WIGAN METHODIST MISSION Queens Hall
TAR and ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31[ST] AUGUST 2023
Management
Responsibility for management of Wigan Methodist Mission lies with its Church Council, in accordance with the Standing Orders of the Methodist Church. The membership of the Church Council is partly ex officio and partly elected. For example, the minister with pastoral responsibility, the church stewards (who are elected annually by the church members), and the treasurer are ex officio. Other members of the Church Council are elected annually by the church members.
In the period of 12 months to the 31[st] August 2023 the Church Council met 4 times, to review the whole mission of the church, including its worship, the discipleship of its members, its financial position, the maintenance of the church premises, its pastoral care of both its members and adherents, and its social and evangelistic outreach.
The church has a small Leadership Group which meets every 4 to 5 weeks, which has responsibility for the day to day running of the church, reviews its activities and prepares items for presentation to the Church Council.
Objectives
The mission statement of the church remains “In Jesus Christ, Growing up, Growing together, Growing out, Growth rooted in Love”. This statement summarises our mission of serving the community while deepening our fellowship, our relationship to God and Christian discipleship.
Premises
The church building is in one of the main streets in the Wigan Town Centre, close to the bus station. As well as the church sanctuary and ancillary rooms, it has a café. This provides a range of food and drink each morning Monday to Friday, in a safe and friendly environment where people, particularly elderly, can meet friends. Prayer and a listening ear are also offered.
The café is now operating within the sanctuary and has been welcomed by everyone for its light airy feel and open space. It has also helped to promote prayer for customers and anyone needing help and support.
The church building is open every day. As well as its use for church-based activities, it is used by a number of outside organisations each week. Some are charged a commercial fee. Others, for example Alcoholics Anonymous, pay only a nominal amount.
We currently have an enormous problem with the cupola at the top of the building. This has degraded to such an extent that masonry is cracking and needs repair. On top of this we have window frames which need replacing, an inefficient heating system which is expensive to run, a lift which needs replacing and inefficient guttering. We have set up a small team to look into this and in the last 12 months we are in the process of having the building surveyed by many trades to give us a final figure for the repairs and we need a fundraiser. The total cost of all this is in excess of 1 million pounds and the members of the Church are working hard to try to bring in extra income but we do need to look at grants for the large sums.
Activities
The activities of the church reflect its obligation to show that it exists for public benefit, with particular regard to the advancement of religion. The church enables ordinary people to live out their Christian faith through:
- Worship and prayer, learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ and developing their
knowledge of and trust in Jesus
-
Opportunities for fellowship and the provision of pastoral care for its members and others connected with the church
-
Mission and outreach
Worship and Prayer
The church holds services every Sunday morning between 10.45am and 12.30pm. The music is led mainly by our worship group. Those who attend cover a wide age range. The services are led by a variety of preachers as well as the minister. Once a month we hold an informal service, led by a preacher gifted at addressing children as well as adults. Prayer events and healing services are also held.
All are welcome to attend our services; the average weekly adult attendance at the morning service was 35. We have lost many of our children and families since the pandemic and we are trying to rebuild in that area.
The sacraments of baptism and marriage are available and funeral services are held.
Every month, a Café worship is held on a Wednesday afternoon and this is followed by refreshments. This event attracts around 20 people each time including our learners from Adult Community Education who share our building. Some of those who also attend are customers of the café and have no other attachment to the church.
There is a dedicated Prayer Room on the first floor of the building. It is used for prayer meetings particularly the weekly Thursday lunchtime prayer meeting and discipleship and bible study groups. Our monthly leadership meetings and pastoral meetings are held there, where prayer is greatly valued. It is available for use for private prayer by anyone while the building is open.
The church has a Prayer Ministry Team, members of which are available after each service, and a prayer circle for urgent prayer requests.
Fellowship and Pastoral Care
The pastoral care system is regularly reviewed and all the members and most of the non-members who attend regularly have a Pastoral Carer, who is responsible for keeping in touch and/or visiting them in their homes, particularly those who are house-bound or sick.
Mission
Mission continues to be an important element in the Church. We run regular Alpha courses and continue to see people come to faith in Jesus Christ. Our café has proved to be a very important mission field and we have regular people daily going into the café to offer prayer and a listening ear.
Little Angels is our outreach to younger families and this continues to see a good regular attendance.
Our Youth outreach is on a monthly basis and each Wednesday from 3.30pm to 5pm, youth from local high schools visit and take part in learning to play instruments, singing, craft and enjoying themselves. This continues to grow and develop.
The Brick
The Brick began as a small outreach from the Church and has grown to be a charity in its own right, and it is still expanding thanks to our ongoing involvement in its success. See
The Brick's Charity Commission page here
Finance
The church is subject to independent examination and a copy of its accounts, examined by a qualified accountant, is attached.
We have lost several key members this year because of the Methodist decision on God in Love Unites us and therefore giving is down approximately £120 per week.
Our circuit assessment has been reviewed from £28,000 and we are now paying £13,000 a year in view of the rise in cost of heating and lighting plus our need for extensive building maintenance and repairs.
During this time, we have tried initiatives to raise funds to keep our church going, through the tabletop sales, fundraising and the craft stall.
Our lettings remain consistent, and we hope to be able to increase them again this year.
| Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receipts and Payments | ||||||||||
| Year End 31st | August 2023 | |||||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||
| RECEIPTS | ||||||||||
| Coffee Bar | 28,000 | |||||||||
| Lets | 19,155 | |||||||||
| Offerings | 32,308 | |||||||||
| Gift Aid | 7,363 | |||||||||
| Donations and Legacies | 1,625 | |||||||||
| CFB Interest received | 1,010 | |||||||||
| Sundry receipts | 1 | 11,716 | ||||||||
| 101,177 | ||||||||||
| PAYMENTS | ||||||||||
| Wages, tax, NI | 26530 | |||||||||
| Assessment | 14965 | |||||||||
| Heat and light | 28920 | |||||||||
| Building | 2 | 19240 | ||||||||
| Printing, postages, etc | 1778 | |||||||||
| Insurance | 4366 | |||||||||
| Water | 2080 | |||||||||
| Telephone | 780 | |||||||||
| Café supplies | 3338 | |||||||||
| Sundry expenses | 1583 | |||||||||
| Equipment and fittings | 3 | 2543 | ||||||||
| Donations | 4 | 2060 | ||||||||
| 108,183 | ||||||||||
| Deficit foryear | 7,006 | |||||||||
| Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes on Accounts | |||||||||
| Year ended 31st August 2023 | |||||||||
| 1.Sundriesincludes £11700 towards the preliminary costs of the Nehemiah building works | |||||||||
| 2. Building | |||||||||
| Nehemiah | |||||||||
| Fire alarm service | 268 | ||||||||
| Lift Repairs and service | 361 | ||||||||
| Waste disposal | 736 | ||||||||
| Pat test | 286 | ||||||||
| Fazackerley flooring | 110 | ||||||||
| Bithell wndow repair | 570 | ||||||||
| Gibson plumbing | 72 | ||||||||
| Pat Wilson roof | 6,720 | ||||||||
| Markland structual survey | 3,660 | ||||||||
| Christian Environ survey | 3,840 | ||||||||
| GLJ projects | 1,976 | ||||||||
Other |
909 | ||||||||
| 3,044 | 16,196 | 19,240 | |||||||
| 2. Equipment | |||||||||
| Defibrulator Hire | 985 | ||||||||
| Water boiler | 634 | ||||||||
| Microphone | 275 | ||||||||
| Toaster | 252 | ||||||||
| Ladders | 130 | ||||||||
| Other | 267 | ||||||||
| 2,543 | |||||||||
| Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notes on Accounts | |||||
| Year ended 31st August 2023 | |||||
| 3. Donations |
|||||
| Alpha International | 200 | ||||
| UCB | 300 | ||||
| MAF | 260 | ||||
| QHHC/QHAP/Brick | 1,200 | ||||
| Action for Children | 100 | ||||
| 2,060 | |||||
| Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | Wigan Methodist Mission | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liquidity Statement as at 31st August 20223 | ||||||||
| Current Assets | ||||||||
| Co-op | 3,527 | |||||||
| CFB Deposit Account | 30,065 | 33,592 | ||||||
| Youth Fund | 454 | |||||||
| Net Current Assets | 33,138 | |||||||
| Accumulated Fund | ||||||||
| Co-op brought forward | 11,643 | |||||||
| CFB brought forward | 29,055 | 40,698 | ||||||
Youth Fund |
554 | |||||||
| 40,144 | ||||||||
| Less deficit | 7006 | |||||||
| 33,138 | 0 | |||||||
| Report to the Members of the Wigan Methodist Mission | ||||||||
| I have examined the receipts and payments account and statement of assets and liabilities of the | ||||||||
| Wigan Methodist Mission relating to the year ended 31st August 2023. My examination did not | ||||||||
| amount to an audit but was carried out in accordance with the General Directions issued by the | ||||||||
| Charity Commissioners for the independent examination of the accounts of smaller charities. | ||||||||
| Nothing has come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to | ||||||||
| believe otherwise than that the accounts accord with the accounting records of the church and such | ||||||||
| records satisfy the requirements of the Charities Acts. I am not aware of any matter to which | ||||||||
| attention needs to be drawn in order to obtain a proper understanding of the accounts. | ||||||||
| Signed: | ||||||||
| Date: | ||||||||