Epworth Baptist Church
TRUSTEES' REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
Registered Charity No: 1060523
Principal Address: Station Road Epworth North Lincolnshire DN9 1JZ Trustees: A. Wilkinson (Minister) C. Todd (Treasurer) C Creese L. Wilson
Independent Examiner: Joyce Priestley Coverdale, King Edward Street, Belton, Doncaster. DN9 1PH Principal bankers: HSBC Market Place Epworth
The Trustees present their report with the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2020
The Trustees are appointed through an open and public process by the church members meeting to be responsible for the governance of the church. Trustees, except for the Minister, are appointed for an initial three-year term and serve so long as they have the support of the church members' meeting. They have the opportunity to be nominated for re-appointment at the end of each three year term.
The Trustees, who form the Leadership Team, control, manage and administer the church, subject to any specific or general directions from the church members' meeting. The Minister (when in post), who is also a Trustee, takes responsibility for the implementation of direction set by the Leadership Team and in addition, each member of the Leadership Team has responsibility for a particular area of the church's work. There are also other volunteers involved in the activities of the church.
The trustees during the year were those listed above. Terry Jaques was a Trustee of EBC until September 2020 when he left the church, moving away to care for an elderly family member.
The Epworth Baptist Church operates under clauses 4 to 22 of a scheme of the Charity Commissioners for the regulation of Wolverhampton Baptist Church, this being imposed by the Charity Commission by an order sealed 31/05/1 935.
lt is affiliated to the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the East Midlands Baptist Association is trustee of the Church.
Objectives : The Church exists for the worship of God, the proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and for the deepening of the spiritual life of Christians; the doctrinal position is based on a belief in the inspiration and authority of the bible. Baptism is of believers and by immersion It has a congregational form of government, to whom the trustees are directly responsible and meetings are on a quarterly basis for the conducting of business. The Annual General Meeting is held in January each year
The principal purpose is to advance the Christian faith as well as to advance education and to carry out other charitable activities. The church's vision is to extend the kingdom of God through its members loving God, loving one another and loving the community of the Isle of Axholme.
Grants are made as directed by the donor or where the Leadership Team considers the payment would further the objectives of the church.
Review of activities and future developments in the context of the objectives, the following achievements show how the vision to extend the kingdom of God has come to life but due to the Covid Pandemic during most of 2020 and into 2021 these activities were curtailed
| Congregations | Looking out into the communities around us - to make church more relevant |
|---|---|
| and accessible to the wider community. | |
| Welcoming visitors and newcomers to the church. We would normally have | |
| had a Pancake party, Thursday coffee group, Harvest lunch, Outings, Light | |
| Party, Christmas lunch etc but due to government restrictions all were | |
| suspended but we had online meetings including a Christmas Craft Evening | |
| with demonstrations and kits provided so folks could try the crafts their self. | |
| Celebrations | Worshipping God in a way that is culturally relevant normally holding |
| Special services including Good Friday service and Walk of Witness, Easter | |
| Sunday breakfast and service, Family Services, Carol service, Christmas | |
| morning service and other special celebrations but following Government | |
| guidelines these activities either stopped or were held on line via Zoom or | |
| YouTube | |
| Care | The Pastoral Team ensures the welfare of EBC members/friends and |
| regularly contacts those who are missing from church and makes home | |
| visits. Again following the guide lines activities happened on line or following | |
| recommended restrictions, including meeting in parks or outdoor sites and | |
| keeping in touch with members by phone. | |
| Children | Continuing to provide activities for young people from 0 to 15 provided |
| through activities to do at home. | |
| Compassion | Working as part of Scunthorpe Foodbank, a member of the Trussel Trust to |
| feed those in the community in a time of crisis. A team also runs our own | |
| Foodbank weekly from the church premises to support families on the Isle. | |
| We had a great increase in requests for food parcels at the start of lockdown |
and have been able to support local families in need throughout the year. We also gave extra hampers during the school holidays and at Christmas which included butcher’s vouchers. Senior Citizens in the local community also received Christmas Hampers.
Continuing support for Compassion UK - currently sponsoring children in various countries.
Local outreach to meet the needs of the local community Involvement in Epworth Christians Together with other local churches via Zoom meetings.
Teaching Alongside a message on Sunday mornings the church holds an annual Church Vision Day, this year we looked at the Church and Personal Values which was held in February. From March all Church Services and meetings in the church building were suspended but online services, prayer meetings and bible studies were run via Zoom or YouTube.
Minister:
Continued support for our minister, Andy Wilkinson as he continues his Baptist NAMS training to allow him to grow and develop in his calling.
Financial Review 2020
Available cash reserves (general fund) totalled £1587 at the year-end; the ministry/building fund (EMB Trust co account) has an end of year balance of £31590 which includes a reserve fund of £16000. This has reduced by £6,000 during the year, transferred to the Church current account, in order to pay for the running of the church at this time of changing membership and church giving. This may reduce further in the coming year as a deficit is forecast for 2021.
Investment strategy - the Ministry/building fund is held by the EMBTC which is mainly placed in medium low risk stocks, shares and bonds, to enable higher returns on this larger amount. Reserve Policy for 2020 —a reserve fund of £16,000 is held within the East Midlands Baptist Trust Company (EMBTC) account in order to:-
meet employer responsibilities in the event of a sudden drop in income meet an unforeseen emergency eg. unexpected large repair bill.
Receipts
Church giving in the weekly offertory and monthly standing order Donations was down by around 9% for 2020 compared to 2019. This reduction is due to the closing of the church building for worship as a result of Covid restrictions. We as a leadership team are very grateful for the continued regular giving by Standing Order by church members which has remained at last year’s levels. Gift Aid reclaimed from HMRC was £8707, a slight increase on last year due to additional weekly offertory donations which is claimed in April for the previous year. During the Covid lockdown our Foodbank continued to operate and was blessed by not only donations of food but monetary sums from individuals and organisations such as the local Rotary and Lions groups. This is shown in the large sum of £7486 as Gifts for other causes and was used during the year to maintain food stocks and arrange Christmas hampers for needy families in December.
Expenditure in 2020 included:
General up keep of the church building including the redecoration of the minister’s office in January, continued basic cleaning of the church during lockdown and purchase of protective equipment, sanitiser dispensers etc, all required to prepare church for re-opening after lock down eased. Annual checks for fire and gas continued and standard costs for utilities although in general, upkeep of the church was reduced by just over £1000 for the year.
There were small sums for youth work to give local children who had attended church groups, small gifts at Christmas and vouchers for trips out in school holidays. The majority of expenditure on missional work has been via the foodbank in maintaining food stocks of essential items and providing hampers for families for the school holidays and Christmas including the supply of meat vouchers from the local butcher and fresh vegetables.
IT expenses included £140 for a new video camera to assist in better production for our online Sunday worship and weekly online Bible Studies.
Trustee payments: The annual stipend paid to Andrew Wilkinson, Church Minister in the year (net of pension deductions) was £21469 (nett) in line with the BU guidelines. Employer pension contributions of £2960 and Ministry costs for the Manse, conferences and travel totalled £9300, a reduction from last year due to travel restrictions and church being closed so no visiting speakers. The 2020 total pension costs of £7014 include £1589 of deficit payments which remained at last year’s levels for the first 6 months of the year but were reduced to half from July into 2021 due to the pandemic, acknowledging the reduction in income that churches were receiving as a result of restrictions. The church has given over £2800 to other causes and charities in particular Baptist Home Mission, BMS World Mission, supporting local and national Christian charities and two couples, previous attendees at EBC, on mission working in South Africa and Zambia. Across all church accounts there was a deficit of £7,838 reported at the year-end which includes £4300 of yet unused donations to the foodbank. For 2021 expected income is £40,700 which has been estimated at a reduced level for the first half of the year due to the church operating online and forecast expenditure is £39,000, giving an expected small profit of around £1700. In the light of the reduced workload during the pandemic and continued deficit forecast, the church agreed to the minister’s request to move to part time working as of 1[st] March 2021 which reduces the ougoings and gives the church a more positive financial outlook during the current year. The church is hoping to start worshipping again in the building from September as restrictions have eased and we hope members feel more confident in returning to the building. This will allow us to meet in person and consider our options for the future and develop a new vision for the church and its outreach and growth in the local community ensuring we serve the membership but also take the message of the gospel of Jesus to those around us.
Public Benefit.
The Trustees have referred to the guidance contained in the Charity Commission's general guidance on public benefit and complied with section 17 (6) of the 2011 Charities Act when reviewing the aims and objectives prior to planning and developing activities.
Statement of Trustees' responsibilities
Charity law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charily and of the surplus or deficit of the charity for that period. In preparing those financial statements, they are required to:
Select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
Make judgments and estimates that are reasonable and prudent
Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and to enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011 and governing document of the charity. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
(On behalf of the trustees)
L Wilson
Dated: 1/09/2021
Deacon
EPWORTH BAPTIST CHURCH FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020 DRAFT GENERAL RECEivfs AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT Nrte 2020 201 R¢c¢ipts: Offertory Gift Aid Offertory Income tax re¢ov¢red on gifts Hire of Premises 4.273.17 7,089.23 25293.00 25.363.00 .707.24 7.440.53 150.00 630.00 Donations aftd other income 349.72 1.597.00 Gifts tor her causes- 2020 show5 FIK)dbank donatio onty Miscellaneous (Majority for 2019 from Insurance claim) Total Rttelpts 7.486.00 149.55 318.00 753.99 46 4118.68 43 191.75 P8yments'. Ministry Upk¢¢p ofchurch premises Missil. includes some 2019 8ivin8 & n¢X includtn8 Focdbank Mission Foodbank expenses Administration inc IT and AV 16.314.57 17.449.27 4.966.96 6,448.47 4228.55 3.067.15 3226.60 NIA 795.16 1.218.52 852.31 Miscellaneous 157.05 Tot1 Pym¢nt$ 29,688.89 29 1135.72 Trlfer5 linc money from EMB Trus¢ AIC & oui to Wages Alc) B81gn¢¢ brouRht fomrd B8lanc¢ Carried fornxrd 15.830.55 12.250.00 1.717.14 188.89 1.078.13 188.89 HSBC WAGES ACCOUNT 2020 Total Reeeipts Payment5: Net Sa4 HMRC Pastor Expen5e5 Total Paymtttts 21.469.37 416.38 20,629.35 658.65 21085.75 2I388.IMI Transfers 21,815.00 579.86 21.200.00 667.86 Bal8liCt brougbt forwrd Baixnce cxrried fonvard 5119.11 579.86 Total IgeDeral+w8g¢s} Surplusldeficit for tbe yer TakiDg into c£ounl unspent donations from ldbank 3578.72 7W8.12 6J63.22 NIA
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS l. These accounts have been prepa on a receipts & payments b&sis and aLxxJrd with Chariti¢s Act 2011. 2. Tnsstee payments.. The pastor receIvj a slipend and h¢r paymts, se¢ let for ddails 3. Non-monetary assets held for the church's own use: The church is the bCClaI OW (subjttt the relevant irusts) of the following assets:_ Church pr¢Tnises and burial grouThl- legal title held by ihe church's cust(Klian twst¢¢ {Easi Midlands Baptist Ass(xiation). 2020 {£) 2019 20211 (£) 2019 4. Donations & other income 7. Missio Donations 280.00 Youth work 274.85 242.16 Foodbank Donations 7,486.00 Fdbank purch&ses 3.226.60 Gifi Aid donations 240.72 SJO.00 (hher 21.70 299.99 PSP & Energise 109.00 787.00 2019 Giving paid in 2020 1,155.00 97.00 2020 part of gifts to charitics ' 1527.00 2 525.00 05.15 J 067.15 S. Ministry 8. Administr8tio Pension 7.013.88 7.830.81 PrintinpJstalionaylsundrie5 97.60 90.16 Expenses 244.00 97.00 Telephonellntemet 182.20 325.79 Manse expenses 9.056.69 9.371.46 Subscriptions & ftts 180.00 288.60 Preacher expenses 0.00 150.00 Books. publiLlions 6.58 117.00 16 14.57 17 449.27 IT 216.78 184.98 Mwsi¢. AV 112.00 211.99 795.10 18.52 6. Upkeep of churth premises EILYtricity & G&$ 1,444.09 9. HSBC BSinesS Ale Wat¢r & Draina¥e 222.71 540.90 Rff¢ipts.. Interest 4.806.31 1.09 Insurance 990.17 978.33 Transfas 4,880.00 -3.950.00 Mainienance & renewals 2 i42.96 i 485.15 BalanLY brought Vwd 81.01 4 029.92 6 448.47 Blntt erritd Vwd 7.32 81.01 ** Glven to other causes (Mission) The Annual Giving I[ nnthlY donatiOTLS to Comp&ssion ¢hild SFX)n8or5hip programn Church Mission payments to lan & Alison Richar¢Lson in Zambia aThl & Fr&ser Jathon in South Afri The DrAcons have approved a fiffther £1250.00 to be made in Annu Giving to the ¢hurth's regular cl)ariiies This takes the annual giving ai EBC to £281M) which is arOW I/* of Monthly Offering & GA donations.
PAGE2 202 2019 BANK ACCOUNT ADMINISTERED BY EMB TRUSTCOlre5tricted Reeeipts:Interest 1,036.74 ,176.36 Payments: Transfers 6,000.IKI 5.000. Bfilanee brogknt forward 36.552.67 40.376.31 Balanc¢ carried fonvrd 31J89.41 36.552.67 STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AT 31 DECEMBER 2020 No¢e 2020 2019 MQNETARY A&SETS: General Account 1.078.13 188.89 HSBC Wages Account 509.11 579.86 HSBC Busin¢s5 A¢¢ount 7.32 81.01 Account administered by EMB TnLSt Co (Restrid¢d) Cash in hartd 31.389.41 36.552.67 5.98 Tot¥Jl Cash Balances 33 189.95 NON-MONETAR Y ASSETS: Held fv church's Church premises (insurance value) 860,944.00 841.981.00 Fixtures, fumiture & equipment (insurance value) 45.312.00 44.312.00 Burial Ground The accounts And statement ofagsets libililie5 sel oui on pages l & 2 relatiTrg lo the yr ending 31 Deeember 21120 are #s #pproved by the Deac0115 Signed: Date: SF rYknyEU 2D 21
Independent Examlnerfs report to the Trustees of The Epworth Baptist Churth Trust I report on the accounts of the Trust for the year ended 31 December 2020, which are set out on Pages I to 2. Respective responsibilities of Twustees and Examiner: The charit¢s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audlt Is not requlred for this year under section 144121 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility as Independent Examinerto: examlne the accounts under sectlon 145 of the 2011 Act; to follow the procedures laid down in the General Dirertions given by the Charlty Commlsslon under sertlon 145{5}Ibl of the 2011 Act and to state whether partlcular matters have come to my attention Basls of Independent Examlnerfs report: My examlnatlon was carrled out in atcordance wlth the General Dlrections given by the Charity Commlsslon. An examlnation includes a revlew of the accounting records kept by the charlty and a compar150n of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideratlon of any unusual items or disclosures In the accounts and seekin8 explanatlons from you as trustees concernlng any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evldence that would be required in an audit and consequently no opinlon Is 8lven as to whether the accounts present a'true and falr vlew. and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. Independent Examlnerfs Statement: In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attentlon: 111 which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any materlal respect the requirements: to keep accounting records in accordance with sertlon 130 of the 2011 Act; and to prepare accounts whlch accord with the accountin8 records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Att have not been met; or 121 to which, in my oplnlon, attentlon should be drawn in orderto enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Name.. oycg qPf(L poisgLLÉY Address: C.CK)QIiDtL& iLI oDLL)AU) sr 13eL I W, Dott&TIJZ 2011 Date: