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EMMANUEL CHURCH MORECAMBE ANNUAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING 25TH FEBRUARY 2024 At Emmanuel Church, Marine Rd East at 12.00pm AGENDA Opening Prayer Minutes of the Meeting of 2023 Matters Arising Mlnlster's Report Wardens Report Approval of accounts to 31st December 2023 Election of Officers a) Churchwardens b) Delegates c) Church Councll Resolutions Any other business 10. Closing Prayer 11. Signing of Forms
Report of the Presbyter in Charge for the Annual Meeting February 25th 2024 A.D. 2023 has been a year of incredible trdnsforniats'on for Emmanuel Church Morecambe. Ev¢n before my otTicial arrival as Pastor I WLS privileged to attend the annual meeting for 2023 in February of that year hosted in the Hardman's living ri)om chaired by Bishop John. Jo¢ and Jill wer¢ the last two parishioners of the previous congregation and the church had been closed foi worship since 2019 aside from special Services such as the fim¢ral of the previous inisler the late Bishop Mcclean of beloved melnory. We owe a debt of grdtitude to warden emeritus Joe for his th'ligent work when he kept ihe vacant buildtng ticking over as he and a handful of other faithful Christians in the wider FCE family. prayed and hoped agwnsi all odds that someday the Lord might bring revival and once agan estsblish a worshipping LX)mmunity to call this church a spiritual home. Answering the call of God to fl¢¢ Church of England and minisler in a f'thfullY orthodox, biblically sound Anglican ¢hurclL my family and I were led by G(Kl through our fn'end the Rev'd Matthew Firth lo the Fr¢¢ Church of England, where we were warn]ly welcomed by Bishop John Fenwick and Charged with the seemingly impossible tssk of bringing new life into this beautiful old church building. We began in Jun¢ by coming up from L£icester5hire on our days off and using holiday time whilst still serving in the CotE to renovate the church hall and transforni it into the Cominunity Store. Our initial partner org8ni7ation a small Community Interest Company very unexpectedly withdrew their support and thus our funding for a stipend (salary) disappeared and we were forced to step out in faith and lake on running all asplS of Ihe store OUTselves. Kat and Louise deserve hugye thanks for their efforts al this! Over the last few month& the store bas morphed into part panty and part charity Stole with a strong missiona] dhos of blessing the community and sharing the 8ocxI news of Jesus Christ. Alongsi(k the store on Fri&ys, we also run the Community Café and warm space which has a similar goal and sees doz£ns of visitors per week. In July when we launched our very first service which was my licensing as minister and reception into the FCE, we were blessed to be joined by Father Tony and Mrs Chere Welty on a short-lern) mission trip from the Refonned Episcopal Church in the USA. their parish in Shrev¢port Louisiana h&8 ttcome the sister parish of Emmanuel and we remain g(M)d friends. Bul aside from the Welty's we weren't swe if anyone would show up to worship the followin8 week after launchl God clearly had plans to grow this re-plant for His glory &8 week-by-week people simply appeared. Each week the church became less cluttered and more tidy and minor repairs OCCUTred too. Il is a true mirdcle from God to see how in six short months He h&8 built a people from almosl nothing. Repr8 to the lIdIng are important t1 the beating heart of this church, is the people who gather to worship God here. thank you for king such a faithful and deth'cated church family. The launch of our monthly Jacob's joiner luncheons deced f¢llowship and we have added a weekly bible study on Wednesday evenings followed by Mighty Men's group. Sometimes I beat myself up for not doing more for the Lord and our church family, that said I often pause dun'ng my prayers and smiply marvel at what the Lord has done in our midst in such short amount of time. -Onceyou were noi a people. bul nowN)u apv GodOple." once you hadnoi received mery, but now you have ceiVed mepry. ' I Peler 2..10 As you will read in the acting Trurer'S reporL we kgan with only a few hundred FKyunds in the bank and the Lord has richly provided over twenty thousand FK)unds and continue5 to build up our reserves for the Important gospel work we have to do here in the years ahea(L God is far kin(kr to us than we deserve and it's comforting to see how He h&s met our needs.
Later in the year we were joined by our Sdent intenL Thom&s Purell who has grown steadily in his skills as a pastor and gospel worker, we were also ble&sed to have Prof Colin Parsons join us as our organisL like all of us he is another Christian drawn in to find a home at Emmanell We have losl a handful of folks for Vario8 reasons which is a cause of grief. all have left peaceably and although I'd prefer. they remain praying often for their relmrn (not It for th¢ir own spiritua] wellbeing) I undetstand their re&sons. Despite this. even in the dark cold months where the heating struggled to keep us wann Emmanuel has mained strong with a dedicated core group worshipping and serving God and ¢a¢b other week on week. l firnily believe as the warn) weather returns ap.d we step up our mission and ministry work we will see God bring in many more wandering believers and fresh conveTts into our congregknon. Emmanuel has repeatedly been described as a safe harbour in a world gone made and amidst rampant error in other chur¢hes. Wheiher lple have be¢n drawn here via My YouTube rninisty or through oiir loral cffort.s in mission and ministy I praiK G(d that He built a pwplc here so quickly and continues to add to our numlrr. I'm also deeply thankful io Christ thal He has Preserved the FCE from doctrinal corruption and has called me here to paslor you all. doTng my best lo leach from God's word and love you as Christ love5 His bride Wiihout your constant supwrt and prayers Katerina and I simply couldn't do what we do for Christ. Thank you for ing such a loving and faithful family of believers. I pray in 2024 we becorne kno for what we are for more than what we are against. and the people of Morecambe encounter the Living Lord Jesus Christ through us. The challenges are many. the ¢71 one clearly wants to destroy our church family and the WOTkload is high but it's so clear that God is using Emmanuel for His glory. to r&%h MorecamFK and beyond for His glory. My vision which I believe is from God is to build around this church nothing less than a vibranL growing, spiritually malure Christian community b&sed utM)n strong biblial values and marked by our love for Christ and one another. Together under God's sovereign hand we can lfil the prophecy spoken over Emmanuel by an American visitor in August 2023 "In God's power you will build the Kingdom here with sword and shovel" This report is respectfully submitted. Your servant in Chn'sL The Rev'd Brett Murphy PreSbc[-in-Ch8rge Emmanu¢l Church of England Morecambe 2510212024 A.D.
Emmanuel Church- Acting Warden's Report This year has been a year of challenges and let downs, surprises ènd stresses. We took on Emmanuel and didn't really knowwhatwe were in for. we didn't knowthe extent ofthe damage to the buildin& having been told that repairs had been conducted recently. including roof work etc. We were promised a sts.pend which ulkn"mately fell through. There have been delays and hinderances. Weve had Satan come against us more than once and suffered from illness. its been a rollercoaster of ride, where for me at least, its often felt like I'm in a dark tunnLholding on for dear life. But... It's also been a year of blessings. and joy. of comrnunity and love. Despite the exhaustion, Ive felt fulfilled. knowing l am where God clearly vrdnts us to be, and doing Hi5 will. l am 50 thankful for the communitythat has sprung up around us and supported us, notjust financially. but emotionally. spiritually and physically. I don't know what the future will hold, but I can see God's hand on all our lives individually and as a church family, and I trust that He will guide us into a bright future at Emmanuel. if we conts.nue to follow Hirn faithfully. As the fabric and items of the church and building are the warden's responsibility,18uess I should speak a bit about the condition of the church, how we found it, what we have done this last 6 months and a bit of what we hope to do in the future. our vision for Emmanuel. Eventually. myself and the new warden will need to 80 through the whole church and write an inventory of all items. When we came to Emmanuel, the open church area was filled nearly to the rdfters with boxes. Over the months beforehand, the CIC had been delivering items for the Community store. The absolutely filthy state of the church is something I cannot overstste enough. There was dust over an inch thick on nearly every surface, rats, droppings, mouldy disintegrating carpet, maggots, bibles and other books turning to dust in your hands, moth eaten curtains and tushions. The air wa5 damp and dusty. There were paint flecks and plaster pieces all over the floor, generdl rubbish had been left all around, piles of randorn vBses. crockery, books. paper5 etc. The paint on the walls was turning to dust and bubblin8 With vtster damage, it still is in many areasl Brett and15pent a rnonth before we even moved here, travelling back and forth beeen Leicester and Morecambe, cleaning the church, rlpping up carpet and disposing of rubbish. I remember not knowing where to stsrt, and stsrb.ng on one area, just to end up distracted by another area that needed done, it was completelv overwhelrning. As time went on. and with help from Tony and Cherie once they arrived in July. we gradually started to tackle the grot. It has tsken rnany rnonths of hard work. often working on days off and late into the night to get the church looking like it does today. We are still a long vlay off from gethng the church completely renovated and repaired, but its unrecognisable from how it looked when we first arrived here. The Hall The Hall has been completely repainted this year and many holes repaired. The Community Store stock and Tacking donated to us by the CIC and the counter bvas made by Rev. Brett. Thom and Fr. Tony using pallets and benchtops which were donated. Big thanks are due to Louise for helping with everything store related right from the beginning before we even moved here. Louise ha5 been a constsnt blessing to us, always positive and giving her all to helping out. The hall needs a completely new roof which we hope to tsckle ID 2024. We have been blessed by
local roofer Shaun Drinkwater who has patched the roof free of charge as much a5 he could and has given us a very charitable quote for the new roof. We will need to source grants for this moving forward. We were also blessed with help from our friends from our old parish. James & Tara Kendrick who repaired guttering along the side of the church and hall. Big thanks also to Tony who has installed new lighting along the alleyway and beside the hall door to make it safer leaving the store and church at night, partsCUlar in winter. He also installed camerds for the organist. New garment rails were installed by Rev. Brett and Mike for the community Store and more are planned for 2024, along with more displays and a middle aisle. The toilet attached to the hall near the kitchen which most people don't even reali5e 15 there has now become unusable due to the ceiling collapsing and the floor startin8 to give way. Eventually it IS our vision t0 See both toilets demolished and the large open area beeen the hall and the church completely enclosed to become new toilets and possibty some stora Kitchen The kitchen will eventually need to be completely renovated. The wall between the kitchen and hall had water running down inside it caused by badly fith'ng flashing. and it has ¢au5ed a lot of dama8e. This was repaired by Jarnes Kendrick as above. but there is skn'll a leak beeen the kitchen and hall which will hopefully be fixed with the new hall roof. Some of the carpet was pulled up in the kitchen to reveal lovely floorboards which we intend to sand and polish. The kitchen will soon become the Sunday School room, once it is cleared and the dangerous areas cordoned off. Big thanks to Maggie, Lauren and Julie for helping to clear the carpet and the big tssk of cleaning the cupboards. Thankfully the kitchen has a working oven and 2 fridge5, one of which is now being used in the Café area. Eventually it is our intention to put a full industrial kitchen in to coincide with the café. Vestry The vestry will need a big renovation to remove the window which has rotten through and is letting cold air and water in. This caused significant damage to the wall and many of the items in the room werewater damaged and grew mould. We saved as much as po55ible butwe will need new carpet, new chest of drawers, desk and wardrobe in the future. The room will als0 need painted. Café/Fellowship area We were gifted new tables and thairs for the café shortly after rnoving here. The couch and armchairs were free online with delivery donated. The other fumiture was already in the church when we moved here. It is our intents'on to turn the area into a proper café in the future with more armchairs, rugs, a barists ¢appuccino machine, counter area. cakes and other drinks available. We would like to see it as a Christian Art café with local artists contributing. Eventually the whole church will need the floors sanded and polished. A new log burner will be installed in 2024 in the café area. Worship Space The worship space has been a main focus since arriving and it's a very usable space. The chairs were bought just before the church closed 4 years ago, replacing the pews, however they are not church chairs and we will be looking to replace them for sirnilar chairs that lock together la fire safety suggestion) and which have a storage shelf for bibles etc. The stsined-glass window above the altsr will need to be repaired. with the crack filled with a special glue. There were plastic coverings over the back of the glass outside to protert it. but rn05t of those have fallen off so this is something that should be replaced in the future also. The structure 15 sound. The children's area was added shortlv after we moved in (the furniture is on loan from us). The rug was donated. We would like to see
wooder structure made to encourage the kids to play inside this area during church. Thanks to Alan and Jay the flower room in the corner is slowly getting more organised. Once it is completely cleared, we plan to use the space as a quiet area with comfortable armchairs for praying before or after the service, Christian counsellin& breasrfeeding etc. Thank you to everyone who helped with our VrkIng bee. Tech Desk We were blessed to have a new Sound 5Y5tern and projector donated to us by Mike and Olween Wood, a laptop and video system for livestrearnin8 was donated by Mike and Sammy Sherriff. Thank you to all. In the future we will need to allocate a larger area to setup a sound and IT desk for doing the livestreams etc. Perhaps the quiet room will be used for this at some stage. Church Entry, Bell Tower We are reall¥ eager to use the rnain entrance to the church instead of the side door, but first the bell tower needsto be renovated. The rfand some wooden beams need to be replaced, and the whole front of the church will need repointed. Our rwfer Shaun has been up in a cherry picker to assess the damage and what needs to be done. At the same time, we hope to relocate the stsirs used to acce5$ the bell ringing roorn so it comes out into the church instead of into the disabled toilet as it does now. All plastering will need redone. The disabled toilet will need to be completely renovated once the bell tower and pointing has been completed and will need to comply with disability regulations. There are grants available for making your building more accessible so we are hoping to receive funding for this when the tr.me comes. Organ Thanks to Prof Colin Parsons who has stsrted renovating and restoring the organ. The plpes will be painted 8old and the woodwork surrounding it has been shellacked and polished at no cost to us. A camera system has been instslled to enable Colin to see whats going on frorn his Stall. Other items An fellow Anglican from USA who Vuld like to remaln anonymous donated the followlng after watching Rev. Brett's online ministry. He wanted to bless u5 as we revitalize Emmanuel. 'Pascal Candle stand 'Advent Candle stand "Chalice & Paten 'Incense Censor Cruet Set 'Pew bibles were kindly donated by various online supporters 'A purple chasublewas donated by50meone whowould liketo remain anonymouswho watches Brett's online ministry. *25 Mi55ion praise books were kindly donated by Maureen. A microwAvewas kindly donated by Sandra. A soup warmer VRS kindly donated by Morgan. A lending library VRS e5tsblished and various people have contributed biblically sound books to it. Tèblecloths and a new altar cloth was kindly made and donated by Julie. Thankyou to PT for making homemade bread for cornmunion every wee
Other Works Thank you to Morgan who completed a full buildiTrd survey and heat loss survey of the church at no cost to us. A very big thank you to Joseph Hardman for his years of dedicated service to Emmanuel as warden, especially during the closure. Mr Hardman retired from his role a month or 50 after we arrived and I stepped into his shoes as acttng wrden until we could make it official. I look forward to being Minister'5 warden in 2024 and I look forward to V40rking with the People's warden. Mike Sheriff as we conkn'nueto repair and trnnsform Emmanuel into a buildingfftfor purpose again. respectfully submit this report Mrs Katerina Murphv Actin8 Warden Emmanuel Free Church of England. Morecambe Emmanuel Church Morecambe- Aclin8 Treasurer's Report 2023 The 2023 accounts for Emmanuel will be a bit all over the place this year as we transittoned from an empty church to a lively spirit filled community wtth lots going onl It also took a very long tr'me to gain access to the church accounts. of which one, the reserve account we still cannot access. The banking was very much stuck in the past with cheques only and no internet banking. We have also had a battle to have the monthly ststements sent to us and we are still following up on this for the reserve account. This is just one of those hurdles you me up against when doing a church replant into a previously used but now dormant church. There were numerou5 518natories on the accounts with differing circurnstsnces which made it difficult to provide all the detsils the bank needed. If we had been starting from scratch or going into a very small but active congregation things would have likely been very different. In any case, I think being laid back Aussies has helped us navigate all the drama this year. as we just rolled with the setbacks and continued pushing forward albeit at a snail'5 pace sometimes. 2023 stsrted off with no congregation. no services and no Income except for the hall rental for do8 training but we had very large expenses due to the insurers raising the fee to over £1600 a month due to the buildin8 being vacant. This meant that to conlinue to protect the building, Bp John had to transfer funds1£15C(K)l from the reserve account to cover the shorttall which ha5 left the reserve account dwindled. However, vthat a blessing to have a reserve account for situations such as this. This account holds what is left from those faithful brothe and sisters in Christ who worshipped here at Emmanuel before us. What a nderful prowsion to have left behind enough money to sustsin the building until such time as it could be reopened again.
In March they had to upgrade the fire extinguisher5 and in September we were required to conduct fire assessment in order to continue being insured. This vRs another significant drain on the atcounts1£12121. Sts'pend In July, the FCE made a provision for Rev. Brett's stipend via a couple who offered to support his ministry financially using income from their CIC. It was a big leap of faith for us to leave the security of the CofE especially with a young family and move to Morecambe, but we trusted God and the promises made by th05e who also became our friends, but unfortunate. they didn't have our best intere< at heart and ultimately, after promisingthis supportthey postponed and finallywithdrew their omise of sUPPOrt altogether in September. To ensure we had food on the table and a roof over our heads this meant that the FCE Central Stipend Fund started Supporting Rev. Brett fi'nancially with hope and faith that God would provide and thatwe yuld be able to renew Emmanuel and eventually support ourselves in ministry. As God blessed us. we have been able to repay a portion of what we had borrowed from the stipend fund1£75001 and as of Dec 31° 2023 we owe £6546.03 (which vffis repaid in full in February 20241. As our income fluctuates and we have so many expenses including renowdtions needed in 2024, we will ¢ontinue to rely on the stipend fund and continue to repay what we have borrowed as funds allow, hoping and prnying that in the not too distant future the congregation will grow to a $12e that will be able to fully support its minister. Insurance After we arrived in July, we requested the insurance be reduced back to the ori8inal amount because the building was no longer vacant. Unfortunately. they were not torthcoming and it took many emails back and forth, an in-person assessment and assistsnce from FCE Central offi'ce to get them to finally amend it and when the time came to renew in December we decided to go with a Christian Insurer, Kingdom Bank who has insured the church and the vicarage for less than half of what the other insurer was offeringl PTai5e Godl Please note, this payment yn't appear on the accounts for 2023 as it was paid in January. Clergy/Church Expenses When we stsrted at Emmanuel. there was only £41Xl left in the main account. Rev. Brett Chose not to claim his petrol and other clergy related expenses in 2023 in order to cut down on costs in this earlv stage of church planting. We considered thi5 our tithe. We did have to purchase many iterns to get the hall and other areas of the church to a usable condition but we decided we wouldn't claim those amounts until the bank attountwas in better shape. Please note, thiswas claimed in Feb 2024 50 these expenses won't appear on the 2023 accounts. A new service register and service booklets were purchased in September, ie. Church expense5. Giving We weren't sure what to expect, stsrting a churth from scratch, the church was an absolute mess when we arrived, we couldn't even open officially for worship for a month or more due to Health & Safety. We had no idea if we would be worshippin8 alone with just with our family of 4 every Sunday but with God's amazing provision every week since we arrrved. we have been blessed with more and more people joining Emmanuel. We have seen God call many locals to join us, and due to Rev. Bretts online ministry we've also had many joins us from much further afield. as far away as Ireland. Wales, Scotland & Plymouth. and even overseas such as France and the USA.
Visitors and locals alike have been keen to support the rninistry of Ernmanual so we started using the offertory plate during services from the moment we arrived. Visitors were also keen to support us with one off donations via cheque or difect depostt and we also had some cash donations given through the community store. into our church donation boxes and directly to us. Leaving the COE caused quite a stir on social media online. with many people keen to SUPPOrt us financially so in August we set up our online Just Giving page where people can make donations towards all the work of Emmanuel. The Just Giving 15 also linked every Sunday on our live stream for folk to tithe their weekly donation. In just 5 months, the Just Giving page has raised just le5S than £iooooi We have had 3 people sign up to stsnding orders this year and we hope that more will consider Signing up to a standing order in 2024 as it means we can plan more effectively and have a reliable income. A standing order means that even when your avRy on holiday or sick. you can make sure your suppo n8 Emmanuel. We have als ad 8 people prowdetheir detailsforGiftAid which means V can claim an extra 25% on every donats'on. If you pay tax, please do consider filling in a Gift Aid form or using the envelopes provided on the table just inside the door. Please note, gift èid from 2023 is claimed in 2024, so it will not appear in the 2023 a¢tounts. I have estimated that we will be able to receive approx. £1700 in Gift Aid for 2023, and possibly another £20(KJ rf we qualify for Small Donation¥ Scheme. Grants We were surprised but thankful to be anonymously nominated for a grant of £130 from Ecclesiastical Insurance. In 2024 we hope to secure bigger grants in order to replace the hall roof. repair the bell tower and hopefully renovate the kitchen enough to at least make it more usable. Living Hope Community Store vin8 Hope Community Store has gone from strength to Strength. Despite a rocky stsrt èfter our partner and supplier pulled out in September, we have continued moving forward and transforming the store into something we can be proud of. Due to our partner pullin8 Out. we've been unable to restock our food. cleaning and baby pr¢)ducts. Thankfully however. we did have a latge stockpile of many item5, especially hyEiene products which has meant we can have been able to continue providing a good array of toiletrie5 to the tommunity. It felt natural to expand the store to include a charity shop in September. Thi5 wa5 something we had actually planned to incorporate before we even moved to Morecambe and the community embraced it. donating a never-ending supply of clothin& hornewares. toys and other goods. But the lack of new item supply has meant our store income has been reducing going into 2024. We hope to partner with other charitie5 and re-distribution centres to enable us to offer food and other items again in the future. However, ultimately, we trust that God is leadin8 the store in the ways he wants. While the store stsrted as a means to an end, its primary focu5 has alvlays been to reach out and help the community of Morecambe and beyond. Awayfor ustoshow Christs love and for the church to ble55 others and be involved in the Community around us. This vision has certsinly been achieved which you can read about more fully in the Communitystore report. Please note, in order to start the cornmunÉty store, the hall underwent a massive overhaul with Rev. Brett and I renovating the space over the Course of a month or so in Mayljune. This consisted of extensive cleaning, fixing nurnerous holes in the ceiling and wa115. cornbating rnould and vRter damage and repainting the whole hall ourselves using hired scaffolding, all while protecting ourselves from lead paint poisoning. Some of the expenses for this vffis paid for by the CIC, we were given charity discount for some items and other items were donated by us. However, there are some
expenses which, as mentioned previously, we chose not to claim until the bank accounts had gotten more stable. In Feb 2024 we claimed back sorne of these expenses (£547.72) so they will not appear on the accounts for this year. Approx £100 was spent Using cash donated specifically to pay for additional items for the Christmas Hampers but as this cash used directly. it has not been included in the accounts. 50% of the overall cost of Gas and Electric from June onwards is counted as an expense under Living Hope Utilities as this includes associated costs for 12 hours a week of utility use. From July to SeptembeT the hall was also used every Thursday for 6 hours restk. FCE Costs The FCE is based on a congregational model vthere the church financially supports its ovm minister and the ministries of the church itself via donakn'ons. fundrai5in8. grants etc. All FCE churches do however give a small amount every year to Central Trust to cover administration costs and other expenses such as the bishop's travel costs and accommodation and meals for those presen'nI Emmanuel at Convootion. This comes under FCE Quota, ND Quota and Convocation dues. Its reallya very small amount to contribute to the running of our Northern diocese and the wider FCE. 8uilding Works In April, some windows Yre replaced1£14501. Our gas boiler had a new fan fitted1£4001 just before winter really set in which meant we had sorne heèkn in the church however, it is still challenging to heat suth a large area. After some disCU55i0n and researching we bought a new wood burner to be installed in 2024 which will hopefully help to heat the church better and for considerably less financially. Please note, were charged approx. £IIIXJ for 8ès for the December usage but this payment wasn't taken until January $0 it won't show on these accounts for 2023. A few reflections... Looking at the accounts, its daunting to see £26000+ in expenses. but remember that nearly £12(KJO of that was before we moved here, and was beyond our control. Thankfully our n5Ufance is much lower now. The other large expense is paying Rev. Bretts stipend which is not really an 'expense' per se. There is a lot to do still. It would be easy to look at the £220 in the account and think its smooth sailing from here, but out of that over £60CiI is owed to the stipend fund, the January gas bill was £IIC(J, we owe the FCE Quota and Convocation dues in March, our new insurnnce of over £3000 was paid in January and Rev. Brett finally claimed all hi5 2023 receipts l£ll(X)l in January. That artually leaves us with around £95 going into 2024 which is fantastic. but tts onty enough to support Rev. Brett for about 4 more months. and that's not including Other church expenditures. We shouldn't seethis as a negative though. Howamazing is itthat we stsrted with £400 and in 6 months we actually have money in the potl Atthe same time, we shouldn't be complacent. It's a fine line beeen giving, fundraising etc and the need for a reliable income to cover all our costs going into the future including the responsibility we have a5 a church to provide for Rev. Brett and his family. but a150 bein8 thankful for everything he has provided and l(Kl% reliant and trusting on God to tontinue to provide. It's a balance between the nature of God to supernaturally provide and to work through people to do His bidding on earth. We are to steward and use for His glory, whatGod has blessed us with. That includes us individually, but also collectively stewardin8 our funds well as church. Its abundantly clear we have been blessed beyond rneasure by the generosity of people donating to Emmanuel. In 6 Short months we have been donated approx. £310WI That's astoundingl As the treasurer and Vicar's wife who worries and stresses al)out the finances both in church and our own
family, I want to thank you all so much for trusting us and supporting us financially. It was really scary to step out in faith and ask God to provide, but He answers prdyers and I'm so thankful to everyone who has supported Emmanuel. Although there are so many challenges ahead, iys clear that we are where were meant to be and I know that He will provide and'Emrnanuel' (God is with us). This report is respectively submitted. Mrs Katerina Murphy Acting Treasurer NB. You may have noticed from my rudimentary rpport that I've never been a Treasurer before and I don't actually want to be onel If you have been blessed with a mind for numbers and would like to be the church Treasurec please let us knowl
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