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2023-12-31-accounts

DAVENPORT ROAD EVANGELICAL CHURCH

Registered Charity No. 1077832

ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT

OF ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31[st] DECEMBER 2023

TRUSTEES REPORT

During 2023 the trustees were:

The officers of the church were:

The pastor and elders are responsible for the spiritual oversight of the church and the deacons the fabric and practical work of the church.

Church priorities

In fulfilling our objectives, the leadership set the priorities for 2023 as:

The church membership on 31[st] December was 47, the same as in 2022, although 3 members went to be with the Lord and 3 more were welcomed into membership.

Church Ministries

Sunday morning worship services continued through the year, some of which were all age services and others where the children had their own groups including a creche and school age youngsters. A teens work called Route 66 (66 books in the Bible) was commenced in the Spring and met around twice per month. Once a month communion was included as part of the service. Numbers attending have increased encouragingly to about 80, with several families from different cultures attending regularly. Services were generally recorded – audio and video with audio copies made available to any of the house bound and the video uploaded to the church website.

An evening communion service was held twice a month.

The Tuesday ladies fellowship continued throughout 2023 with the evening Women Together group being held once a month. Wednesday evenings were either a church prayer meeting at the church, a visiting mission or speaker, or home groups held in 4 locations in the city. The Parent/Toddlers group in the morning and café over lunchtime, were held on a Thursday. The cafe ministry had some attenders staying on for a Bible Study.

The church continued to use the Zoom platform for prayer times.

Other events

The church was involved in Derby Bible Week in April, with many folk attending either morning or evening meetings held at Christ Church or Allestree Woodlands Church respectively, benefiting from the Bible ministry.

There were a number of funerals and thanksgiving services for those who went to be with the Lord.

Bring and share lunches were restarted during the year with different homegroups responsible for overseeing the events, held most months after morning worship. These were a great time of fellowship and were well attended by all age groups.

A number of folks in the church enjoy walking and a DPRamblers group, open to all, met several times for strolls, walk. There was good fellowship.

The pastors organised a 3 day / 2 night camp in August on a site near Ashbourne which was attended by a reasonable number; some others also came as day visitors. It was a time of encouragement through bible ministry, as well as recreational activities together.

A ladies Saturday morning book group commenced, and they were able to encourage and share with each other.

A men’s games night was held in July for a time of fun and fellowship with the intention of being repeated periodically.

The ladies meeting held special meetings with the Slavic Gospel Association particularly with their hospice ministry in Romania. This was both in-person and online Zoom meetings.

The harvest weekend in October started with a supper on the Friday evening followed by harvest thanksgiving services on the Sunday. The produce was shared between Derby City Mission and Caring for Life (Leeds) to help their relief work with needy people.

The deacons organised a workday with the congregation helping clean, clear and maintain the property inside and out. This was partly in response to a detailed survey of the building and the identification of a list of tasks needed.

Carols in the car park was able to be held in December and was a worthwhile outreach to the local community. On the Sunday before Christmas, we held a family carol service in the morning and carols by candlelight in the evening. Numbers at the Christmas meetings were not as high as previous years.

Outreach and Mission

The church positively encourages the congregation to speak and share their faith taking every opportunity given. As well as the opportunities in the various meetings and events, the church provide copies of the Good News newspaper, as well as other gospel tracts, to act as an aid in opening conversations. The Good News newspaper is also delivered to around 375 local homes each month by 8 volunteers, a ministry that has grown through 2023. The planned building of over 400 new homes on an old Rolls Royce factory site has given a new opportunity for outreach. By the end of 2023 nearly 90 homes were occupied and a “welcome” pack including a letter, details of services and meetings, a New Testament plus a copy of the Good News paper, were delivered and homes visited. The church was grateful to use a grant from FIEC towards the cost of this ministry.

The list of missions and individuals the leadership set as those the church supported through 2023 were:

Slavic Gospel Association, Derby City Mission, Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), Kevin Still (New Tribes Mission), Railway Mission, Jem & Sue Hudson (Foundation Matters/Pine Lake Camp), Clive & Cath Barker (Serving in Mission, Pakistan), Barnabas Fund, Caring for Life, Open Air Mission, The Christian Institute, Open Doors and SASRA.

The church maintained its active membership of the FIEC (Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches) and benefitted from their regular advice.

Public Benefit

As well as the weekly café and welfare event where homeless and those in physical, mental, emotional, financial, and spiritual need are helped, the church were also active in the following areas:

Safeguarding

Working through “Thirtyone:eight” (previously Churches Child Protection Advisory Service) the church ensured all workers with children and vulnerable adults, were DBS checked and provided attendance at on-line training courses for individuals. The lead coordinator is Mrs Pat Hulse.

Data Protection

The church maintained a data protection policy and the church secretary, as data protection coordinator ensured best practice was maintained and that all details currently held were up to date and accurate.

Communication

The church web site, www.davenportroadchurch.org.uk provides a wealth of information about the church, it’s activities, audio messages, the church diary and provided weekly communication and prayer requests from, and to, the congregation. A bi-monthly news sheet was reintroduced during the year.

Church Business meetings

The elders met as frequently as needed, usually each month or sooner.

The deacons met 5 times in the year.

Three Church members’ meetings were held in March (the AGM), June and September.

Church Finance and Fabric (see also the finance report)

The church was grateful to God and the congregation for continued giving. The 2023 budget planned a deficit for the year of £6,254 met from reserves, largely to continue to employ the assistant pastor. The surplus at the end of the year was £10,883, considerably better than the budget, for which we thank God and His people.

The church insurance with Congregational (through Kingdom Bank Ltd) was reviewed and maintained under a long-term commitment.

2024 Priorities

These will be much as 2023 –

The practical and fabric work planned includes general maintenance and decoration.

Rising energy costs have been, and will continue to be, a challenge and efficiency measures have been taken to reduce costs.

Summary

The Trustees are grateful to God and all the congregation for help and contributions in so many ways during 2023. The accounts, independently examined by Mr M Saunders FCA, have been accepted and show a surplus for the year. We are confident, that with God’s help and the congregations support, we can continue to meet all aims for 2024.

Signed on behalf of the Trustees.

Nigel Duncan Jones (Chair of Trustees)

29[th] January 2024

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Independent Examinerfs Report on the Accounts Charlty Name: DAVENPORT ROAD EVANGELICAL CHURCH TRUST Charlty No. 10n832 Accounts for yaar andlng: 31st DECEMBER 2023 I report to th8 Truste8s on my examination of Its accounts of tr chanty above (fv Twsf) for the year stated above. Responslbllitie• and ba•1• of roport As charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparati(m of the accounts in a¢cx)rdance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (Ihe Acri. I report in respect of my examination of the Tntsfs a(%ounts orrled out under se¢tK)n 145 of ￿ 2011 Act and In carrying out my examination, I have follvhtd all the applicable Directiorrs given by the Charity Commission urKler section 145(51 (b} of the Act. Indepondent Examlnorf8 Stat•m•nt The charities gross in¢4)me did not ex¢th1 £250.IXKI. I ￿ quallfied to utMJertake tt IrKlependent examlnation belng a qualrfied ac¢ountant and a FCA. I have completed my examinatlon. This invol¥ed examination of bank statements, computer records, Invol￿8, receipts, cheque and paying to bank stubs tD3ether with explan*'ons. l Confi￿ that no material matters have come to my attention in connection wilh the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 1. The accountlng records not kept in respect of Ihe Trust as required by section 130 of the Act, or 2. The accounts do not accord wrth Ihose recofds. 3. The accounts did not compky ¥yith the applicable requirem￿9 Con(￿Ing the fonn and conlent of accounts as set out in the Charities (Acccyjnts and ReFM)rts) Regulati¢Ms 2008 other than any requlrement that the accounts give a Irue and fairf view Wfiich is not a matter considered as part of an independent examinalion. I have no concems aThl have co￿￿ across no matters in c￿neCtiOn with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understaThling of the aCc￿nts to b8 reached. The accounts are presen￿. as pennitte(I by ￿ Act, as simpbe receipts and payments accounts. Dato ........ Namo Mithael Saunders AddM•s 8 lQngs Drive Post Cod• DE23 6EU

Dl8closur¢ Only to be completed rf the examiner rttds to ttKJhI￿ht material matters of cx)r#xn (see CC32, IrKlependent examination of charity accounts: diredions arKI guKlance for exarniners).