2025-01-31-accounts

With Jesus With each other To the edges Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 January 2025 CHURCH MISSION SOCIETY

Annual Report 2025

• 3 The Strategic Report of the CMS Trustees

• 3 Objectives and Activities

• 5 Achievements and Performance

• 5 CEO’s report

• 7 CMS Strategic Priorities

• 9 Future plans: Strategic Priorities for 2025–26

• 10 Structure, Governance and Management

• 14 Financial Review

• 18 Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities

• 19 Independent Auditor’s Report

• 23 Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities

• 24 Consolidated and Charity Balance Sheet

• 25 Consolidated Cash Flow Statement

• 26 Notes to the Financial Statements

• 57 Reference Details of the Charity and Advisers

Church Mission Society – Group

Registered company limited by guarantee in England and Wales (Company no. 6985330) Registered charity no. 1131655 (England and Wales) Registered charity no. SC047163 (Scotland)

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The Trustees of Church Mission Society, who are Directors of the Charity for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006, present their annual report and the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 January 2025.

Objectives and Activities

Our Vision: To see our world made new through the love of God as we follow Jesus to the edges.

Our Goal: Communities and society are transformed as new disciples participate in the life and work of Jesus in our world.

Our Purpose: We exist to make disciples of Jesus at the edges.

Who we are: Jesus spent much of his time with people at the edges, and that’s where we want to be too. Church Mission Society invites people at the edges of church, the edges of society and the edges of our comfort zones to follow Jesus and play a part in his story. Come with us to the edges and discover God at work in ways you might not have expected.

Our values – we are people who are:

• Pioneering: We are constantly seeking and moving to the edges of church, society and ourselves, and calling others to do the same: to try new things, ask questions, cross boundaries and not get too comfortable.

• Evangelistic: We share Jesus in word and action with people at the edges and invite them to be part of his story.

• Relational: We get alongside people, becoming a genuine part of the edge-based communities where we find ourselves, recognising that often we are guests not hosts.

• Faithful: We remain true to our calling and don’t get discouraged easily. We recognise that mission at the edges takes time, that God is our leading partner in all we do and can be trusted to bring needed change.

Where we work: By working “at the edges” we mean that we encourage individuals and groups of people to follow Jesus:

• At the edges of existing church

• At the edges of society

• At the edges of our comfort zones

Within the UK and overseas, we are specifically called to mission at the margins and cultural fringes, where Jesus is not often followed and which are often overlooked or written off. We believe God is already at work in these spaces and our task is to join in.

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What we do: We are called to make disciples of Jesus where you may not expect to find them. And to see those disciples make more disciples until communities of people committed to following the way of Jesus are formed.

This is how we see change happen: person by person, community by community. To be more specific:

• We connect people with a heart for the edges so they can work together. Often this takes the form of cross-cultural hubs, or pockets of people from Western and non-Western backgrounds teaming up to bring change in a specific edge-based context.

• We train people for ground-breaking, transformational and sustainable mission in the UK and overseas.

• We equip churches to look around, see what God is doing among people at the edges within their communities and join in.

In CMS’s vast history, thousands of people have crossed geographical, cultural and societal boundaries to make disciples of Jesus. Through their efforts, missteps and all, we have seen the gospel of Jesus make itself at home in a variety of contexts all over the world. Sometimes in ways we could never have foreseen.

Public benefit

In compiling this report, the Trustees have given due regard to the public benefit guidance as issued by the Charity Commission. As “a community of people in mission obeying the call of God to proclaim the gospel in all places and to draw all peoples into fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ”, CMS works out its Public Benefit in a number of ways.

CMS believes the Christian faith is of benefit to society, and individuals, bringing a vision of transformation for peace and social harmony which grows from what Christians believe is God’s ultimate purpose: to bring all things into unity and perfection in Jesus Christ. People are likely to become disciples of Jesus if Christians “live a Christ-like life amongst them, share the good news of Jesus, demonstrate God’s love and prayerfully expect the Spirit’s power to transform individuals, communities and whole nations”. CMS seeks to demonstrate this benefit through its wide range of mission activities both in the UK and internationally as detailed throughout the Strategic Report.

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Achievements and Performance

CEO’s report by Alastair Bateman

I look back over 2024 with immense gratitude – to our God, who equips and strengthens us in his mission, and to Church Mission Society staff, people in mission and supporters, who continue to faithfully follow Jesus to the edges together.

We began the year sharing a new focus in year two of the Jesus Never Gives Up campaign. This campaign highlights CMS’s work to both encourage existing supporters and introduce CMS to potential new supporters. In this second year, our focus has been on how Jesus calls us to empower people who have been pushed to the edges of life – by things like armed conflict, discrimination or poverty – to reach their God-given potential.

Hellen was one of those who had been pushed to the edges, in her case through war in South Sudan. Hellen’s father was killed and, with no other family left, she decided to follow others who were going to Uganda. Hellen was taken to a refugee camp, where she was safer – but her struggles were not over: “When I came here, I lost hope. I stayed scared because I came without anyone. Life was very hard.” After a time, Hellen got married and had a baby, but when she was pregnant with her second child, her husband died of cancer. She was on her own again, with two children to look after. She lived in fear, and couldn’t see a reason to go on.

Hellen was invited to be part of a trauma healing group, facilitated by CMS partner Sam. Each week, the group learned about someone in the Bible who faced trauma and how God met that person. Through being part of the group, Hellen gave her life to Jesus. She says, “Jesus is the one who can bring peace to our lives, to our families, to our country. I’m so grateful to Almighty God for making me regain my hope and the miracle that he has done in my life through the trauma healing programme of Across and with the support from CMS. I feel as if there’s nothing that is traumatising me now. I am free.”

Hellen’s story is part of a growing area of work for CMS and CMS-Africa, seeking to make disciples of Jesus in contexts of armed conflict. Eastern DR Congo is another area where CMS partners are introducing people who long for peace to Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Bisoke, who leads a peace centre in the town of Bunia, eastern DRC, told us about the transformation he has seen in a man called Manasseh.

Manasseh joined a militia after his village was attacked – he felt that he had no other option. He knew that his life in the forest with the militia was not good, but didn’t know where to turn. Eventually he ran away and ended up in a refugee camp in Bunia. From this camp, Manasseh’s wife joined some of the activities run by the peace centre, and he noticed that she started to change. As the peace centre team showed Manasseh God’s love despite the terrible things he had done, he began to share his experiences.

Iam free. Hellen, a South Sudanese refugee who met Jesus through a trauma healing programme in a refugee camp in Uganda

Manasseh turned to Jesus, and he is now ordained and working alongside Bisoke at the peace centre, sharing his testimony to encourage others. And how did this transformation take place? Bisoke is clear: “Only Jesus.”

I was privileged to meet with some of the leaders of this vital work in Africa alongside other key partners in Cairo in the summer. Several members of CMS’s leadership came together with partners leading a range of ministries to reflect, pray, learn from one another and share vision.

In Cairo, we were hosted by a partner organisation that supports followers of Jesus from a Muslim background across the Middle East and North Africa. These followers of Jesus face many challenges: isolation, rejection from family and friends, and struggles to connect with churches. It was so good to meet some of their team

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and hear stories from the people they are working with, people like Mariam (name changed), who met Jesus after fleeing war in Syria.

Mariam arrived in Lebanon with her children and her husband, who would not allow her to leave the dirty, windowless flat where they now lived. After a neighbour persuaded Mariam’s husband to let her visit a place offering help, Mariam discovered a local church. She chose to follow Jesus after reading the Bible, sensing God speak to her and secretly going to a group at the church. When her husband and parents discovered her new faith, they gave her a choice – her family or Jesus.

Mariam chose Jesus. Her husband took their children back to Syria without warning. Mariam didn’t see her daughter for nine years. Yet while she tried every way she could think of to get her children back, and cried out to Jesus, Mariam also started to see that God could have a plan for her. Through training with our partner organisation, Mariam has been equipped to reach and disciple others. Now, as well as working with children and young people, Mariam shares, “I lead a service for women from a Kurdish tribe, 80 women in 10 groups like house churches. I preach the gospel. I am a missionary.”

Mariam has now been reunited with her oldest daughter. She explains, “My passion is to work with women who have been through similar experiences. I tell them the story of how my daughter came back. And I tell them that through all the hardship, God is still at work…. I’m a new creation because of Jesus – and that is the message I want to tell everyone.”

Mariam, who met Jesus after fleeing war in Syria and has no regrets about following Jesus

While I was in Cairo, leaders of the CMS Mission Network (Asia-CMS, CMS-Africa, NZCMS, CMS

Australia, CMS Ireland and SAMS USA) were also able to spend time together. It was an opportunity to pray together and catch up on shared opportunities and challenges in our work around the world and to identify areas where we can work closely together. We talked about the Anglican Communion, with the Global South Fellowship of Anglicans gathering in Cairo at the same time. We also discussed how we communicate about global mission to different audiences and how we are engaging young people with global mission.

Another area of our work that has been developed over the year is in pioneering mission in Latin America. Drawing on the experience of pioneering mission and our Pioneer Mission Training in the UK, a number of partners in Latin America have come together to consider how to connect with people in Latin America who are beyond the reach of traditional church. CMS Britain hub director Jonny Baker met with the group in Brazil for a valuable time of dreaming and planning in April. Later in the year mission director Andy Roberts met with the coordinating group in Peru, where they were hosted by pioneers who are creating connections at the edges through a restaurant and community art space. I look forward to hearing more as this work develops further.

Closer to home, CMS’s Pioneer Mission Training welcomed the largest ever intake of students to training based in Oxford (with some students attending in person and others joining from all over the world online) for undergraduate and postgraduate courses. It is always inspiring to hear of the wide range of ways these students are connecting with people on the edges to share the love of Jesus.

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This year it was also a particular joy to welcome a group of eight Congolese students to join the cohort remotely from Goma, eastern DRC. They are part of the latest cohort to follow a training pathway focused on African Christianity, as CMS seeks to connect with and equip diaspora communities. In September, the Acts 11

Centre for Global Witness and Human Migration was launched with a conference at CMS House. This project brings together CMS’s work with diaspora communities, and facilitates a conversation about migration and its implications for the Christian faith and mission. September also saw the first groups of students begin a pathway focused on Asian Christianity, another strand of the Acts 11 Centre.

Dr Harvey Kwiyani leads the Acts 11 Centre, exploring the relationship between migration and mission

As ever, I am consistently inspired by CMS’s supporters, who pray faithfully and go above and beyond for mission. This year I was particularly encouraged by Peter, who undertook a 150-mile sponsored cycle to raise money for mission, and Harry (5) who donated some of his pocket money.

The communications team at CMS continue to be passionate about helping people to hear how God is at work in extraordinary ways, and to that end they developed a new series of video updates bringing mission news from around the world. The first Hope from the Edges video was shared in October, and supporters can look forward to regular episodes sharing news and stories from CMS people in mission.

There have also been changes to the leadership team at CMS over the last 12 months. In December 2024 we said farewell to Rev Virginia Luckett as she stepped down as fundraising and communications director, and welcomed Laura Hayes to take up the role. We’re so grateful to Virginia for her passion and energy as she led the fundraising and communications group, and are really pleased that Laura has joined the CMS family for the next chapter.

We owe much gratitude to Charles Clayton, who stepped down as Chair of Trustees at the end of March 2025. It has been an immense joy to work alongside Charles since I joined CMS in 2019, and I know that many others who have seen Charles’s commitment and diligence over the last 10 years are deeply thankful for his service. I’m delighted that Rev Jeremy Moodey – former charity CEO, investment banker, diplomat and football referee – joined the Board of Trustees on 9 October in preparation for becoming Chair at the beginning of April 2025.

It is such a privilege to be going to the edges in mission together with such wonderful staff and trustees, as well as the hugely faithful supporters who make Church Mission Society’s work possible. Thank you to all who have played a part in God’s mission with CMS this year.

CMS strategic priorities

The strategic priorities set out by the CMS leadership team help to bring focus to our work as we look to see our world made new through the love of God.

Last year the priorities were:

Mission programme development

In the coming year the existing hub teams will further develop these hubs towards maturity, continuing to strengthen teams and partnerships, sharing stories of how their work is having an impact; and learning from the outcomes of initial work to inform future plans. The new teams will develop plans towards a point of implementation.

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During the year, the five “hubs” (developing work with specific focus, either geographical, thematic or methodological in edge contexts) that had previously begun implementation continued to become further established. Leaders from developing hubs came together in Cairo in July to reflect and learn together .

As we began to hear stories of the impact of these areas of work, the CMS fundraising and communications team were able to share stories about:

• Supporting and discipling Christian believers from a Muslim background in the Middle East, especially as a result of training in Lebanon.

• Addressing conflict in DR Congo and South Sudan (and in refugee camps in Uganda) through working with Christian leaders.

• Mobilising indigenous Christians in the Chaco region of northern Argentina.

• Celebrating excellence in missiology, learning and development through the Acts 11 Project, Pioneer Mission Training and Pioneering Parishes.

In addition, mission partners were able to connect with refresher training in telling stories at the summer People in Mission conference and as part of preparations for home leave.

Among newer teams, further gatherings took place to focus on catalysing pioneering mission across Latin America with a view to implementation of a hub in the 2025–26 financial year.

Progress was also made in developing plans for future hubs:

• Connecting with unreached people in South East Asia

• Following Jesus in Muslim-majority contexts in Africa

• Supporting indigenous Christians in the Middle East

Organisational development

Building on the conversations that have already taken place, we will continue to grow as a global learning community through listening to voices from hub contexts. We will develop our use of technological platforms to facilitate conversations and shared learning.

As the hub teams develop their work areas, we will seek to recruit people in mission to meet the needs identified in those contexts.

Gathering key partners in Cairo to connect and learn together was an important step in growing as a global learning community. To further this aim, plans began during the year for another gathering, to include a wider group of people in mission and staff, to take place in the UK in 2025–26. Opportunities were also arranged for staff and people in mission to hear from a range of global voices (including CMS partners) about key issues in mission through the year.

A new recruitment, selection and learning policy was put into practice, with the first mission partner to go through this revised process being selected towards the end of the year. Progress was also made in ensuring visibility and promotion of roles that meet needs identified by hubs as CMS seeks to recruit new people in mission.

Fundraising and communications

The fundraising and communications team will seek to acquire new individual supporters through the Jesus Never Gives up campaign. We will focus on increasing unrestricted and lightly restricted giving from both new and existing supporters. As the campaign enters its third year, we will implement learnings from year two as we prepare for year three.

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During the course of 2024–25, year two of the Jesus Never Gives Up campaign saw CMS acquire new supporters, including both individuals and churches, through a continued programme of speaking engagements in churches and a range of digital promotion opportunities.

The team shared a powerful film, images and stories from work in a refugee camp in north west Uganda as a core part of this work.

Alongside recruiting new supporters, we were able to reconnect with and see renewed support from individuals and churches on the CMS database who had not given for several years.

The team continue to draw on learnings to hone their approach going forward, seeking to establish a culture of ongoing learning, particularly around digital engagement and lead generation.

Future Plans: Strategic Priorities for 2025–26

The key priorities for CMS all feed into the desired outcomes of seeing:

• People come to encounter and follow Jesus Christ in marginalised, minority and reimagined mission contexts.

• New communities of disciples grow in their own cultures.

Mission is multiplied as the passion for mission is imparted and mission movements grow.

The different parts of CMS’s work will contribute to that overall aim as follows:

Mission programme development

By the end of 2025–26, we aim to have nine mission movement “hubs” implemented and developed to a high level of effectiveness. The earliest hubs should be effectively enabling wider mission movements to grow and flourish. Hubs will be sharing stories of impact and continuing to learn together.

A key element of development will be to re-envision the CMS global family with a new “Summer Gathering” event that will take place at All Nations Christian College, Hertfordshire, in August at which we will start to explore strengthening and building thought leadership initiatives around the world.

Organisational development

We seek to continue to build a learning community, listening to global voices and taking opportunities to grow as we journey together as staff, people in mission and partners around the world.

In particular, we will facilitate an intercultural exchange of learning through CMS’s work and opportunities to bring partners together. We will continue to work to recruit people in mission to meet the needs of the developing hub work, and to equip those people in mission well for service.

Fundraising and communications

The fundraising and communications team will continue to acquire new supporters, growing CMS’s income in the process. In particular, the team will work to increase the proportion of CMS’s income that is unrestricted and lightly restricted – including through giving from both individuals and churches. The team will also work to ensure that supporters continue to have an enriching and encouraging experience of journeying with CMS.

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Legal Status

Church Mission Society is a registered charity (England and Wales (RCN: 1131655), and Scotland (RCN: SC047163)) and a company limited by guarantee in England and Wales (Company Number 6985330) established on 8 August 2009, although its history as a mission dates back to the 18th century. For details of other group charities/members see Note 1 to the financial statements.

Charitable Objects

Church Mission Society’s object is as a community of people in mission obeying the call of God, to proclaim the gospel in all places and to draw all peoples into fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Patron

Vacant

CMS Governance Arrangements

CMS is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association and by a Board of Trustees. The Trustees of CMS aim to have high standards of accountability as well as proper and ethical performance of their duties. The process for appointing the Board of Trustees is as follows:

• The Board of Trustees of CMS is made up of up to fifteen Trustees, of whom (excluding the Chair) up to eleven Trustees are elected by the CMS membership and up to three Trustees are co-opted.

• The elected members of the Board of Trustees are subject to a fixed-term appointment of four years, with the opportunity to be elected for one further term, or a third in exceptional circumstances. Elections take place for vacancies.

• Co-opted Trustees are subject to a fixed-term appointment of two years, renewable a maximum of twice.

• The Chair of Trustees is appointed by the Board of Trustees and may serve for a maximum of three four-year terms.

The Board of Trustees meets four times a year, including one meeting focusing on trustee development. There is also a wider induction and training process in place for Trustees, which includes consideration of governance, Board operations, the role of Trustees, organisational strategy, the CMS ethos and risk management.

The Board has four sub-committees, which each meet four times a year and have specific terms of reference. These are:

• Finance Committee

• Fundraising & Communications Committee

• Governance Committee

• Mission Practice Committee

The purpose of the Finance Committee is to provide qualitative and quantitative input to Trustee decision making in relation to CMS’s financial affairs. In this the committee is advisory, making recommendations to the whole Board. For the more technical areas of accounting, auditing, insurance, investment, pensions and property, the committee particularly helps the Board of Trustees to align decision making with expertise and knowledge.

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The purpose of the Fundraising Committee is to advise the charity’s fundraising team in the use of the most effective and efficient methods, and to ensure regulatory compliance, particularly in the use of data, public communications and fundraising methods. In this the committee is advisory, making recommendations to the whole Board.

The Governance Committee reviews the effectiveness of the governance system and the human resources (HR) function, and assists in the nomination and selection of Trustees and principal officers.

The purpose of the Mission Practice Committee is to help the trustees to understand the mission practice of CMS, and be connected with the people involved, in order that Board discussions and decisions are well informed.

The Board of Trustees

The Trustees of CMS are also its legal company directors. A list of the trustees who served during the year and up to the date of signing the financial statements is included below.

Mr Charles Clayton, Chair, to 31 3 2025	Mrs Fiona Lambert
Rev Jeremy Moodey appointed 9 10 2024, Chair from 01 04 2025	Mrs Chloe Louter
The Very Rev Andrew Bowerman to 09 05 2025	Dr Kevin McKemey to 31 07 2024
Rt Rev Nicholas Drayson appointed 05 12 2024	Rev Dr Richard Moy
Rev Sarah Jayne Hewitt	Mr John Stansfeld
Ms Catherine Morgan Hickey	Mr Simon Upcott
Dr Anne Keene

The Chair of Trustees is responsible for ensuring the members of the Board of Trustees collectively contribute the broad range of skills and experience necessary for its effectiveness. The Trustees are responsible for developing strategic vision, articulating policy, managing risk and ensuring effective governance. The Board is assisted in implementation of policies and strategies by the Chief Executive Officer who is supported by the wider CMS Senior Leadership Team.

In addition to Trustees, the other sub-committees have additional co-opted members in attendance.

CMS Senior Leadership Team

Chief Executive Officer	Mr Alastair Bateman
Deputy Chief Executive Officer & People and Learning Director	Mrs Debbie James
Mission Director	Canon Andy Roberts MBE

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Britain Hub Mission Director	Mr Jonny Baker
Fundraising and Communications Director	Rev Virginia Luckett to 31 12 2024 Mrs Laura Hayes from 02 12 2024
Finance and Corporate Services Director	Mrs Becky Morris

The Chief Executive Officer is responsible to the Board of Trustees for the management of CMS. He leads the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), which is shaped around the following responsibilities:

• International Mission – responsible for CMS engagement in international mission in partnership with churches and other agencies of mission worldwide, including members of the CMS Mission Network.

• Britain Hub and Mission Education – overseeing the education and formation of pioneers, supporting UK churches in missional engagement and responsible for CMS’s mission partners in Great Britain.

• People and Learning – overseeing the selection, formation and ongoing support of people in mission, and supporting CMS with expertise in HR and safeguarding.

• Fundraising and Communications – broad base fundraising from individuals, churches, trusts and major donors; embedding the CMS brand, telling the CMS story absorbingly and raising awareness and engagement with CMS and God’s mission.

• Finance and Corporate Services – supporting CMS with expertise in finance, ICT, facilities and legal compliance.

Key Management Personnel Remuneration Policy

The Board of Trustees and the SLT are the key management personnel of CMS, responsible for directing and operating the charity. All Trustees give of their time freely and no Trustee remuneration was paid in the year. Details of Trustee expenses and related party transactions are disclosed in Note 15 to the financial statements.

Salaries of all staff, including the SLT, are reviewed annually taking inflation and the overall financial position of CMS into consideration. Remuneration levels are also benchmarked with Croner’s charity pay and benefits report every four to five years to ensure that the level of remuneration is in line with roles in similar size organisations.

Fundraising

CMS has three sources of donation income to sustain its mission, without which CMS could not carry out its work. These are: Churches, Individuals and Trusts. The income from these sources is split 35 per cent Churches (2024: 34 per cent), 60 per cent Individuals (2024: 57 per cent) and 5 per cent Trusts (2024: 9 per cent). The Trustees are grateful for the faithful and committed support from them making CMS’s work possible. We thank, inform and engage with our donors regularly, which we see as a key factor in retaining supporters. There is also income from legacies, kindly left to Church Mission Society by supporters in their will, which has provided 27 per cent of our total income in this financial year (2024: 33 per cent). The balance is from other income such as education fees and trading income. During the year CMS spent £1m (11.8 per cent of total income) on fundraising activity (2024: £1m, 12.8 per cent) in raising funds for CMS mission activities.

We are pleased to say that we are registered with the Fundraising Regulator and fully comply with the Fundraising Code of Practice. We have worked hard to ensure we protect and work in the interest of supporters who might be seen as vulnerable, through old age or illness, and have developed policy and procedures to ensure we continue to work in their best interest.

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In 2024–25 we had 10 complaints relating to our fundraising activity (2023–24: 1). We have appropriately resolved each one with the people raising the complaints and have made changes to our procedures where necessary. During the year we reviewed our complaints policy and updated our method of recording complaints. Overall, given the schedule of fundraising activity in 2024–25, we consider this a very low level of complaint.

Use of Volunteers

Church Mission Society is a membership society and we are very grateful for voluntary support from members and others as community members, Trustees and committee members, in local members’ groups, in mission service globally and locally as advocates for CMS in churches, and working with staff teams.

Grants

As shown in the financial review and Note 13, grant expenditure makes up a significant amount of CMS total expenditure. Project proposals received from partner organisations are subject to a formal approval process, which looks at issues such as the alignment, capacity and structure of the partner organisation. An agreed monitoring process is undertaken during the course of the partner spending the funds, and this includes reviews and evaluation of financial and narrative reports.

Risk Management Policy and Internal Control

The Trustees regularly review the internal and external risks facing CMS. A formal risk management process has been developed and the charity trustees have given consideration to the major risks to which the charity is exposed and satisfied themselves that systems or procedures are established in order to manage those risks. They have also considered the controls in place for these risks and have identified any necessary areas for action. This includes the regular review of CMS’s financial position and internal control environment. CMS operates a comprehensive annual planning and budgeting system and any significant changes to these plans are subject to the specific approval of senior management and Trustees. The financial reporting system compares results with these plans on a monthly basis.

Current risks and the corresponding mitigating controls are set out below, in no order of priority:

Economic Turmoil

World events continue to impact the UK and the uncertainty and effects of international war, tariffs and inflation present risks to CMS in its cost base, investment values and capacity of donors to give. Communication with supporters, investment strategies and cost control are helping to mitigate this risk.

Pensions

CMS’s defined benefit scheme is open to risks on their liabilities and assets as a result of changes in life expectancy, inflation, discount rates, future salary increases and the value of investments.

The impact of any negative movements in the pension scheme deficit is likely to result in increased payments from CMS. The scheme is now closed to new members and closed to future accrual. CMS works with the pension scheme Trustees, its investment managers and its own actuarial consultants to understand and mitigate these risks wherever possible.

International Operations

As an international organisation with people in mission and property across the globe, critical incidents are an inherent risk in our work. To mitigate this, robust security procedures have been put in place, security training has been rolled out to relevant high-risk personnel and the Crisis Management Team is in place, with clear contingency plans for emergencies.

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Reputation

Damage to reputation is a risk for any organisation and particularly important for a charity. One key area in this regard is safeguarding. The Board reviews and approves the CMS safeguarding policy every year and significant work continues to ensure both our policy and practice continue to comply with the charity commission guidance on safeguarding.

The report and financial statements of Church Mission Society Group (CMS) consolidates the results of Church Mission Society, The Church Mission Society Trust, The South American Mission Society (SAMS) and CMS House Enterprises Ltd.

Income

Total income for the year was £8.6m (2024: £8.3m), an increase of £0.3m from the previous year, primarily due to a property sale.

Other income increased by £0.8m due to a gain arising from the sale of a property, previously included in the accounts at cost and reflecting the rise in property prices since the purchase. Investment income at £0.8m was in line with prior year, similarly income from other trading activities is in line with prior year. Income from charitable activities increased by £0.1m to £0.4m due to increased pioneer education student numbers.

Donations and legacy income (shown in the chart below) has decreased by £0.7m to £6.1m, with £0.4m decrease in legacies, £0.2m decrease in grant making trust income and £0.1m other. While legacy income was strong in the year at £2.3m, the prior year results included an exceptional legacy. The results clearly show the importance of legacy income to CMS, representing 27 per cent (2024: 33 per cent) of the overall income during this financial year. The Trustees are extremely thankful for the generosity of those who make legacy gifts. Such gifts are important for sustaining our efforts to follow Jesus to the edges. The Trustees are also grateful for the donations received from trusts during the year including from two William Leech charitable trusts.

• *** The above graphs are for 12 months to end of January 2024 and to end of January 2025

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Charitable Activity Expenditure

Total expenditure amounted to £8.1m (2024: £7.9m). Overall, there has been an increase of £0.2m in total expenditure, arising from an expansion in missional grants and partnerships work. The chart below shows how this is spent across our areas of work.

The recruitment, training and support of people in mission worldwide is CMS’s largest area of spending, comprising 45 per cent of total expenditure (2024: 48 per cent). The majority of this expenditure supports 69 long term mission partners working in a range of activities in 32 different countries.

The other main areas of expenditure are Mission in Britain and missional grants and partnerships. Expenditure within the Mission in Britain category relates to the work of the team in catalysing missional movement and engagement, teaching and supporting our students on the Pioneer Mission Training programme and the activities of nine mission partners in Britain. Pioneer spending has involved both running the programme in Oxford and work being undertaken by CMS pioneer hubs.

Missional grants and partnerships expenditure comprises the costs of our work in catalysing and facilitating mission movements around the world. This includes grants totalling £0.3m (2024: £0.4m) paid to CMS-Africa and Asia-CMS.

The breakdown below shows the proportions spent on each activity.

CMS Defined Benefit Pension Scheme

At the year-end the net liability recognised in the balance sheet relating to the CMS Pension Scheme (Defined Benefit Scheme) was £nil (2024: £nil) as measured in accordance with FRS 102. The FRS102 valuation initially resulted in a surplus of £1.5m (2024: £2.6m) which has been restricted to £nil as it is unlikely that CMS would be able to benefit from this.

The last triennial valuation of the Scheme took place as at 31 March 2022, with the Scheme in surplus by £152k as at the triennial date. Cost to buy out as at the triennial date was £18.9m. As part of that valuation, CMS and the Pension Trustee agreed and paid contributions totalling £2.2m into the Scheme, and the Scheme remains in surplus on a funding basis as at the 31 January 2025 balance sheet date.

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Church of England Defined Benefit Scheme

CMS Group has active members in the Church of England Funded Pension Scheme (also known as the Clergy Scheme) (see Note 25B). The Group is grateful for the contributions paid by the Archbishops’ Council, which amounts to some £115k for 16 active members of the Clergy Scheme.

Investment policy and review of investment performance

CMS manages its investments according to the CMS Statement of Investment Principles and the Trustees have authority to invest the monies of the Group, not immediately required, in such investments as they think fit. The Statement of Investment Principles includes details of CMS’s socially responsible investment policy.

The Trustees have delegated the day-to-day management of the CMS investment portfolio to Cazenove Capital. The investment manager’s delegated authority is operated in accordance with the CMS Statement of Investment Principles.

As at 31 January 2025, CMS had £4.5m (2024: £4.2m) of listed investments, £11.1m (2024: £10.0m) of unlisted investments, £81k of social investments (2024: £65k) and £14k (2024: £13k) of cash held within the investment portfolio. This total of £15.8m of investments includes £10.3m of endowed funds where the capital is not available to be spent. Further details of investments can be found in Note 17 of the financial statements. Income from the investment portfolio of CMS contributed to a total investment income of £0.8m in the Statement of Financial Activities (2024: £0.8m). Further details of the makeup of this investment income can be found in Note 6 of the financial statements. The net gain on investments in 2024–25 was £1.3m (2023–24 gain of £0.2m). This gain mostly arose from a rise in the market value of investments held by William Leech (Investments) Ltd, recouping losses of previous years.

During the year, Cazenove Capital, who manage listed holdings, attended the Finance Committee to discuss the performance of CMS’s listed investment portfolios, and the CMS Trustee representative on the Board of Directors of William Leech Investments participates in the review of performance of the investments managed by that entity.

Movement in funds

CMS’s total funds increased by £1.8m in the year, from £28.7m at the start to £30.5m at the end of the year. This was primarily due to investment gains of £1.3m and £0.9m gain on a property disposal, less £0.4m net other movements.

Reserves Policy and Financial Position Unrestricted: General Funds (Free Reserves)

The reserves policy is reviewed annually, by the Trustees, in light of the specific risks faced by the charity. In 2024–25 CMS holds unrestricted general funds (free reserves) for the following reasons:

• To fund future pension deficits and contribute towards future costs of buy-out of the CMS Pension Scheme

• To fund capital expenditure in 2025–26, primarily on CMS properties

• To allow for any unbudgeted costs, in particular relating to a mission partner emergency situation

• To provide working capital for cashflow purposes

A separate calculation has been made against each of the above factors. The calculation assesses the specific risks and details the reserve required by working out the impact of reduced income or required increase in expenditure. For example, the capital expenditure reserve simply reflects the required expenditure on CMS properties and equipment for the upcoming year. These risks are specific to CMS and will change each year. As such the overall target is reviewed, adjusted and approved annually by the Trustees.

Based on these calculations, the 2025–26 overall free reserve target for CMS is £3m. The free reserves at 31 January 2025 were £3.3m (2024: £3.1m).

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Annual Report 2025

Endowment Funds

Included in the balance sheet are Endowment Funds totalling £10.3m, the capital of which is not available to be spent. Income from endowments is spent according to the restriction.

Restricted Funds

The reserves policy for restricted funds is for sufficient assets to be held to meet the obligations of each fund and this was the case as at 31 January 2025.

Designated Funds

The Trustees have set aside funds from the General Fund for unrestricted tangible fixed assets to ensure the general reserves policy is not skewed by holding these funds (see Note 24).

In addition, the Trustees have set aside £0.9m from a previous exceptional legacy as a strategic project fund.

Shares in William Leech (Investments) Limited purchased before 15 October 1996 are also included within the designated fund following receipt of legal advice confirming their status in June 2016.

The Pension Fund relates to funds received from William Leech (Investments) Ltd which are set aside for future use to reduce CMS group pension liabilities. Sale proceeds of £2.1m were added to this fund during the financial year after sale of a house previously held as security for the pension scheme and where the cash continues to be required by the scheme to be ringfenced as security.

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Annual Report 2025

The Trustees (who are also directors for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees’ Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards).

Company law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under company law the Trustees must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and the group and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable group for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the Trustees are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently

• observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP

• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent

• state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in business

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company’s transactions, disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006 and the provisions of the charity’s constitution. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and the group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

In so far as each of the Trustees is aware:

• there is no relevant audit information of which the company’s auditor is unaware

• each of the Trustees has taken all steps that he/she ought to have taken to make himself/herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the auditor is aware of that information

Auditors

Crowe U.K. LLP has indicated its willingness to be reappointed as statutory auditor.

The Trustees’ Report, including the strategic report on pages 3 to 19, was approved by the Board of Trustees on 25 June 2025 and signed on their behalf by:

Jeremy Moodey – Chair of Trustees

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Annual Report 2025

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of Church Mission Society (the “charitable company”) for the year ended 31 January 2025 which comprise Consolidated Statement of Financial Activities, the Group and Charity Balance Sheets, the Group Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the group’s and the charitable company’s affairs as at 31 January 2025 and of the group’s incoming resources and application of resources, including its income and expenditure for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and the Charities Act 2011.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the group in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

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Annual Report 2025

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The trustees are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit

• the information given in the trustees’ report, which includes the directors’ report prepared for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• the directors’ report included within the trustees’ report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

Matters on which we are required to report by exception

In light of the knowledge and understanding of the group and the charitable company and their environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the directors’ report included within the trustees’ report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• the parent company has not kept adequate accounting records; or

• the parent company financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of trustees’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit; or

• the trustees were not entitled to prepare the financial statements in accordance with the small companies regime and take advantage of the small companies exemption in preparing the Trustees Annual Report.

Responsibilities of trustees

As explained more fully in the trustees’ responsibilities statement set out on page 20, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the

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Annual Report 2025

preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

We have been appointed as auditor under section 151 of the Charities Act 2011 and under the Companies Act 2006 and report in accordance with the Acts and relevant regulations made or having effect thereunder

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

We obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks within which the charitable company and group operates, focusing on those laws and regulations that have a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The laws and regulations we considered in this context were the Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act 2011 and the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005, together with the Charities SORP (FRS 102). We assessed the required compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items.

In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which might be fundamental to the charitable company’s and the group’s ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty. We also considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the charitable company and the group for fraud. The laws and regulations we considered in this context for the UK operations were Charity Commission regulations, taxation legislation and General Data Protection Regulation.

Auditing standards limit the required audit procedures to identify non-compliance with these laws and regulations to enquiry of the trustees and other management and inspection of regulatory and legal correspondence, if any.

We identified the greatest risk of material impact on the financial statements from irregularities, including fraud, to be within the recognition of legacy and grant income, and the override of controls by management. Our audit procedures to respond to these risks included enquiries of management and the Finance Committee about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities, sample testing on the posting of journals, reviewing accounting estimates for biases, agreeing a sample of legacy and grant income to supporting documentation and reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance.

Owing to the inherent limitations of an audit, there is an unavoidable risk that we may not have detected some material misstatements in the financial statements, even though we have properly planned and performed our audit in accordance with auditing standards. For example, the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations (irregularities) is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely the inherently limited procedures required by auditing standards would identify it.

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Annual Report 2025

In addition, as with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations or the override of internal controls. We are not responsible for preventing non-compliance and cannot be expected to detect non-compliance with all laws and regulations.

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of part 16 of the Companies Act 2006, and to the charitable company’s trustees, as a body, in accordance with Part 4 of the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s members and trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company, the charitable company’s members as a body and the charitable company’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Janette Joyce Senior Statutory Auditor For and on behalf of Crowe U.K. LLP Statutory Auditor Reading Date: L725

Crowe U.K. LLP is eligible for appointment as auditor of the charity by virtue of its eligibility for appointment as auditor of a company under section 1212 of the Companies Act 2006.

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Annual Report 2025

For the year ended 31 January 2025 (Incorporating an Income and Expenditure Account)

		Unrestricted	Unrestricted	**Restricted **	Endowment	**Total **	Unrestricted	**Restricted **	Endowment	Total
			Funds	Funds	Funds	2025	Funds	Funds	Funds	2024
	Note		£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Income and
endowments from:
Donations and legacies	3		3,179	2,608	287	6,074	2,609	3,890	271	6,770
Charitable activities	4		272	97	-	369	246	6	-	252
Other trading activities	5		156	-	-	156	186	-	-	186
Investments	6		734	87	-	821	687	88	-	775
Other	7		978	164	-	1,142	148	143	-	291
Total income			5,319	2,956	287	8,562	3,876	4,127	271	8,274
Expenditure on:
Raising funds	9		1,028	21	15	1,064	978	21	14	1,013
Charitable activities
Mission Partners (worldwide)	10		1,437	2,235	-	3,672	1,172	2,623	-	3,795
Mission in Britain	10		1,206	315	-	1,521	1,133	343	-	1,476
Missional grants and partnerships	10		1,074	750	-	1,824	1,199	448	-	1,647
Total charitable expenditure			3,717	3,300	-	7,017	3,504	3,414	-	6,918
Total Expenditure	10,11		4,745	3,321	15	8,081	4,482	3,435	14	7,931
Net gains/(losses) on investments	432 ~~a~~			-	851	1,283	74	-	163	237
Net income/ (expenditure) Transfers between funds (Losses)/gains on	24 ~~—~~		1,006 (43)	(365) 43	1,123 -	1,764 -	(532) (60)	692 60	420 -	580 -
revaluation of fixed assets Net movement in funds Total funds brought forward	- 963 15,553 ~~_~~			- (322) 4,007	- 1,123 9,185	- 1,764 28,745	(5) (597) 16,150	- 752 3,255	- (5) 420 575 8,765 28,170 ~~ee~~
Total funds carried forward			16,516	3,685	10,308	30,509	15,553	4,007	**9,185 **	28,745

The accompanying notes are an integral part of this Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA). All gains and losses arising in the year relate to continuing activities.

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Annual Report 2025

Company Number 6985330

As at 31 January 2025

As at 31 January 2025
		Group	Group	Charity	Charity
	Note	2025	2024	2025	2024
		£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Fixed assets
Tangible fixed assets	16a	5,285	6,644	5,285	6,644
Investments: Unrestricted		5,601	5,090	5,601	5,090
Investments: Restricted and Endowment		10,168	9,139	10,168	9,139
	17	15,769	14,229	15,769	14,229
		21,054	20,873	21,054	20,873
Current assets
Debtors	19	1,147	1,592	691	880
Cash at bank and in hand		9,053	7,423	8,232	6,727
		10,200	9,015	8,923	7,607
Current liabilities
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year	20	(745)	(1,143)	(639)	(1,154)
Net current assets		9,454	7,872	8,284	6,453
Total assets less current liabilities		30,509	28,745	29,338	27,326
Net assets excluding pension assets or liability Net assets The funds of the charity:		30,509 28,745 29,338 27,326 30,509 28,745 29,338 27,326 ~~—~~ ~~a~~
Unrestricted: General fund	24	3,313	3,098	3,313	3,098
Unrestricted: Designated funds	24	13,203	12,455	13,203	12,455
Unrestricted funds		16,516	15,553	16,516	15,553
Restricted funds		3,685	4,007	2,514	2,588
Endowment funds	24	10,308	9,185	10,308	9,185
	24	30,509	28,745	29,338	27,326

The accompanying notes are an integral part of this Balance Sheet. The financial statements on pages 26 to 59 were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 25 June 2025 and signed on their behalf by:

Jeremy Moodey – Chair of Trustees

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Annual Report 2025

As at 31 January 2025

Reconciliation of net income to the net cash flow from operating activities

		2025	2024
		£’000	£’000
Net income/(expenditure) for the year (as per the Statement of Financial Activities)		1,764	575
Adjustments for:
Investment income		(821)	(775)
Net losses/(gains) on investments		(1,283)	(237)
Depreciation charge		241	234
Decrease/ (increase) in debtors		445	696
Decrease/ (increase) in assets held for sale		-	1,170
(Decrease)/increase in creditors		(397)	(1,574)
(Gains)/losses on disposal of tangible fixed assets		(879)	2
Net cash used in the Group’s operating activities		(930)	91
Statement of cash flows
		2025	2024
	Note	£’000	£’000
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash used in operating activities		(930)	91
		~~a~~
Cash flows from investing activities:
Dividends, interest and other income from investments		821	775
Purchase of tangible fixed assets		(73)	(314)
Proceeds from sale of freehold fixed assets and assets held for sale		2,069	-
Purchase of investments		(6,464)	(371)
Proceeds from sale of investments Net cash provided by investing activities		6,207 132 2,560 222 ~~a~~ ~~—~~
Change in cash and cash equivalents in the year		1,630	313
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year	29	7,423	7,110
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year	29	9,053	7,423

25

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

As at 31 January 2025

1. Charity information

Church Mission Society is a registered charity in England and Wales (registered charity number 1131655), a registered company in England and Wales (registered number 6985330) limited by guarantee and is registered as a charity in Scotland (charity number SC047163). CMS does not have share capital and has approval to omit the word “Limited” from its name. The members of the company are the Trustees and others as defined in CMS’s Articles of Association. In the event of CMS being wound up the liability in respect of the guarantee is limited to £1 per member.

Church Mission Society was incorporated on 8 August 2009 and registered as a charity on 16 September 2009. CMS was incorporated to effect the merger between The Church Mission Society Trust (registered charity number 1131655-1 England and Wales) and The South American Mission Society (registered charity number 221328 England and Wales).

The Church Mission Society Trust became a subsidiary of CMS under a scheme, agreed with the Charity Commission in 2010, enabling this to take place. The scheme involved a replacement of The Church Mission Society Trust’s objects to mirror those of CMS, and all Trustees of The Church Mission Society Trust resigned and were replaced by CMS as corporate Trustee. As part of the scheme, the name of that charity was changed to The Church Mission Society Trust (formerly Church Mission Society) and a uniting direction was put in place for The Church Mission Society Trust to be part of CMS for accounting and legal purposes. Therefore, the disclosures in these financial statements for “the Charity” include CMS and The Church Mission Society Trust.

CMS is the sole corporate member of The South American Mission Society with the same group of Trustees common to both societies and accordingly The South American Mission Society (SAMS) is considered to be a subsidiary undertaking of CMS. Further information about CMS’s subsidiary undertakings, including SAMS and CMS House Enterprises Ltd, is included in Note 27.

2. Accounting policies

Basis of preparation

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with the exception of investments that are included at a current market value.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), with the Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting and Reporting by Charities applicable to charities preparing accounts in accordance with FRS 102” (effective 1 January 2015) and with the Companies Act 2006.

Church Mission Society constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102.

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Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

2. Accounting policies (continued)

Assessment of going concern

The Trustees have reviewed the financial position and forecasts of the charity and conclude they have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue its activities for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, they continue to adopt a going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.

Accounting estimates and judgements

The preparation of the financial statements in accordance with FRS 102 requires the Trustees to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts in the financial statements. The areas involving a higher degree of judgement, or areas where assumptions and estimates were significant to the financial statements, are disclosed in Note 28.

Basis of consolidation

The consolidated financial statements of the CMS Group incorporate the financial statements of the Charity (CMS and The Church Mission Society Trust) and its subsidiary undertakings.

The Trustees have taken advantage of the exemption conferred by S408(3) of the Companies Act 2006 and accordingly present a consolidated Statement of Financial Activities only. In order to comply with the Charities SORP, income and expenditure for the Charity are disclosed by fund in Note 24.

Donations, legacies and other income

Income is recognised in the period in which the Charity has entitlement to the income, when it is probable that the income will be received and the amount of the income can also be measured reliably. Where income is received in advance of providing goods and services the income is deferred until CMS becomes entitled to the income.

Legacy gifts are recognised on a case-by-case basis following the grant of probate and when the entitlement to the legacy has been established, receipt is probable and amount of the legacy can be measured reliably. In accordance with this policy, legacies are included when the Charity is notified by the Personal Representatives of an estate from which a distribution is to be made and the amount involved can be reliably quantified. Where legacies have been notified to the charity, or the charity is awaiting the grant of probate, and the criteria for income recognition have not been met, then the legacy is treated as a contingent asset and disclosed if material. No value is included where the legacy is subject to a life interest held by another party.

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Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

2. Accounting policies (continued)

Financial instruments

Church Mission Society only has financial assets and liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. Basic financial instruments are initially recognised at transaction value (including any transaction costs) and subsequently measured at their settlement value (which is also the amortised cost). Financial assets held at amortised cost include cash at bank and in hand and the group’s trade and other debtors, excluding prepayments. Financial liabilities held at amortised cost include the group’s long- and short-term creditors, excluding deferred income.

Investments and investment income

Investments are initially measured at cost. Listed investments are included at their open market value at the balance sheet date. All gains and losses on investments are taken to the Statement of Financial Activities, including the net gains and losses arising from disposals and revaluations in the year. The income from investments and short-term deposits is accounted for on an accruals basis.

The unlisted investment in William Leech (Investments) Limited is included in the financial statements as the Charity’s share of the net asset value at 31 January 2025 (unaudited). The year-end of William Leech (Investments) Limited is 31 March.

The social investment (mixed purpose) in Clean for Good Ltd is included in the financial statements as the Charity’s share of the net asset value shown in that company’s accounts at 31 January 2025. The year-end of Clean for Good Ltd is 31 March 2025. The investment is not justified wholly by either the financial return or by the contribution it makes to the charity’s aims but by the combination of the two.

Fund accounting and the allocation of income and expenditure by fund

Income and Expenditure are allocated to three categories of funds: Unrestricted Funds, Restricted Funds and Endowment Funds.

Unrestricted funds are available for use to further the Charity’s general purposes and objectives. All income and expenditure associated with the general operation of the Charity has been accounted for within the unrestricted funds, including donations and legacies where the donor attaches no specific conditions. Designated funds are a portion of unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the Trustees for a particular project or purpose.

Restricted funds represent income and donations, the use of which has been specified by the donor. Restricted funds are donated for either a particular geographical area or purpose, the use of which is restricted to that purpose or area. Income and expenditure related to CMS’s work in South America is shown within restricted funds.

The endowment funds represent assets which have the restriction that the revenue generated by holding the asset is available to spend but the capital itself cannot be spent. Income generated from endowment funds is applied to unrestricted or restricted funds as appropriate.

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Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

2. Accounting policies (continued)

Expenditure

All expenditure is recognised once there is a legal or constructive obligation committing the charity to that expenditure, it is probable that settlement will be required and the amount of the obligation can be measured reliably. Expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis. A liability is recognised when a legal or constructive commitment is entered into by the Charity and so a liability exists.

All expenses, including support costs and governance costs, are classified to the applicable expenditure headings in the Statement of Financial Activities. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to activities on a basis consistent with the use of resources. Cost of raising funds comprises those costs incurred in seeking voluntary contributions and in the management of CMS investments.

Governance costs are the costs associated with the governance arrangements of the Charity. Included within this category are costs associated with the strategic as opposed to the day-to-day management of the Charity’s activities.

Support and governance costs are allocated across the categories of expenditure on charitable activities and the cost of raising funds. When it is necessary to apportion certain expenses between the different categories of resources expended, this is undertaken on bases which are considered appropriate. For example, in the case of salaries and pensions, these are apportioned on the basis of estimated time spent on these activities. The allocation model is reviewed and updated annually to ensure that the apportionments properly reflect the activities of the Charity.

Grants payable are recognised during the year in which the Charity enters into a binding commitment to make a grant and this is communicated to the recipient.

Foreign currencies

Transactions in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate ruling at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are retranslated at the rate of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date. All differences are taken to the consolidated statement of financial activities with the relevant charitable activity expenditure for the period in which they occurred.

29

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

2. Accounting policies (continued)

Tangible fixed assets, depreciation and property held for sale

Tangible fixed assets are shown at their current net book value on an historical cost basis. Assets are capitalised where the value of the asset is greater than £500. The carrying values of tangible fixed assets are reviewed for impairment in the period in which events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying values may not be recoverable. Tangible fixed assets are grouped by category and depreciated on a straightline basis as detailed in the table below.

Freehold property	30–50 years	Furniture and office equipment	3–10 years
Leasehold property	shorter of 50 years and the period of the lease	Motor vehicles	4 years
Computer equipment	3–5 years	Plant and machinery	10–20 years

Operating leases

Rentals payable under operating leases are charged on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Pensions

The Charity (CMS) has members in a defined benefit pension scheme, both employees and mission partners. For certain other employees and mission partners the Charity contributes to personal money purchase pension schemes (defined contribution schemes).

Defined contribution schemes

For defined contribution schemes, the amount charged to the Statement of Financial Activities in respect of pension costs and other post-retirement benefits is the total of the contributions payable in the year. Differences between contributions payable in the year and contributions actually paid are shown as either accruals or prepayments in the balance sheet.

Defined benefit scheme – CMS Pension Scheme

The CMS defined benefit pension scheme is funded, with the assets of the Scheme held separately from those of the Charity, in Trustee-administered funds. Pension scheme assets are measured at fair value and liabilities are measured on an actuarial basis using the projected unit method and discounted at a rate equivalent to the current rate of return on a high quality corporate bond of equivalent currency and term to the Scheme’s liabilities. The resulting defined benefit asset or liability is presented after other net assets on the face of the balance sheet, unless a surplus is not recognised in accordance with FRS 102.

30

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

2. Accounting policies (continued)

The current service cost and net interest cost are allocated to relevant expenditure headings within the Statement of Financial Activities, unless the net interest is a credit in which case it is included in “Other income”. The change in the value of assets and liabilities arising from asset valuation, actuarial assumptions and any surplus that is not considered recoverable is recognised within the “gains and losses” categories of the Statement of Financial Activities as “Actuarial gains and losses on defined benefit pension scheme”.

Defined benefit schemes – multi-employer schemes

The Charity and SAMS participate in the Church of England Funded Pensions Scheme, administered by the Church of England Pensions Board, also known as the Clergy Pension Scheme, which provides pensions for clergy. The Church of England Funded Pensions Scheme is a multi-employer defined benefit scheme but the Charity and SAMS are unable to identify their share of the underlying assets and liabilities. No funding liability currently arises for the Charity and SAMS in respect of them.

31

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

3. Donations and legacies

	Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment	Total	**Unrestricted **	Restricted	Endowment	Total
	Funds	Funds	Funds	2025	Funds	Funds	Funds	2024
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Donations from	137	1,016	-	1,153	149	1,075	-	1,224
churches and groups
Donations from	718	1,240	-	1,958	751	1,271	-	2,022
individuals
Legacies	2,007	284	-	2,291	1,308	1,410	-	2,718
William Leech	216	-	287	503	205	-	271	476
benefactions
Donations from grant making trusts	101	68	-	169	196	134	-	330
	3,179	2,608	287	6,074	2,609	3,890	271	6,770

Legacies of which CMS has been notified, but not recognised as income, are estimated at £612k (2024: £870k).

William Leech Benefactions

Grants are received from two charitable trusts administered by the William Leech Foundation Limited (known as the Foundation Trust and the Charity Trust). The income from the Foundation Trust is distributed in equal portions to CMS and four other charities. The income from the Charity Trust is distributed for charitable purposes at the discretion of the Trustee, which has, since 1973, adopted the policy of giving most of the income to the same five charities. The Charity Trust reviews this policy each year.

4. Income from charitable activities

	4. Income from charitable activities	4. Income from charitable activities	4. Income from charitable activities	4. Income from charitable activities	4. Income from charitable activities	4. Income from charitable activities	4. Income from charitable activities	4. Income from charitable activities	4. Income from charitable activities	4. Income from charitable activities
\ \\ \ |Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total Funds Funds Funds 2025 Funds Funds Funds 2024 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 Pioneer Mission Education training 272 91 - 363 246 4 - 250 Events - 6 - 6 - 2 - 2 272 97 - 369 246 6 - 252 ~~oo~~ ~~a~~
	5. Income from other trading activities			5. Income from other trading activities
			Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment	Total	Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment	Total
			Funds	Funds	Funds	2025	Funds	Funds	Funds	2024
			£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
	Income from		138	-	-	138	165	-	-	165
	property
	Use of		18	-	-	18	21	-	-	21
	conference
	facilities
			156	-	-	156	186	-	-	186

32

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

6. Income from investments

	Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment	Total	Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment	Total
	Funds	Funds	Funds	2025	Funds	Funds	Funds	2024
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Income from	437	-	-	437	372	-	-	372
William Leech
(Investments)
Limited
Investments listed	52	66	-	118	49	69	-	118
on a recognised
stock exchange
Unlisted	3	-	-	3	1	-	-	1
investments
Interest on cash	242	21	-	263	265	19	-	284
balances
	734	87	-	821	687	88	-	775

7. Other income

	Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment	Total	Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment	Total
	Funds	Funds	Funds	2025	Funds	Funds	Funds	2024
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Other income	99	164	-	263	148	143	-	291
Gain on disposal of freehold property	879	-	-	879	-	-	-	-
	978	164	-	1,142	148	143	-	291

8. Operating leases as a lessor

The charity receives rental income from leasing certain residential and office properties to tenants under non-cancellable operating leases and tenancy agreements. Income received under operating leases is included in the SOFA on a straightline basis over the period of the lease. At the balance sheet date, the charity had contracted with tenants to receive the following future minimum lease payments:

	2025	2024
	£’000	£’000
Not later than one year	74	74
Later than one year and not later than five years	22	63
Later than five years	10	11
	106	148

There are no contingent rents recognised as income.

33

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

9. Expenditure on raising funds

	Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment	Total	Total
	Funds	Funds	Funds	2025	2024
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Cost of generating voluntary income	989	21	-	1,010	960
Cost of activities for generating funds	29	-	-	29	29
Investment management costs	10	-	15	25	24
	1,028	21	15	1,064	1,013

10. Analysis of expenditure

	Direct	Grants	Support Costs	Total	Total
				2025	2024
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Raising funds
Costs of generating voluntary income	662	-	348	1,010	960
Cost of activities for generating funds	29	-	-	29	29
Investment management costs	25	-	-	25	24
	716	-	348	1,064	1,013
Charitable activities
Mission Partners (worldwide)	2,819	53	800	3,672	3,795
Mission in Britain	1,092	-	429	1,521	1,476
Missional grants and partnerships	732	596	496	1,824	1,647
Total Expenditure	4,643 649 1,725 7,017 6,918 5,359 649 2,073 8,081 7,931 ~~ee~~ ~~a~~

34

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

11. Support costs by activity

	Finance,
	Pension	Personnel and	Facilities and		Total	Total
	and ICT	Development	Premises	Governance	2025	2024
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Raising funds
Costs of generating voluntary income	276	-	62	10	348	312
Charitable activities
Mission Partners (worldwide)	494	95	185	26	800	683
Mission in Britain	173	71	185	-	429	385
Missional grants and partnerships	228	67	186	15	496	438
Total Support Costs	1,171	233	618	51	2,073	1,818

The support costs are allocated on the basis of an estimate of staff time spent, by each team, on each of the activities.

Governance costs relate to the audit fee of £51k (2024: £48k) and included in Finance and ICT are non-audit fees of £1,5k (2024: £2k). All fees are shown gross of VAT. In addition, trustee expenses of £9k were incurred in the year (2024: £6k).

Depreciation of £241k (2024: £234k) is included in Facilities and Premises support costs.

12. Obligations under operating leases

The group’s future minimum lease payments on operating leases are as follows:

	2025 2024
	£’000 £’000
Within one year	3 3
In two to five years After five years	- - - - 3 3 ~~a~~ ~~oO~~

Operating lease charges in the year to 31 January 2025 were £3k (2024: £3k).

35

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

13. Analysis of grants

13. Analysis of grants
By category of charitable	Grants to	Grants to	Total grants in year to		Total grants in year
expenditure	Institutions	Individuals	31 January 2025		to 31 January 2024
	£’000	£’000		£’000	£’000
Mission Partners (worldwide)	24	29		53	40
Mission in Britain	-	-		-	-
Missional grants and partnerships	585	11		596	796
	609	40		649	836
By geographical area	Grants to	Grants to	Total grants in year		Total grants in year
	Institutions	Individuals	to 31 January 2025		to 31 January 2024
	£’000	£’000		£’000	£’000
Africa	234	7		241	349
Asia	130	5		135	212
Europe, the Middle East and	93	4		97	117
North Africa
Latin America	152	24		176	158
	609	40		649	836
Analysis of Grants to Institutions		Nature of grant		Region	Grants to Institutions
					£’000
Africa
CMS-Africa		Mission Grant		Africa	230
Other Institutions grants under £100k					4
Total					234
					£’000
Asia
Asia-CMS		Mission Grant		Asia	115
Other Institutions grants under £100K				Asia	15
Total					130

36

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

13. Analysis of grants (continued)

Europe, the Middle East and North Africa Other Institutions grants under £100k 93 Total 93

Latin America

==> picture [459 x 25] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
||| |---|---| |Other Institutions grants under £100k|152| |Total|152|

----- End of picture text -----

Total Institutional Grants

609

14. Staff costs and other employee benefits

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----- Start of picture text -----
|||| |---|---|---| |Staff costs|2025|2024| |£’000|£’000| |Salaries and allowances|3,752|3,845| |Social security cost|255|253| |Employer’s pension contributions|758|756| |(Defined contribution)| |Redundancy and relocation costs|29|10| |4,794|4,864|

----- End of picture text -----

One employee received emoluments of between £80k and £90k (2024: nil), one employee received emoluments of between £70k and £80k (2024: two employees) and one employee received emoluments of between £60k and £70k (2024: ~~a~~ nil).

The total amount of employee benefits received by key management personnel for their services during the year is £480k (2024: £433k). The number of volunteers working for Church Mission Society is 27 (2024: 30). During the year total redundancy and other termination payments were £29k (2024: £10k).

Employees: The average monthly number of employees in the year is analysed by function below:

==> picture [456 x 109] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
|||| |---|---|---| |UK Staff|2025|2024| |Number|Number| |Raising funds|15|12| |Charitable activities|61|62| |Governance of the charity|1|1| |UK Staff|77|75| |Mission Partners|77|90| |154|165|

----- End of picture text -----

37

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

15. Trustees’ expenses

15. Trustees’ expenses
	2025	2024
	£’000	£’000
Expenses incurred by Trustees and reimbursed by Church Mission Society	4	2
Expenses incurred by Church Mission Society on behalf of the Trustees	5	4
Trustees’ indemnity insurance cover cost	12	11
	21	17

The Trustees receive no remuneration for their services, but are reimbursed expenses in respect of travel and accommodation expenses for attending meetings. In 2025 nine Trustees received expenses (2024: six). The aggregate value of donations made to Church Mission Society by Trustees and key management personnel who served during year to the general fund was £7k (2024: £8k) and to restricted funds NIL (2024: £1k).

16. Tangible fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets

The Group and Charity

	Freehold	Long	Motor	Fixtures,	Total
	Property	Leasehold	Vehicles	fittings and
		Property		equipment
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Cost:
At 1 February 2024	8,302	267	15	1,814	10,398
Additions	-	-		73	73
Disposals	(1,579)	-	-	(73)	(1,652)
At 31 January 2025	6,723	267	15	1,814	8,819
Depreciation:
At 1 February 2024	2,320	48	-	1,386	3,754
Charge for the year Disposals At 31 January 2025 Net Book Value: At 31 January 2024 At 31 January 2025	136 6 99 241 (390) - - (71) (461) 2,066 54 - 1,414 3,534 5,982 219 15 428 6,644 4,657 213 15 400 5,285 ~~oe~~ ~~a~~ ~~a~~ ~~a~~

(a) Capital expenditure authorised and contracted but not yet incurred was £nil (2024: £nil).

(b) The net book value of long leasehold properties at 31 January 2025 includes two leasehold UK properties (2024: 2).

38

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

16. Tangible fixed assets and property held for sale (continued)

(c) The net book value of fixtures, fittings and office equipment comprises:

	2025	2024
	£’000	£’000
Fixtures and fittings	310	323
Office furniture	1	1
Computer hardware/software	89	104
	400	428

17. Investments

The Group and Charity

Analysis of Movement in Investments

	Listed	Unlisted	Social Held as cash	Social Held as cash	2025	2024
Market Value:	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
At 1 February 2024	4,194	9,957	65	13	14,229	13,753
Additions to investments	6,185	279	-	-	6,464	371
Proceeds from disposals	(6,207)	-	-	-	(6,207)	(133)
Net movement in cash held	-	-	-	1	1	1
by investment manager
Net gain/(loss) on investments	354	912	16	-	1,282	237
At 31 January 2025	4,526	11,148	81	14	15,769	14,229

Unlisted Investments (shown at market value)

	2025	2024
	£’000	£’000
Unrestricted Funds
Ordinary shares – William Leech (Investments) Ltd	3,548	3,284
	3,548	3,284
Endowment Funds
Ordinary shares – William Leech (Investments) Ltd	7,600	6,673
	11,148	9,957

39

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

17. Investments (continued)

Investments – William Leech (Investments) Limited

Grants are received from two charitable trusts administered by the William Leech Foundation Limited (known as the Foundation Trust and the Charity Trust, Note 3).

During the year CMS subscribed to additional share capital amounting to £279k in William Leech (Investments) Limited, 57 per cent of the voluntary income received in 2024–25. The historical cost of the investment and the reinvestment in respect of the year to 31 January 2025 was as follows:

	2025	2024
	£’000	£’000
At historical cost:
Balance at 1 February	7,723	7,462
Shares purchased at £1 each	279	261
Balance at 31 January	8,002	7,723

The Total Net Assets of William Leech (Investments) Limited at 31 January (unaudited) was £55.7m (2024: £49.8m) comprised of listed securities £53.2m, property £0.1m, other net assets £2.4m. The Charity is one of five charities which each hold 20 per cent of the issued share capital of the company. CMS’s share of the net assets is therefore £11m (2024: £10.0m). The Charity has a representative on the board of William Leech (Investments) Limited but this does not give the Charity the ability to control or exert significant influence over the company’s day-to-day management or financial policies.

Church Mission Society received legal advice in June 2016 from Winckworth Sherwood that considered whether the shares in William Leech (Investments) Limited should be treated as part of unrestricted funds or endowment funds in the accounts of Church Mission Society. The legal advice received in June 2016 confirmed that the shares purchased after 15 October 1996 should be treated as an addition to capital (endowment funds) and also advised that shares purchased prior to 15 October 1996 could be treated as part of unrestricted funds. The Trustees of Church Mission Society accepted this legal advice in June 2016 and the financial statements continue to be prepared on this basis.

Social Investment (unlisted shown at market value)

	2025	2024
	£’000	£’000
Unrestricted Funds
Ordinary shares – Clean for Good Ltd at historical cost	30	30
Add gains	51 35 81 65 ~~—_—~~

CMS’s current share is 33 per cent of the issued share capital of the company. The Charity has a representative on the board of Clean for Good Ltd.

40

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

17. Investments (continued)

Custodian funds

The Group also acts as Custodian Trustee of funds belonging to the Diocese of Uruguay:

			2025	2024
			£’000	£’000
Value at 31 January	Value at 31 January	Value at 31 January	6	5
			6	5

These funds are not part of the Group’s net assets and are not included in the Group’s financial statements. At the request of the Diocese of Uruguay they are deposited with CCLA who manage the Central Board of Finance of the Church of England Investment Funds.

18. Financial instruments

The Charity has certain financial assets and financial liabilities of a kind that qualify as basic financial instruments. The Charity has the following financial instruments:

	2025	2024	2025	2024
	Group	Group	Charity	Charity
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Financial assets measured at fair value,
through profit and loss
Unlisted investments	11,229	10,022	11,229	10,022
Other investments	4,540	4,207	4,540	4,207
Financial assets measured at amortised cost
Cash at bank and in hand	9,053	7,423	8,233	6,727
Amounts due from subsidiaries	-	-	68	97
Other receivables (excluding prepayments)	948-	1,386	492	674
Financial liabilities measured at amortised cost
Amounts due to subsidiaries	-	-	-	(45)
Other creditors due within one year	(574)	(905)	(480)	(925)
(excluding tax and deferred income)

41

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

19. Debtors

19. Debtors
	2025	2024	2025	2024
	Group	Group	Charity	Charity
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Trade debtors	67	105	59	64
Taxation recoverable	36	67	34	67
Amounts owed by group entities	-	-	68	97
Prepayments	199	206	199	206
Accrued income	703	1,089	210	364
Other debtors	142	125	121	82
	1,147	1,592	691	880

20. Creditors

Amounts falling due within one year

	2025	2024	2025	2024
	Group	Group	Charity	Charity
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Trade creditors	215	343	195	333
Amounts owed to group entities	-	-	(62)	45
Accruals for grants payable	71	215	71	215
Other accruals	198	171	185	163
Taxes and social security costs	90	140	79	131
Deferred income	81	98	81	98
Other creditors	90	176	90	169
	745 1,143 639 1,154 ~~as~~

All deferred income as at 31 January 2024 was recognised during the year ended 31 January 2025. Deferred income relates to amounts received in advance of entitlement.

21. Registered holder

The properties and investments of The Church Mission Society Trust are held in trust in the name of Church Missionary Trust Association Ltd.

42

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

22. Related party transactions

Andy Roberts, a member of CMS key management personnel, is a trustee of ReVive International. During the year CMS sent two mission partners to work with ReVive International.

Transactions with the subsidiary companies, The South American Mission Society and CMS House Enterprises Limited, are set out below:

South American Mission Society (SAMS)

In 2024–25, SAMS charged the Charity (gift from parent entity) with £448k (2024: £550k). This calculation pertains to the amount of restricted funds received by the Charity (Church Mission Society), but relating to mission partners employed by SAMS. Each year, the Charity transfers a gift to SAMS of restricted funds relating to mission partners who are still employed by its legal entity to reflect the income received by the parent charity. SAMS made a gift of £300k (2024: £200k) to CMS to support work in Latin America.

CMS House Enterprises Ltd

In 2024–25 the Charity charged CMS House Enterprises Limited management fees totalling £2k (2024: £4k). These are calculated as a percentage of external conference and catering services income. In 2024–25 the Charity charged CMS House Enterprises Limited licence fees totalling £1k (2024: £1k). These are calculated as a percentage of total conference and catering services room hire income.

In 2024–25 CMS House Enterprises Limited charged the Charity room hire fees totalling £0 (2024: £12.5k). These fees are based on usage of rooms hired relating to courses run by the Pioneer Mission Education team.

43

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

23. Net assets by fund

23. Net assets by fund
The Group – 2025	Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment	Total
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Fixed assets	5,090	195	-	5,285
Investments	5,601	-	10,168	15,769
Current assets	6,442	3,618	140	10,200
Less: Current liabilities	(617)	(128)	-	(745)
Net Assets 2025	16,516	3,685	10,308	30,509
The Charity – 2025	Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment	Total
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Fixed assets	5,090	195	-	5,285
Investments	5,601	-	10,168	15,769
Current assets	6,358	2,425	140	8,923
Less: Current liabilities	(533)	(106)	-	(639)
Net Assets 2025	16,516	2,514	10,308	29,338
The Group – 2024	Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment	Total
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Fixed assets	6,432	212	-	6,644
Investments	5,090	89	9,050	14,229
Current assets	4,933	3,947	135	9,015
Less: Current liabilities Net Assets 2024	(902) (241) - (1,143) 15,553 4,007 9,185 28,745 ~~oo~~ ~~a~~
The Charity – 2024	Unrestricted	Restricted	Endowment	Total
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Fixed assets	6,432	212	-	6,644
Investments	5,090	89	9,050	14,229
Current assets	4,972	2,500	135	7,607
Less: Current liabilities	(941)	(213)	-	(1,154)
Net Assets 2024	15,553	2,588	9,185	27,326

44

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

24. Funds

Unrestricted Funds: Group and Charity

	At 1	Income	Expenditure	Net Gain/	Transfers Revaluation	Transfers Revaluation	Actuarial Gain	At 31
	February			(Loss) on		of fixed	on Defined	January
	2024			Investments		assets	Pension	2025
							Scheme
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
General fund	3,098	5,319	(4,269)	168	(1,003)	-	-	3,313
Tangible Fixed Asset	6,432	-	(235)	-	(1,107)	-	-	5,090
Fund (Designated)
William Leech Fund	3,284	-	-	264	-	-	-	3,548
(Designated)
Strategic Project	900	-	-	-	-	-	-	900
Fund (Designated)
Pension Fund	1,839	-	(241)	-	2,067	-	-	3,665
(Designated)
Unrestricted Funds	15,553	5,319	(4,745)	432	(43)	-	-	16,516

The Tangible Fixed Asset Fund represents the net book amount invested in tangible fixed assets (including property held for sale) other than those covered by restricted funds. The William Leech Fund reflects the element of the grants received from William Leech Foundation Limited prior to 15 October 1996 which have been reinvested in shares in William Leech (Investments) Limited (see Note 17).

The Pension Fund relates to additional funds received from William Leech (Investments) Ltd and the sale proceeds of a CMS property, which are set aside for future use to reduce CMS group pension liabilities. The trustees have set aside in a designated fund £0.9m for strategic project from proceeds of a previous exceptional legacy.

45

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

24. Funds (continued)

Endowment Funds The Group and Charity

	At 1 February	Income	Expenditure	Net	Transfers	At 31 January
	2024			Gain/(Loss) on		2025
				Investments
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
William Leech Capital Fund	6,810	287	-	- 648	-	7,745
P Fund	1,220	-	(8)	(8) 105	-	1,317
H B Aserappa Fund	631	-	(4)	(4) 53	-	680
R H Aserappa Fund	415	-	(3)	(3) 36	-	448
Christava Mahilalayam Fund	85	-	-	- 7	-	92
Bell Trust Fund	24	-	-	- 2	-	26
Total Endowment funds	9,185	287	(15)	(15) 851	-	10,308

The William Leech Capital Fund reflects the capital element of the grants received from William Leech Foundation Limited after 15 October 1996 which have been reinvested in shares in William Leech (Investments) Limited (see Note 17).

The P Fund is a permanently endowed fund. The capital of the fund was amalgamated from a large number of small trust funds with Charity Commission approval in 1998. The total value of the P Fund is broken down into the following areas, defined by the restrictions placed on the income generated:

China	£176k
India	£443k
Medical work	£361k
Palestine	£47k
General reserves	£290k
	£1,317k

The H B Aserappa Fund is for evangelistic work in East Asia or other parts of the world at the Trustees’ discretion. The R H Aserappa Fund is for salaries and disbursements to lay evangelists in Sri Lanka.

The Christava Mahilalayam Fund is held for the benefit of the Christava Mahilalayam School in South India.

The Bell Trust Fund is for the in-service training of Religious Education teachers in Africa.

46

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

24. Funds (continued)

Restricted Funds The Group and Charity

	At 1	Income	Expenditure	Net Gain on	Transfers	At 31
	February			Investments		January
	2024					2025
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Mission Personnel Funds	560	1,230	(1,498)	(1,498) -	265	557
South America Funds – Charity	-	66	-	- -	(47)	19
Latin America Projects	995	59	(128)	(128) -	(15)	911
Africa Projects	155	156	(142)	(142) -	(8)	161
Asia Projects	168	16	(83)	(83) -	6	107
Europe & Middle East Projects	31	13	(22)	(22) -	-	22
Multi Region Projects	261	480	(291)	(291) -	(95)	355
St Julian’s Fund	201	-	(5)	(5) -	-	196
Tanzania Education Fund	1	-	-	- -	-	1
H B Aserappa Income Fund	17	18	(35)	(35) -	-	-
R H Aserappa Income Fund	54	12	-	- -	-	66
Christava Mahilalayam Income	22	3	-	- -	-	25
Partnership for Missional Church	1	3	(4)	(4) -	-	-
Mid-Africa Fund	-	118	(118)	(118) -	-	-
Local Partner Fund	19	38	(21)	(21) -	(22)	14
Other restricted funds Total restricted funds – Charity	103 122 (105 - (41) 77 2,588 2,334 (2,451) - 43 2,514 ~~ee~~
South America Funds – Group	1,419	622	(870)	(870) -	-	1,171
Total restricted funds – Group	4,007	2,956	(3,321)	(3,321) -	43	3,685

Mission Personnel Funds are held as individual restricted funds for the support of CMS mission partners.

The South America Funds – Charity funds include reserves held by Church Mission Society which are used to support work in South America.

The regional project funds represent various small projects where the beneficiaries of the grants are based in a specific region or cover multiple regions. Donations and other income are received with a restriction to support these projects.

The St Julian’s Fund represents the property held by CMS for the former residents of the St Julian’s Community. This fund is restricted for the time that the properties are required by the residents, after which time the properties will revert to the general fund.

The accumulated income from the H B Aserappa Fund, the R H Aserappa Fund, the Christava Mahilalayam Fund is held for the same beneficial objects as for their corresponding endowments.

47

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

24. Funds (continued)

The Mid-Africa Fund is held by CMS for work in the Mid-Africa region.

The Local Partner Fund is to support a new generation of gifted and dedicated leaders who are passionate about serving their church in some of the world’s financially poorest nations.

Other restricted funds represent a wide variety of small restricted funds, held and separately accounted for, for some of the current projects that CMS is involved in. Some fund transfers in the year relate to transfers from unrestricted funds to finance deficits on restricted funds, in particular mission personnel restricted funds. Other transfers relate to the movement from programme funds to help support individual mission partners and projects.

The South America Funds – Group funds include reserves held by The South American Mission Society which are used to support mission partners in Latin America.

48

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

25. Retirement benefits

The Charity (CMS) has members in the CMS defined benefit pension schemes. For certain other employees and mission partners the Charity contributes to personal money purchase pension schemes (defined contribution schemes), as explained in Note 25C below.

A. Defined Benefit Schemes – CMS Pension Scheme (Group and Charity)

The Charity contributes to the CMS Pension Scheme, a defined benefit pension scheme, to secure present and future pensions for certain current and former mission partners and staff. CMS Ireland, an independent charity, also funds pensions for its current and former mission partners and staff, but these amount to only some 3 per cent of the scheme’s total liabilities.

Nature of the Scheme

The Church Mission Society Pension Scheme operated by the Society is a funded defined benefit arrangement which provides retirement benefits based on final pensionable salary. The Scheme closed to the future accrual of benefits with effect from 30 June 2011. Accrued benefits of active members continue to be linked to pensionable salaries.

The Scheme is a UK registered scheme in accordance with Section 153 of the Finance Act 2004. The Scheme must comply with UK pensions legislation and is regulated by the UK Pensions Regulator. The Scheme is governed by a corporate Trustee, CMS Pension Trust Limited, which has six directors including two membernominated directors, elected by the membership, and two independent directors, appointed by CMS. The remaining two directors are also appointed by CMS but represent the employer’s interests. The Trustee is responsible for the administration of the Scheme and for the Scheme’s investment policy. The Trustee, with the advice of the Scheme Actuary and with the agreement of the Employers, determines the contributions that are paid to the Scheme.

The calculations for the FRS 102 disclosures have been carried out by running full actuarial calculations as at 31 January 2025.

Funding Policy

Following the cessation of accrual of benefits with effect from 30 June 2011, regular contributions to the Scheme are no longer required. However, additional contributions are still made to cover any shortfalls that arise following each valuation. The funding method employed to calculate the value of previously accrued benefits is the Attained Age Method.

The triennial valuation of 31 March 2022 resulted in a Scheme surplus of £152k as at the triennial date. As part of that valuation, the Society and the Pension Trustee agreed that contributions totalling £2.2m would be paid into the Scheme by 31 March 2023, inclusive of the contributions already paid/due from CMS and CMS Ireland in accordance with the previous funding agreement. No regular payments are due with the exception of administration expenses.

The legal structure of the Scheme is such that if the other employer fails, the Society could become responsible for paying a share of that employer’s pension liabilities.

49

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

25. Retirement benefits (continued)

Scheme Amendments

There have been no amendments to the Scheme during the year and no special events have occurred.

	2025	2024
Amounts recognised in the balance sheet	£’000	£’000
Fair value of scheme assets	52,611	56,611
Present value of funded obligations	(51,159)	(53,981)
Surplus/(deficit) in scheme	1,452	2,630
Unrecognised asset – restriction of Scheme surplus (in accordance with FRS 102)	(1,452)	(2,630)
Net defined benefit (liability) recognised in the balance sheet	-	-
	2025	2024
Amounts charged to the Statement of Financial Activities	£’000	£’000
Interest on scheme assets	2,696	2,688
Interest effect of asset ceiling	(129)	(259)
Interest cost on obligation	(2,574)	(2,433)
Net interest on net defined benefit asset or liability	(7)	(4)
Past service costs	-	-
Pension scheme administration expenses	(639)	(521)
Included in net income/(expenditure)	(646)	(525)
Return on scheme assets (not included in interest)	(3,461)	(4,312)
Experience gain/(loss) on liabilities	197	(1,705)
Actuarial gain on scheme obligation	2,255	2,811
Loss from change in effect of asset ceiling Recognised in “Actuarial gains on defined benefit pension scheme” Total amounts recognised in the SOFA	1,307 3,381 298 175 (348) (350) ~~a~~ ~~a~~ ~~_—~~

There are no current service costs of the Scheme included within the SOFA (2024: £nil).

50

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

25. Retirement benefits (continued)

	2025	2024
Changes in fair value of scheme assets	£’000	£’000
Scheme assets at the beginning of the year	56,611	61,188
Interest on assets	2,696	2,688
Return on scheme assets (not included in interest)	(3,461)	(4,312)
Contributions by CMS	336	336
Contributions by CMS Ireland	12	14
Administration expenses	(639)	(521)
Benefits paid	(2,944)	(2,782)
Scheme assets at the end of the year	52,611	56,611
Actual return on scheme assets	(765)	(1,624)

Scheme Assets

The major categories of Scheme assets as a percentage of the total Scheme assets are as follows:

	2025	2024
	%	%
Bonds	49	19
Private market funds	-	11
Cash and NCA	3	1
Liability driven investments	48	69
	2025	2024
Changes in present value of the Scheme’s defined benefit obligation	£’000	£’000
Obligation at the beginning of the year	53,981	55,436
Interest cost on obligation	2,574	2,433
Actuarial (gain)	(2,255)	(2,811)
Past service cost	-	-
Experience loss/(gain) on liabilities	(197)	1,705
Benefits paid	(2,944)	(2,782)
Defined benefit obligation at the end of the year	51,159	53,981

The weighted average duration of the liabilities of the Scheme was 12 years as at 31 January 2025 and 12 years at 31 January 2024.

51

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

25. Retirement benefits (continued)

Principal Actuarial Assumptions at the balance sheet date used for the FRS 102 disclosures

The principal assumptions used by the actuary to calculate the employee benefit obligation for Church Mission Society in respect for the CMS Pension Scheme were as follows:

	2025	2024
	%pa	%pa
Discount Rate at end of year	5.40	4.90
Discount Rate at start of year	4.90	4.50
Inflation – CPI	2.85	2.65
Inflation – RPI	3.30	3.10
Rate of increase in pensionable salaries	2.85	2.65
Rate of increase in pensions in respect of service:
- pre 10 January 1994	3.65	3.65
- between 10 January 1994 and 5 April 2005	3.00	3.00
- after 5 April 2005	2.10	2.10
Rate of increase in deferred pensions in respect of service:
- before 1 April 1994	5.00	5.00
- between 1 April 1994 and 5 April 2009	2.65	2.65
- after 5 April 2009	2.50	2.50

The mortality assumptions are based on standard mortality tables which allow for future mortality improvements. The assumptions are that a member aged 65 will live on average until age 87 if they are male and on average until age 89 if female. For a member currently aged 55 the assumptions are that if they attain an age of 65 they will live on average until age 87 if they are male and on average until 90 if female.

B. Defined Benefit Schemes – Church of England Funded Pensions Scheme (Group and Charity)

In addition to the CMS Pension Scheme the Group has 16 active members of the Church of England Funded Pension Scheme (also known as the Clergy Scheme), which has approximately 8,000 active members. Contributions for these members of the Scheme are paid for by the Archbishops’ Council on behalf of the Group, so the expense recognised in the SOFA is £nil (2024: £nil). Employer’s contributions to this scheme amounting to some £115k (2024: £135k) are funded by the Archbishops’ Council in accordance with the Pensions Measure 1997, under a grant which the national church undertook to make to meet the pension costs of clergy employed by qualifying mission agencies belonging then to the Partnership in World Mission.

52

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

25. Retirement benefits (continued)

C. Defined Contribution Schemes (Group and Charity)

The Charity contributes to personal money purchase pension schemes (defined contribution schemes) for certain employees and mission partners.

	2025	2024
	£’000	£’000
Staff and Mission Partners	776	757
	776	757

26. Secured assets

CMS House and one other residential property have been pledged as security to the CMS Defined Benefit Pension Scheme. These properties are being used as security to guarantee the Charity’s funding shortfall to the CMS Defined Benefit Pension Scheme.

27. Subsidiary undertakings

Charity

As outlined in Note 1, The Church Mission Society Trust became a subsidiary of CMS under a scheme agreed with the Charity Commission in 2010. CMS is a corporate trustee of The Church Mission Society Trust. As part of the scheme, a uniting direction was put in place for The Church Mission Society Trust to be part of CMS for accounting and legal purposes. Therefore the disclosures in these financial statements for “the Charity” include CMS and The Church Mission Society Trust.

Principal Subsidiaries at 31 January 2025

a) The South American Mission Society

Name Principal Activities Ownership The South American Mission Society To be a community of people in mission obeying the call 100% of God, to proclaim the gospel in all places with (RCN: 221328 and Co. No.:00065048) particular emphasis on Latin America and to draw all people into fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

b) CMS House Enterprises Ltd

Name CMS House Enterprises Ltd

Principal Activities Ownership Income from room hire of CMS House, archive services 100% – £1 and consultancy. share capital

(Co. No.: 09376700)

53

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

27. Subsidiary undertakings (continued)

Summary of results for the 12 months to 31 January

	The Charity	The South American	CMS House	Consolidation	Total	Total
		Mission Society	Enterprises Ltd	adjustments	2025	2024
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Income	7,266	622	96	-	8,562	8,274
Expenditure	(7,171)	(870)	(40)		(8,081)	(7,931)
Gains on investments	1,283	-	-	-	1,283	237
Revaluation of fixed assets	-	-	-	-	-	(5)
Net movement in funds	1,656	(248)	56	-	1,764	575
	The Charity	The South American	CMS House	Consolidation	Total	Total
		Mission Society	Enterprises Ltd	adjustments	2025	2024
	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000	£’000
Total fixed assets	21,054	-	-	-	21,054	20,873
Current assets	8,923	1,255	90	(68)	10,200	9,015
Current liabilities	(639)	(84)	(90)	68	(745)	(1,143)
Net assets/(liabilities)	29,338	1,171	**- **	-	30,509	28,745

Consolidation adjustments

The SAMS adjustment in the funds movement relates to transfer of restricted funds relating to mission partners where the income is received by CMS (parent charity) (see Note 22) and the costs are paid out of SAMS (subsidiary charity) which is the legal employer. CMS bears all other SAMS overheads without charge, apart from the SAMS governance cost.

The registered office of The Church Mission Society Trust, The South American Mission Society and CMS House Enterprises Ltd is CMS House, Watlington Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 6BZ.

54

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

27. Subsidiary undertakings (continued)

Other subsidiaries at 31 January 2025

In addition to the above principal subsidiaries, the following entities are also part of the CMS group but are not consolidated due to materiality.

Name Percentage Holding Registered Office Church Missionary Trust Association Ltd 100 CMS House, Watlington Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 6BZ CMS Pension Trust Ltd 100 CMS House, Watlington Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 6BZ

28. Accounting estimates and judgements

In preparing the financial statements, the Trustees are required to make estimates and judgements. The matters considered below are considered to be the most important in understanding the judgements that are involved in preparing the financial statements and the uncertainties that could impact the amounts reported in the results of operations and financial position. Accounting policies are shown in Note 2 to the financial statements.

Pension liabilities – CMS Pension Scheme

CMS has recognised its liability to its defined benefit pension scheme which involves a number of estimations, as disclosed in Note 25.

Unlisted investments

As outlined in Note 2, the unlisted investments in William Leech (Investments) Limited and Clean for Good Ltd are valued as the share of the net assets at 31 January 2025 (unaudited accounts) based on the information provided by these entities.

Cost allocation

Costs not attributable to a single activity are allocated or apportioned to activities on a basis consistent with identified cost drivers for that cost category. Cost drivers utilised relate to the proportion of time spent by staff across different activities and judgement is exercised in applying cost drivers to cost categories.

55

Notes to the Financial Statements as at 31 January 2025

29. Change in movement in net funds

	At 1 February	Cash flow	At 31 January
	2024		2025
	£’000	£’000	£’000
Cash at bank and in hand	7,423	1,630	9,053
Cash held with investment manager	13	1	14
Net Cash	7,436	1,631	9,067

Cash held with investment manager is included within Investments (see Note 17).

30. Post Balance Sheet event

Since financial year end CMS and the CMS Pension Scheme have agreed to the bulk transfer of pension scheme assets and liabilities to Clara-Pensions, superfund consolidator for defined benefit pension schemes. Pension investment allocations were realigned during the financial year 2024/25 in preparation for this transaction.

The Bulk Transfer Agreement was signed on 30 April 2025, clearance was received from The Pensions Regulator on 2 June 2025, and the transfer is due to take place in July 2025.

Under the agreement, the members of the Scheme and all assets will transfer to Clara’s management. CMS continues to provide security for member benefits via a connected covenant structure, a contingent guarantee alongside additional capital commitment from Clara, providing financial safeguards as the Scheme progresses towards an insured buy out.

56

Annual Report 2025

Principal Address

Church Mission Society Watlington Road Cowley Oxford OX4 6BZ

Principal Professional Advisers

Bankers Auditors

Barclays Bank PLC Crowe U.K. LLP Public Sector – Charities R+ Building Level 12 2 Blagrave Street 1 Churchill Place Reading London Berkshire E14 5HP RG1 1AZ

Principal Solicitors

Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP 134 Edmund Street Birmingham B3 2ES

Investment Managers

Cazenove Capital 12 Moorgate London EC2R 6DA

57