|**Funds**|**2020**| ||**Notes**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**| |**Receipts**|||||| |Donations
- ofertory||21,674|100||21,774| |- gift aid||4,205|13||4,218| |- Coco Care||1,200|||1,200| |||27,079|113|0|27,192| |Interest received||10|||10| |**Total Receipts**||**27,089**|**113**|**0**|**27,202**| |**Payments**|||||| |Pastoral support and payroll costs|1|20,622|||20,622| |Activities relating to the work of|||||| |the church|2|2,081|||2,081| |Gifts and Donations|3|0|||0| |Utility and insurance costs|4|2,625|||2,625| |Repairs and Maintenance|||3,320||3,320| |Equipment and accessories||148|||148| |Management and administration costs|5|1,931|||1,931| |**Total Payments**||**27,407**|**3,320**|**0**|**30,727**| |**Net of Receipts/ (Payments)**||(318)|(3,207)|0|(3,525)| |**Transfers between funds**|||||0| |**Cash Funds b/f 1st January 2020**||7,783|4,197|470|12,450| |**Cash Funds c/f 31st December 2020**||**7,465**|**990**|**470**|**8,925**| 8 ## **Total Funds 2019** ## **£** 23,306 4,147 0 27,453 51 **27,504** 20,278 3,526 190 3,039 703 3,401 1,996 ## **33,133** (5,629) 0 18,079 ## **12,450** 8 ## **PRAISEWAY ASSEMBLY OF GOD** ## **REPORT AND ACCOUNTS** # **FOR THE YEAR ENDED** **31ST DECEMBER 2020** **Registered Charity Number – 1054335 Address: 27 Straight Road Colchester CO3 9BY** 1 **DRAFT** ## **PRAISEWAY ASSEMBLY OF GOD** ## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2020** |**1.**
**Pastoral support and payroll costs**
Pastor's salary
Visiting speakers' fees
**2.**
**Activities relating to the work of**
**the church**
Pulpit supplies
Missionary support
Travel expenses
Books
Welfare fund expenses
Childrens and Youth
Catering
Sundry, including subs
Evangelism
Conferences
**3.**
**Gifts and Donations**
Other donations
**4.**
**Utility and insurance costs**
Heat and light
Phone and internet costs
Water charges
Insurance
**5.**
**Management and administration costs**
Payments to AOG Head Ofce
Accountancy and independent exam fees
Software costs
Media costs
Postage, printing, stationery
Bank charges
Licences and professional fees|**2019**
**£**
20,622
0
**20,622**
100
1,440
0
104
0D
0
34
76
0
327
**2,081**
0
**0**
1,092
30
509
994
**2,625**
660
260
108
350
73
8
472
**1,931**|**2019**
**£**
19,728
550| |---|---|---| |||**20,278**| |||181
2,622
37
310
100
0
43
36
197
0| |||**3,526**| |||190| |||**190**| |||1,249
578
192
1,020| |||**3,039**| |||597
254
333
0
388
13
411| |||**1,996**| D = Designated fund expenses 10 ## **PRAISEWAY ASSEMBLY OF GOD** ## **DRAFT** ## **STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2020** |**31 December**
**2020**
**£**
**£**
**Cash Funds**
Barclays current account
7,843
Kingdom savings account
1,082
Cash banked after year end
0
**Total Monetary Assets**
8,925
**The Funds of the Charity:**
**Unrestricted Income Funds**
Unrestricted General Funds
7,465
Designated funds - Welfare Fund
470
**Total Unrestricted Funds**
7,935
**Restricted Income Funds**
Building Fund
990
**Total Charity Funds**
8,925
These accounts were approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf:
Signed:……………………………..
Date:……………….|**31**
**£**
3,140
9,080
230| |---|---| ||7,783
470| ||Date:…………| Date:………… 9 December 2019 12,450 8,253 4,197 12,450 ## ## ##