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2023-12-31-accounts

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT 2023

Registered Charity Number 1140491

Page 1

Aims and Purposes

Crowthorne Baptist Church is responsible for maintaining a Christian witness in the village and encouraging pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical activities. We are also responsible for the maintenance of the buildings – the church and hall and provision of a manse for the Minister and their family.

Objectives and Activities

In fulfilling its Purpose, the Church will engage in a range of activities, either on its own or with others. These will vary from time to time, with activities being initiated, expanded or closed, as appropriate. The activities may include, but are not restricted to:

Vision and Goals

We are seeking to: “Build a Christ-Centred Community.”

We aim to do this by:

• Treating - providing godly pastoral care that enables people to belong, find healing for hurts, forgiveness of sins, and by developing a programme that enables people to establish real relationships with one another.

Associations: We are affiliated to the Baptist Union of Great Britain and locally participate in the Southern Counties Baptist Association

Registered Charity Number 1140491

Page 2

Worship and Teaching

A worship team works with the Minister to plan and lead services. The Minister preaches on most Sundays. The themes covered during the year have included:

Most services are video recorded and are made available to people linked to our church. The sermons are published on our website

Once again, our Christingle service attracted lots of visitors.

Prayer

Prayer underpins all that we do as a church and we encourage everyone to participate in the prayer life of the church. On the first Monday of each month we have our Church Family prayer with the Leadership Team meeting for prayer on the third and fourth Mondays. Two members of a dedicated prayer team are available at the end of every Sunday morning service so that anyone can confidentially share anything on their mind and receive prayer.

In February, we continued the initiative that we started in 2022 and held a prayer space. During the February half team the four subjects were: Love everyone, Holy Spirit reliance, Soak in the word of God and Being fearless in mission.

Church survey in 2022/3

In the winter of 2022 and throughout 2023, we embarked on a journey to gain a better understanding of the life of the church and to determine our direction for the future. As part of our efforts, the leadership team proposed that the entire church participate in a survey. This survey focuses on natural church growth rather than mechanical growth and emphasises the power of God over human ability. It examines eight characteristics related to successful church growth and encourages attendees to utilise their gifts. Understanding these characteristics will help church leadership identify strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to enhance the church's natural growth. The eight characteristics are:

  1. Gift-based Ministry

  2. Passionate Spirituality

  3. Effective Structures

  4. Inspiring Worship Services

  5. Holistic Small Groups

  6. Need Oriented Evangelism

  7. Loving Relationships

  8. Empowering Leadership

Gift Day

We decided to hold a gift day in October. As well as asking people to think about what they could do practically to support the gospel message, we needed the church to think about how we addressed the rising costs we were incurring, particularly for energy and loan repayments. It was encouraging that there was such a positive response, allowing us to prepare a budget that would not require support from reserves.

Registered Charity Number 1140491

Page 3

Home Groups

Many of our congregation participate in our Home Groups. These meet on Monday and Friday mornings and in the evenings on Tuesday to Thursday. As well as times of bible study and prayer, these groups allow members to develop stronger relationships with each other and to deepen their faith.

Events and Outreach

Registered Charity Number 1140491

Page 4

Communication

During the year, we have maintained our website and continue to use social media to advertise our activities. We are also building direct contact with people that we are engaged with as we request that we email them about upcoming events of interest.

News Sheet – the news sheet, giving details of all our activities, has continued to be published monthly. It is available in paper and electronic form

Churches Together In Crowthorne

We have continued to work with the other churches in the village. This has involved holding joint services at Easter, Christian Aid week and for the week of prayer for Christian Unity. The joint Good Friday service was held at St John’s Parish Church. The churches have also been working closely with the Parish Council to help support and organise community events (e.g. Late Night Shopping and the Summer Activities at Morgan Rec.).

Eco Church

The team led several services on environmental issues:

These actions, and many others, allowed us to achieve Bronze Eco-Church status, a scheme validated by A Rocha. Spurred on by this success, the team will work towards the Silver Award, with a view to achieving it in 2024.

Minister

The church was pleased that our Minister completed his Newly Accredited Minister’s programme in the Autumn and that he is now a Fully Accredited Minister.

Church Leadership and Governance.

Leadership Team Meetings were held regularly. The members of the team were: Minister – Kevin Mills

Elders – Mike Stephenson (resigned November 2023) and Elaine Hood (re-elected at 2023 AGM) Treasurer – Justine Wells

Church Secretary – Philip Hood

Deacons – Emma Frost, Alan Gravett, Ian Burrow and Matt Patterson

All members of the Leadership Team also act as Charity Trustees.

Registered Charity Number 1140491

Page 5

Membership, baptism and dedication.

During the year we were pleased to welcome 5 new members and delighted that 1 person was able to publicly declare her faith by being baptised. We also formally welcomed the young child of some members into our fellowship at a dedication service.

At the end of 2023 there were 57 voting members.

Church Buildings and Manse

The church owns our main buildings on the High Street and a manse for the use of the Minister. Maintenance is carried out by a team of volunteers who also coordinate work with contractors as required. Work at the manse included the installation of a new boiler and replacement of garden fencing.

Safeguarding

The church has a small Safeguarding Team consisting of the Minister, Designated Persons for Safeguarding and a Safeguarding Trustee. The Safeguarding Policy was reviewed by and readopted by the Church AGM and a second DPS appointed. All volunteer DBS checks are reviewed by the Leadership Team to ensure that they are up to date.

A training session run by the team appointed by the Southern Counties Baptist Association was held at our church in January Most of our DBS holders attended this event along with Baptists from other churches. Others who were due training, have attended events at other locations.

GDPR

Although we do not handle significant personal data and there is no requirement for us to register with the Data Commissioner’s Office, we do have a Data / Privacy Policy and this was re-adopted at the AGM. Regular church attenders have been given the option for their data to be held by the church and shared within the fellowship. Their responses are maintained in a register.

Social Media Policy

A social media policy was prepared. Following discussions with the membership, this was adopted at the September Church Meeting. As part of these discussions, we also clarified how we maintained the email distribution lists used by the church.

Support for Outside Groups

Registered Charity Number 1140491

Page 6

FINANCE REPORT 2023

Finance Overview

During 2023 the Church current account was with the Co-operative Bank. There was also a deposit account with the Co-operative Bank, which allowed money to be held in an instant access account. Additional deposit accounts (with notice periods) were held with the Baptist Union.

To aid clarity, figures in this overview are rounded to the nearest pound. They are derived from the detailed financial records for the calendar year 2023, which are reproduced at the end of this report. The figures include the additional quantifiable assets and liabilities listed in the statement of assets and liabilities. In summary they show:

Looking at the New Heart Development Project, there was a decrease in the amount held during 2023. This was due to overpayment on the BU loan. More information is given on the New Heart project in other sections of this report.

Considering other money directed for specific purposes; by the end of 2023 a total of £697 was held. Of this the church is holding £476 for the Thursday Fellowship group.

Registered Charity Number 1140491

7

Sources of Income

Overall, the church income during 2023 was £154,632 (excluding money which was to be passed on to others, e.g. communion collections). The income came primarily through regular gifts from the congregation, received directly into the bank via standing orders; the weekly collections and the tax rebate received through the Gift Aid scheme. A gift day was held in November and donations totalling £22,500 were given. A breakdown of the income into key categories is shown in the pie chart.

----- Start of picture text -----
£7,757
£14,448 NH
General
£5,562
NH
£1,026
General £77,609
General
£48,230
NH
----- End of picture text -----

From Congregation External Gifts Other

Within each colour block, the solid sections represent money for the general running of the church and the hatched sections the equivalent items for New Heart. The “Other” category is principally interest and the tax rebate under the Gift Aid scheme. The total amount (in whole pounds) received in each category is also shown.

Registered Charity Number 1140491

8

Use of Resources

Overall, the payments made by the church during 2023 amounted to £142,132. A breakdown of the way the money was used is shown in the pie chart. The largest single area of cost was the repayments of the Baptist Union loan, which was taken out to finance the New Heart building project, which was completed in 2021. The section labelled ‘Ministry at CBC’ refers to expenditure in direct support of the ministry of the Church in and around Crowthorne (including worship at the church, outreach, teaching and pastoral support). Other sections show money given to organisations primarily working locally to the church, elsewhere in the UK and Overseas whose work is in line with our Aims and Purposes (see the section on financial support for other organisations below) thus widening the scope of the church’s work.

Also shown is money spent on administration (including ensuring compliance with relevant legislation) and costs associated with the premises such as utilities.

----- Start of picture text -----
£37,666
£64,316
£4,160
£3,720
£3,794
£28,476
----- End of picture text -----

Ministry at CBC Local Ministry UK Ministry Overseas Ministry Premises and Governance New Heart Loan costs

Please note that the two pie charts are not to the same scale.

Registered Charity Number 1140491

9

Financial Support for Other Organisations

In addition to our own work, the church also seeks to advance the Christian faith by the support of other organisations operating locally, nationally and globally. In terms of financial support, many church members make individual gifts to a range of organisations but, in addition, the church, as a body, has made a number of donations. These are sourced both from the general fund and from the “directed income”, such as collections held at monthly communion services and for specific events (e.g. in response to disaster relief appeals) or through gifts by members for particular purposes. The financial support in 2023 was given to: Baptist Missionary Society World Mission, Baptist Union Home Mission, Yeldall Manor, HopeZone, Quench Christian Bookshop, Baptist Union, World Vision (Child Sponsorship), Evangelical Alliance, Tools with a Mission and A Rocha directly from church funds. Support was given to Spurgeons Children’s Charity, Tearfund, Compassion UK, Tools With A Mission, Farming Community Network, Mission Aviation Fellowship, Novo, Crowthorne Foodbank, Home Start, Women’s Refuge, Samaritan’s Purse and Barnabas Fund from collections, events and donations.

Reserves Policy

The reserves policy of Crowthorne Baptist Church states that we should retain sufficient funds for the general running of the church to allow for the loss of income from two of the largest financial supporters of the church and a significant unexpected uninsured expenditure. At present this is estimated to be £20,000 for the “general” money and £15,000 for the New Heart. The balance held at the end of 2023 was £49,116 and £54,811 respectively. Within the New Heart balance, £15,000 has been accumulated to repay a church member loan in 2025. As the church has taken out a major loan with the Baptist Union in 2020, it seems prudent to hold a larger reserve going into 2024 and to review the reserves target again at the end of the year.

Registered Charity Number 1140491

10

1)Quantifiedltems
2023 l2022l
i)BankAccounts
Current Account(Coop) 20,665.03 [18,030.41]
BUDepositAccount 23,506.83 122,828.171
BU7-day NoticeAccount 1,6,964.27 126,381..171
BU3-monthNoticeAccount 15,054.66 114,439.231
CoopSavingsAccount 28,41,8.23 [10,338.53]
Total LO4,609.02 l92,OL7.stl
ii)Heldascash
Unbanked Offerings" 74.37 Is3.60]
Total L4.?7 Is3.50]
Total held 104,623.39 l92,O7t.ttl
iii)Other SignificantAssetsb
ChurchPremises l_,790,000.00 [1,790,000.00]
Manse 600,000.00 [600,000.00]
Total 2,390,000.00 [2,390,000.00]
iv) Currentliabilities
Loans' -463,541.74 l-497,363.931
Total -461,54L.t4 [-497,363.931
Totalof QuantifiedAssets&Current Liabilitiesd 2,031,082.20 I!,984,707.201
LiabilityforPension Scheme Deficit" -0.00 [-o.oo]
TotalofQuantifiedAssets&allLiabilities 2,031,O82.2O w,984,7O7.2O1
2)Non-Quantifiedttemsr

2023 2022
BaptistUnion 409,166.1,4 1438,487.931
MemberLoan1 39,375.00 [43,875.00]
MemberLoan2 15,000.00 [15,000.00]
MemberLoan3 0.00 t0.001
Total 463,541-.14 1497,362.931

SummaryofBalancesand TransactionsfromJanuarv 1tttoDecember 31tt
1) Balancesbrought forward(l'tJanuary) zo23 120221
For Generalwork of theChurch 33,847.01. [32,025.08]
ForNew Heart 57,577.41 [80,897.61]
For Specific Purposes(DirectedTransactions) 646.69 [7s.88]
TotalatJanuary 1't 92,O7t.tt 1Lt2,997.571
2) GeneralTransactions1
Receipts
General Donations2 77,609.38 [58,206.40]
External Donations3 1,026.47 14,942.071
OtherGeneral Receiptsa 14,448.36 lt3,3o7.7tl
Total GeneralReceipts 93,O84.21 [75,455.18]
Pavments
Ministry atCBCs -37,665.64 [-38,888.90]
Ministrythrough otherlocalorganisations6 -4,160.00 [-5,200.00]
Ministrythrough otherUKorganisations6 -3,720.00 [-4,400.00]
Ministryoverseas5 -3,793.50 [-4,673.60]
Governance7 -1,427.54 [-1,469.36]
Premises8 -26,487.43 [-19,402.88]
Othere -567.50 [-ses.s1]
Total General Payments -77,815.71 I-74,634.251
Total General Transactions10 15,268.50 [1,821.93]
3)TransactionsforNew Heart(NH)11
ReceiptsforNH
NHDonations12 48,230.30 137,323.301
NHfromExternal Sources13 5,562.00 19,787.991
OtherNHReceipts1a 7,757.28 [10,613.48]
TotalReceiptsonNH 51,549.58 157,724.771
PavmentsforNH
ProfessionalFees -0.00 l-34,853.221
Loan costs1s -64,316.26 l-45,534.771
Fitoutcosts -0.00 -655.98
TotalPaymentsforNew Heart -64,316.26 l-&L,044.971
Total TransactionsforNew Heart -2,765.68 l-23,32O.2O1
4) Directed Transactions
DirectedReceipts16 2,371..37 [3,164.6s]
Directed Ministry atCBC17 -150.53 l-7s7.L61
Directed Ministrythrough otherlocalorganisations18 -427.55 l-622.131
Directed Ministry throughotherUKorganisations18 -507.45 l-261.4s1
DirectedMinistryoverseas18 -1,L4L.38 [-1,512.06]
TotalDirected Transactionsle 50.45 Is71.811
Total Transactions on all Accounts 12,552.28 l-2o,926.461
TotalFundsatDecember 31't t04,623.39 a92,O7L.LLl
5) Closing BalancesCarried Forward(31'tDecember)
Forgeneral work of theChurch 49,115.5L 133,847.OLl
For NewHeart 54,81O.73 157,577.411
ForSpecific Purposes(DirectedTransactions)20 697.15 [646.6e]
TotalatDecember 31't [104,523.39] I92,07t.tLl

3) Thisismoneyreceivedfromoutside organisations or individuals
LateNight ShoppingEvent 475.47 [3s4.oo]
Events 0.00 12,442.571
The Ark 0.00 [1,000.001
Anonymous 300.00 [1,000.00]
Other 251.00 t14s.s0l
1,025.47 14,942.071
4|This consistsof:
TaxrebatefromGift Aidscheme 13,690.00 [12,959.68]
lnterest 758.36 [348.031
t4,448.36 lt3,3o7.7Ll
Notethatthe Gift Aid claimedcoversthe tax period endinginApril.
s) Thisisexpenditureonactivities at Crowthorne BaptistChurch insupport of ouraimsand objectives:
EmploymentofMinister
OthercostsforservicesatCBC(includingvisitingspeakers)
CostofEducationalWork (children,youthandadults)
Costof Outreach work/events
CostofPastoralCare(formembersandothers)
Training
CostofRefreshments		 35,161.80
239.28
!96.23
1,132.00
191,.67
42O.0O
324.66		 [35,355.83]
[587.53]
1274.071
12,334.871
170.441

[32.09]
1234.071
37,665.64 [38,888.90]
6) Oneof thewaysweseekto fulfilouraimsand objectivesisbysupporting appropriate activities atother
organisations.Theseentries show moneypassedfromthechurchgeneralfundstoother organisations.
Formoney collectedfrommembers andpasseddirectly ontotherelevant organisations seeNote18.
lntheimmediate localitv
YeldallManor
QuenchChristianBookshop
HopeZone		 1,600.00
960.00
1,600.00
4,150.00		 [2,000.00]
[1,200.00]
12,000.001
[5,200.00]
lntherestoftheUK
HomeMissionFund 3,720.00 [4,400.00]
Overseas
BMSWorldMission 3,520.00 [4,400.00]
World Vision(Child Sponsorship) 273.60 1273.601
3,793.60 14,673.601
7) Thisexpenditureisprimarilymadetofulfillegalobligations,consistingof:
Copyrightlicence 843.28 [7s6.171
lndependent examination ofaccounts 150.00 [31e.e8]
Safety checks(PAT/Fire) 4L5.26 [340.21]
Safeguarding 13.00 t13.001
1,421.54 [1,469.361
for the Minister.Thisincludes running and maintenancecosts,p
Specific costs are:		 rovision ofservicesand useof equip
Utilities(Gas,electricityandwater)
CouncilTax,etc.
Telephone,Broadband,Website,Zoom
Repairand maintenance of buildingsandequipment
Manse
Cleaner's wages andTax/Nl, windows anditems
Office equipment and photocopier&paper
lnsurance
Other		 9,865.17
3,704.19
956.11
971.34
3,247.90
5,19t.87
770.85
2,276.57
103.49		 14,755.18)
[3,015.06]
[643.40]
12,332.401
[450.00]
14,702.681
[837.79]
[2,263.00]
[403.371
26,487.43 [19,402.881
Thiscategoryisforanumber ofitemswhich do notf
subscriptions.		 iteasilyelsewhere, in particularthem embership
EvangelicalAlliance
ToolsWithAMission
ARocha
PremierChristian		 80.00
50.00
s0.00
0.00		 [80.00]
[50.00]
[50.00]
l24.51l
BaptistUnion
scBA
ChristmasDecorations		 257.50
30.00
100.00
s67.s0		 [240.10]
[30.00]
1124.911
[s99.s1]
congregation.
13) External Receipts consistingof:
Hall Hire 5,562.00 14,524.0O1
SCBCChurchoftheYear 2021 0.00 14,263.991
Donations 0.00 [1.000.001
5,552.00 19,787.991
t4) Other New HeartReceiptsconsistingof
lnterestfrombank accounts 1,198.s3 1827.731
Tax Rebate onGiftAid 6,558.75 [9,513.75]
lncomefromevents,sales,etc. 0.00 1272.001
7,757.28 [10,513.481
Notethatthe Gift Aid claimedcoversthe tax period endinginApril
15) New Loanrepayments:
BU Loan 59,816.26 144,4t0.771
ChurchMemberLoan 4,s00.00 11,12s.001
64,3t6.26 145,534.777
Thisismoneygiven specificallyforother organisationsfor
inthis sectionwaspassedon duringZA23,ilconsisted of:		 workin linewithouraimsand objectives.A
lntheimmediate locality
LocalWomen'sRefuge
HopeZone
BracknellHomeStart
CrowthorneFoodbank		 109.80
0.00
160.60
151.15
42Lss		 [162.40]
[174.83]
[111.90]
[173.001
1622.L31
lntherestoftheUK
Spurgeon's(for workwithchildren) 177.70 [134.0s]
FarmingCommunity Network 721.70 [727.441
Muscular Dystrophy(Thursday Fellowship) 30.00 [o.oo]
CompassionUK 278.O5 10.001
607.45 [261.4s1
Overseas
TearFund 529.79 [1s0.17]
ToolsWithA Mission L31.70 [136.s0]
Samaritan'sPurse 130.70 lt7e.3el
Novo 713.79 11.87.791
MissionAviationFellowship 126.9s [14s.ss]
BarnabasFund 108.45 lt74.7sl
Ukraine(BMS) 0.00 [s37.911
1,L4L.38 [1,512.061

Reportto the trustees CrowthorneBaptist Church
Onaccountsforthey*an" 31December ?A23
Gharityno
ended (ifany)
Setoutonpages 11-20
Ireporttothetrusteeson myexaminationoftheaccounts oftheabove
charity("the Trust") fortheyearended3111212023.
Responsibilitiesand Asthechanity'strustees,youareresponsible forthepreparationofthe
basisofreport accounts in accordance withtherequirementsoftheCharitiesAct2011
("theAct").
Ireport in respectofmyexaminationofthe Trust'saccounts carried out
undersection145of the 2011Actand in carryingoutmyexamination,I
havefollowedalltheapplicable Directionsgivenbythe CharityCommission
undersection145(5Xb) of theAct.
lndependent Ihave completecl myexamination.Iconfirmthatno material matters have
examiner's statement cometomyattentioninconnection withtheexaminationwhich givesnre
causetobelievethatin,anymaterial respect: