uSI*Es FD Business Ltd S LyncTDft Gardens Epsom Syrrey KT17 1UR 07966-532-199 ter dbiz.co.uk W4VW.fdblz.co.uk DATE: 27 October 2021 The Members River Church Sutton 27 Summerville Gardens Cheam SM12BU cimA Independent examinerf8 report to the 1rn8tee8 of River Chuwh Sutton I rLPI)rt t)n thL acci)unrs of thL ("hariti. for rh¢ i-car cnd¢d 31. DcccmbLr ?U20. which arL set i)ur ()n paxe4 I t<1 2. Respective ￿SponSIbl1]tie$ of t￿￿tee8 and examAner 'I'hL chiritt s tni%tL'e$ 2rL' responsible f(>r thc prcpataiinn (>f thc acc()unt%. 'fhc charin $ rru4fL'e¥ ci)ii%idL'r that in 1Liait 14 nnt reguir¢.d fi)r this l-ear undL¥t %ectii)n 144(?) of rhe ("haritiLs .4ct ?111 l (thL, ?111 I Ilct) and rhir in indLpL'ndL'nt L'N8minaUI)n i$ nccdcd. It 1% my rL$pon8ibiliry' rn: Lxaniinc thc accvunts undLr sL'ction 145 of thL _w I I ,Icr t() f(Trll()w thL pfvcLdurLS laid dc>ivn in th¢ gL4n¢ral DirLrtions gii-Ln b). tlic commis*i()n undLr %Lcrii)n 14515)(b) i)f thL ?111 l .Ict to %t¥Ltc whether pirticu12r m1rrers hai'e come ro mi. attention Ba818 of independent examinee8 teport Iv Lxamination ivas carticd out in 3¢cor&nce ￿1th the 8LnLral DirL'Cti(m4 gii'en b!. the ("hariti' C"(>mmibsiiin. Iln L'.%qmin14 ri()n ftncludes a rei'lL￿￿' {)( the accountingF fLcurd% kLpr b!. thL charitt. #lid a compiri%c)n c)f th¢ accounts prLsLntLd with thutsL fLCt?rdb. It ￿￿-0 iniludes co1￿1dl.ratiOI] (jf an!. unusu&l irLm.$ (>r disclnsiircs in tliL accounts and *ceking L'xplanatii)n4 fr(>m i'i)u as tru%fLvs c()ncerning ani. %uch m1d ttL•r%. 'IhL pr(KLdurL4 undtrtaken do n()t proi-ide au the n'ldence that ivould be required in an audit and c()ll%L'qucntli' nr) ()pinii)n 14 ￿l'Lft as to ￿'hether the iccc>unrs prebeilr a 'true and fair i'iew, and the rcpi)rt is limitLd rc) rhnNe mAttLts set out in thc ncxt starcmcnr. Independent examiDef8 Statement In conncctian ￿th mv examiniitiun, nv matter has come to m* attentioft: l) which gii'cs mc rL*si)nabl¢ tv b¢liei'L that in ani. material respL'ct thL re4uifLments: to keep accounting records in accordancc WAth section 130 of the 2011 Act and ti) prcpgre iccount% ii'hich Accord the accouniing recotds and compli." Ivith thc accounting requiremcnts of thc 21111 .Ict hai'e ni)t bL*'n mc( or 2) tn ivhich, in mi- opinii)n. attention should bc drawn in order to enable a pt()per undLtstanding of the cc(Juiits r() be rLichLd I)L'tLr ,1 %tAmps. k(:Nl,.I. CGhLI. I,-IoD, NII()I.- l)itLctor River Church Sutton Profit and Loss January - December 2020 2020 Total 2019 Total In¢om8 Gfft GlvlwvJ Non Gift Al¢l•d GlvlTrJ Tax R•clalm8d Vislon fund glft aldDd glvlng V181on fvnd I￿n Oft ￿dId gm Rent¥ Incomo 98.977.54 8.553 20 27.207.20 lo.￿.00 230 fy) 23.208 51 169.141.48 108.653.48 6,￿0.00 21.650 50 12.040.(K) 395.00 57.549.87 206.928.86 T+)ial Incom• ExynM¥ 8ook• •nd PubllcaU( Chlldrnn's wo Ho•pltsllty 30.97 255.53 446.85 2Q4.81 931 748 34 280.76 1.029.10 14.39 202 16 218.ss 27.508.75 5.551 83 769 95 6,321.78 131.08 Tr•¥•l •xp•rM•• Tothl Conl•r•n¢ Evawlsm Publklty rotsl Ev¥n9oll•m Qlft¥ •nd Donatbom 11.073.00 Publlc Llablllty 3.217.45 3.217.46 14.135.25 1.623.59 403.57 108.453.11 1.CYk8 40 1.008.40 3,201.35 3.201.36 16.468.48 375.31 1.193.87 109.764.3J 903.80 903.fjo Total In•ur•n Int•mt E¥p•rn• Ml•¢•llan•o OffiG8 Suppl1•• P4yToII Exp•nM• ProfM•lon•l F••8 Totsl ProfeMOonJl F••• R•conclllatlon Dl•¢r•panGt•• Sub8¢rfpiion• S￿￿Y AccounUryJ 1.535.67 589.75 336.15 15.8W.37 1DJ.00 18,268.62 1373.51 Hlghnold RunnlNJ vl•ttlng •pMk•r• 13211.18 Tot•1 Sunday T•l•phone Unappll•d Cmh alll Pw Oth Worshlp Youih work 13.211.18 348.59 24B 23 173,672.TT 782.42 Total Exwn••8 169.546.11 Not Opernllng In¢om• 4.S31.32 37.382.74 ¢)tMr Income IntWe￿ Inc 85.18 105. ToddlorGrnup Surplu• Total Oth•r InE¢yn• Net OtI￿r Incom8 168.00 168.08 12&18 126.18 Surplus for tho year 4￿￿24 37,S07.92 River Church Sutton Balance Sheet A8 of DKember 31, 2020 2020 T¢Aal 2019 Totsl Flx•dA•¥st 89.427.03 89.142.15 4J8.011.23 489.011.25 Equlprn•M 4.Ul9.61 4.019 61 Totsl Flx•d A••rt 511M67.17 511,172.59 at bank•nd In hthd 3.￿￿.27 24.240.01 24.4B3 39 29,09> 12 2Z,J83 70 >s.sn 12 Tow C••h It •Trd In h•fvJ 6J,129.C 77,871.62 2,M7.13 80,B3B.65 .oyi.o• Cr•dttors'. lilllnq •th•y•w Cwrqftt LIabll￿•* 74.47 74.47 1.400.00 T•x •Trd P 7.?96 23 9.487 21 Tt)i•l Curr•rf •.8W.70 T•tsl Cr•dltth'. tsll1n9o￿Mth1n •.8W.7D 10,901.68 69,Vl.97 Tot•1 Cr•dttof•ov•r l y•v Low T•rm 8orM**ryl• 379,02LI.J8 207,024.80 202.861.3$ Ownlry Bal R•laln•d Elm 38.970.10 30,970 10 130,546 68 37.507 92 2Q7.024.80 363.24 ro¢•1 •r4 R•••m• ## Trustees Annual Report 2020 **Overview –** 2020 Certainly turned out to be a very different year to what was expected. Yet despite the global pandemic we were able to continue serving our church and wider community while learning to be flexible and find new ways of accomplishing our charitable objectives of advancing the Christian faith and serving our community in beneficial ways. **Finances** – Total income for the year was £169,141.45. This was a reduction of £37,784.40 fro the previous year, mainly due to loss of revenue from hall hire. However our regular member’s financial contributions continued at a stable rate for which we are very grateful. Total expenditure was £173,672.77 leaving a net operating loss of £4,532.32 Thankfully, due to well-managed finances, we were able to call on our reserves, which enabled us to continue operating unaffected throughout the year. We continued to give to local charities such as Community works, Sutton Schools work as well as to our New Ground family of churches for on going church planting and support globally. In addition, we continued to take up one off gifts to support national and overseas missions. **Church Planting** - A key expense this year was financing our church plant in Epsom. We believe church planting is an excellent model to reach new communities. We plan to launch the church plant in early 2021. With our focus on Epsom we also ran an Alpha course – an introduction to the Christian faith. **Highfield hall –** Our premises continues to be a popular facility for running various community activities and social gatherings and continues to have a very positive presence in the borough. We were glad to be able to host the winter homeless shelter, in partnership with Sutton Community Works, once again at the beginning of the year. Those who would otherwise have been homeless received hot evening meals, a warm bed and breakfast to set them up for the day. We were able to build real relationships with them and many were helped into more permanent accommodation. Unfortunately, due to lockdown, we were unable to repeat this at the end of the year. Lockdown also meant that we had to close the building completely for several months – this obviously impacted both on our community and on our finances. Once restrictions allowed, we implemented a full Covid-specific risk assessment, in line with government guidelines, and were glad to welcome socially distanced events when we were able. **Church life/Community –** This year we had to find new ways to stay connected during the various lockdowns – particular the vulnerable and elderly. We implemented Zoom meetings for small groups and children’s ministries and live-streamed our Sunday services on YouTube. We continued to host the Sutton Community Works charity in our office space as well as supporting their different initiatives including Sutton Foodbank, Street Pastors, ‘Linking Lives’ and a job club. As already mentioned, we were also involved in a winter homeless shelter. **Small groups -** Our ‘Life Groups’ really came into their own this year, helping make sure people were not isolated during the lockdown months. Meals were cooked and calls and visits were made, as people found ways to stay connected. Most moved onto the Zoom platform this year. The Book Club continues to grow. And our Badminton club on Friday nights is a popular place for people to exercise and build friendships. **Preaching/teaching -** We started the year looking at the book of Hebrews and how we can have faith in a faithful God. This was certainly very timely as we headed into such an uncertain and faith-testing season. It really did help our congregation know they can trust in God even when circumstances are shaken. We then did a series called “Lessons from Lockdown” looking at what we felt God was teaching us through this season. A key highlight of the year was our international Sunday, celebrating racial diversity – with many contributions brought in different languages and all online! We also had a key focus on the issue of modern day slavery in partnership with International Justice Mission. We finished the year with a wonderful carol service, both online and in person, celebrating the fact that hope has a name – Jesus Christ. We continue to be committed to preaching the Word of God in a meaningful and inspiring way equipping the saints for works of service to be a people full of the Word and the Spirit of God. **Leadership/Staff** – Steve & Rob continue to serve on staff as full-time elders. Carolyn Dunlop continues to do a great job, overseeing the hire of the building along with additional administration. We also employed someone part time to do the video editing. We continue to invest in leadership and sent three people to the New Ground Academy for training and equipping for future leadership. **Prayer** - Prayer truly does ground all that we do as a church community. We started prayer evenings on Zoom to make corporate prayer as accessible as possible. We also held a week of prayer to kick the year off. We also set up a Zoom prayer room for those who wanted specific one-to-one prayer. We continue to see God answer our prayers – whether for provision, healing and comfort. **Kid’s Church** – After leading our Kids church for four years, Barney and Carolyn Dunlop handed the baton over to Michaela Cucharo in the autumn of 2020. We set up a weekly YouTube kids channel and then transitioned on to Zoom Our young people continue to grow in their knowledge and understanding of Jesus - and have lots of fun. **Youth -** Our youth group continues to thrive under the leadership of Roz Ullman and Naomi Mungroo, helping our young people stay connected via Zoom and in-person where possible. Online school and the various lockdowns have hugely impacted our young people and so having a supportive community around them has been vital. **Playgroup Group –** We had to pause our Playgroup due to Covid for several months – this was a real blow to many parents for whom the social interaction is a life-line. We reopened as and when we could with a full Covid-safe risk assessment. **Overseas –** We continue to support the work of New Ground, part of New frontiers, and help with crisis needs and support many new church plants both in prayer and financially. We are also part of the Welcome Churches network helping people from overseas, particularly from Hong Kong, feel welcomed and find a place to worship. ## **Looking towards 2021** Church planting into Epsom is a key priority for us. We also aim to partner again with Sutton Community Works this time with their community food shop for low-income families. Despite the various Covid restrictions we have seen a real openness in our community for prayer and genuine care. We aim to continue to grow in spreading the love of Jesus to our community. The trustees of River Church Sutton