## ## ## ## Section D Achievements and performance TAR March 2012 ## |The church resumed
meetings
in person
in late August and some of its original| |---| |programme
ofactivities adhering
to all restrictions
in order to advance the| |Christian
Faith for the benefit of the public once the Covid-19 pandemic
restriction| |were lifted. The church continued
to meet together
virtually
on a Sunday
evening| |for a few months
in 2021 as many members
took time to return
to meetings
in| |person,
during
the periods of lock down new members joined, which
included| |some with a church
background
and others with no or limited
previous
experience| |ofchurch.
The responses
during
our meetings
from the worship
times and| |preaching
have been positive. We successfully
began hosting
bi-monthly
church| |lunches
after our Sunday service, these provide
interaction
with others
helping| |those who may be lonely, also the food helps those who are vulnerable
and links| |to relief of poverty.| |The charity continued
its membership
ofthe "Mission Life Grace" network of| |churches,
which currently
consists offive core churches,
together
with a number| |ofassociate churches.
During the July and August,
we were able to resume
our| |summer
outdoor activities
including
boys camp girls house party and our annual| |churches
summer
conference
in August after the all activities were cancelled
in| |2020.| |The church continued
virtual
meetings
on a Sunday
using Zoom into the new year| |with new challenges as the pandemic
continue to cause loneliness
all across our| |communities.
The leadership
felt that itwas important
for people to be able to| |interact and talk with some one and so we agreed to employ 2 part time| |community
workers, whose roles were to contact and meet where possible
with| |those
in need of emotional
support.| |We continued
for the weeks of lockdown a number of "daily devotionals"
via| |Zoom, first thing
in the morning.
They proved
very popular
in the short-term
and| |gave people a sense of community
and a good platform
to keep
in touch and| |check how everyone was coping with lockdown.
In the absence of being able to| |run home groups,
after the "Freedom
in Christ" course was run virtually
via Zoom| |in 2020 we continued
with running
the Alpha Course
in 2021 which had a very| |positive response
from the local community| |The kids' work within
River Church has continued
to grow and prosper; the| |groups expand
the children's
education
by teaching
them about the Christian| |faith. Once lockdown
started
kids' work switched
to an all-age "Family church"| |service on Zoom which was well received and enjoyed
by many,
including| |families from other churches
within the MLG network.
As part ofthe kids' work a| |series of fun challenges
were set for families and social gatherings
were also| |organised
over zoom for the older children's
group,
including
a Minecraft club.| |The youth work for teenagers
and young adults has continued
to develop;
this| |provides a positive social environment
for young
people and helps build| |confidence. Zoom bible studies and socials have run every week and we are| |thankful
for the leaders who faithfully
served throughout
the pandemic.| |When some ofthe rules were relaxed
in the summer
months some groups of6| |were set up to be able to watch zoom church together
in different homes. The| |church also hired another
church
building
for a few live worship
and prayer| |nights. Throughout
the year we ran a number of online social evenings
including| |quiz nights, crafts and Christmas
baking.| |The church finances increased
over the year. This was due to an increase
in| |giving from new and existing members,
for which we are thankful,
but also due to| |our decreased
expenditure
during
the pandemic.
We continued
to provide some| |support to our former pastor, who is serving
at an associated
church
in Worthing| |and continues
to provide some oversight
for our leaders.| |The stable financial
position enabled
the charity to propose employing
two| |Community
workers,
who we hoped to start their new roles
in September 2020| |but this was delayed
due to the pandemic
but they started working
in January| |2021.| |The church support
financially
local people to alleviate
poverty,
together
with| |providing
support
for missionaries
overseas. The church also arranged
a hamper| |for a homeless
shelter,
and Christmas
gifts for an orphanage.| ## ## ##