2023-04-05-accounts - Bethel Baptist Church Laleston

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411.1,. BETHEL BAFfisT CHURCH LALESTON TRUSTEES REPORT & ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDING 5th APRIL 2023

Be hel 1st Church Bethel Baptist Church High Street laleston CF32 OHP Charity Ntr. 1131135 Trustees Rep & Statement of Accounts For the Financial Year endin8 5th April 2023. CONTENTS:. Pages 1-3 Truslees Annual Report. Page 4 Legal & Administrative InforniatioTL Page 5 Receipts & Payments AccounL Page 6 Notes to the Account& Page 7 Statement of Assets and Liabilltie& Page 8 Independent Examlners ReporL

Bethel Baptist Church Trustees Report – 2022-2023

Objectives and Activities

Our stated charitable objective is “to glorify God by the advancement of the Christian Religion for the benefit of the public in accordance with the basis of faith of the church.”

The trustees work alongside the pastor and deacons of the church to promote the ministry of the church in every way. This includes pastoral ministry to members and other attenders, evangelistic ministry to those outside the church and mission ministry supporting friends who are working in other parts of the world. We are committed to following the teaching of the bible in our activities and the basis of faith of the church reflects that commitment.

Public Benefit

When planning our activities for the year, the trustees, pastor and deacons have considered the Commission’s guidance on public benefit and the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. More information on this guidance can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-benefit-rules-for-charities

We benefit the public by providing a safe, accessible and welcoming environment for Christian worship in the village of Laleston. This is achieved through our regular weekly meetings, some less frequent but regular activities and through special events at various times throughout the year. We meet a valuable social need in providing opportunities for local people to meet together.

To meet these objectives and to continue to run activities, we also need to maintain and upgrade our buildings and facilities.

Achievements and Performance

During the last year, we have continued our weekly programme of services on Sundays (10.30am and 6.00pm), ladies meetings on Mondays and bible study and prayer meetings on Thursday evenings and Friday mornings. In addition to those weekly events, we also hold monthly coffee mornings and occasional men’s breakfast events. A few times a year we host free lunches, either on Sunday or mid-week and then usually in the summer, we hold a garden party to provide an afternoon of social time, activities for children and an event to publicise the church.

Our Sunday services have been well attended during the last year with an increase of people attending, especially on Sunday mornings. We have continued recording the morning sermon and sending out the YouTube link and notes to members and friends in case anyone was not able to attend. This has been helpful for some members who have been kept from services for various health reasons or away on holiday.

The ladies meetings continue to alternate between a craft meeting attended by local ladies and a worship meeting with an invited speaker. Both meetings usually have around 10-15 people in attendance and are run by church volunteers.

Our monthly coffee morning is a free event organised by church volunteers and is attended by around 20-25 people, many of whom live in our local community. We serve drinks and other refreshments, all free, and give a short talk from the bible for about 10 mins.

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The men’s breakfast events are an opportunity for local men to meet up and chat and listen to someone give a short talk, often an invited guest. During this last year, we held a total of four events, attended by around 10-15 men each time.

We were saddened as a church to lose two of our regular congregation during the last year. Our friend Beryl Richards passed away in July. Beryl served the church faithfully in many ways alongside her late husband David. For many years she served us spiritually and practically and she will be greatly missed.

We were also saddened by the loss of our friend Paul Radford in October. Paul along with his wife Pat joined the church recently and Paul enjoyed being part of our services even though he struggled with his health. We will miss our friends greatly, but we rejoice that as Christians, they are now at rest with the Lord Jesus Christ whom they loved and served throughout their lives.

Joint church activities – we joined with several other churches in the town with a combined Easter mission event under the banner of “Passion for Life”, a UK wide initiative. We held a week of events held in various of the Bridgend churches, helped by a small team and invited special guest speakers.

Mission – during the year we also continued to support a number of missionaries working in S. Ireland, Hungary, Nepal, the Middle East and also in the UK. The church supports the Baptist Missionary Society that has missionaries engaged in a variety of activities worldwide. We also support Union, the organisation that runs the theological college in Bridgend (Union School of Theology).

Building work – We applied for a Suncredit Solar grant administered by BAVO at the start of 2023. This was to help improve the facilities at Bethel with a new digital piano, a new hearing loop amplifier and also a new laptop for use in recording services and video editing.

The grant application was successful and the grant was awarded at the end of March. The new items have now been purchased and are regularly in use.

Some minor building repair work was carried out during the year as well as regular maintenance of the grounds.

We continued discussions during the year for plans to extend the

present buildings and held an open meeting for all church members and friends in March to discuss this. At this meeting, it was decided to appoint a building committee to investigate further both our needs and options for expanding the buildings into what is now the garden space at the rear of the church.

Financial Review

The giving for the year was increased from the previous year which is encouraging and our income was also added to by the grant mentioned above and donations toward the appeal following the earthquake in Syria in February. Even though our expenses increased over the year, that still left a surplus of just over £6,000. We are thankful and grateful for the faithful way the members and friends of the church support the church in all that we seek to do.

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Our total income for the year was £44,276 and our total expenses were £38,267, leaving us a surplus of £6,009 in our unrestricted fund. The restricted fund stands at £5,536. With money already in the unrestricted fund of £23,539, the total at the end of the year was £29,548. As mentioned above in building work, we have longer term plans for some expansion and the surplus money in the unrestricted fund will be used for that purpose along with any extra money from grants.

Reserves Policy

The deacons and pastor have agreed together to maintain a reserve fund of £5,000 to cover running costs of the church for a period of approximately 3 months in the case of any financial emergency affecting the current account finances of the church. The level of this fund will be reviewed annually by the trustees and members of the church.

Volunteers

Many of the activities of the church rely on the time and energy given by volunteers. Activities include organising speakers for ladies meetings, setting up the rooms for meetings, cleaning, preparing flowers, serving refreshments, playing piano and recording and banking money. The trustees would like to register their sincere thanks to all those who work so hard to make the church run smoothly and who give their time so freely.

Structure, Governance and Management

The trustees are appointed annually at the AGM. The day-to-day running of the church is under the pastor and the deacons, appointed by the members. Deacons serve for 3 years and must then be appointed by the members to continue to serve for 3 year periods. The deacons and pastor meet monthly to discuss the life and ministry of the church and to review the finances.

The current deacons are Marilyn John and David Laviers.

The church is now administered by two trustees, Jim Grindell (Pastor) and Kevin Green (secretary) and we will be looking for at least one more member to join the trustees in the near future.

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Administrative Information

Bethel Baptist Church is situated in the village of Laleston, just outside Bridgend. Our postal address is:

Bethel Baptist Chapel

High Street Laleston CF32 0HP

Trustees:

Jim Grindell (Pastor) Kevin Green (Secretary)

Pastor:

Jim Grindell

Deacons:

Marilyn John David Laviers (treasurer)

Report approved by the Trustees on 22nd June 2023 and signed on their behalf by Jim Grindell (Pastor).

Signed…………………………………………………………………………………………

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Bethel Baptist Church Laleston

Registered Charity No: - 1131135

Receipts & Payments Account

Year Ending 5th April 2023 Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund £ £	Year Ending 5th April 2023 Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund £ £	Year Ending 5th April 2022 Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund £ £	Year Ending 5th April 2022 Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund £ £
8,339		6,954
24,126	50	24,140
6,121		5,872
1,000
70
45		2
		80
2,654
	1,000
1,921

		37,048 0

		24,820
		1,575
		926
		160
		3,600

		144

		470
		538
		654

		208
		581
		90
		296
		200


		57
		309

		34,628 0

6,009	1,050	2,420	0

23,539	4,486	21,119	4,486

29,548	5,536	23,539	4,486

Bethel Baptist Church Laleston

Registered Charity No: - 1131135

Notes to Accounts

Note 1 Union B. Griffiths - 100 Fold A. Douglas - Nepal M. Dunkley - Middle East J. McMaster - Eire T. Burgan - Hungary Total 2 Payroll Software Safeguarding Subscription CCLI Music Copyright Folding Tables Clock & Batteries Paper Towels & Handwash Cleaning Materials Stationery Wedding Gift Flowers Total	Year Ending 5th April 2023 £ 600 600 600 600 600 600 3,600 71 36 87 81 19 5 100 6 405	Year Ending 5th April 2022 £ 600 600 600 600 600 600 3,600 59 32 83 90 45 309

Bethel Baptist Church Laleston

Registered Charity No: - 1131135

Assets & Liabilities

Fixed Assets Church Building, Graveyard & Grounds Liquid Assets Santander Bank Account Barclays Bank Account Barclays Bank Account Total Funds Notes Contingent Debtor for Unclaimed Gift Aid Overpayment re Electricity Contingent Liabilities Gas Building Repairs - Storm Eunice Grant re Keyboard, Loop System, Computer Easter Trail	Year Ending 5th April 2023 Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund £ £ 400,000 17,834 11,714 5,536 29,548 5,536 35,084 6,610 9 56 2,654 165	Year Ending 5th April 2022 Unrestricted Fund Designated Fund £ £ 400,000 17,789 5,750 4,486
		23,539 4,486
		6,078 109 40 100

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