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← Rochester Baptist Church

2023-12-31-accounts

Rochester Baptist Church Charit no. 1130518 y

Trustees’ Annual Report & Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2023

8-10 Crow Lane, Rochester Kent ME1 1RF www.rochesterbaptist.co.uk/

Rochester Baptist Church Trustees’ Annual Report 2023

Legal and administrative details Registered charity name: Rochester Baptist Church Charity registration number: 1130518 (see note below) Address for correspondence: 8-10 Crow Lane, Rochester, Kent ME1 1RF Governing documents: Constitution and Rules, both adopted 4 June 2009 Status: Rochester Baptist Church is a Charitable Unincorporated Association (see note below) , and a member of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches Website: www.rochesterbaptist.co.uk/ Pastor: Luciano Pelosi Bankers: Barclays Bank; Kingdom Bank ( per Barclays) Independent examiner: Sarah Crispin ACA, Stewardship, 1 Lamb’s Passage, London EC1Y 8AB

Note: a second Rochester Baptist Church charity (no.1208255) has been set up in anticipation of our switch from Charitable Unincorporated Association to Charitable Incorporated Organisation.

Trustees

The Managing Trustees are the elders and deacons:

Elders: Mr Luciano Pelosi †‡# (from 19/09/22) Mr Jonathan Peters † (from 17/01/24) Mr Darren Greening †‡ (from 23/07/21) Deacons: Ms Jane Griggs ‡ (from 29/06/23 to 10/09/24) Mrs Jo Rodrigues † (from 16/05/24) Mr Rik Hasemore † (from 16/05/24) Mr Nicholas Sutch † (from 16/05/24) Mr Malcolm Peake †‡ (from 29/04/21) Mr David Weatherley †‡ (from 29/04/21) Mrs Judith Pennington †‡ (from 29/04/21)

† = trustee on the date this report was approved ‡ = trustee in the financial year 2023 # = ex officio trustee (Pastor)

Corporate trustee: None

Holding Trustee: Our Moat House premises and Manse are held on trust by our Holding Trustee, the FIEC (Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches). However, as more churches become CIOs, the Fellowship Property Trust is ceasing to act as a holding trustee, so we are looking either to move our holding trusteeship to Church Growth Trust, or to move to ownership as a CIO (Rochester Baptist Church).

Declaration

This Trustees’ Annual Report and Accounts were approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf on 22 October 2024.

by J. Peters

J. Peters (Oct 22, 2024 19:54 GMT+1)

Name & office held — Jonathan Peters, Elder

Index

page 2 Legal and administrative details page 10 Receipts and Payments account page 3 Context of this report page 11 Statement of Assets and Liabilities page 3 Trustees’ report page 13 Notes to the Accounts page 8 Financial review page 15 Independent Examiner’s Report

2

Context of this report

As a charity registered with the Charity Commission (CC) and with an income between £25,000 and £500,000, the trustees of Rochester Baptist Church (RBC) have a legal requirement to provide to the CC each year an Annual Return, including this Trustees’ Annual Report (TAR). The TAR must include:

  1. legal and administrative details of our charity, its trustees and advisers;

  2. structure, governance and management information;

  3. a public benefit statement, reporting on how our charity achieved its stated aims in the financial year in question (1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023) and how this was of public benefit (in line with the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit);

  4. a financial review containing: a. policy on reserves; b. details of any funds materially in deficit;

  5. other required information about our organisation, comprising our declarations in relation to

  6. finance and assets (financial controls, income from outside UK, spending outside England and Wales,

  7. fundraising, Gift Aid, government funding, funds held as custodian trustee on behalf of others, trading subsidiaries, land and buildings, grant-making activities, linked charities)

  8. people (volunteers, trustee payments, highest paid employee, employees paid £60,000 or more)

  9. other compliance (DBS, GDPR, regulators, policies).

Structure, governance and management

Rochester Baptist Church was registered as a charity on 13 July 2009, following the adoption on 4 June 2009 of its updated constitution and rules. It is governed by a team of church officers (elders & deacons), who are the managing trustees and who meet regularly throughout the year. Elders (including the pastor) and deacons are appointed by the church members, as set out in our Constitution and Rules.

Elders are responsible for the spiritual and pastoral oversight of the church; they are elected at a special church meeting for a 5-year term, after which they may offer themselves for re-election (a pastor’s term of office is defined in his Contract of Appointment). Deacons are responsible for the day-to-day practical management of church life. They are elected at a special church meeting for a 4-year term, after which they may offer themselves for re-election for a further term. The secretary to the church officers and treasurer are deacons. From 2022, the treasurer role has been part of a wider finance team; other activities of the church are managed or overseen by individuals or teams, who are accountable to and supported by the elders and deacons.

Our Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday 29 June 2023. Members attended primarily in person, with six members attending by Zoom.

Stated aims

Our stated aims are:

These aims are achieved by providing services to children, young people, and the general public / mankind.

CC guidance on public benefit: By their nature, our aims involve outreach to the general public, so that our activities (outlined below) naturally fall within the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit, in particular the guidance relating to the advancement of the Christian faith.

Overview of activities in 2023

Below is an overview of our activities in 2023:

Each area is explained in more detail below.

3

Providing regular worship open to all

Regular worship: Throughout 2023, we held regular services on Sundays in our Moat House premises, generally at 10.30am every Sunday morning, and at 6pm on some Sunday evenings.

Services are open to church members and regulars, and to the general public, with meeting times advertised directly (on our website, in our weekly webmails, and via staff in our coffee shop; and indirectly (via contact details available on our website and on an information board outside the church building). We continued to make our Sunday meetings more visible and available to passers-by, using our coffee shop (which opens directly onto the street) for tea and coffee before our morning meetings; and as the venue for many of our evening meetings.

Including children, non-members and a number of visitors, generally our Sunday services in 2023 were attended by a congregation of 120+ people in the morning, and 30-40 in the evening. As in previous years, in 2023 we also held special and one-off services, including Christmas, Easter, other special services, and Church in the Park.

Younger children and babies: To make it easier for families with children to attend our meetings, on Sunday mornings we provide: • nappy-changing and breastfeeding facilities that are easily accessible within the church premises, including a relay of the meeting to the area downstairs • a crèche (on Sunday mornings in 2023, 7 adult leaders and 6 teenagers served on a rota basis, caring for babies and pre-school children whose numbers ranged from 4 to 15 • children’s church for those in primary school years (Reception to Yr6).

Christmas: We held a number of events in December to celebrate the birth of our Saviour: • a traditional Carol Service at 3pm on Sunday 17 December, focusing on the significance of Jesus’ birth, followed by mince pies and other home-made goodies • open-air carols & Bible readings on Christmas Eve in the High Street, followed by refreshments in our nearby coffee shop • a Christmas Day celebration • a New Year’s Day brunch & communion. Details of these events were publicised on our noticeboard and website, by word of mouth, and via invites available in our coffee shop, and handed out personally to friends and neighbours.

Easter: Our Easter events in 2023 comprised a Good Friday breakfast with communion; a service on Easter Sunday morning, focusing on the resurrection of Jesus; and an Easter Egg hunt for children.

Other special services, guest speakers, etc.: We held several special services in 2023: • we welcomed a guest speaker from Overseas Mission Fellowship • and we had the joy of baptising 5 people and welcoming 6 other new people into membership of our local church, across 2 services held in July and October.

Teaching Christianity through sermons, small groups and courses

Sermons and teaching topics: Teaching is a major part of our Sunday meetings. Our morning meetings in 2023 featured: • sermon series (on the books of Acts and Jonah; 2 short series, in 1 John and 1 Corinthians) • and one-off topics (including a series on prayer). One of our morning meetings in April was led by our children’s church. Evening meetings included prayer and praise meetings; and 2023 also saw the introduction of “Dig Deeper” sessions, focusing variously on topics including life and death; who God is; evidence for the resurrection; the cost of discipleship; justice and mercy; gender; money; and an open Q&A session.

Children’s church: On Sunday mornings in 2023, our younger school-aged children were sometimes joined by visiting children for children’s church, which caters for those aged 4-11. With an average weekly attendance of 1015 children, teaching for the groups was shared by 5 teachers, 4 adult helpers, and several teenage helpers.

Small groups: Throughout 2023, we continued to meet together regularly during the week in smaller groups:

Conferences etc: In 2023, church members and regulars had the opportunity to attend a number of conferences, including: • Kent Men’s Convention on God’s sovereignty (in March) • Pioneer Youth Camp (August) • “Sorted” youth conference (November) • Kent Women’s Convention, titled “Rejoice!” (November).

Courses: We ran a Hope Explored course in September; and Membership Explored courses in March and November, for those who had expressed an interest in partnering with us in membership of our local church.

4

Providing youth groups with a Christian ethos

We continued to provide age-specific clubs for young people. Group leaders aimed to offer a programme giving the young people opportunities to make new friends, develop existing friendships, relax, have fun, and explore issues concerning their community, society and faith.

Connect4: During 2023, our Connect4 group for young people aged 11-14 (school years 7-9) continued to meet weekly for games, activities, outings, and discussion, with an average attendance of 6 young people, including both regular church attenders and non-attenders. At the end of the summer term, we held a BBQ for the young people which was also an opportunity to say goodbye both to those who were moving up to year 10 and to the youth leaders who stepped down from the role in July.

Breakaway : Breakaway continued to meet in 2023, generally meeting on the church premises every other Sunday (apart from the school holidays). Meetings were attended by around 10-15 young people, with a mixture of church members and non-members. The group met to study the Bible, play games, and share snacks, with a once a term activity such as laser tag, or fireworks evening at a church member’s house.

Promoting the whole mission of the church through activities for senior citizens, parents/carers & toddlers, and other specific groups

CAMEO: Come And Meet Each Other (CAMEO) is a group of older people (men and women over 55 years of age) who meet fortnightly from 10am to 12pm. With roughly 5 church members organising the meetings, and 10 to 15 nonmembers attending, the meetings generally consist of conversation, quizzes and a short talk based on a Christian topic, with tea, coffee and cakes served. In 2023, the group also had an outing to Herne Bay for a fish and chip lunch, and a Christmas buffet lunch. As in previous years, CAMEO helped to co-ordinate and contribute to the 89 shoeboxes that comprised our church’s contribution to the Blythswood Shoebox appeal, which in 2023 were sent as Christmas gifts to those in need in Ukraine.

Little Stars continues to meet in our larger upstairs hall, usually at capacity each week! Rotating our topics has given us the great option to focus sometimes on Bible stories, sometimes on secular topics such as nursery rhymes and fairy stories. We always pray during the session each week, and offer parents / carers the opportunity to find out more about what we believe, should they wish to. Families continue to use the coffee shop regularly, and in 2023 we also began to offer Granville Night – a chance, once each term, for parents to come out, socialise and relax without children. Even if there are only one or two people, we want it to be consistently available, and another opportunity to build relationships and trust. Our toddler group also provides links into our summer Holiday Bible Club, and it is a joy to re-connect with families who may have moved on from Little Stars

Church in the Park: On Sunday 9 July, as in previous years one of our Sunday morning meetings was held outdoors, this year in The Vines, allowing us to have fun while also making ourselves visible and more accessible to those who might not venture into a church building. Church in the Park activities included a Bible talk, tug of war, football, parachute games… and ice creams.

Holiday Bible Club: After a two-year break due to COVID-19 restrictions, it was fantastic to again run our one-week children’s holiday club for children aged 5-11. We made use of many resources from previous years, including the Deep Sea Adventures theme and teaching: Jesus was no ordinary man. Each day about 45 children attended and it was really encouraging to see that, while many of the children had not been to our holiday club before, many of them were known to the church through attending our Little Stars toddler group in previous years. A team of about 25 volunteers organised craft, games, Bible teaching, songs, quizzes and a memory verse each day.

The week ended on the Saturday when we invited all the children, along with their parents and siblings, back to enjoy some of the activities from the week as well as share a lunch together. Each child from the holiday club left with their own book which was suited to their age group and signed by the leaders of the group they had been in for the week.

Community and school links: We continued to develop our links with our community, including:

Dickens Festival: Rochester Baptist Church participates in Rochester’s annual winter Dickens Festival, held in the city centre. Our inclusion in Medway’s official Dickens Festival programme together with our close proximity to the High Street enables us to have a profile within the festival, which provides a great way for the church family to honour God by working together as a fellowship, interact with the public, and share our faith in a practical way. In 2023 we focused our activities on our coffee shop, offering a friendly welcome into our church building alongside

5

refreshments. With facilities for wheelchair users, the coffee shop also allows parents with buggies to take advantage of our relatively spacious seating areas.

During 2023, our winter Dickens Festival activities included:

As in previous years, all profits from our activities associated with the pop-up stall, both Saturday and Sunday, were given to the Blythswood Care charity.

Supporting marriage

We continued to support marriage through on-going pastoral care on an informal basis. In the autumn, we also ran a 3-week marriage course, primarily aimed at married couples.

Pastoral work including visiting the sick and bereaved

Pastoral work continued to be an on-going and important aspect of our work. Pastoral support was carried out by the leadership team, by individual church members, and through groups such as Encouragement Groups, daytime study groups, CAMEO, and Little Stars, with the aim of providing support to church members, neighbours, friends, relatives, and other contacts. We also continued to give pastoral support to a number of people with whom our initial contact was through our coffee shop (both new and regular customers).

Other services and activities

Quiz night: The majority of those who came to our 2023 quiz night do not normally attend a church. Hosted in our coffee shop, the quiz night focused on the theme of Spring, and included a brief talk about the Christian faith.

The Moat House and hall hire: Our Moat House premises are available for hire to community-based groups throughout the week for a range of activities.

In 2023 we hired out our premises on 246 occasions, 221 of which were to regular hirers. Our hall hire customers included other charities (20 times) and one-off hirers (25 times). New hirers in 2023 included the local Medway Help for Ukrainians charity.

Christian bookshop / coffee shop: Located on the church premises just off the High Street, the Moat House Coffee Shop and Bookshop is a hub for our local community, including both church attendees and those who don’t normally attend church, as well as those who are lonely, socially isolated or seeking support and advice.

We have a significant number of regulars, from mothers with young children to older people, and those who just want a safe or comfortable place to come. We have local groups who meet informally over lunch each week, and others who pop in for a drink or light lunch, or to chat with our staff about our Christian faith. For those wanting to know more about Jesus, there is also a range of relevant information leaflets and other Christian literature.

The coffee shop offers refreshments such as hot and cold drinks, home-baked cakes, and freshly prepared light lunches. Alongside this, we offer a selection of gifts, Christian literature and other resources including: • Bibles for all ages and in several versions • gifts and crafts • a large selection of greetings cards • autobiographies and biographies of respected Christian men and women, past and present • resources tackling topics such as grief, debt, illness, work, family life, sex, marriage, singleness, etc. • books for teenagers and children.

The coffee shop is open Monday to Friday, 9.30am–2.30pm each week as well as approximately one Saturday a month for specific activities and events. Events in 2023 included • a regular coffee and craft morning • a quiz night (March) • opportunities for visitors to Rochester’s summer Dickens festival to talk about the Christian faith • a family scavenger hunt (September) • a monthly board games night (from September) attended by members of the public who may not normally attend a church meeting. In June, we also hosted a Good News for Everyone (formerly Gideons) coffee morning.

6

Supporting mission and other Christian charities in the UK and overseas

RBC views mission as a priority. We have links with a number of mission organisations, as well as with Christian charities involved in community projects with a Christian basis. In 2023 we gave a total of £33,023 to mission. £28,243 of this was from our 2023 Mission budget, with our giving shared across a number of organisations as outlined below. The remaining £4,780, given in March, was a deferred spend from our 2022 Mission budget.

Our four main mission partners receive a fifth each of our mission budget each year:

Other mission organisation support: Each year, the remaining fifth of our Mission budget is shared across a number of organisations, which vary from year to year. The majority of each year’s allocation is decided by our Mission Focus Group, which guides the church on a number of aspects of mission.

From our 2023 Mission budget, we supported the following:

Other required information about our organisation

Compliance and regulators:

7

Finance and assets — money in:

Finance and assets — money out:

People:

Financial review / assets

See also the separate section above, Other required information about our organisation, for other financerelated information, including Land and buildings, Grant-making, Gift Aid, etc.

Income and expenditure: The vast majority of our income for 2023 (£149,152) comprised regular and one-off donations from members and friends of the church; and related Gift Aid. Further income came from hiring out our premises to groups and individuals within the local community. The church also derives income from a property purchased to provide accommodation, where relevant, for church employees/trainees. In 2023, this rental income amounted to £7,800. Our expenditure for the year was £160,218.

Reserves: Adding the balance brought forward from 2022 (£193,601) and factoring in the 2023 excess of expenditure over income (-£11,066), at the end of 2023 we had total reserves of £182,534. Deducting the £35,455 in the Designated Church Reserves Fund*, and the amounts in other designated funds, the amount available for use by the church was therefore £149,462. Some of our reserves were used in 2023 to cover the costs of essential compliance-related maintenance in our main church building; and to cover the anticipated excess of expenditure

8

over income. In all cases, the aim is to assist our work in the community, in line with our stated aims; and in line with our Reserves Policy, which we adopted in 2018.

Scrutiny and summary of accounts: The Trustees have overall responsibility for the preparation of the financial accounts, which are produced by the Treasurer. The 2023 accounts were independently examined by an accountant in 2024 (section 145 of the Charities Act). A summary of those accounts, along with the IER, is given below.

9

Rochester Baptist Church FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023

These statements include differences of up to £1, owing to rounding

Unrestricted Designated Restricted Total Total
Funds Funds Funds 2023 2022
£ £ £ £ £
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT
Receipts
Receipts from donors
Regular giving 104,088 -
-
104,088		 98,911
Other collections (note a) - -
-
-		 20
Gift Aid repayment from HMRC 23,187 -
-
23,187		 41,822
Other voluntary receipts(note b) 82 -
-
82		 23,254
Hall hire 11,038 -
-
11,038		 7,612
Church rental properties 7,800 -
-
7,800		 7,600
Receipts from church activities(note c) 331 1,230
-
1,561		 1,736
Investment income(note d) 941 455
-
1,396		 204
Pre-payment to 10ofThose via Moat House - -
-
-		 469
147,466 1,685
-
149,152		 181,628
Payments:activities in furtherance of charitable objectives
Church activities
Ministry (note e) 54,343 -
-
54,343		 26,927
Mission (note f) 33,023 -
-
33,023		 22,063
Outreach (note g) 11,461 791
-
12,252		 8,163
Building utility 11,324 -
-
11,324		 11,388
Building fabric 22,386 -
-
22,386		 7,435
Other payments(note h) 30,485 -8,889
3,114
24,710		 14,518
Church rental properties 2,180 -
-
2,180		 37,310
165,202 -8,098
3,114
160,218		 127,803
Excess of receipts over payments -17,736 9,784
-3,114
-11,066		 53,825
Funds brought forward at 1st January 167,198 26,403
-
193,601		 139,775
Funds carried forward at 31st December 149,462 36,187
-3,114
182,534		 193,601

10

STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

as at 31[st] December 2023

Cash funds
Bank current account
Bank savings account 1
Bank savings account 2
Represented by
Unrestricted Funds
Designated Funds (note i)
Restricted Funds (note j)
Assets
Rochester Baptist Church (note k)
45 Rochester Ave (note l)
4 Howard Ave (note m)
Church equipment (note n)
Gift Aid recoverable to year end
GASDs recoverable to year end
Unpaid hall hire
Liability
HMRC tax and NI to year end due out in Jan 2024
NEST contribution to year end due out in Jan 2024
Gift Aid overclaim
Utilities (gas, elec, water) for Dec usage (est)
Phone + broadband for Dec usage
Independent Examination for 2023 accounts due out in 2024
Bank charges
Payroll software Cloud fee
MS365 Dec fee due (est)
Afghan Christians
4HA unpaid utilities and Council Tax (est)
Invoice for First Aid Course
Invoice for Crossline
Invoice for 4HA roof repair
Invoice for oven cleaning
Invoice for CSG Global
Expenses to be reimbursed to church members
Ministry expenses (Sept to Dec)
Hall hire deposits
Hall hire pre-payments		 Total
Total
2023
2022
£
£
55,230
67,693
91,849
100,038
35,455
25,871
182,534
193,601
149,462
167,198
36,187
26,403
-3,114
-
182,534
193,601
1,190,000
1,130,000
165,000
165,000
54,000
54,000
7,224
7,224
2,018
-
--
10
133
150
1,418,375
1,356,384
--
234
--
244
--
1,306
1,600
1,940
103
69
1,170
1,150
19
20
6
4
--
6
20
20
-
2,190
-
480
60
-
2,914
-
250
-
106
-
637
-
--
236
700
700
420
-
8,005
8,599

Except where indicated from the statement of receipts and payments or above, all the assets and liabilities are in respect of the charity’s unrestricted funds.

11

TRUSTEES' RESPONSIBILITIES

Under the Charities Act 2011, the Trustees are required to prepare a statement of account for each accounting year. They are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the church and to ensure that such accounts and records comply with the Charities Act 2011. They also have a responsibility to safeguard the assets of the church and to take reasonable steps to detect fraud or other irregularities and to provide reasonable assurances that:

  1. The church is operating efficiently and effectively.

  2. Its assets are safeguarded against unauthorised use or disposition.

  3. Financial information used within the church or for publication is reliable.

  4. The church complies with relevant laws and regulations.

APPROVAL

The accounts were approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by

J. Peters

J. Peters (Oct 22, 2024 19:54 GMT+1)

Name & office held — Jonathan Peters, Elder

Date: Oct 22, 2024

The notes on pages 13–14 form part of these financial statements.

12

Rochester Baptist Church FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023 Notes to the Financial Statements Receipts and Payments Analysis

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 (below). 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. Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the trustees for particular purposes. Restricted funds are donations which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors; they include donations received from appeals for specific activities or projects.

a.
Collections other than giving
Support for Afghan Christians
b.
Other voluntary receipts
One-off donations / gifts
Legacies
c.
Receipts from church activities
Dickens Festival activities
Outreach
d.
Investment Income
Interest on current account
Interest on savings account 1
Interest on savings account 2
e.
Ministry
NI and PAYE to HMRC
Pensions
Expenses
Salary
Visiting speakers
Moderator
Training, conference, planning
Youth ministry
Resources
Ministry admin		 Unrestricted
Designated
Restricted
Total
Total
Funds
Funds
Funds
2023
2022
£
£
£
£
£
-
-
-
-
20
-
-
-
-
20
82
-
-
82
3,254
-
-
-
-
20,000
82
-
-
82
23,254
331
-
-
331
480
-
1,230
-
1,230
1,257
331
1,230
-
1,561
1,736
-
-
-
-
-
941
-
-
941
96
-
455
-
455
108
941
455
-
1,396
204
7,395
-
-
7,395
439
3,131
-
-
3,131
521
3,260
-
-
3,260
1,476
36,493
-
-
36,493
17,101
208
-
-
208
2,119
-
-
-
-
3,502
78
-
-
78
200
840
-
-
840
-
142
-
-
142
101
2,796
-
-
2,796
1,467
54,343
-
-
54,343
26,927

Regarding payments to Trustees, please refer to the disclosures made in Trustee Payments on p8 of this Report.

13

Rochester Baptist Church (Notes to the Financial Statements continued)

f.
Mission
Mission Focus Group spend
Additional (ie Dickens)
Children’s church spend
g.
Outreach
CAP
Moat House
Outreach
Publicity
Quiz night
Dickens Festival
Holiday Bible Club		 32,784
-
-
32,784
239
-
-
239
-
-
-
-
21,535
463
65
33,023
-
-
33,023		 22,063
-
-
-
-		 12
6,846
-
-
6,846		 4,311
1,580
791
-
2,371		 2,023
1,103
-
-
1,103		 1,150
35
-
-
35		 65
366
-
-
366		 602
1,531
-
-
1,531		 -
11,461
791
-
12,252		 8,163

Moat House is a company limited by guarantee (06697028) and is technically a trading subsidiary of the church.

h.
Other payments
Banking charges
Church holiday / Men’s weekend
Transfer Unrestricted to Designated
Transfer Designated to Unrestricted
Cleaning wages
Consumables
Hall hire
Legal compliance
i.
Designated Funds
Church Reserves
Little Stars money
Afghan Christians
Sunday School chosen mission
Craft club
Carried forward at 31st December
j.
Restricted Funds
Brought forward 1st January
Church holiday / Men’s weekend
Carried forward at 31st December		 138
-
9,500
-611
4,539
3,437
715
12,767		 -
-
-9,500
611
-
-
-
-		 -
138
138
3,114
3,114
-3,870
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
4,539
4,348
-
3,437
2,692
-
715
2,270
-
12,767
8,940
30,485 -8,889 3,114
24,710
14,518
Fund
35,455
455
20
92
164		 Total
35,455
25,500
455
627
20
20
92
92
164
164
36,187 36,187
26,403
Fund
Total
-
-
-
-3,114
-3,114
-
-3,114
-3,114
-

* The nature of the Church holiday fund is such that some payments may need to be paid in advance of corresponding receipts which, because of the basis of preparation of the accounts, can result in a temporary negative balance on the reserve. When shown, the deficit is underwritten by the general Church funds. After the holiday if there is a deficit it is cleared from unrestricted funds.

l. 45 Rochester Ave was purchased at a cost of £165,000 in 2013, has a declared valuation of £412,020, and is currently insured with a rebuild cost estimate of £618,030.

m. 4 Howard Ave was purchased at a cost of £54,000 in 1996, has a declared valuation of £347,928, and is currently insured with a rebuild cost estimate £521,892.

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Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of Rochester Baptist Church

I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of Rochester Baptist Church (the charity) for the year ended 31 December 2023 on pages 10-14 preceding.

Responsibilities and Basis of Report

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

I report in respect of my examination of the charity's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 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 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 respect of the charity as required by section 130 of the Act; or 2. the accounts do not accord with those records.

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

Sarah Crispin

Sarah Crispin (Oct 24, 2024 09:01 GMT+1)

Sarah Crispin ACA Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales

Date: Oct 24, 2024

For and on behalf of: Stewardship 1 Lamb’s Passage London EC1Y 8AB

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