Inde endent Wesle an Church Hi h S Rushden Nortbgdnts Trnstees, Re rt for the ear ended Oct 31" 2023 The Truste¢s pres¢nt their Annual Rep)rt and accounts for thc 12-month ￿riod up to Oct 31 2023. Charitable Object The charity is governed by a constitution. This was amended in May 1984. and again in June 2008 and Septemtw 2(M)9. Th¢ Objects of the Church are: To advance tIK Chn'stian fvdilh in &cordance with the Confession of Faith in such ways and in such parts of the Unitcd Kingdom (or the world in the case of Mission works) as the Trustees (acting according to the will of God as discerned by the Church Members) from time to time may think fit. To relieve sickness and financial har(t8hip and to promote and preseTve good health by the provision of funds. goods or scrviccs of any kind. including through the provision of advice and SUp￿)rt in such parts of Uni*d Kingdom or the world as the Tntstees (acting as aforesaid) from time to time may think fit. To advance Christian edwation and purs￿ and promote general charitable purposes consistent with the Chn'stian faith in such ways and in such parts of the United Kingdom as the Trustees (acting as aforesaid) from time lo time may think fit. The Church oc¢upi¢s premises which are held by the above listed Protty Holding Truste¢s and the Trust is ¢ntir¢ly comptible with the above Objects. Public Benefit The Trustees consider that the activities of the Charity are carried out for the public benefit. In particular, two of the chan'tsbl¢ purp)ses &8 set out by the Charity Commission in its generdl guidance on public benefit arc m¢t'. The advancement of education and The advancement of religion An explanation of these activities is given b¢low in the Section.￿bJeCtIveS and Activilies" Coronavirus Effeel- During the year. all of our activities ran as norn￿1. but attendance al our Church Services have still nol returned io pre Covid levels. We do however have a number of children & young tKople who faithfully attend and who are now usually laught in Sunday School as a stngl¢ "all-age" clas5 by a team of teachers who rolat¢ each week. Despite this disaptK)intment, the work of the Church has wntinued with most weekday and week - night me¢tingslactivities in full swing. Throughout the yeaT. our Minister (Rev Phillip Hearson) and his family Iwv¢ again worked hard to lead our Church-life. S¢rvI￿5 have again been recorded and put on YouTub¢ (as hap￿ned during lockdown periods). w¢ understand that a number of people outside of ow chU￿h Circle have continued to lune in to watch these. We are indebted to Phil, his wife Ann¢ and their 50n Martyn for their work on this and so many other a5￿ts of our Church-life" they have worked hard as wsual on behalf of our memt￿rShlp. anisational Structure and decision-makin roeesyes Members of the Church arc acffpted in accordance with our Constitution. which requires them lo sincerely express their faith in th¢ Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour, and to giv¢ evidence of such faith by their life and condud. During the y￿r covered by this report. one new adult was accepted into membership. we did howevcr lose three adult members who p8ss¢d away during the year in question, one of whom had served as a Trustee for many years. The Members. Meeting nonn￿lY takes place four times per year and has the resTX)nsibility for the overall wli¢y of the Church. In accordance with the Consts'luts"on. the Members apwint up to 15 Leaders (Elders) who will concentrate on the S￿ritUal side of Church life. and up to 8 OfTicers (Deacons) who will concentrate on the a(hninistrativ¢ and fina￿la1 aS￿¢ts of the Church (acting under ihe authority of the Trustees). Our membership reduced during the year of this retK)rt to 39 as at (kt 31 2023. All Members are encouTaged to take an appropriate twt in the spiritual and practical tasks involvcd in the furtherance of tIK charitable objecttve. Relevant matters may be submitted to the Church Members meeting by the T￿￿ee$ for guidance, or may be raised by Members for considerntion. Tr Constitution 5￿Milts decisions to be made at Members, meetings by appropria1¢ majorities. The Church. although indeFKn(knt. is attached lo the Wesleyan Refonn Union of Churches. Objectives And Aetivities In order to achieve the principal objective which is set out above, the Church provides a variety of activities both to its Mem￿rship and lo th¢ ¢ommunity generdlly. The aim is lo show th¢ lov¢ of Jesus Christ in both word and deed and to bring p￿pIe inlo a closer relationship with Him &s Living Lord. Our Mission Statement is "S¢cking to love Go& each other, and the wider community - through worship. discipleship, fellowship. ￿rvIce, and outreach- Central io the work and withess of the Church is the provision of regular public services of Christian worship. These take place each Sunday at 10.45am. There are also occasional services at other times which are advertised both in the Church and online. The Church has a ￿bSIte at www.weschurchrushd¢n.or As mentioned alK)ve children's probiramme operates durin8 the morning services. The Church seeks to be a friendly and welcoming community and anybody is free to attend any of these services. ular Churcb- based meetin A men's home-group meeting to plan events for men of all ag¢s and study the Bible on alternate Sunday evenings. During the year these meetings have also focused on topica] discussions and chexkin&T what The Bible says about big questions that all Fwple are asking. One n¢w meeting introduced during the year is a "Zoom" Pray¢r M¢¢ting held on alternate Monday ¢v¢nings. This was intrcd￿¢d as a way lo Incre￿ our church's r¢lian¢¢ on prayer with our Lord God through our Lord and Saviour J¢sus Christ. Numbers have fluctuat¢d but it has been gyood to pray more regularly. including with som¢ M¢mbeT5 who are unable to attend our Tuesday mornin prayer group due to their work. The Tuesday morning prayer group - where Members join together in one of three homes to pray for the work of the Church. and for situatiOLs & ￿lple in particular n¢¢d - has been running for many years now and is a valuabl¢ v¢hicle for praying for those ID need both locally and in the world as a whole. Regular attendanc¢ is up to eight. A house group meets on Wednesday evenings and this seeks to encourag¢ Munbers to explore tog¢th¢T how to live a Biblical1y-IMs￿ Christian life. and to spend time in PTay¢r tog¢th¢r. The Church also nll￿ the following activiti¢s: _ A short-mat bowls group meets on Tuesday aft¢rn(M)ns. Two youth clubs on Thursday evenings (school years I to 6. and years 7 to I l). Thes¢ have a faithful core attendance. Both groups enjoy discussion times aboui the Christian faith during their ¢v¢ning and as a break in th¢ gam¢s played. Coff¢¢ mornings on Saturdays The Wednesday morning activity 'Tak¢ a Break" still meets and numbers - Nvhilst varying week- on-week have gradually increased. New frien(Lship5 between our Members and those outside of our Church hav¢ continued lo be fomied. The Church operates systems to ensurc that all wple working with childr¢n and vulnerable people are appropriately vetted with regard io th¢ Disclosure and Barring Servic¢ and Safeguarding Agencies. Achievements and Performanee The Church does not seek to measure its success solely by headcounts of those attending, nor by financial perforniance. but also in less tsngible a￿aS such as fellowship and encouragemenl. It is appreciated that ih¢se ar¢ difficult to measure. but t￿ Tntstees consider that 2022123 was another positive k￿rIod as far as th¢ life of the Church is conccrn¢