## **THE METHODIST CHURCH** ## **BRISTOL & SOUTH GLOUCESTERSHIRE CIRCUIT Circuit No. 7 / 2** ## **SOUTH BRISTOL METHODIST CHURCH** ## REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 August 2023 **Registered Charity - Charity Registration number - 1131502** ## **Minister:** Rev'd Sally Spencer ## **Church Stewards:** Mr Robert Bennett Mrs Sue Gilchrist Mr Robert Wallace Rachel Spencer Mrs Susan Rooke Mr Adrian Westlake ## **Treasurer:** Mr Richards Hills |**Bankers**|HSBCBankplc| |---|---| ||| |**Investment Bankers**|Central Finance Board of the Methodist Church| ||| |**Accounts Examiner**|Mr HGNash FCA| 1 of 7 ## SOUTH BRISTOL METHODIST CHURCH ## 1[st] September 2020 – 31[st] August 2021 TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT |Section A Reference and Administration Details|Section A Reference and Administration Details|Section A Reference and Administration Details|Section A Reference and Administration Details| |---|---|---|---| |Name of Charity
Registered Charity Number
Charity’s Principal Address
Post Code|||| ||South Bristol Methodist Church||| ||||| ||1131502||| ||||| ||Bedminster Methodist Church||| ||British Road||| ||Bristol||| ||BS3 3BW||| ||||| |**Trustee Name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year**|**Name of person (or body)**
**entitled to appoint trustee**| ||||South Bristol Methodist
Church Council| |Revd Prof TeddyKalongo|||| |Revd SallySpencer|Chair Person||| |Mr John Seward|Contact Person||| |Mr Robert Bennett|||| |Mrs Frances Bullas|Secretary||| |Mrs Aroona Smith||1 Sept - 27 Sept 22|| |Mrs Ann Rees|||| |Mrs Yvonne Powell||1 Sept - 27 Sept 22|| |Miss Ruth Watkinson||1 Sept - 27 Sept 22|| |Mr Robert Wallace|||| |Mr Adrian Westlake|||| |Miss Julia Blackmore|||| |Mr Clive Rooke|||| |Mrs Susan Rooke|||| |Mr PhilipCarter||1 Sept - 27 Sept 22|| |Mr Richard Hills|Treasurer||| |Mrs Janet MacGregor|||| |Mrs Janice Lee|||| |Miss Kavita Bhalerao|||| |Miss MaryHudson|||| |Mrs Ruth Price|||| |Mrs Sue Gilchrist|||| |Mrs Valerie Davey|||| |Mrs Dipti Kiran Bhalerao||1 Sept - 27 Sept 22|| |Mrs Jean Abbott|||| |Mrs Carol Payne||1 Sept - 27 Sept 22|| |Mrs MercyCavicchioni||1 Sept - 27 Sept 22|| |MrDerek Rees|||| 2 of 7 |Section B Structure,Governance and Management|Section B Structure,Governance and Management| |---|---| ||| |Governing Document|South Bristol Methodist Church uses an approved governing document issued by the
Methodist Conference (as detailed below) and have not altered or changed the objects
clause of this document.| |Wording of Governing
Document|(a) The Christian faith in accordance with the doctrinal standards and the
discipline of the Methodist Church:
(b) Any charitable purpose for the time being of any connexional, district, circuit,
local or other organisation of the Methodist Church:
(c) Any charitable purpose for the time being of any society or institution
subsidiary or ancillary to the Methodist Church:
(d) Any purpose for the time being of any charity being a charity subsidiary or
ancillary to the Methodist Church.
The purposes of the Methodist Church are, and shall be deemed to have been since the
date of union the advancement of –| |Trustee Selection Method|(a) Each of the three congregations that make up South Bristol Methodist Church
shall appoint annually three members of their congregation to sit on Church
Council plus the two congregational stewards who sit on the leadership team.
All will be trustees of the church.
(b) Such persons, if any, as the Church Council judges it appropriate to appoint
from among those employed by the Council, or by the Circuit Meeting in work
in the local church will be trustees of the church.
(c) The Superintendent Minister and the one listed ministerial staff of the Bristol
& South Gloucestershire Methodist circuit will be a trustee of the church
(d) Other trustees for the time being members of church council
• The Church treasurer
• The Church MWiB representative
• The Church Council Secretary
• Circuit stewards as appointed by the circuit stewards meeting.
Note:- EachtrusteeMUSTbe amemberoftheMethodist Church| |South Bristol Methodist Church
Structure|(a) South Bristol Methodist Church is made up of the congregations of
Bedminster, Knowle and St.Peter's churches.
(b) There are three worship centres within SBMC.
(c) There will be an annual meeting of the whole church which will be open to all
and will be an opportunity to discuss the whole life of the church.
(d) Each congregation will hold quarterly, an open meeting to which everyone is
welcome and which will discuss any issues the members of the meeting raise.
The calling of these meetings and the voting at them will be in accordance
with the constitution, practice, and discipline of the Methodist Church.
(e) The guidelines for the working of South Bristol Methodist Church is aligned to
the constitution, practice, and discipline of the Methodist Church and can only
be amended with the trustees voting 75% in favour of any amendment.| 3 of 7 |Section C Objectives and Activities|Section C Objectives and Activities| |---|---| ||| |Activities|(a) The provision of regular public acts of worship open to members of the church and non
members alike.
(b) The teaching of Christianity through sermons, courses and small groups.
(c) Pastoral work including visiting the sick and bereaved.
(d) Taking religious assemblies in schools.
(e) Promoting the whole mission of the church and aiding social cohesion through activities
for older people, parents and toddlers, and other specific needs groups.
(f) Supporting other charities in the UK and overseas financially and with prayer.| ||| |Contribution made by Church
Members and friends of SBMC|The trustees would like to acknowledge the work carried out in all of its congregations
in leading worship, providing pastoral care and maintaining the premises, especially
during the cost of living increases.
Generous giving by congregation members has continued in all three worship centres
and in these difficult times the trustees are also grateful for all the work carried out by
congregation members in their communities.| ||| |Section D Achievements and Performance|| |Summary of the main
achievements of SBMC|2022/23 has been another year of great change and challenges for South Bristol
Methodist Church operating on three different premises, as our churches opened for
worship every week once more. Congregation numbers are fairly static except at
Knowle where the congregation numbers have grown as previoulsy Totterdown
members joined the Knowle congregation and there are signs that lettings have
increased.
Our congregation at Totterdown ceased to meet at the end of the last financial year and
a church of another denomination has agreed to purchase the building so that a
Christian presence will continue in the Totterdown building.
Despite all this, common resource sharing continued across all three congregations as
the minister and members worked together. SBMC is working to enable groups to come
together once again and meet the challenges of the future and have continued to
support a number of charities working in the UK to provide support for families in need,
both locally and in the wider community of Bristol and we thank God for this part of our
mission.
Over the winter months two of our congregations opened their premises as warm
spaces offering a welcome space for warmth and food and activities for those who may
be feeling the effects of the cost of living issues. So successful has this been , and so
welcome by so many of our community that we are to continue this activity into
2023/24.
There have been enormous challenges for all our congregations to keep in touch with
their friends and members and we are grateful to all who keep in touch with those who
are vulnerable and need support. We thank God for His mercies and look forward to
the future with confidence.
SBMC membership of the Bristol & South Gloucestershire Circuit is moving forward
with SBMC forming part of the South and Central mission cluster which includes
Parkway, Bethesda and Victoria Methodist Churches, the Withywood Centre and
Faithspace. With the guidance and help of the Holy Spirit we move on in faith.| ||| |Section E Financial Review|| ||| |SBMC Policy on Reserves|The policy is to maintain a general reserve equivalent to three months routine expenditure| |AnyFunds in Deficit|There are no funds in deficit| 4 of 7 ## **SOUTH BRISTOL METHODIST CHURCH** ## **ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2023** ||**SECTION A**|||**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**Restricted**
**Funds**|**Totals this**
**year**|**Totals this**
**year**|**Totals last**
**year**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||||**£**|**£**|**£**||**£**| ||**RECEIPTS**||**Note**|||||| ||Offerings and Tax recovered|||69,570||**69,570**||**76,739**| ||Bank and CFB interest and
Investment income|||1,908||**1,908**||**269**| ||Lettings|||97,358||**97,358**||**70,027**| ||Fund RaisingActivities|||5,574||**5,574**||**4,090**| ||Donations and Bequests|||11,969||**11,969**||**10,665**| ||Grant for Warm Space||||2,307|**2,307**||| ||Other receipts|||275||**275**||**579**| ||**TOTAL RECEIPTS**|||**186,654**|**2,307**|**188,961 **|**(a7)**|**162,369**| |||||||||| ||**SECTION B**|||||||| ||**PAYMENTS**|||||||| ||Circuit Assessment or Share|||80,356||**80,356**||**83,373**| ||Donations|||1,367||**1,367**||**1,041**| ||Repairs and Maintenance|||21,792||**21,792**||**14,800**| ||Utilities (Insurances, water
charges, heating & lighting)|||33,525||**33,525**||**26,971**| |||||||||| ||Otherpayments|||32,481|402|**32,883**||**28,350**| ||**TOTAL PAYMENTS**|||**169,521**|**402**|**169,923 **|**(b9)**|**154,535**| |||||||||| ||**SECTION C**|||||||| ||**NET RECEIPTS/PAYMENTS**
**FOR THE YEAR**|||17,133|1,905|**19,038**||7,834| |||||||||| ||Total funds brought forward from
last year|||105,684|515|**106,199 **|**(c6)**|**98,365**| |||||||||| ||**Sub total**|||122,817|2,420|**125,237**||**106,199**| |||||||||| ||Transfers and adjustments||||||**(c7)**|| |||||||||| ||**TOTAL FUNDS AT END OF YEAR**|||**122,817**|**2,420**|**125,237 **|**(c8)**|**106,199**| |||||||||| ||**SECTION D**|||||||| ||**FOR INFORMATION ONLY: MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO EXTERNAL ORGANISATIONS**|||||||| ||**(these amounts are not included in total receipts/payments figures above)**|||||**£**||**£**| ||Balance brought forward from lastyear|||||0||0| ||Offerings/Gifts - received for external organisations|||||1,968||2,328| ||Offerings/Gifts -passed to external organisations|||||1,968||2,328| ||**BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID**|||||**0**||**0**| |||**SECTION D**|||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |||**FOR INFORMATION ONLY: MONEY RECEIVED AND PASSED ON TO EXTERNAL**||**ORGANISATIONS**|||| |||**(these amounts are not included in total receipts/payments figures above)**||**£**||**£**|| |||Balance brought forward from lastyear||0||0|| |||Offerings/Gifts - received for external organisations||1,968||2,328|| |||Offerings/Gifts -passed to external organisations||1,968||2,328|| |||**BALANCE STILL TO BE PAID**||**0**||**0**|| 5 of 7 ## **SOUTH BRISTOL METHODIST CHURCH** ## **SUMMARY OF CHURCH ACCOUNTS AND INTERNAL ORGANISATIONS REPORTING TO THE CHURCH** ## **SECTION E** Summary of the Church accounts for the year ended 31 August 2023 and Internal Organisations reporting to the Church Council/Church Meeting. ||**SECTION E**||||||||||||| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||Summary of the Church accounts for the year ended 31 August 2023 and Internal Organisations reporting to the Church Council/Church Meeting.||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||| ||**INTERNAL**
**ORGANISATIONS**||Receipts||Payments||Net Receipts/
Payments||Adjustments||Openingbalances||Closing
balances| ||**Bedminster**||568||630||(62)||||518||456| ||**Knowle**||876||1,134||(258)||||1,434||1,176| ||**St Peters, Brislington**||332||545||(213)||||326||113| ||**Totterdown**||0||2,219||(2,219)||||2,219||0| ||||||||||||||| ||||||||||||||| ||Sub total of Internal
Organisationsfunds||1,776||4,528||(2,752)
**)**
**19,038**||||4,497|**(e11)**|1,745| ||**Church accounts (totals**
**brought forward from page**
**2 - totals column)**||**188,961 **|**(a7)**|**169,923 **|**(b9**|**)**
**19,038**|||**(c7)**|**106,199 **|**(c6)**|**125,237**| ||**TOTAL CASH FUNDS**||**190,737**||**174,451**||**16,286**||||**110,696**|**(x)**|**126,982**| ||||**TOTAL RECEIPTS**||**TOTAL**
**PAYMENTS**||||||||| **SECTION F STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES** ||**CHURCH - CASH FUNDS HELD at 31 August 2023**
Bank Deposit Account
Bank Current Account
Total funds held by Internal Organisations
**SUB TOTAL - Church accounts**
Cash in hand
**TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH**
Central Finance Board
Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes
Other funds|**OPENING**
**BALANCES**
52,306
53,893
**106,199** (c6)
**4,497** (e11)
**110,696**
(x)|**CLOSING**
**BALANCES**| |---|---|---|---| ||Cash in hand||| ||Bank Current Account||69,471| ||Bank Deposit Account||| ||Central Finance Board||55,766| ||Trustees for Methodist Church Purposes||| ||Other funds||| ||**SUB TOTAL - Church accounts**||**125,237**| ||Total funds held by Internal Organisations||**1,745**| ||**TOTAL CASH FUNDS HELD BY CHURCH**||**126,982**| ||||| ||**SECTION G**|At|At| ||**SECTION G**||| ||**OTHER ASSETS and LIABILITIES**
Other Assets
Land & Buildings (Insurance value)
Investments (include Endowments)
Other Liabilities
Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end|31 August
2022
1,249
15,512,394
0
0
0|31 August
2023| ||Investments (include Endowments)|1,249|1,225| ||Land & Buildings (Insurance value)|15,512,394|16,573,649| ||Other Assets|0|0| ||Loan(s)- show amount outstandingatyear end|0|0| ||Other Liabilities|0|0| 6 of 7 ## **DECLARATIONS** ## **Treasurer** I confirm that I have prepared the accounts from the records of the Church and that they include all funds under the control of the Church Council |of the Church Council||| |---|---|---| |Signature of Treasurer
Name
Address||| ||16 Norton Road, Knowle, Bristol, BS4 2JG|| ## **Presentation to the South Bristol Methodist Church Council for approval.** I confirm that the Report and Accounts were presented and approved by the Church Council on 18th October 2023 Signature of the Chair of the meeting Name of the Chair of the meeting **Rev'd Sally Spencer** Date ## **Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of the** ## **SOUTH BRISTOL METHODIST CHURCH** ## **This Report is on the Church Accounts for the year ended 31st August 2023** ## **Respective responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner** The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: - Examine the accounts under Section 145 of the Charities Act - to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under Section - 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act), and - to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## **Basis of Independent Examiner’s Report** My examination was carried out in accordance with general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair' view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. ## **Independent Examiner’s Statement** In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: - (1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements: - to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; - to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met; - (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Signature Hilary Gordon Nash, FCA 75 Manor Road Keynsham Date XX November 2023 Bristol, BS31 1RE 7 of 7