SUTTON IN THE ELMS BAPTIST CHURCH
Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statement for 2024
The Trustees present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2024
Statutory Information
| Registered Address | 2 Suton Lane |
|---|---|
| Suton in the Elms | |
| Broughton Astley | |
| Leicester | |
| Leicestershire | |
| LE9 6QF |
Charity Registration Number 1136715
| Trustees | Jonathan Morley | Minister |
|---|---|---|
| Heather Harris | Church Secretary | |
| Anthony Hill | Treasurer | |
| Peter David Clissold | ||
| Andrew Davies | ||
| Robert Foster | ||
| Deborah Sawyer | ||
| David Wheway | ||
| Property Trustees | The Baptst Union Corporaton Limited | |
| Baptst House | ||
| 129 Broadway | ||
| Didcot | ||
| Oxfordshire OX11 8RT | ||
| Bankers | Santander, Bootle, Merseyside | |
| Independent Examiner | John Denney, Chartered | Accountant |
Charitable Object
The Charity, Sutton in the Elms Baptist Church, is governed by an Approved Governing Document (the Constitution) which states that the principal purpose of the charity is the advancement of the Christian faith according to the principles of the Baptist denomination to include the advancement of education, community service and such other general charitable purposes in such parts of the United Kingdom and the world as the Church shall determine.
The Church occupies premises which are held by the Baptist Union Corporation Ltd, on Trusts which are entirely compatible with the above objective.
Organisational Structure and Decision-making processes
Members of the Church are accepted in accordance with the Constitution, which requires them to be or to have been publicly baptised on the profession of faith in the Trinity or based on their own public profession of faith.
The Members’ Meeting normally takes place at least four times per year and has responsibility for the overall policy of the church. In accordance with the Constitution, the members appoint up to ten Trustees, including a Church Secretary and Treasurer. They are responsible for the day to day running of the church’s work and witness, and the financial and legal aspects of the charity. All members are encouraged to take an active part in the spiritual and practical tasks involved in the furtherance of the charitable objective.
Relevant matters may be submitted to the Church meeting by the Trustees for guidance or may be raised by members for further consideration by the Trustees. The Constitution permits decisions to be made at Church meetings by appropriate majorities and the Church seeks to work by consensus wherever possible.
Objectives and Activities
To achieve the principal objective, which is set out above, the Church provides a variety of activities, both for its membership and for the local community. The aim is to show the love of Jesus Christ in both word and deed and to bring people into a closer relationship with Him as living Lord.
Central to the work and witness of the Church is the act of regular public services of Christian worship. We seek to be a friendly and welcoming community, and all are welcome to attend our services, which take place each Sunday at 10.30 a.m. and on some Sundays at 6.00 p.m. There are also services at other important times in the church calendar, such as to celebrate Christmas and Easter; these are advertised on the Church’s printed notice-sheet, by leaflet, social media and on our website, www.suttonelms.co.uk. There is a programme for children and young people during services, as well as a space available for use by preschool children and their parents.
The Church runs a series of house groups (known as Small Groups) in the church building and in the homes of some members for the growth of faith, fellowship and discipleship. Further details of these can be obtained from the Trustees on request or are available at the Sunday services of worship.
The Church is responsible for a Mum and Baby Group which runs on the premises on Tuesday mornings, as well as a longstanding Toddler Group, which meets on Thursday mornings. The purpose of both groups is to provide a safe place to develop friendships for local pre-school children and their parents/carers, demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ. The wellbeing café (Renew café) continues to be attended each Wednesday lunchtime by a small group of regulars, who meet to chat, undertake hobbies together and have an optional time of quiet reflection at the end of each weekly session. The group also often take part in the village’s annual Christmas Tree festival, organised by the local Anglican church. They also provided a church presence at our annual village Carnival, providing a space for refreshments, a chat and optional engagement in activities and prayer. The monthly Men’s Prayer breakfast continues to attract both young and old for a time of food, fellowship and prayer, with both local and invited speakers and they have blessed with an increase in attendance in recent years, both from church regulars and the local community.
The Church usually runs various events for youngsters and families during the year which, in 2024, included an Easter trail, Fun Week (a week-long summer holiday club for primary school aged children), a Light Party (Halloween alternative), Bonfire party and various Christmas events. The purpose of these events is to provide enjoyable, entertaining and affordable activities for the children and their families, to build friendships and community and to introduce them to the Christian faith.
The Church operates systems to ensure that all people working with children and vulnerable adults are appropriately vetted regarding the Disclosure and Barring Service with an up-todate Safeguarding Policy in place and regular training provided by the East Midlands Baptist Association.
The church premises are normally well-used by a variety of groups from the community during daytime and evenings, providing a variety of activities for both children and adults and the premises are also available to hire for private party bookings and other one-off events.
We are a Fairtrade Church, meaning that all tea/coffee provided on church premises is Fairtrade; we also request that all user groups also provide Fairtrade products. In June 2024, we were pleased to achieve an EcoChurch Bronze Award, thanks to the hard work of a dedicated team of volunteers.
Achievements and Performance
The Elms Café continues to operate in the hub area of the premises – this is a not-for-profit community café, run by volunteers, which is open 10 hours each week and serves cake, drinks and light lunches. The aims of the café are to provide a warm, welcoming meeting space for the local community, with good food, a friendly welcome and the opportunity to
build relationships, ultimately to “Taste and see that the Lord is good”. This has proven to be very popular and has built up a good number of regulars over time.
Our Community Veg box continues to be well-used, with people able to drop off excess fresh produce from their allotments or to take what they need. The church also has its own allotment (in a corner of land next to the church car park) and provides fresh, organically grown produce to the Elms café and the Community Veg box. We also provide opportunities to give to a local Foodbank, through a regular donations box and we hold a special collection at our annual Harvest service, usually held in October.
Whilst the success of the Church’s programmes can (to some extent) be indicated numerically (including financially), other less tangible measures of success, such as strength of fellowship, quality of pastoral support and spiritual growth are equally important. The church continues to encourage all its members to support one another practically, pastorally and in prayer.
As well as our regular services, we enable our community to celebrate and thank God at the milestones of the journey through life. Through infant dedication we thank God for the gift of life, through baptism we celebrate faith in Jesus, in marriage public vows are exchanged with God’s blessing and through funeral services friends and family express their grief and give thanks for the life which is now complete in this world and to commend the person into God's keeping. We were delighted to host both a baptism and a very well-attended dedication of a local child in October 2024.
In 2024, sadly two of our longstanding church members went to be with the Lord. At 31st December 2024, the total membership stood at 79.
Financial Review
The Church continues to raise the funds it needs to carry on its activities from within its own membership and congregation.
In 2024, weekly offerings were above budget, we finished the year with an overall surplus, largely due to general income being above budget. Funds continued to be raised from within the church membership, fundraising events, premises hire and from external grantmaking bodies to finance our Redevelopment project.
The church financially supports a Sponsor Child in Colombia through Compassion UK, Tearfund’s Children at Risk Programme, and has made donations to the work of Spurgeons’ Child Care and other local health-related charities. The church also financially and prayerfully supports a previous minister and his family in their ministry in Cape Town, South Africa.
The Church expressed its part in the life of the wider church by making donations to national and international Christian organisations and societies with Christian aims and objectives compatible with the church’s own charitable purpose, and to some non-Christian charities, chosen by church members as of particular significance to them.
The Church is heavily dependent on its membership working as volunteers in all aspects of the Church’s activities, many of which run with little or no impact on the Church’s expenditure, but nevertheless contribute substantially to the achievement of the Church’s objectives.
The financial results for the year, together with a summary of the accounting policies adopted, are set out in the accompanying financial statements.
The Reserves Policy is set at four months of budgeted expenditure; such an amount would provide working capital to cover fluctuations in income and expenditure and to meet emergency calls on cash, for example for emergency repairs.
The Trustees are satisfied that there are sufficient reserves at the Balance Sheet date, together with anticipated continuing income, to enable the Church to function effectively in the coming year.
Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Reportto the trustg momber5 of surroN IN THE ELMS BAPTIST CHURCH On accounts for tho year ended 31 DECEMBER 2024 Charlty no lff any) 1136715 Srt out on pag 1to4 Respecllv• respon8lbllltles The charws trustths arn Y•sponbh for th• pr•parntion OF th• accounts. Thè of ¢TUSteeB and examlner charftys tTUStees conslder that an audtt Is not requlTed f¢x thls year undor tion 442) of the chariti Act 1993 (the 1993 Act) and that an Indedent examinatloft ts n8ed•d. tt Is my rESpSIbIlity to: examine the ounts underseclion 43 ofthe 1993 A to folliyw thg procedur95 laid dM7 kn the gen Directlons given by th? Charity CoThwThssion {under section 447)(bl of the 1993 Art, and Ba818 of independent My examlnauon Twas crfed (xrt in aecordance with g•n•ral Directions ven èxamin0$ statemènt by the CharFty Corrn¥•Jion. An examination indudes a review of th• accounting roc01$ kept by the tharity and a comparison of the presented wlth those rerds. It also Includes eonsiderntion ol any unusual ltsms or dlsclosur•s In tho accounts •)d ¢kIng •xplanations from th• twstges concemlftg any such mattefs. The procedures undertaken do not ovide all Ihg widence that Thgjuld be required in an authl and cortsequently no opÉnion is wen as to whethertht accounts prtrs•ftt a Irue and fairf vi•w, and the rep(¥l Is Illted to those matters set out In the statement below. Independent examinerfs In rxjnnecli( with my examination. no matter has come to my attention statement lotr than that disdctsed bdow") 1. which gives me rea$able se to believe that in, any material respect, fhe requirerrents: to keep a(zounting rrts in Ordan with se(lion 41 of the 1993 Act: and to prepare )urrtS which )[d wilh the ac£ounting rec#)rds and mply wrth the &4%nting requireEnts of the 1993 Act haNE not tsen TrL or 2. to whith. in rny OFinNJn, attenlion shfwjid be dTawn in order to ene proper understanding of the &oJunts to te reached. . Pl&ase delete Ihe words in Ihe braets rfthey do not apply. Slgned: Name: John Wamer Denn Relevant professlonal qualification(s) or body (ff anyl: Fdlow. InstitLrte of Chartered A(untarrt5 in England Wales Address: 35 Laurd Ro&J Blaby Leicster LE8 4DL IER April 2009
Section B Disclosure Othy mplete rf the exaNner negjs to hNIght ma*eria pthems. Glve here brfef detslls of any items that thg examlnerwlshes to dixlose. IER April 2009
Suiton In th• Elm¥ Bapilst Church 113671S Receipts and payments accounts CC16a ForthE P¢Fiod 01-JaF2024 31-Dec-2W24 Section A Receipts and payments funds Tolal fvnds La51yMr A1 Recèipls 1•27S 21,551 Vduntsryncomg 941 tOOA03 tth88f0Fg0n0tillgfun 3S140 35.14D IM12 510 Incomity ¢WaL 732 104 107 4818 rotai income 147.$20 167,n2 A2 pa1$ m2 29M7J 1q733 14M31 Total E¥ponthfyrn Gwins I IoM8 on InbB8tmert 110256 10.7 .989 28Ofvf9 270.118 148.710 2T.733 4135 3568 8,e67 135 35M69 270,11 144710 To¢•1 FurHIB oUght For•Mrd Toll Funds Carrf•d FoYwaYd 1808,032 2,W659 1416.948 IOK651 I83507 2A6S.6S9 CCXXR1 #ecounts (s8)
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period LlnrBStri¢ted Restricted fuAds Endowment funds trJ rttest£ con>rhRI 747W2 f&767 B1 Ca¥h ftmd¥ wR9 $57 Toial cash lunds 111642 17.1 Endowm8 funds fvnd¥ .Det2ils D8tails Cutrnntval Deto.'Is FuRdfr>T•hth Curmntvalwj 2,496,169 Chuith FAme B4 A8s•ts rBlalned forthe ¢hartty'• own u 11 Fvnd b)whkh ¢¥JIdu 187,£
)224032 B5 Uabllltl•s eof vsl haOf allth$lRY&8e8 291,12