Harrogate Baptist Church Trustees Annual Report and Accounts for 2022 - 2023
1st October 2022 - 30th Se tember 2023 ( p )
Table of Contents
| AIMS AND PURPOSES | 2 |
|---|---|
| OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES | 2 |
| ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE | 3 |
| SUNDAY WORSHIP AND PRAYER | 3 |
| INVOLVEMENT IN WIDERBAPTIST LIFE | 4 |
| WORKING TOGETHER WITH CHURCHES INHARROGATE | 4 |
| THECHURCHBUILDING | 4 |
| CHILDREN AND YOUTH WORK | 5 |
| RENEW HG1 | 5 |
| PASTORALCARE | 5 |
| HOUSE-GROUPS | 5 |
| LEADERSHIP | 6 |
| MISSION ANDEVANGELISM | 6 |
| THEFUTURE | 6 |
| VOLUNTEERS | 6 |
| STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT | 7 |
| ADMINISTRATION INFORMATION | 7 |
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Aims and Purposes
The aims and purposes of Harrogate Baptist Church are encompassed in our mission statement:
“Living Faith, Bringing Hope, Sharing the Love of Jesus”
The Charity Trustees of Harrogate Baptist Church (HBC) have the responsibility together with the rest of the church in the advancement of the Christian faith and the promotion of the whole mission of the Church - evangelistic, social, pastoral and ecumenical. The Charity Trustees are also responsible for facilitating the maintenance of the Church building and finances.
Objectives and Activities
The Charity Trustees are committed to enabling as many people as possible to worship at our church and become part of the community and fellowship at HBC. Our services and worship put faith into practice through the centrality of Scripture, prayer, worship, sacrament and other activities outside of Sundays, seeking to make church and faith as accessible to as many people that live within our community as possible.
When planning our activities for the year, we as Charity Trustees have considered the Charity Commission's guidance regarding the advancement of religion. In particular, we try to enable 'ordinary' people of all ages and backgrounds to live out their faith as part of our community through:
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Worship and prayer, small groups, communion, fellowship, preaching and teaching in order to develop knowledge and trust in Jesus;
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Provision of pastoral care for people within the church and those living within the community;
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Mission within the community and throughout the world
To facilitate this work, we recognise that it is important to maintain the fabric of the Church.
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Achievements and Performance
Summary
Whilst there have been a few areas of church life where we are still feeling the tail end of the lifting of restrictions following Covid, and we have been challenged by high utility costs, this year has definitely been a year of ‘calm’ following the last few years of uncertainty and fluctuation but also a year of tangible blessings and growth. At a time when we know so many churches are still struggling, we are truly grateful to God for both the calm and the growth!
We are grateful for all of God’s blessing and for all He has done, in us and through us. As we move forward, ‘we look to the Lord and His strength, seeking His face always (1 Chronicles 16:11).
Sunday worship and prayer
This year is the first year since Covid where we’ve had all in-person services and it’s been on a Sunday morning when many of the blessings of the year have been seen – we’ve had 5 baptisms during the year (after having none since 2015), we have seen further increases in numbers on a Sunday morning and ongoing corresponding growth within our Junior Church. It’s been great to restart Breakfast Church, the last aspect of church life to return following Covid.
It was also good to have Dan Brown minister amongst us over this last year following our advertising for a one-year part time appointment. He worked diligently and faithfully in different areas of church life, particularly developing and growing our children and young people. We are grateful for his ministry amongst us.
Our Christmas services saw some changes in numbers, most noticeably that the Christmas Eve Carols by Candlelight service wasn’t so well attended as previous years and our lunchtime carol service only saw a modest increase. Pre Covid, the lunchtime service attracted office workers so it may be that more workers will be working from home going forward so numbers at this service will take a while to build back up. It was our Christmas Day service this year which was the best attended. Our average attendance over the year was 74, an increase of almost 30% from last year’s attendance; with the best attended service being our Easter Day Baptism, with 139 folk coming along. All of our baptism services have seen good attendance. During the year, it has been good to offer an Exploring Faith course and to establish a new housegroup.
In terms of Sunday worship, whilst we have a projector and screen on one side of the church, we were able to purchase a new TV screen to mount on the wall for the other side of the church. Not only does this make it easier for people to see words when singing, it is a sharper picture with better colours so it has definitely enhanced our worship. This is particularly so for visuals, videos and when we projected the baptisms onto the screens. We are also grateful for a sizeable donation from one of our members to enable us to purchase a newer computer, to run the software for Sunday worship.
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Our sermon series this year started with ’10 questions Jesus asked’, and continued with our Advent series around peace, hope, love and joy; 3 images of the Church in the New Testament, Growing in Confidence, and Ephesians, with our summer series reflecting on meaningful bible verses chosen by members of the congregation. We’ve just started a series looking at faithfulness and the Old Testament character of Samuel.
As at 30[th] September 2023, HBC had 73 members, together with others who regularly attend the church. We have had the joy of welcoming 3 new members but sadly, one member of our congregation, Judith Ratcliffe died during the year. It was great to welcome so many family and friends of the 2 children we dedicated this year. We continue to see increased cultural diversity, which has enriched the fellowship and once again we have been blessed to welcome guest speakers over the year – Roy Searle, Nike Adebajo, Alex Harris, and Steve Allen. We have come together over shared lunches, (one of which included a beautiful array of African dishes), the Coronation weekend, when we had a special service and community BBQ and the Praise & Prayer evening organised and led by two of our young people. We are again hugely grateful for all that people contribute in different ways to the life of our church.
Involvement in wider Baptist life
We continue to be involved with the Yorkshire Baptist Association (YBA) through the work of our minister, Rev. Ann Chesworth who is employed part time as the Association's Legal and Trust Officer, and through her ongoing involvement with other Association and Baptist Union initiatives.
Our minister, and two of our deacons benefitted from attending the YBA conference in Huddersfield this year.
Working together with churches in Harrogate
Sadly, a decision was taken during the year to discontinue Churches Together in Harrogate, mainly due to a lack of people to undertake key roles. We are grateful for all that has been achieved by CTH over the years. Our minister still continues to be part of the planning team for Harrogate School of Theology and Mission and has also started to attend the Harrogate Leaders Breakfasts. It was good to recommence joint services with the other Avenue churches between Christmas and New Year and for our Good Friday service.
The Church Building
David Abel stepped back as Building Maintenance Manager during the year. We are hugely indebted to David for almost 30 years of faithful service and many hundreds of hours spent keeping our building so well maintained – he leaves very big boots to fill!
During the autumn, we benefited from working with a group of master architecture students as part of the Yorkshire Baptist Association’s Baptists Building Community initiative. Not only did they provide us with a high-level understanding of our town and the community around us, but they also provided us with some creative ideas and outlines about how we might develop our building for greater community use in the future.
Albeit with different groups, rental of our hall picked up this year and we now have a range of groups using our building during the week, which is great not only for the income but also
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because it’s good for our building to be used to support wider community work. But one of the biggest challenges without question this year has been extortionate gas and electricity costs. This led to us worshipping in the hall for January and February, which people adapted to well and many actually enjoyed. It also meant we were able to take our coats off for worship in winter months – unheard of in HBC! This is something we will probably repeat next year, particularly as gas prices remain high.
Children and youth work
As mentioned above, our years of praying for more children and young people has been answered as we have seen an increase in the number coming along on a Sunday and engaging in the week. Whilst our Messy Church services served us well during and emerging from lockdown, a move back to our monthly Breakfast Church meant that we decided to discontinue our Messy Church Sundays.
Renew HG1
We started our Renew HG1 Monday morning wellbeing space in September 2022, supporting our community as we emerged out of lockdown. Zoe Bishop was appointed as our Communications & Partnerships Co-Ordinator in February 2022 as and has done a fantastic job at enabling the sessions to flourish, attracting new people, and making good connections in the wider community. Attendance at the Renew HG1 Open Day in May was particularly encouraging, with a steady stream of visitors throughout the day. Our Renew space has become an important part of our church life and a great means of reaching out to the wider community to bring hope and share the love of Jesus.
Some of our Renew team undertook some free mental health first aid training during the year.
Pastoral Care and fellowship
Being able to physically connect again, whether pastoral visits (particularly those in care homes) and being able to recommence our after Sunday service fellowship over tea and coffee has been one of the highlights of this year – there is nothing like being able to see people face to face and it enables those who are housebound and in care homes to remember that they are still a valuable part of our fellowship.
Our monthly Connection group continues to be a popular place for people to meet over homemade cake and tea. Hopefully it will continue to flourish over the coming year.
The HBC WhatsApp group was introduced as a way to keep people together during lockdown but it has proved to be a great way to encourage and support people that we have kept it in place and adding new people to the group along the way.
House-groups & Prayer
It’s also been good for our housegroups to start up again, meeting in homes for bible study, prayer and sharing. They continue to be an important part of our fellowship and those who attend benefit greatly. The youth cell group continues and was developed by Dan; it engaged 5 YP, meeting weekly at the manse for bible study and a meal.
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Despite the weather not being great, we managed a prayer walk in July around the town praying for various aspects of our wider community and finishing with refreshments at the manse. We also enjoyed an interactive prayer day in September at the home of a couple in the church who live in one of the villages outside Ripon. It was been good to discover new and creative ways of praying together and we want to expand this in the year ahead.
Leadership
It was great to welcome 3 new deacons to the leadership team as Kathy Lewis and Nigel Lister stood down after faithfully serving with the leaders especially throughout Covid. The new team has gelled together really well, and done a great job at navigating the ups and downs of church life. It was also good that Liz Getgood was elected as Church Secretary from October this year. Once again, a big thank you to our leaders for all their hard work and wisdom in guiding the church, under the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit.
Mission and Evangelism
We have been able to undertake various mission support during the year including our Advent appeal together with other Harrogate churches providing hot water bottles and flasks for the homeless and those using foodbanks; we undertook a special collection to support our brothers and sisters in Ukraine at the start of the war and our lent appeal supported those impacted by the earthquake in Turkey via Samaritan’s Purse. Once again, we have tithed to both Home Mission and BMS World Mission.
The Future
It’s been helpful part way through this year to set some targets to focus on for 2023 and 2024. There are 7 in all, as follows:
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a priority of prayer;
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the appointment of a part-time children and young people’s worker. To date, we are struggling to find someone to undertake the role and this remains a significant prayer focus as we move forward;
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paid building maintenance/development co-ordinator;
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definitive discipleship focus;
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explore the possibility of a regular meet up for those attending HBC from different cultural backgrounds;
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significant financial review including the appointment of a new treasurer and increase of the financial team;
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Renew HG1 YP space. Given the impact of our Renew HG1 space, we have received some external funding to pilot a similar space for young people. Working on a referral basis and partnering with schools and other youth mental health organisations, we are grateful for the doors that God has already opened, including provision of a great team and trust that we will begin to see some referrals soon for this potentially exciting new project.
Volunteers
We are always grateful for the way that people support the ministry and mission of the church, using their gifts in all sorts of different ways. It has been a joy to journey together, serving and encouraging each other and seeing God at work. As a leadership team, we are so grateful once again for our church family.
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Structure, governance and management
The method of appointment of deacons is set out in the Church Constitution. At the church, the membership of the Charity Trustees consists of our minister and deacons elected by members of the church at our AGM. The Charity Trustees are responsible for making recommendations to the church but ultimately, it is the decision of the church meeting which makes decisions on all matters.
The Charity Trustees met 11 times during the year. Given the wide responsibilities within the church, others deal with particular aspects of church life but all are ultimately responsible to the Charity Trustees.
Administration information
Harrogate Baptist Church is situated in Harrogate and is part of the Yorkshire Baptist Association and the Baptist Union of Great Britain. The correspondence address is Harrogate Baptist Church, Victoria Avenue, Harrogate HG1 5AL.
The church is registered as a charity, 1140798.
| Charity Trustees who | served during the year are: |
|---|---|
| Minister: | Rev. Ann Chesworth |
| Church Secretary: | Mrs Liz Getgood |
| Treasurer: | Mrs Lindsay Lansdall |
| Deacon: | Mr Chris Bishop |
| Deacon: | Mrs Akufuna Hicks |
| Deacon: | Mrs Ann Kayes |
| Deacon: | Mrs Sherry Humberstone |
| Deacon: | Mrs Liz Turner |
Approved by the Charity Trustees on Wednesday 3[rd] July 2024 and signed on their behalf by the Rev. Ann Chesworth.
Rev. Ann Chesworth
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Harro8ate Baptht Church FIn¢la1 statements lor the year endlng 30th September 2023 Basls of Pfeparntlon As the annual church income is le55 than £250,(M)O the financial statements have been prepared on a cash basls and in accofdarKe with $133 Charities Act 2011. The majorlty of the church transactlons are recorded in the general bank account. thou8h there is also In use other accounts, in which 'Restricted Funds. and 'Desi8nated funds, are normally held and recorded, Re5trirted funds refer to those funds whlch cannot be used for general purposes and relate to transactions which are for a specSflc purpose; 'Oesi8nated funds, refer to those transactlons whlch may be pledged for a specific church aclivity thou8h the church is at liberty to apply them for its general purposes, if It so determine& Summ•ry report A detalled analysis b provlded. as attached. In summary. the overall income for the yeaf was £72.726.2l(£69,4).I3 for 20221 and total expenditufe for the year was £87.234.68 {£67,444.07 for 20221. There w35 a small inuease in 8ivin& we closed our CCLA funds in thls financial year which provided further funds. our interest rates are yielding better returns and room hire has inueased to almost £75LM). But utillty and insurance costs remaln stubbornly hl8h, and we had the adrfitional planned expenthture ofa 2 worker c¢)stin8 just. over £IO.LK)Q. We also had some capital expenditure of Installin8 a screen in the sanctuary. a new microphone and computer. We were able to malntain mission wvln8. Th For the year endln8 30 September 2023. overall expendlture exceeded income by £14,508.471£1.956.06 surplu5 for 2022). Gift aided tax relief monies from HMRC totalled £8277,25. The church is the benefidal owner Isubjert to the relevant trusts) of the lollowlft8 assets. the legal title to which is held by the church's custodian trustee The Yorkshire Baptist Assodatlon: . Church premlse5 at Virtorla Avenue, Harrogate valued in the accounts at £901J) based on a cost value • Church manse valued In the acc4x•nts at £5150 based on a cost value. Penslon debt In June 2022, the Baptist Pension Stheme si8ned an agreement with the insurance company Just Group {"Jusf I to secure DB Plan members. pension benefits. Just are now providin8 financlal backing f all pensIS Proded through the Scheme's DB Plan and the Scheme no lon8er has a shortfall. Recovery contrlbutions reduced to £1 per m(x)th from August 2022. Approval by the Church Trnst•es We approve the accounts held on behalf of Harro8ate Baptist Church Tfeasuref . Date Lindsay Lansdall .:.,k....U*S.É.£r.-....-.-...-.-.-...-....- Trustee Date Nigel Llster
Income and Expenditure v previous full year
Harrogate Baptist Church
For the year ended 30 September 2023 Cash Basis
| Income and Expenditure v previous full year Harrogate Baptist Church For the year ended 30 September 2023 Cash Basis |
Income and Expenditure v previous full year Harrogate Baptist Church For the year ended 30 September 2023 Cash Basis |
Income and Expenditure v previous full year Harrogate Baptist Church For the year ended 30 September 2023 Cash Basis |
Income and Expenditure v previous full year Harrogate Baptist Church For the year ended 30 September 2023 Cash Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 2022 |
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| GeneralFund | |||
| Income | |||
| 1. Standing Orders 36,056.22 33,864.00 |
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| 2. Loose Cash and Cheques 5,166.12 4,098.60 |
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| 3. Tax Refunds (Gift Aid and VAT) 8,277.25 9,373.42 |
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| 4. Use Of Rooms 7,458.17 4,816.00 |
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| 5. Other Donations 3,070.00 4,421.20 |
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| 6. YBA 11,100.96 12,306.77 |
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| 7 Grants - 405.00 |
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| 8. Interest 1,597.49 115.14 |
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| Total Income 72,726.21 69,400.13 Expenditure |
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| 9. Ministry | |||
| Employer's pension deficit costs 12.00 3,354.86 |
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| Manse council tax 1,951.37 1,878.61 |
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| Manse insurance 395.08 359.84 |
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| Manse water rates 192.51 178.54 |
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| Minister NIC 2,235.59 1,914.62 |
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| Minister PAYE 2,369.20 1,509.94 |
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| Minister pension 6,067.44 5,601.12 |
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| Minister stipend 21,140.01 19,398.62 |
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| Total 9. Ministry 34,363.20 34,196.15 |
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| 9a. Assistant Minister Costs 10,195.94 435.00 10. Church Allocations/Mission |
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| BMS donations - by church monthly 3,000.00 3,000.00 |
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| HMF donations - by church monthly 3,000.00 2,500.00 |
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| Home Mission Fund - 500.00 |
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| Other donations 50.00 500.00 |
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| Local mission donations 108.53 - |
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| Total 10. Church Allocations/Mission 6,158.53 6,500.00 Premises maintenance |
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| 11a. Gas 12,635.91 7,937.88 |
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| 11b. Electricity 2,359.99 610.14 11c. Other Maintenance |
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| Cleaner's PAYE 106.80 26.20 |
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| Cleaner's wages 3,035.92 2,867.56 |
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| Cleaning materials 155.66 31.56 |
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| Fabric day to day work 1,575.16 4,068.93 |
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| Fabric major renewals - 2,169.99 |
Income and Expenditure v previous full year Harrogate Baptist Church
15 Jul 2024 Page 1 of 2
Income and Expenditure v previous full year
| 2023 2022 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Insurance - church 4,723.91 3,921.67 12. Local Church Costs and Admin |
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| Breakfast church 348.62 274.48 |
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| Miscellanous 1,278.30 - |
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| Music and Audio (General) 5,011.05 842.98 |
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| Printing and stationery 70.48 119.60 |
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| Renew (adult) expenses 2,616.85 1,795.20 |
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| Seasonal Service Expenses 114.47 60.00 |
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| Software subscriptions 45.00 35.00 |
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| Subscription - church membership 355.93 357.35 |
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| Sunday service expenses 181.00 - |
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| Waste & recycling 381.45 251.65 |
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| Water rates - church 620.22 291.65 |
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| Website 741.29 651.08 |
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| Youth group 159.00 - |
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| Total 12. Local Church Costs and Admin 11,923.66 4,678.99 |
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| Total Expenditure 87,234.68 67,444.07 |
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| Net Surplus/(Deficit) (14,508.47) 1,956.06 RestrictedFunds |
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| BMS BirthdayScheme | ||
| BMS Birthday Scheme donations rcvd 500.00 287.00 |
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| BMS Birthday Scheme monies paid away (500.00) (287.00) |
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| Total BMS Birthday Scheme - - Renew Youth Project |
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| Renew Youth Project income - restricted 7,498.00 - |
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| Renew Youth Project expenditure - restricted (1,947.20) - |
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| Total Renew Youth Project 5,550.80 - Income |
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| Advent appeal - (374.05) |
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| Other appeals - (496.00) |
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| Total Income - (870.05) Expenditure |
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| BMS other donations - 1,000.00 |
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| Total Expenditure - 1,000.00 |
Income and Expenditure v previous full year Harrogate Baptist Church
15 Jul 2024 Page 2 of 2
Balance Sheet
Harrogate Baptist Church As at 30 September 2023 Cash Basis
| Balance Sheet Harrogate Baptist Church As at 30 September 2023 Cash Basis |
Balance Sheet Harrogate Baptist Church As at 30 September 2023 Cash Basis |
Balance Sheet Harrogate Baptist Church As at 30 September 2023 Cash Basis |
|---|---|---|
| 30 SEPT 2023 30 SEPT 2022 |
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| FixedAssets | ||
| Tangible Assets | ||
| Investments - 19 |
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| Manse (historic cost) 5,150 5,150 |
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| Church Building (historic cost) 9,000 9,000 |
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| Total Tangible Assets 14,150 14,169 |
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| Total Fixed Assets 14,150 14,169 CurrentAssets |
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| Cash at bank and in hand | ||
| CCLA - General Fund - Closed - 523 |
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| CCLA - Legacies Fund - Closed - 882 |
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| CCLA - Music Fund - Closed - 3,287 |
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| Harrogate Baptist Church Building Fund 5,621 45,575 |
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| Yorkshire Bank Harrogate Current Account 30,947 81,607 |
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| BUC Deposit Account 41,368 - |
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| Skipton Building Society Deposit Account 45,000 - |
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| Total Cash at bank and in hand 122,936 131,874 |
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| Total Current Assets 122,936 131,874 |
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| Net Current Assets (Liabilities) 122,936 131,874 |
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| Total Assets less Current Liabilities 137,086 146,043 |
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| Net Assets 137,086 146,043 Capital andReserves |
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| Unrestricted Funds | ||
| General Funds 84,437 96,335 Designated Funds |
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| Music Fund - Designated - 1,729 |
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| Legacies Fund - Designated - 882 |
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| Total Designated Funds - 2,611 |
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| Total Unrestricted Funds 84,437 98,946 Restricted Funds |
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| Building Fund - Restricted 47,097 47,097 |
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| Renew Youth Project - Restricted 5,551 - |
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| Total Restricted Funds 52,648 47,097 |
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| Total Capital and Reserves 137,086 146,043 |
15 Jul 2024 Page 1 of 1
HBC Balance Sheet Harrogate Baptist Church