2020-12-31-accounts

Annual Report for Nine Thirty Eight (‘9:38’)

For the year 1st January to 31st December 2020

The Board of Trustees are pleased to present their annual report and financial statements of the charitable trust for the year ended 31 December 2020. This report is prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Charity Commissions set for Receipts and Payments accounts.

Nine Thirty Eight is a charitable trust (number 109288) and is also known as 9:38. The charitable trust is constituted and governed by a trust deed dated 30 January 2002. The method of appointing new Trustees is by a decision of the Trustees under the terms of the charities governing document. Potential candidates are considered with regard to the need to maintain a balance of skills and backgrounds.

The registered address of the charity is 78 Ashburn Road, Stockport SK4 2PU.

Aim of 9:38

9:38 exists to serve local churches as they seek to raise up the next generation of gospel workers. It runs an annual residential conference & seeks to catalyse regional conferences where Christians can think through how best to maximise their gospel ministry and to consider full or part-time gospel work. 9:38 also helps churches to set up ministry trainee programmes and promotes such vacancies online.

Membership

The following have served as Trustees: Richard Coekin (current chair) Mark O’Donoghue (resigned 4 September 2020) Clayton Fopp (appointed by resolution 24 November 2020; resigned 23 July 2021) Elizabeth Smallwood (appointed by resolution 24 November 2020) Pete Snow (appointed by resolution 8 September 2021)

In addition to the above, the following served as members of the Executive Committee in 2020: Nigel Styles Danny Rurlander Carrie Sandom Andrew Nicholls Daniel Strange

During 2020, the following were employed by 9:38: Director – Andy Harker Administrator – Fran Kirby

Objectives

Our objectives for 2020 were:

1. To deliver a national conference in January 2020 and prepare for a larger national conference in January 2021, where ministry trainees are inspired and equipped to maximise their gospel ministry, students and workers are given the opportunity to consider full or part-time gospel work, and trainers are encouraged and sharpened in raising up others.

2. Through networking, to encourage small-scale events across the countries where clusters of churches or regional gospel partnerships can mobilise for training and gospel work and also feed into the national conference.

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1. To develop new online resources to equip churches to raise up workers; sharing good practice, raising the profile of apprenticeships, motivating trainees and stimulating healthy thinking about gospel ministry.

2. To promote ministry vacancies and training opportunities through enhanced online search engines, online advertising and social media.

Public benefit:

In setting our strategic objectives and planning our activities, our Trustees and Executive Committee have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission’s public benefit guidance.

Specifically, in 2020, public benefit could be seen in a number of ways:

• 142 people attended the 9:38 Maximise Conference in January 2020 where they were equipped with quality training in how to invest their lives for the glory of Christ and the good of others. 66 churches from across England were represented among the delegates.

• Nine Thirty Eight gave advice to 22 churches on setting up traineeships, specifically in the area of negotiating issues of financial support for trainees. This was up from 15 advice requests in 2019.

• With the encouragement of 9:38, the East Anglia Gospel Partnership again hosted a conference in Cambridge in November attended by 40 people, helping them to think through the next step in exploring gospel ministry.

• • 9:38 promoted 76 ministry positions (of which 52 were for ministry trainee programmes) in a range of local churches in England and Wales. Each of these positions represented an opportunity to serve hundreds of children, youth and adults through Bible teaching and practical ministries.

• 9:38 launched an upgraded website in July which reached 625 unique users in August, providing a wide range of resources for church leaders and those considering gospel ministry.

Review of the Year

Maximise 2020

The Maximise Conference ran in January 2020 for the first time – a successor to and expansion of the long-running Ministry Trainee Conference, with delegates (those considering gospel ministry) and church leaders invited for the first time. At the time, it was the biggest ever 9:38 conference. It also included representatives from 21 churches who had not previously sent anyone to a 9:38 conference (certainly not since 2014).

Maximise’s overall aim was to inspire and equip all attendees to maximise their gospel ministry, with specific priorities as follows:

• to provide encouragement to ministry trainees midway through their training; to sharpen trainees in their gospel ministry; and to help them to think through post-traineeship life.

• to envision and motivate delegates (non-trainees) towards the urgent task of gospel ministry; and to consider full- or part-time gospel work.

• to encourage and sharpen trainers (church leaders) in their role as trainers and mentors; and to provide them with an opportunity to network with others who have a passion for raising up gospel workers.

The experience provided for the 92 trainees attending Maximise was largely the same as at previous Ministry Trainee Conferences. They attended the five main teaching sessions (at which Richard Coekin, Richard Leadbeater, Santhosh Thomas and Andrew Sach spoke), a split-gender session, the Q&A (with Richard Coekin, Johnny Prime, Carrie Sandom and Gabby Samuel) and spent time in groups, during which each trainee gave a practice talk and received feedback from their peers and a group leader.

Maximise 2020 featured new sessions, such as the elective seminars (including sessions on Cross-Cultural Ministry, Church Planting and Youth and Children’s Ministry), a stream for the 8 delegates (led by Ralph Cunnington with sessions on decision-making and considering Word ministry) and 2 training masterclasses for church leaders (led by Johnny Prime and Orlando Saer). These masterclasses were attended by a number of Maximise’s group leaders as well as by 12 people who joined the conference as day guests.

The feedback was extremely positive and reflected on the encouragement of focusing on one biblical book; on the increased diversity among leaders and speakers, and how that was reflected in their leadership styles; on the teaching

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skills groups; on the impact of the main sessions; and on the seminars. There were also helpful suggestions on how to improve (such as sending out details earlier for the teaching skills groups, and making the middle day of the conference less intense) which we honoured as much as possible during the planning for Maximise 2021 and will revisit during the planning for Maximise 2022.

• 9:38’s Trustees and Staff were also particularly encouraged by the following at Maximise 2020:

• Diversity and unity. Maximise was blessed to have a mixture of men and women as leaders and speakers who represented different denominations, backgrounds and parts of the country as leaders and speakers. It was a joy to see how, united in the same gospel, they worked together incredibly well.

• Prayer and the Word. With excellent Bible teaching and talk practice as well as extra time in groups to pray together, there was a sense that 9:38 was getting a better balance of these two cardinal aspects of gospel work.

• Men and women. The group sessions looking at the distinctive ministry opportunities and challenges for men and women were very well received. Helpful things were also said at the Q&A and the conference seemed to have a generally healthy culture in the way people were interacting.

• Urgency and sovereignty. In the talks, in the Q&A responses and discussions around meals, there seemed to be a good balance of these two things: on the one hand, the massive urgency of the task to tell people about Jesus and importance of investing your life well; and on the other hand, the truth that God is “very sovereign” (as Gabby Samuel put it) so we must neither panic nor be paralysed by thinking that it is all down to us and our decision-making and efforts.

Covid-19

Covid-19 hit shortly after Maximise 2020, and the world entered an exceptional season – and an extremely testing one for many, not least for pastors, gospel workers and ministry trainees. Amid the challenges there were many gospel opportunities and 9:38 blogged about how a number of trainees were keeping going, adapting, making and taking those opportunities. Many churches reported difficulties finding trainees. However, at the same time, many regional ministry training courses reported record numbers accessing training online.

9:38’s Staff were grateful to be able to take several weeks of furlough during the first lockdown and yet by God’s grace still make some progress – particularly launching the new website and then pivoting Maximise 2021 from being planned as in-person to being online. This was a somewhat stressful time. However, 9:38 increasingly came to see that, while disappointing in many ways, an online conference could actually be an unprecedented opportunity to reach large numbers of students, workers and trainees who would have found it very difficult to get to a residential conference.

During this time, the Chair of Trustees, Mark O'Donoghue, stepped down. Mark served 9:38 for 10 years as Chair of Trustees with a great deal of energy, stabilizing the finances of the organisation and pioneering regional work. 9:38 is very appreciative of his wisdom and encouragement.

During 2020, 9:38 also saw the appointment of two new Trustees in 2020: Clayton Fopp and Lizzy Smallwood. Both brought with them a lot of gospel ministry experience and different perspectives to the task of governance. Clayton’s background is with Australian ministry trainee development. Lizzy is based in Cornwall in a rural pastoral context and also has experience in urban ministry in deprived areas. Their wisdom and commitment have already proved to be hugely helpful.

Maximise 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic made planning for Maximise 2021 considerably more complicated than usual. Originally slated to be an in-person event at High Leigh in January 2021, 9:38 decided in September 2020 to move the conference online (with considerable gratitude to the Christian Conference Trust for postponing our booking to January 2022) and to employ Clownfish Events to facilitate the production and streaming of the event. As a result, autumn 2020 involved rethinking the conference’s programme and content in order to make it work well as a virtual event. Our Staff benefitted from input from other organisations (including Keswick Ministries, Co-Mission, Oak Hill College and Proclamation Trust) who had already run large-scale virtual events as a result of the pandemic. 9:38 employed Ben Woodbridge to film two of the talks in advance; the other talks and interviews were given live at Clownfish’s studios (with due regard to Covid regulations).

Encouraging local initiatives

• Following the success of their 9:38-style event in October 2019, East Anglia Gospel Partnership ran an online event on 21 November 2020. This was entirely locally resourced and run. 40 people attended with good teaching and stories shared.

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• The Director had continuing warm conversations with the leaders of other (more denominationally orientated) initiatives seeking to mobilise gospel workers regarding how we can best co-ordinate and be a mutual encouragement.

Website, Resources and Social Media

Website

Four years on from the 9:38 website’s last redesign, 9:38 brought in Paul Hettler in Spring 2020 to oversee a redesign and redevelopment of the website to expand its capabilities, make it easier to use and give it a more contemporary look. In particular, Paul:

• transferred the website onto a WordPress system;

• adapted the website’s focus to reflect the position of the Maximise Conference as the heart of 9:38’s work;

• added a members’ section to the website which gives users access to certain resources as well as the ability to edit pending or posted vacancies and to set up alerts for particular vacancy types;

• overhauled the vacancy section of the website so that each vacancy page clearly displays essential details about the vacancy/advertiser as well as a map and links to the advertiser’s social media feeds;

• set up the website so that 9:38’s Staff are able to edit and update much of its content and format themselves;

• ● provides efficient ongoing technical support, which proved essential when we ran Maximise 2021 as a virtual conference.

The website went live on 3 July 2020 and was publicised on 9:38’s social media a week later. During August, the site had:

• 625 unique users, of whom 80% were new and 20% were returning from July;

• each visited (on average) 1.3 times in the month and they spent just under 3 minutes on the website;

• ● 2265 page views;

• 20 new subscribers, most of whom were church leaders signing up to download resources.

Other than the home page, the most popular page was the vacancies page, followed by Maximise and then the blog (which gained 18 new posts in 2020).

During August and September, 9:38 continued to upload written resources for church leaders and those considering gospel work (half of which were brand new) and these were downloaded 133 times by 1 October. 4 talks from the 2020 Maximise Conference were also downloaded and (as of April 2021) these have been downloaded nearly 200 times.

Social Media

9:38 continued to make the most of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to share resources, prayer points and encouragements as well as to advertise vacancies from the website. As in 2019, our Instagram account was the most successful at engaging people (with an average of 7 engagements per post, compared to 5 per post for Facebook and 3 per post for Twitter). Twitter, however, received the most impressions per post in 2020 (461.2 as opposed to Facebook’s 424.8 and Instagram’s 133.0).

Clarifying the vision

This strange period has also been a good opportunity to reexamine, as many organisations are doing, whether we are fit for purpose and fit for the current landscape: how best can we be serving churches in raising up gospel workers?

In answer to this, Founder Trustee Richard Coekin helped us to clarify the 9:38 mission:

9:38 exists to help local churches raise gospel workers

1. Resourcing pastors:

2. a. In developing a gospel training culture

3. b. In mentoring those with gospel ministry potential

4. c. In establishing ministry traineeships

5. Envisioning those exploring gospel work

6. a. Understanding gospel ministry b. Grasping God’s priorities

7. c. Navigating a pathway into gospel work

8. Encouraging trainees

9. a. Promoting a diversity of excellent training opportunities

10. b. Connecting potential trainees with trainers

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c. Clarifying next steps

We pray that in the coming year, through the Maximise Conference, through new online resources, through research and through engagement with regional gospel partnerships, by God’s grace, we will be able to fulfill that mission in each of those areas.

Finances & Reserves

Conferences

Because Maximise 2021 took place online (which meant we felt it appropriate to charge only for ministry trainee tickets, which were just £20 and included a conference pack), 9:38’s conference income for 2020 was considerably lower than usual, at £5,442. This is a rather stark contrast to the amount spent on conferences (which includes the costs for High Leigh for Maximise 2020 as well as the costs for filming and livestreaming Maximise 2021) during 2020, which was £25,070. However, with almost all costs for Maximise 2021 settled during 2020, and the major costs for Maximise 2022 not due until 2022, conference spending during 2021 is likely to be very small indeed.

Donations

9:38 is extremely grateful for receiving £32,708 in donations in 2020. £8000 is restricted funds for the Director’s post. With regards to the unrestricted donations, £4,600 was given by our four supporting churches and organisations; £14,900 were larger donations (£2,400, £5,000 and £7,500) from two individuals and one trust. We also received £1,412 in Gift Aid. The remainder of our donation income consisted of donations which were either monthly donations between £5 and £50 or one-time donations of equivalent value. It is worth noting that 9:38’s unrestricted donations were actually higher in 2020 than they were in 2019 (£24,708 compared to £20,417) – that extra £4000 was vital to ensuring the deficit from running Maximise 2021 online was considerably smaller than it would otherwise have been. 9:38 has been fortunate to retain the vast majority of our long-term givers despite the turbulence of 2020. Only one of our supporters (an individual who has given £1,000 p/a for several years) has had to stop giving. 9:38 is keen to continue to expand its support base and, to that end, the Director has invited ten new churches to partner financially with 9:38 and has received encouraging responses from three of them. Following invitations to six individual patrons, 9:38 received a total of £5,250 from two of them. Another individual seems likely to give. Finally, 9:38 has applied to seven trusts and has so far received two positive responses with £8,000 given to the Director’s Fund.

Advertising

In 2020, 9:38 received £4,608 in payment for 69 paid and voluntary roles which we publicised through our website and social media. The majority of these payments were for 66 adverts which we ran during 2020; a small minority were late payments for 3 adverts which we ran during 2019. Although this advertising income is considerably less than the £6,914 we took in during 2019, it is worth noting that approximately a fifth (£1,422) of the 2019 advertising income came from 15 adverts which we ran during 2018. The actual number of adverts which we ran during 2020 (76) is consistent with the 2019 total (78) and within range of the number we ran during 2017 (84). The unusually large number of adverts which we ran during 2018 (98) appears to be an anomaly.

Furlough

9:38’s Trustees took the decision to place our Director and Administrator on furlough (for 7 weeks and 8 weeks respectively) during 2020. As a result, 9:38 received £3,616 from the Job Retention Scheme which, again, has helped limit the deficit caused by moving Maximise 2021 online.

Reserves

In the Trustees’ view, 9:38 reserves should provide us with adequate financial stability and the means for it to meet its objectives for the foreseeable future. The Trustees propose to maintain the charity’s reserves at a level which is at least equivalent to six months’ operational costs (approximately £30,000) and have done so having regards to the manner of operation of 9:38 and its likely funding streams.

Our cash in hand at the end of 2020 totalled £65,868. Of this, £30,000 is 9:38’s reserves fund. Approximately £19,000 is restricted funds for the appointment of the Director.

The Trustees will continue to review the amount of reserves, on an annual basis, to ensure that they are adequate to fulfil 9:38’s continuing obligations. The Trustees will also have particular regard for our manner of operation, as well as for current and potential funding streams.

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Signed by a Trustee:

Richard Coekin

Print: Richard Coekin

Date: 05/10/2021

9:38 Contact Details

Postal Address: 78 Ashburn Road, Stockport SK4 2PU Email: [e-mail] Phone: [phone]

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT

TO THE TRUSTEES OF

Nine Thirty Eight (9:38)

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Nine Thirty Eight ('the charity') for the year ended 31 December 2020 on pages 8 to 10 following.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’).

I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.

Independent examiner’s statement

I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

1. accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; or

2. the accounts do not accord with the accounting records.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Lourens du Plessis

Lourens du Plessis ACA CA(SA)

Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB

Date: 7 October 2021

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Nine Thirty Eight (9:38)

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

	FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020
Receipts (income) Maximise (Conferences) Donations (excl. Gift Aid) Gift Aid Advertising JRS/SMP Other Total Income: Payments (expenses) Printing and postage Office Costs (Phone, stationery, website) Maximise (Conferences) Travel Sundry Expenses (Other) HR Advertising and exhibiting Total Expenditure: Surplus / (Deficit)	Unrestricted 2020 Restricted 2020 Total 2020 Unrestricted 2019 Restricted 2019 Total 2019 £ £ £ £ £ £ 5,442 - 5,442 14,987 - 14,987 23,295 8,000 31,295 19,477 10,000 29,477 1,413 - 1,413 940 2,500 3,440 4,608 - 4,608 6,914 - 6,914 1,265 2,352 3,617 5,633 - 5,633 117 - 117 129 - 129
	36,140 10,352 46,492 48,080 12,500 60,580
	- - - 165 - 165 3,059 - 3,059 216 - 216 25,070 - 25,070 19,734 - 19,734 534 - 534 828 - 828 628 - 628 685 - 685 11,105 20,389 31,494 11,022 20,046 31,068 - - - 2,660 - 2,660
	40,396 20,389 60,785 35,308 20,046 55,354
	4,256 - 10,037 - 14,293 - 12,772 7,546 - 5,226
Cash funds as at last year end Cash funds at this year end	48,963 31,199 80,162 36,191 38,745 74,936
	44,706 21,162 65,868 48,963 31,199 80,162

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Nine Thirty Eight (9:38)

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

A Cash funds Cash at bank with immediate access Petty cash B Other monetary assets Gift aid due to charity Other debtors C Liabilities Falling due within one year Trade creditors Fee for Independent Examination Accrued expenses Falling due after one year: Trade creditors *	Unrestricted funds £ 44,676 30 ~~44,706~~ 1,082 1,245 ~~2,327~~ - 600 262 ~~862~~	Restricted funds £ 21,162 - ~~21,162~~ - - ~~-~~ - - - ~~-~~ - ~~-~~	Total 2020 £ 65,838 30 ~~65,868~~ 1,082 1,245 ~~2,327~~ - 600 262 ~~862~~ 17,798 ~~17,798~~	Total 2019 £ 80,132 30
				~~80,162~~
				1,412 1,425
				~~2,837~~
				15,042 - 34
				~~15,075~~
	17,798 ~~17,798~~			25,380
				~~25,380~~

• For 2020: Full amount of £17.8k owed to CCT for the deferred 2021 Maximise Conference (now rescheduled to January 2022). Due after the 2022 Maximise Conference in January 2022.

For 2019: Full amount of £25.4k owed to CCT for the 2021 Maximise Conference (later rescheduled to January 2022, with delegate numbers also scaled back from 200 to 140 people). Invoice was originally due in January 2021.

Approved by the Board of Trustees on: 05/10/2021

and signed on its behalf by: Richard Coekin

Print name: Richard Coekin

Date: 05/10/2021

The notes on page 10 form part of these accounts.

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Nine Thirty Eight (9:38)

NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

Accounting Policies

The accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis and comprise a statement that shows the charity's receipts and payments, a statement that summarises the charity's assets and liabilities and related notes. The accountancy profession have determined that only accounts prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards present a 'true and fair' view and, as these receipts and payments accounts have not (and cannot) be prepared in accordance with accounting standards, these accounts do not present (and are not intended to present) a 'true and fair' view of the charity's financial activities and state of affairs.

General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity. Restricted funds are donations which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors (i.e. for the sole purpose of employing the Director); they include donations received from appeals for specific activities or projects.

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