## **Taunton Baptist Church 2022 Annual Report** ## **Regular Activities** With the end of COVID 19 restrictions in May we were able to resume our normal activities. Having used the Zoom platform over the last couple of years we continued to make it available for those who were not able to join us in person. In the autumn our tech team made our Sunday service available on YouTube also. Being a church means that meeting together with one another for worship and prayer and the study of God’s Word is important to us, as is the mandate to reach others with the good news of Jesus Christ. Pastoral care is also an important part of our life together, providing support for those facing particular challenges and difficulties. With a considerable number of elderly people in our congregation, this is an important area of work. Our Home Groups are at the core of this work and several members are involved in home and hospital visits. Involvement of children and young people is also an important part of our activities. These are aimed at introducing people to the Christian faith in the context of fun and a variety of activities. ## **External Activities** Our ministry goes beyond the church doors with members involved in: - Taunton Street Pastors which supports people on the streets of Taunton at weekends through the evenings into the early morning, helping to make the town safer; - The Hospital Chaplaincy; - Open Door which provides practical support for rough sleepers in Taunton; - Town Centre Chaplaincy - volunteer chaplains are allocated to participating stores, offices and other places of employment and other locations such as a homeless hostel to be available to provide a listening ear or encouragement, etc. to staff and others; - The Taunton Foodbank which provides emergency food for local people in crisis; - Charis which has successfully provided accommodation and support to Syrian refugee families and advice to others working with refugee families; - Taunton Area Debt Advice. ## **Ministry** Revd Richard Matcham continued to serve as our minister through 2022. Our Families’ Worker, Lauren Jewhurst, headed up the ministry with under 11s and their families until May when she took up a post with Safe Families. Following the departure of Lauren we re-evaluated our staff needs. This led us to advertise for an assistant pastor and also a families’ worker. We interviewed a number of candidates in the autumn resulting in us inviting Amy Farrar to join the staff as families’ worker. ## **Leadership** Our annual church meeting took place in March 2022. We held the elections for three deacons. Andy Harewood was re-elected, Mike Newberry and James McKee were elected, in each case for three years. ## **Church Weekend** Janet Blake once again organised the church weekend away, to a new venue the Carlton Hotel in Torquay. We had over 100 people attending. Revd. Charles (Chas) Deakin was our guest speaker, we were also joined by our BMS Link Mission workers, Peter and Louise, who are working with BMS in Bangladesh. ## **Film Evenings** We had two film outreach evenings. In March we screened a film about the life of C.S. Lewis, entitled “The Most Reluctant Convert” – a phrase Lewis used to describe himself and his early Christian experience. In November “The Case for Christ” an investigative journalist and self-proclaimed atheist, Lee Strobel, sets out to disprove the existence of God with unexpected, life-altering results. ## **Stations of the Cross** During the week leading up to Easter the sanctuary was set up with the different stations of the cross. This gave an opportunity for a time of Prayer & Reflection as we prepared for Easter. ## **Easter Monday Walk** A small group from the church gathered in Vivary Park to walk together, past Sherford Bridge Farm, over Cotlake Hill to Kibbear, skirting around Amberd House and back along Sherford Stream through Trull and Sherford back to Vivary Park for a picnic together. ## **Bike Pilgrimage 2022** In May we hosted the 2022 Bike Pilgrimage for an evening as they passed through Taunton. Organised by a retired vicar, Robert de Berry and friends undertook a sponsored bike ride from North Foreland Point Lighthouse in Kent to Land’s End, Cornwall – and back between 14 May and 25 June 2022. They cycled in aid of the work of Release International and CSW supporting persecuted Christians across the world. ## **Hope & Christianity Explored** In June we ran the Hope Explored course which looks at the life, death and resurrection of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel. This three-session series shows that Christianity is about real hope: a joyful expectation for the future, based on true events in the past, which changes everything about my present. In the Autumn we ran Christianity Explored. Over several sessions exploring Mark’s gospel, considering three questions that cut right to the heart of Christianity: Who is Jesus? What did he achieve? How should we respond? ## **Home Mission BBQ** In August we held a Home Mission BBQ when Carl Smethurst, SWBA regional minister shared stories about churches and individuals in the south west reaching out with missional activities and bringing the love of God to their communities. ## **Cafe-style Service** We had 3 Cafe-style Services (August, October & December), informal services, suitable for all the family. No pressure to sing or pray, with coffee, croissant, and cake! ## **Safeguarding Report** Safeguarding is everyone’s business and with 42 people at TBC providing activities requiring a DBS check and safeguarding training, there is an awareness of the risks of ignoring this. Checking and training is a rolling process with repeat DBS checks every 5 years (at present) and safeguarding training every 4 years. The BU pays for all the DBS checks and TBC funds the safeguarding training that South West Baptist Association provides. Training to level 2 is needed for everyone and to level 3 for the church trustees (deacons/elders). I am pleased to report that there have been no reported safeguarding incidents in the past year. I continue to be grateful for the support of the Trustees and the deputy safeguarding team: Julian, Steve and Karen. **Janet G** (Designated Safeguarding Lead) ## **Website Report** Taunton Baptist Church website (www.tauntonbaptist.org), launched on 1 November 2021, continues to provide a valuable resource for enquirers, members and attenders. Here are a few highlights/reminders: - The home page includes an ‘Upcoming events’ section which automatically displays the next date of selected events and a link to the relevant page, and this can include special events when applicable https://tauntonbaptist.org/special-events/. - The Somerset Chinese Christian Church do not have their own website, so we have devoted a page of our website for them to advertise their services: https://tauntonbaptist.org/sccc/ (in both English and Mandarin). - You will have seen the ‘Welcome card’ available at the back of the Sanctuary and in the Foyer, and this can also be completed online within the ‘I’m New page: https://tauntonbaptist.org/new/, which also answers many of the questions that newcomers typically have. - - - The ‘Sermons’ page https://tauntonbaptist.org/whats on/sunday/sermons/ enables recordings of previous sermons to be watched, listened to or downloaded and you can also watch recordings of the whole service https://tauntonbaptist.org/service-recordings/ (although for copyright reasons this is restricted to members and regular attenders only). - In the ‘Members’ area there are pages that can only be accessed with an individual password by members and regular attenders and pages that can only be accessed by members only. (If you don’t have access, go to https://tauntonbaptist.org/contact/ and select enquiry: ‘Request Member/Attender Access’). - Amy has been given access to edit the children’s pages and has made some welcome improvements and plans to do more! - Rather than advertising email addresses (which are vulnerable to ‘spamming’), the site makes use of various contact forms to provide a secure way of people making contact with various members of staff and coordinators within the church including prayer, children’s work, admin matters and room hire. This facility has been used 96 times in the last year (13 March 2022 – 12 March 2023). - If you have any photographs of church events/activities (taken with the permission of anyone identifiable on the photo), please email them to me: webmaster@tauntonbaptist.org. - If you have any suggestions to improve the website, to add new content or to correct existing content, please don’t hesitate to contact me via the website (https://tauntonbaptist.org/contact/ and select enquiry: ‘Website Correction’) or via email: webmaster@tauntonbaptist.org The following analytics for a full year from 13 March 2022 to 12 March 2023 may be of interest: Total users* 5,200 _(cf. 1,550 in Nov 21 – Mar 22)_ with an average engagement time of 1m 38s _(cf. 2m 35s in Nov21 – Mar 22)_ Total page views 21,209 (10,214 in Nov 21 – Mar 22) with an average of 4.04 pages per user* (6.5 pages per user* in Nov 21 – Mar 22) _* Number of users determined by individual cookie management_ **Andy H** (Webmaster) ## **Administrator’s Report** With all Covid restrictions coming to an end in April 2022, outside groups hiring different rooms has returned to near pre-pandemic numbers. This included the following groups: - Amicus Law Legal Surgery Support Group - Two different Band Groups Practice - Big Noise Street Band - Two Beaver Group Visits - Castle School Visit - First Aid Training - Maths & English Classes - Quantock Club Coffee Morning - Safe Families Training - Sewing Classes - Slimming World - Somerset Chinese Church - Somerset Industrial Archaeological Society - St. John’s Ambulance Fellowship - SWBA Safeguarding Training - Taunton Area Debt Advice - Taunton Guides Throughout the year there were approximately 190 different activities, including church activities. In 2022 over 1700 activities/appointments were entered in the administrator’s calendar. ## **Church Membership Statistics** |Membership 31st December 2021:|137| |---|---| |New members added:|0| |Less number of deaths in 2022:|4| |Less number of resignations:|3| |Transfers:|4| |Membership 31st December 2022:|126| ## **James McKee** Church Administrator ## **Taunton Baptist Church 2022 Ministry Reports** ## **Sunday Stars** Sunday stars has seen growth in 2022 and we regularly have 6 - 8 children and even 12 plus on occasions with visitors. From September we were again without a Children & Families Worker and we were very sad to see Lauren leave this role but wished her all the very best in her new venture with Safe Families. In the beginning of December Pam, Sue, Hannah and Lis stepped down from helping in this ministry and a big thank you for all their help and support during this time, especially Pam, as she held the team together by preparing rotas and has supported this ministry for a great number of years. Barbara is having a break due to ongoing medical treatment and we will be keeping her in our prayers. In December the Sunday Stars met together with the youth and we looked at a back to front Christmas starting with wise men, shepherds and Jesus. Many thanks to all who support this very important ministry. ## **Karen M** ## **Sparkz Youth Group** We have been blessed with a core group and some new young people attending Sunday Sparkz where we have explored a diverse programme in the past year. This included prayer, the Bible, worship and characteristics such as hope, courage and living God’s best. In the autumn we looked at societal influences on our behaviour such as friendships, TV, media, advertising, music, computer games. The latter was an education for the group leaders! The sessions are a mixture of games, Bible discussions and lively debate. Towards Christmas we joined with Sunday Stars and the young people helped and also enjoyed the PopBox resources on advent and Christmas. It would not be possible to provide Sparkz without the commitment to preparation and delivery of the sessions by Julian, Rachael, Kevin and Hazel. Thank you to you all, and we continue to give thanks to Jesus for his encouragement and for the young people that he brings to this group. ## **Janet G** ## **Baby Group** At present we have an average of 15+ mums and babies attending. Since June last year we have welcomed over 64 babies, Mums, sometimes Dads too and family social workers. Things do fluctuate as Mum’s return to work and babies start to walk. September 2023 saw Lauren having to step down with her new role with Safe Families. Leda and I have been welcoming and singing nursery rhymes to all who come to baby group. It is a test of the memory to see if you can remember all the names and best to concentrate on baby names first before their parents. We sporadically have parent/s and babies who attend with a family social worker, and they comment on what a nice group we are. We had one session when unusually we only had two mums and babies and after the singing time, they shared Japanese and Chinese nursey rhymes with us. We also have a supply of donated clothes from outgrown baby grows, outfits and nappies and also donations from toddler group which are put out for any who are in need. One mum has kindly donated a swing chair to toddlers. There are some wonderful friendships blossoming and a few mums also have lunch together after baby group. In one session recently there were two new mums who came together – I thought they were friends but they had just met on the bus journey. I asked the mums’ what they liked about the group and was told they can share experiences and like that the babies can meet up together. It is a lovely feeling when you are able to see that all present are happily talking and that no-one is left out or on their own. A big thank you to Leda who is always setting up when I arrive and is so good with a warm welcome, supplying refreshments and making sure we have clean furnishings and equipment. It is such a privilege to be able to sing our goodbye song together at the end of the session when every baby is named asking God to bless them and keep them safe and that God loves them. ## **Karen M** ## **Toddler Group** Toddler group meets 3 times a week during term time and is open to children from birth to 4 years, together with their parents, grandparents and carers. Over the last year, each session has continued to thrive, with an average of about 40 families attending each week. We aim to provide a safe place for children to play and for adults to meet, get to know one another and make new friends. At the end of the summer term each child was given a small Christian storybook. In December the children took part in nativity plays in the church during each session, dressing up, acting out and listening to the Christmas story. Family members were also invited to come and watch. The following week there were 3 Christmas parties, where there was fun, food and a gift for each child. We have a fantastic group of dedicated helpers who run each session. Our aim is to build relationships with those who attend and share God’s love in whatever way we can. It has been great to see families bringing their toddlers and older children to other church events, especially Messy Church. We look forward to continue building relationships and sharing God’s love in the future. ## **Clare P** ## **Messy Church** Messy Church runs every second Saturday of the month and is aimed at families with children under 11. Every month there is a different theme from which we base our activities and crafts. This theme is Bible based and will have a story or memory verse with it. Doors open at 4:00pm when families arrive and sign in at the front door and we eat together at the end finishing about 6:00pm. There are about 45mins when they arrive to do all the activities and crafts found in the Albermarle and Trull/Corfe Room. We then encourage them all to come into the Sanctuary for the main session. This runs for about 15-20mins and includes showing off the crafts the children have made, singing some worship songs, telling/watching the bible story and some teaching on this. We end in prayer and then eat together in the hall. When the children arrived they were given a bag to hold their crafts but this bag also held in it some flyers for future events as well as an activity sheet to do at home in the hope the learning will continue there. It is fantastic that we are able to give a meal to those that attend Messy Church and bless them in this way. This time is also a wonderful moment to get to know the families better and really build connections and friendships with them. It varies in number with those who attend but on average about 50 people attend but this can easily hit 80 on a busy week. We also have an incredible team of helpers and those who cook for us and Messy Church would not happen without them. ## **Home Group Report** A total of 8 home groups met regularly through 2022 with a regular attendance of about 70 people. In the early part of the year all the groups studied the ‘A Passion for Life course’, and then went on to choose their own themes. Two of these groups have met weekly with other groups meeting twice each month. Most of the groups meet in person but a couple continue to be held on Zoom. ## **“Girls” Together** We had another good year with interesting speakers and visits. Most of our speakers are from the church family including Janet, Mike & Mavis. We had a very interesting talk on the Leprosy Mission, sadly Dan was ill and could not come but his wife who was coming with him did the talk for us. We had a visit to the Somerset Museum and were fortunate to have a wonderful Guide. In July we went to Linda & Tony’s garden for Afternoon Tea and in September we had Tea at Bishops Lydeard Mill, on both these occasions our men folk joined us. Our Planning meeting was a month later than planned and we ended the year with Chris demonstrating how to make Christmas Angels from paperback books. Please look on the “Girls” Together page on the Church Website where you will find photographs of some of our activities and also our New Programme for 2023. Printed copies of the Programme are on the table in the Welcome Area. We give a warm welcome to anyone who would like to join us on the 3[rd] Thursday of the month at 10:15 am. ## **Iris P** ## **Knit and Natter** Knit and Natter has had a great 9[th] year with the friendships and lovely encouraging atmosphere in the group really a delight to see. We usually have about 15 people attending a week now, with several new members (one as young as 8 which definitely brought our average age down!) starting recently – some of whom are starting to knit/crochet and some experts. Most of us knit for family and friends, but also make blankets, hats, gloves and scarves for the homeless and for shoe boxes, and baby essentials for a new mums’ charity for mums that don’t have anything. Lynda is a whizz at making scarves and hats as winter draws in! Most of the ladies that come to the group do not go to Church, although one of them has recently restarted after many years, and we aim (with a lot of help from God) to provide a safe, loving group where God’s love and care is shown and all feel seen and heard. Please pray for Christine and I as we go about this, and for all of our ladies that they would feel God’s love and come to know Him. ## **Anne H** ## **Rendezvous** Our thanks must go to the Rendezvous leaders for the excellent speakers and continuation of the Rendezvous meetings. We have been well blessed with speakers and functions in 2022 and continuing now into 2023. - ! Over the year we have had 49 people attend a meeting with 5 of those being visitors - ! The most attending on any one date was 37 and the least (during poor weather) was 21 - ! We have two new members - ! We are sad to have lost some members who have been called 'home' We have been fortunate to have speakers from our own congregation, all of whom had interesting stories or testimonies to tell. What a talented set of people we have in our church! As well as a number of speakers from outside, including from Somerset Gospel Outreach and St Margaret's Hospice. As well as weekly meetings we have been fortunate to have a 'Summer meal' prepared for us by Jane & Julian, a trip to Weymouth, courtesy of Blakes Coaches and a Cream Tea arranged by Tim & Pam, and lastly our lovely Christmas tea... all of which were well attended and well enjoyed so our thanks go to those who made these events possible. The members of Rendezvous are very thankful to the leadership team that make the weekly arrangements and for those behind the scenes that ensure there are biscuits and teas each week and monitor the sound desk and video screen when needed... with special thanks to Mike for all he has done and for Hazel & Glenda for playing for us each week. If you fancy a good afternoon among friends from the church and elsewhere...why not join us on a Tuesday afternoon from 2:30-4:30pm! ## **Yvonne B** ## **COFFEE PLUS** Coffee Plus began in 2019 as a coffee morning for all to enjoy coffee/tea, biscuits, cakes and chat, plus an opportunity to craft and this has continued with crafts including card making, scrap booking, knitting, crochet, puzzles, adult colouring, games etc. (We have two experienced crafters attending). During 2022 the numbers attending have increased and we now have 20+ busily chatting and enjoying coffee and crafts. We have members attending with Carers and the Carers enjoy joining in, too. Word has circulated and we have been approached by organisations working with adults needing more social contact. As we continue through school holidays it is a joy to welcome children and young people who enjoy crafting, too. Our aim is to provide a warm, friendly welcoming space where everyone is valued , and we pray that this will be a stepping stone to our members wanting to join our Church family, and come to know and love our Lord. We warmly welcome anyone who would like to join us. For further details please contact Dorothy or Mavis. We previously met in the Trull/Corfe room, but as our membership has increased to 28, we now meet in the big hall. ## **Schools Work** The early part of 2022 saw lots of opportunities to support local schools through assemblies and Bible Storytelling sessions. I did regular assemblies at Blackbrook Primary school, and it was wonderful to be there in person having had to do them online for most of 2021. It was also an honour to present the Year 6s with an "It's Your Move" book, kindly donated by the church, to help them with the adjustment to secondary school. We were able to talk about changes and how we navigate them, and I shared how God has always been there for me in times of change. The relationship between the church and school is something Barney Rycroft (Head Teacher) wants to continue when Amy settles into her new role at the church. My storytelling sessions with the Nursery and Foundation children at St James' Church school were also a time of encouragement and blessing. The children respond so well to the stories and especially like it when they can join in! We had great fun doing our own Palm Sunday parade and learning the Creation story from Genesis using the parachute and lots of noisy sound effects! They too are keen to welcome Amy in to continue this work. In addition to the schools work we also welcomed two Beaver packs to the church in the Autumn as part of their faith badge. They did a photo treasure hunt around the church, and we spoke about the different things they spotted, from the stained glass windows to the large cross on the wall. The organ was also of particular interest! We had the baptistry open and explained what happened at a baptism and what it meant to the person getting baptised, which presented a wonderful opportunity to talk about the death and resurrection of Jesus, and what faith means to us. The children of Trinity Scout Group wrote some beautiful prayers which they shared as we sat in the balcony overlooking the church worship area. ## **Lauren J** ## **Church Weekend 4 – 6 February 2022** Late afternoon on Friday 4[th] February, 94 of us made the journey by car or coach to the Clifton Hotel in Torquay for our 5[th] church weekend. Sadly, a small number were unable to go due to illness, including Richard, Rachael & Laura who had tested positive for Covid. We were made very welcome by the hotel and after a 1[st] evening dinner we all gathered together for a short time. We were delighted that our link missionaries Peter & Louise were with us and they shared some of their life and work in Bangladesh. After breakfast on Saturday morning, we once again met together for a morning of worship, prayer and teaching from Charles Deakin. The younger members also met together in a nearby room. Saturday afternoon was free for us all to spend as we pleased and many took advantage of the beautiful sunshine to stroll down to the seafront … although there was a bit of a bracing wind!! After dinner, as had become TBC tradition was our entertainment & talent evening, compered by Tony. An excellent variety of “acts” performed, ending with a musical finale for everyone to join in to. Sunday morning we all joined together for a traditional morning service including communion and the children joined us at the end to show what they had been doing in their groups. After a delicious 2 course lunch, we said our goodbyes and returned to our homes. ## **Janet B** ## **Prayer Ministry** Prayer is central to everything we do at Taunton Baptist Church, and we believe that we are called to minister to one another in prayer. We believe that praying about situations brings God into those situations – and that He can and will help us through even the hardest times. The **Prayer Network** continues to be an effective way of circulating prayer needs on a confidential basis. We are grateful for Sue and Richard for looking after this. From our website: https://tauntonbaptist.org/whats-on/prayer/ people can submit prayer requests and this has been used on a few occasions. **Prayer Cells.** These small groups meet regularly, some on Zoom others in person, an opportunity to pray for each other in a more personal way. **Prayer Evening** . On the second Tuesday of each month, we meet together to pray for the various ministries of the church and those who are in need of prayer who are connected to our congregation. Praying for one another is such an important way in which we can show our love and care for each other and share needs with our Father in heaven. May we thank you all for your prayers and encourage you in your continuing faithful prayer ministry. TAUNTON BAPTIST CHURCH ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022 IND[4 PEI NDENT EXAMtNERS REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF TAUNTON BAvfisT CHURCH I report on the accounts of Tauiiton Baptist Church for the year cnded 31 Dec￿nber 2022, which incorporate the Siatement of Finan¢ial Activities, The Balance Sheet and accompanying Notes lo the Accounls. Respective responslbllltles of trustees and exatuinei. The Charity's trustees are responsibl¢ for Ilie preparation of accounts. The cKirity's trustees consider Iliat an audit is not requirement for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011. The Cliarily's Iru81ccs have requested nie lo undertake an indepeiidenl examination and I am qualified to undertake Ilie examination by being a qualified iiiember of Ilie Institute of cl￿r1ered Accountants iii Englaiid and Wales. It is my r￿ponsibIlItY to. examine Ili¢ accounts under section 145 of the 2011 Act- lo follow procedures laid down iii the General Direclioiis given by tl)e Charity Commissioner under seLlion 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act,. and lo state whethcr particular matl¢r I￿ve come lo my attention. Ilasls of independent examiner's report My examination was carried out in ac¢ordance with the G¢n¢ral Directions giveii by the Charity Commissioner. Tlial examination in¢ludes a review of Il)e a¢¢ounting records mainlaiiied by the Tru.%lK and a conipari50n of Ili¢ accounts will) Iliose records. It also includes ¢onsidcr2ng any unusual items or disclusures in thc accounts and seeking explanations froiii (h¢ Trust￿ concerniiig such mollers. The pro¢¢durc5 underlaken do nol provid¢ all Ihe eviden¢¢ that would be rcquired in an audit. and consequently no opinion is given as lo wlietl)er Il)c acLounts present a 'true and fair view. and the report i¥ limited to tho&¢ malters set oul in the stalemeni below. Independent exftmlner'$ stutement Tn connection with my examination. no malter has ¢om¢ lo my allenlion: (i) which giv&1 iiie rea50nablc cause to believe Il)a( in any malcrial respect Il)e rwuir¢iiienls lo keep accounting records ii) accordanee with section 130 of Ilie 201 l A¢l', 8nd lo prepar¢ accoiinls wliich accord with Ili¢ accoui)ling records and comply with the rcquiremenls of the 201 l Act. hav¢ not been met.. oi. (2) to which, in my opinion, att¢nlion sliould be drawft in order to enable a proper under31anding of the aeeounts to bc rca¢lied. Amherst & ShApland (raunton and Wlvellseombe) Chartered AccountAnts Bridge House 14 Bridge Street TAUllton Telcphone.. 01823 326555 14, April 2023 TAUNTON BAPTIST CHURCH STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES For the year ended 31 December 2022 Unre$trieted Restricted Funds TOTAL FUNDS 2022 2021 Note INCOMING RESOURCES 117coiiiing pvsoupres.fp'opn donors 98,806 98,806 106,079 Otlier volunlary incoming resourees 3,038 5.736 8,774 5.144 Incoinefroni cliariluble and ancillaiy lyadiiig 22,950 22,950 19,810 Incomefyom Envestiiieiits .995 1,995 I,l49 TOTAL INCOMING RESOURCES 126,789 5,736 132,525 132,182 RESOURCES USED Gi'uiitts 18.104 5,736 23,840 20,987 Aclivilies i'elating divecily to tlIE wvrk of tlie church 69,049 69,049 66,223 CIIz4Ych inanagem¢nl and adminisli'ation 44,333 44,333 40,262 TOTAL RESOURCES USED 131,486 5.736 137,222 127,472 NET (OUTGOING) I IIYCOMING RESOURCES (4,697) (4,697) 4,710 NET MOVEMEIYT IN FUNDS (4,697) (4,697) 4.710 BALANCES BROUGHT FORWARD l66,773 196,925 363,698 358,988 BALANCES CARRIED FORWARD 162,076 196,925 359,001 363,698 Page I TAUNTON BAPTIST CHURCH BALANCE SHEET As at 31 December 2022 2022 2021 Note FIXED ASSETS TongEblefixed assets 212.899 210.620 Investinents - Redwr)od Bank 89,084 87,945 CURRENT ASSETS Debioi's 5.588 6,880 Casli at bank und iii Iiand io 59,118 66,843 64.706 73,723 LIABILITIES: AMOUNTS FALLING DUE wI'fiiiN ONE 7.688 8,590 NET CUIIRENT ASSETS 57,018 65,133 NET ASSETS 359,001 363.698 FUNDS Unrestricted 162,076 166.773 Restricted: Special collecrions 925 925 925 925 Endowment 12 l96,000 196,(M)O 359.001 363,698 Approved by the Trustees and signed on their behalf by: Page 2 TAUNTON BAPTIST CHURCH NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATLMENTS For the year ended 31 December 2022 I ACCOUNTINC POLICIES The financial statements Iiave been prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards and Ilie Chai'ities Statement of Recommeiided Practice. The financial statenients have been prepared uiider the historical cost convention except for the valuation of investm¢nt assets, which are shown at market valu¢. (a) Consecrated and beneficed property is excluded from the accounts. No value is placed on moveable cliurcli ￿rnIs111ngS wliich ar¢ regai'ded as inalienable frorn the church buildings. Improve1n￿1tS to the cliurch buildings are written off in the y¢ar expended, Equipment is capitalised at cost. (b) Depreciation is calculated to write off assets on a straight line over l O years froin the date of purchase. (c) Incoming Resources.. All incoming r¢sources are recognised oncc thc charity has entilleinent to the resourccb, it 15 certain Il)at the resources will be received aiul the Inonetary value of incoinllig r¢sour¢es can be measurcd with sufli¢i¢nt reliability. (d) Resources expcndcd: Liabilities ar¢ recognised as T¢sources expcnded as soon us th¢re 18 a l¢gFul or conslruclivc oblisation cominitting tlie charity to tlie expenditurc. All expenditure 18 accounted for on ali accruals basiy and lia8 been classifsed under lieadinss Iliat aggrcgate all costs related to the category. (e) Fuiids: Unrcsli'icted fvnds represent funds of the Cljurch that are not subjeit to any i'estrictions regarding tli¢ir use and are available for application to gencral purpose.4. Restricted nds are ￿1]d$ wliicli are lo be US￿ in accoixtance willi specific restrictions imposed by the donor or trust deed. Details are in note I I to the accounts. 2 INCOMING RESOURCES FROM DONORS Unrestricted Restricted Funds Funds TOTAL FUTrIDS 2022 2021 Offerings Tax recoverable Sundry grants and donations 73,585 15,211 io.oio 73,585 15,211 io,oio 71,427 15.794 18,858 98,806 98.806 106,079 Page 3 TAUNTON BAPTIST CHURCH NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued For the year ended 31 December 2022 3 OTHER VOLUNTARY INCOMING RLI SOURCEIS Unrestricted Restrictcd Funds Funds TOTAL FUNDS 2022 2021 Donations Linked groups L¢gacies 5,736 5.736 3,587 1,557 3.038 5,736 8,774 5,144 4 INCOME fROM CHARITABLE AIYD ANCILLARY TIi4DING Unrestricted Resti'ictcd Funds Funds TOTAL FUNDS 2022 2021 R¢nts 22,950 22,950 19,810 22,950 22,950 19,810 S INCOMF FROM INVESTMEI NTS Unrestricted RestrRcted Funds Funds TOTAL FUNDS 2022 2021 Interest 1,995 1,995 1,149 6 GRANTS - CHARITABLE GIVING Uni'estricted Restrlcted TOTAL FUNDS Funds Funds 2022 2021 Baptist Missionaiy Society Home Mission B M S Cl)ristinas Appcal B M S Bi]thday Scheme Bmsother Other 6,252 6,252 6,252 6,660 338 1,167 445 8,978 6.252 6,252 811 1,048 250 6,374 408 338 1,167 445 3,378 5,600 18,104 5,736 23.840 20,987 Page 4 TAUNTON BAPTIST CHURCH NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS - continued For the year ended 31 December 2022 7 ACTIVITIES DIRECTLY RELATING TO THE WORK ofi THE CHURCH Unresti'icted Resti'icted Funds Funds TOTAL FUNDS 2022 2021 Ministry Tearn Church buildiiig maintenai)ce Pulpit supplies Insurance Lig,hting and heating Rates aiid water Weekend Childrcii and Youth work Tralllil)g - SWYM Outrcach Deprcciation Linked groups 38,167 5,379 2.908 5,805 4,530 372 723 6.997 869 200 1,709 1,390 38,167 5,379 2,908 5,805 4,530 372 723 6,997 869 200 1,709 1,390 38.746 225 2.055 6,312 3,247 423 12.130 218 864 2,003 69,049 69,041) 66,223 8 CI.IURCH MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION Unrestricted Restricted Funds Funds TOTAL FUNDS 21J22 2021 Administrator and carctaker Stationery and office expens¢s Miscellaneous Oth¢r property maintenance Accountancy 28,882 4,562 2,946 7,643 300 28,882 4,562 2.946 7.643 300 27,624 6,989 865 4,784 44,333 44,333 40,262 Page 5 TAUNTON BAPTIST CHURCH NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS- contlnued For the year ended 31 December 2022 9 TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS Unrestricted Restricted Funds Funds TOTAL FUIYDS 2022 2021 Land - pui'chased Manse at valuation 4,000 196,000 4,000 196.000 4,000 196,000 200,000 200,000 200,000 Fquipment and furnlshlngs Book value at l January 2022 Additions 10,620 3,988 14,608 1,709 l2,899 10,620 3,988 14,608 1,709 12,899 7,021 4.463 11,484 864 Depreciation 10,620 Total 12,899 200,000 212,899 210,620 Iterns of fjjrniturc and equipineiit li¢ld since beforc 1996 are not inLludcd in tlie above. Th¢ churcli building7s and contents wer¢ insured for thc following all￿ul7t5 tor the year to Decembei. 2018.. Buildings Contents Manse M(ll]se contents 5,836,457 208,445 339,122 5,782 10 CASH AT BANK AND IN HAND 2022 2021 Lloyds ca￿aSh Baptists Togetlier CafGold account Linked Groups cash Baptists Together 7 day account Cash in Hand 149 8,349 l2,670 362 37,587 2.927 16,203 10,327 296 36,922 167 59,118 66,843 Page 6 TAUNTON BAPTIST CIIURCH NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS- continued For the year ended 31 December 2022 I I RESTRICTED FUNDS 2022 2021 Special Collections Fund Balance b/fivd Donations Interest 925 5,736 925 3.533 6.661 5,736 4,458 3,533 925 Giving 925 12 ENDOWMENT FUNDS 2022 2021 Manse Valuation blfivd Revaluation in the year 196,000 196.000 196,000 196,000 The Manse buildin&s are treated as Endowmcnts because although the income generated from them can be used for geiieral purposes tli¢ capital lias to ranain intact. Page 7