2024-12-31-accounts

Thatcham Baptist Church

The Ministers and Deacons of Thatcham Baptist Church present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. These comply with current statutory requirements and the Statement of Recommended Practice "Accounting and Reporting by Charities" (Revised 2019).

ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2024

Charitable Object

The Charity is currently governed by its Church Constitution and is registered with the Charities Commission in accordance with the Charities Act 2022. The Church Constitution states that the principal purpose of the charity is the advancement of the Christian faith according to the principles of the Baptist denomination, to include the advancement of education and other charitable purposes in the United Kingdom and/or other parts of the world. The Church occupies premises which are held by the Baptist Union Corporation Ltd. on Trusts which are entirely compatible with the above object.

Objectives and Activities

In order to achieve the principal objective, which is set out above, the Church provides a variety of activities, both to its membership and to the community at large. Individual reports on many of these activities are available separately. The overarching aim is to express the love and truth of Jesus Christ in both word and deed, and to bring people into a closer relationship with Him as living Lord. In 2024 we adopted the following Mission Statement:

“Love God; Love our Community; Equip one another to be Active Disciples of Jesus”.

We are blessed with attractive premises which include wheelchair-accessible entrance and toilet, and lift access to first and second floors. There is an induction loop system for the hearing-impaired and we ensure that the use of projected words and images is as clear as possible for those with a visual impairment, with large print song sheets also made available at services.

● Worship, Discipleship and Fellowship

Central to the work and witness of the Church is the provision of regular public services of Christian worship. These services take place each Sunday morning, with a small group also meeting on Sunday evening. Included in our services from time to time are services of thanksgiving and dedication for children, and the baptism of believers. The average reported Sunday attendance from 3 separate Sundays is 129 and those attending online is best guess 10. The Church seeks to be a friendly and welcoming community, and anybody is free to attend its services. Parts of the worship are offered in Spanish, Farsi and Ukrainian for the benefit of native speakers.

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Within our services of worship, other events are advertised, and these are also posted on our notice sheet, website, via social media and through our Church Management tool ChurchSuite.

The Church cares for its Members and others by sharing Christian friendship and fellowship in various ways. Central to this are our Small Groups and short courses which meet regularly for the growth of faith and discipleship of Members and other attendees. There are also a number of prayer groups. Further details of all these groups can be obtained from the Trustees on request, or at the Sunday services.

The Church runs a varied children’s and youth programme, which engages about twenty children under 11 and about thirty 11-18s on a regular basis (excluding our toddler group – see below). The Church operates systems to ensure appropriate vetting of all people working with children and adults at risk.

The Church cares for those who are sick or in declining health by visiting them in hospital or at home, giving practical help, offering the ministry of prayer and, where appropriate, administering communion. Our prayer chains ensure that particular needs are prayed for promptly and responded to appropriately.

The Church offers its services to those who are facing life’s major events such as births, marriages, and deaths. We have two Authorised Persons for the registration of marriages, and our Pastor is also registered for this purpose.

The Church seeks to offer Christian training to its Members where appropriate, and encourages attendance at Christian camps and events.

Our Pastor David Taylor and other Trustees and Group Leaders attend annual conferences for the purpose of their ongoing development. David meets regularly with the other local church leaders and workers in Thatcham, and Baptist Pastors in neighbouring towns, for the purpose of mutual support and co-ordinated action.

As a Church we are extremely grateful for all those who devote so much time and effort to our services of worship, those who coordinate our small groups of all kinds, and those who offer training and encouragement in a multitude of different ways.

● Community Work and Evangelism

The Church pursues a wide range of partnerships with a varied number of stakeholders within the community, detailed as follows.

The Church, in partnership with the other churches, supports the town’s schools. Our Pastor David Taylor co-leads the Christian group Connect at Kennet Secondary School. He also facilitates the termly breakfast for local headteachers and church leaders, and takes regular assemblies in both primary and secondary schools.

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Our weekly Coffee Morning on Tuesdays has a core group of regular customers, and also provides a welcoming place for anyone to drop in.

Our Fellas games afternoon on Tuesdays is an open place of friendship and relaxation for men of all ages.

Our TBC Toddlers group on Thursday mornings is in contact with some 50 parents and carers, with around 35 attending weekly with their toddlers. They enjoy ageappropriate activities and conversational time together.

The Church is the West Berks Foodbank distribution centre for Thatcham. Alongside this, our main hall is now used for benefit advice services.

Our Youth Games Night now offers an evening of games, craft and socialising to around 25 young people on a fortnightly basis.

Our Men’s Breakfast continues to meet each month and has a varied and interesting programme of speakers. This event continues to attract a variety of men from both within and beyond the church fellowship.

The Church offers introductory courses for newcomers and those exploring the Christian faith on a regular basis.

Again, as a Church we are extremely grateful for all these groups and especially the dedication and hard work of their leadership teams.

The Church building is widely used by community and individual groups. This includes social and other events run by U3A (The Third Age Trust), Alcoholics Anonymous, and other local groups. Southern Counties Baptist Association sometimes make use of our premises for their committee meetings.

The Church has well-developed relationships with Christian organisations working in the UK and abroad. In particular it partners with the Baptist Union Home Mission Fund, BMS World Mission, Christians Against Poverty and the Church Mission Society.

The Church continues its presence online through the website www.thatchambaptist.org.uk and through social media to enable our community to know about events that may interest them. We continue to livestream our Sunday services on YouTube, a service which is much appreciated by those who cannot attend in person. We continue to see people join us in person having first seen us online. We are very grateful to our tech team, website manager and social media updaters for everything they do in this area.

● Achievements and Performance

The Church does not measure the success of its programmes only in numbers, but also in growth in discipleship and depth of fellowship. In terms of both the quality of Christian life and the quantity of people involved in the church in a host

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of different ways, the Trustees believe that 2024 was a very exciting year in the life of the church, with many new faces and several important developments.

Average attendance at worship services increased during the year with many different people attending including various nationalities, especially Nigerians.

Our Sunday teaching programme this year included, amongst other things, the Romans Course which was also followed by our small groups. Our children’s and youth groups continued to provide an invaluable and sacrificial service to our young people each Sunday. We continued to meet for communion twice a month.

Our seasonal programmes at Easter and Christmas ran as normal, including an interactive telling of the Easter story in Thatcham Broadway on Good Friday and a Churches Together presence there at the Christmas Lights event.

8 people were baptised during the year, and 9 people were received into church membership. 13 others resigned their membership, either having moved away from the area, or having not attended for some time. One of our founder members died at the end of the year. At 31 December 2024 the membership stood at 94. We continued to use and develop our Find Your Place course for new members .

At our Annual General Meeting in March three deacons completed their terms of service, while one new deacon was appointed.

During the year our Asylum and Refugee Worker took on the complementary paid role of Church Coordinator, working 4 days per week in total. We also took on a full-time Pastoral Apprentice for one year from September.

In 2024 our work with asylum seekers and refugees changed as many of them were granted refugee status and/or were transferred to other locations. We continued to hold weekly meals, Bible study groups and other activities for those who were left.

Our weekly programme of activities continued strongly during the year. Eleven small groups of various kinds met regularly for prayer and/or Bible study, either in person or online. We held two Alpha Courses for those in the early stages of faith. Our Coffee Morning, Fellas games afternoon, TBC Toddlers, Youth Games Night, and monthly men’s breakfasts all proved popular.

Our Renew Wellbeing group formally closed during 2024 after several years of valuable service. Those with mental health and other acute needs continue to be cared for in a variety of ways.

We held one wedding and one funeral at the church. We also hosted a Bereavement Course along with partners from other local churches.

In July we held a second Church Awayday at Elstree School which was very well attended and enjoyed by all.

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After a gap of several years we were delighted to hold a children’s holiday club in the summer, taking up the Olympic theme, with a good attendance.

One of our church members continued to serve with the Church Mission Society in Ecuador in 2024 and another went to Malawi for a short term with Mission Direct.

In November the Church was once again able to be a collection point for Operation Christmas Child’s Shoebox appeal. We also supported the town’s Remembrance Parade by supplying stewards for the event.

Beyond the local church our Pastor and Pastoral Apprentice continued to work with local schools. During the year our Pastor completed his term as Chair of Churches Together in Thatcham. He continued to Chair of West Berkshire Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education, attend SCBA meetings and occasionally write for the Newbury Weekly News Christian Viewpoint column.

Financial Review

The Church continues to raise the funds which it needs to carry on its activities from within its own membership and congregation. No wider public appeals were made for funds during the year. We did spend the remainder of the grant from the Greenham Trust (received in 2023) in our work with Asylum Seekers and Refugees.

The most significant expense is related to the cost of employment of increased staff. This includes our Pastor who leads, and co-ordinates the church’s activities including the Sunday Services, provides pastoral care for the congregation and other people, and equips and encourages the membership in their life, Christian witness and service. In addition, for the whole of 2024 we employed an Asylum Seeker and Refugee Support Worker, and from September onwards a Pastoral Apprentice.

The Church is heavily dependent on its membership working as volunteers in all aspects of the Church’s activities, many of which run with little or no impact on the Church’s expenditure, but nevertheless contribute substantially to the achievement of the Church’s objectives.

The Church expressed its part in the life of the wider church by making grants to national and international Christian organisations and societies with Christian aims and objectives compatible with the Church’s own charitable purpose.

The financial results for the year, together with a summary of the accounting policies adopted are set out in the accompanying financial statements. However, these are summarised here (Figures in brackets are the prior year figures for comparison.):-

• During the year the total income of the church from all sources was £149,532 (£142,720) of which £2.937 (£11,470) was in restricted funds. The total expenditure was £158,404 (£118,163).

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• At the end of 2024 the assets carried forward into 2025 amounted to £90,972 (£99,844), of which £2,730 (£7,164) was held in restricted funds.

• The above represents a decrease in reserves of £8,872, however much of this was related to the use of the restricted funds carried forward from 2023.

• In November the church members approved a negative budget for 2025. If this turned into reality, the net effect would be for the reserves to fall but still to be in excess of those at the end of 2022 but with increased staffing.

• During 2024 the Church made charitable donations of approximately 14% of its general fund income to the following charities: Baptist Home Mission (£6,412), BMS (£3,848), CMS (£2,880), CAP (£2,565), with £2,144 to other charities.

• Around the end of 2024 and start of 2025 the church formalised a reserves policy which states that it will seek to maintain 4 months of predicted general fund expenses in hand. The money carried forward into 2025 exceeds this figure. Thatcham Baptist Church therefore believes it has enough financial reserve to continue viable operation, not only for 2025 but into the future.

The Church owns the following properties:

The Church Building, Wheelers Green Way, Thatcham, Berkshire 16 Cochrane Close, Thatcham, Berkshire (the owned manse).

Both these properties are under the trusteeship of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. The church building is insured through The Baptist Insurance Company Plc and the manse with AXA.

THATCHAM BAPTIST CHURCH

STATUTORY INFORMATION

1. Principal Address

Wheelers Green Way Thatcham Berkshire RG19 4YF

2. Registration

Thatcham Baptist Church is established as a charitable unincorporated association registered with the Charity Commission, No. 112869.

3. Custodian Trustee for Property Assets

Baptist Union Corporation Baptist House 129 Broadway

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Didcot Oxfordshire OX11 8RT

4. Organisational Structure

Members of the Church are accepted in accordance with our Church Constitution. The Members’ Meeting generally takes place five times per year and has responsibility for the overall policy of the church. These are a mix of online (Zoom) and in-person members’ meetings.

All members are encouraged to take an appropriate part in the spiritual and practical tasks involved in the furtherance of the charitable objective. Relevant matters may be submitted to the Church Members’ Meeting by the Trustees for guidance or may be raised by members in Church meeting for further consideration by the Trustees. Though the Constitution requires certain decisions to be made at Church Members’ Meetings by appropriate majorities, the Church seeks to work by consensus wherever possible.

In accordance with the Church Constitution, the Members appoint Ministers (also referred to as Pastors) and Deacons. Ministers are appointed to office for an indefinite period. Deacons are elected by the church members by resolution at the Annual General Meeting to serve for periods of 3 years. The Ministers and Deacons are responsible for the day-to-day running of the Church’s work and witness, and the financial and legal aspects of the charity.

Those who served during the year 2023 are as follows: Minister: Rev. DJS Taylor (Pastor) Deacons: Mr. R. Appleby, to March 2024 Mr. D. Carter (Treasurer) Mrs. C. Collis Ms. S. Deering-Punshon (Secretary) to March 2024 Mr. S. Goss Mr. M. Hurd Mr. A. Kerr, from March 2024 Mr. R. Sneddon, to March 2024 Mrs. A. Stopher (Secretary from March 2024) Mrs. E. Spencer

The Minister and Deacons are the managing trustees of the Church. The Baptist Union Corporation acts as custodian trustee in respect of the property assets of the Church. All major decisions are taken to a full meeting of church members, which are held five times a year.

5. Reserves Policy

The Trustees consider that since the church owns the church building and the house currently in use as a manse there is adequate reserve to cover any

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shutdown situation. As regards day to day operation see the paragraph above in the Financial Review section.

6. Risk Management

The Minister and Deacons have assessed the major non-financial risks facing the church and have satisfied themselves that there are policies in place to mitigate these risks wherever possible. Alongside the formal Constitution, the Church has specific policies in place covering Building Access and Inclusiveness; Data Protection; Equality Diversity & Inclusion; Health and Safety; Safeguarding Children and Young People and Adults At Risk. These policies are reviewed annually.

7. Statement of Charity Trustee Responsibilities

Charity law requires the Charity Trustees, in our case the Minister and Deacons, to prepare financial statements for each financial year that give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Church and of its financial activities for that period. In preparing those financial statements, the Minister and Deacons are required to:

• Select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently.

• Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent.

• Prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to assume that the activities of the Church will continue.

The Minister and Deacons are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Church. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Church and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

8. Grant Making Policy

There are a number of different processes by which the church gives money to other organisations and individuals. Special offerings held during the year are for certain projects as agreed by a Church Meeting. Donations are also made to other causes as funds are available or as designated by donors.

9. Connected Charities

The Baptist Union Corporation continues to act as custodian trustee for the Church and all of its properties are held in the name of the Corporation on behalf of the members. The Church remains affiliated to Southern Counties Baptist Association, the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the Evangelical Alliance.

10. Adviser

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Independent Examiner: Rachel Belshaw

Church Bank: HSBC, Newbury

Approved by the Minister and Deacons on 13 February 2025 , and signed on their behalf by:

A Stopher

Mrs. A. Stopher Secretary Thatcham Baptist Church

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