## **Mount Elim Evangelical Church Charity No. 1141828** ## **Annual Accounts for the Year Ended 31st December 2023** ## **Statement of Financial Activities Building Account** |**Income**
Donations
Grants
Easyfundraising
Transfers
Gift Aid
Other
**Expenditure**
Professional Fees
Planning
Transfers
Land Search
Contractor Costs
Land Purchase
Securing Loan Fees
Other
Profit/(Loss)|**2022**
**£**
203,504.72
164,000.00
81.19
1,870.00
14,921.55
660.00
385,037.46
1,977.00
-
550.00
-
55,425.00
-
2,400.00
-
60,352.00
324,685.46|**2023**
**£**
40,986.56
197,000.00
65.42
100.00
2,777.70
-| |---|---|---| |||240,929.68| |||-
-
-
-
300,000.00
-
-
-| |||300,000.00| |||| |||59,070.32
-| ## **Mount Elim Evangelical Church Charity No. 1141828** ## **Annual Accounts for the Year Ended 31st December 2023** ## **Statement of Financial Activities on Main Account** |**Income**
Offerings
Tax reclaimed on Gift Aid
Gift Aid Building Project
Transfers
Donations
Hall Hire
Other income
Donations to Building Project
**Expenditure**
Pulpit & Salary
Tax & NI
Cleaning
Electricity
Building insurance and repairs
Water
Paul Davies Clwb Ponty and Schools
Pension Contributions
Grass
Outreach
Sunday School and Clwb Ponty
Conferences and Study Books
Equipment
Safeguarding
Donations
Transfers
Sundry
Church expenses
Profit/(Loss)|**2022**
**£**
37,156.95
8,015.33
14,921.55
1,076.38
1,870.00
720.00
1,493.65
34,724.47
99,978.33
25,636.88
5,226.99
520.00
1,296.00
986.18
134.21
2,400.00
1,741.81
377.00
2,492.84
512.97
1,206.93
480.14
61.25
8,233.87
50,311.02
658.15
608.36
102,884.60
(2,906.27)|**2023**
**£**
47,432.65
2,368.63
7,608.70
-
470.24
420.00
1,514.86
565.00| |---|---|---| |||60,380.08| |||27,379.80
6,879.77
240.00
864.00
1,029.24
158.84
2,700.00
1,826.65
330.00
1,935.32
457.96
494.54
332.19
-
3,989.49
4,986.45
454.51
1,749.91| |||55,808.67| |||| |||4,571.41| As an Independent Checker I have checked and signed the accounts and have found nothing of material value that prevented me from agreeing with the year end statement as of 31st December 2023 for the funds held at Barclays PLC on Current, Active Saver, Busy Bees, Youth and Building Accounts, and the National Savings and Investment Savings Account. Date: 14th February 2024 Signed: Gaius A. Douglas, Accountant, FFA, FFTA ## **Mount Elim Evangelical Church Charity No. 1141828** ## **Balance Sheet as at 31st December 2023** |**Current Accounts**|**2023**| |---|---| |**1. Main Current Account**
Balance at bank as of 1st Jan 2023 Current Account
Income
Total In
Less Expenditure
Balance at Bank as of 31st December 2023|**£**
5,584.45
60,380.08| ||65,964.53| ||55,808.67| ||10,155.86| ||| |**2. Active Saver Current Account**
Balance at bank as of 1st Jan 2023 Current Account
Income
Total In
Less Expenditure
Balance at Bank as of 31st December 2023|870.00
39.25| ||909.25| ||145.25| ||764.00| ||| |**3. Busy Bees Account**
Balance at bank as of 1st Jan 2023 Current Account
Income
Total In
Less Expenditure
Balance at Bank as of 31st December 2023|212.36
401.73| ||614.09| ||0.00| ||614.09| ||| |**4. Youth Account**
Balance at bank as of 1st Jan 2023 Current Account
Income
Total In
Less Expenditure
Balance at Bank as of 31st December 2023|96.70
790.00| ||886.70| ||885.61| ||1.09| ||| |**5. Building Current Account**
Balance at bank as of 1st Jan 2023 Current Account
Income
Total In
Less Expenditure
Balance at Bank as of 31st December 2023|353,397.20
240,929.68| ||594,326.88| ||300,000.00| ||294,326.88| ||| |**NSI Savings Account**
Balance at bank as of 1st January 2023
Transfers In
Interest
Total In
Transfers Out
Balance at Bank as of 31st December 2023|41,446.88
320.67
0.00| ||41,767.55| ||0.00| ||41,767.55| |Current Account
Active Saver Account
Busy Bees Account
Building Account
Youth Account
NSI Saving Account
Total|10,155.86
764.00
614.09
294,326.88
1.09
41,767.55
347,629.47
**Balance at Bank as of 31st December 2023**|5,584.45
870.00
212.36
353,397.20
96.70
41,446.88| |---|---|---| |||| |||401,607.59| ## **Mount Elim Evangelical Church, Pontardawe Members Meeting Wednesday, 7[th] March 2024 at 7:00pm** **Present:** Sue Bradley, Lyn Braderick, Bethany Bryant, Jayne Clement, Alun & Dawn Davies, Denise Davies, Martyn Edwards, Ken Evans, Kath Hamm, Jill Heggarty, Gaynor Hughes ,Caroline Jones, Steffan & Cath Jones, Kayleigh Jones, Tony & Jenny Moorley, Christine Maguire, Stefan Panov, Trayan Panov, Colin Rowe, Samantha Sandry, David Sercombe, Pete & Pat Smith, Alan & Kerry Thomas, Glynis Tierney, Dawn Williams _(30)_ **On Zoom** _**:**_ Paul Clement, Elisabeth Clement, Babs Dewitt, Joseph & Gwenllian Dooher, Mandy Edwards, Dilys Milton, Heather Morgan, Victoria Porter, (9) **Apologies/ Not Present:** Mikey Bryant, Tony Epps, Anni Panova, Dan Sandry, _(4)_ ## **34.1 Devotions** Steffan read from 2 Corinthians 1:15-22, we sang a hymn and a number of people responded in prayer. Steffan said that Paul’s plans changed even though at the time he was doing God’s will. This is a lesson to us all that we prayerfully seek God’s will and make our decisions on that. It does not mean that things will turn out as we wish though as God may take us down a different path. God establishes our steps in all things. ## **34.2 Welcome new members** Steffan welcomed the new members who were added at our last meeting in November. ## **34.3 Minutes of 8[th] November 2023** i. 33.12.7 should read ‘where Jesus is worshipped’ not ‘lives’ These were proposed by Alun Davies and seconded by Alan Thomas. Carried unanimously and signed. ## **34.4 Matters Arising** - i. 33.7.2 £90,000 short of our target for the building project last November. Now, four months later, we are only £20,000 short. - ii. 33.8 Give thanks for the celebrations of …….. baptism and the thanksgiving service for Finley. Unfortunately, we were not able to proceed with …….. due to the illness of …….. father and we remembered them in the service. - iii 33.9 Give thanks for all the Christmas activities and pray that visitors will return to the Church - iv 33.11 Neither of these roles have been filled… Safeguarding Officer – Dawn Williams gave a brief explanation of the role. Church cleaner – Two options we could take… a. Rota of Church members b. Employ someone professionally. A number of members volunteered to go on a rota including Martyn and Mandy, Sue, Alun, Colin, Dawn D, Tony M, Cath. Alun will coordinate. ## **34.5 Pastor’s Report** ## _Thanksgiving_ Steffan is grateful for continued prayer of the Church and that people are so prepared to step forward when there is work that needs to be done. On Sunday we have been studying Mark’s Gospel which will finish on Easter Sunday with the resurrection. We also looked at what it means to be a Church member. We will also finish Galatians before Easter. Unfortunately, Steffan has not been able to do recordings of the morning service for a few weeks. It may be that we will go down the route of a playlist or podcast (as well as YouTube) with sermons audio uploaded. ## _Challenges_ There are a few who are caring for elderly parents, with ……………. having the challenge of caring for his mother. _Opportunities:_ _To grow as a fellowship:_ - Ladies group on a Thursday is expanding and is a faith-filled prayerful meeting - - The prayer in the House-groups is also encouraging _To reach out with the gospel:_ - Christmas activities - Cwmtawe – CICS and CSI - Ystalyfera - Good News for Everyone and the CU - Dan-y-Bryn have asked us to go back but have not been able to make arrangements as yet due to the key member of staff being off - Christianity Explored - Local people are asking about the building going up and there are opportunities to share - The funerals of Huw Edwards, Eurig Robers and Ron Davies have provided gospel opportunities ## _To help those in our fellowship:_ - …………. following the sad loss of ………father, ….., in December ………, who sadly lost her husband ……. in February - ………….., following the joyful birth of ……..on January 21[st] - …….. - mostly at home, and in hospital from November-February - ………….. - largely confined to his home due to heart and respiratory problems - …………. – severe pain with sciatica - ……………..…..- long-term illness and weakness ## _Highlights:_ - Answers to prayer – too many to mention – and blessed times at the prayer meetings - - Baptism service - Thanksgiving service for Finley and the birth of Chloe - Christianity Explored - Christmas activities - such as the wreath-making evening, the meal at the Aubrey, and the carol services - and the tree. - People enjoying each other’s company after the Sunday services; fellowship meals; etc - - Hearing about the blessing of the ladies group and how some of men have helped others in practical ways (DIY, gardening, etc) _Concerns:_ - Danger of losing the sense of unity as the church and number of activities grow. Need to be mindful of this in everything we do as a church. There are three services that we should all seek to attend, that can bring us together as a fellowship in a special way – Sunday morning and evening, and Wednesday Prayer meeting on Wednesday. - Meaningful contact with the general community beyond our own personal contacts - - Lack of primary school children _A number of people prayed in response to these points._ ## **34.6 Church Departments** Church reports sent prior to the meeting (see attachment). A big thanks to all involved. Bursary of £700 available for those who may want to go to camp. A number of people prayed for the work carried out by each department. ## **34.7 Prayer Meeting** Source of concern as the number of members who attend regularly is small, and some members never attend at all. It is a blessing that the numbers have grown to approx. 14-16, but many regulars are not actually members. It was suggested that 7.30 might be a better time, however, some felt this would mean a later finish. Possibility of having a prayer meeting during the day as some find it difficult to come out at night, particularly in the winter. There is no need for prayers to be long. Also, attendance at the House-group at Steffan’s house is not consistent, so we might need to look at its future. ## **34.8. Future Leadership** ## (a) Eldership ……. explained that ……… would be moving to the Wirral to be closer to family. He will continue the admin work on the building project and as an elder until he moves. He will also continue as a Manging Trustee until a new elder is appointed. Steffan said that we would be looking to appoint new elders in the next 12 to 18 months. _David prayed for Alan and Kerry, giving thanks for their contribution to church life_ - (b) Vision Teams – Youth / Women’s Ministry / Men’s Ministry / Evangelism and Outreach As a Church we need to co-ordinate the work in which we are involved. The coordinating team for each of the above would meet maybe once or twice a year. The team would not organise events but be aware of what is taking place and plan the main events so that there is not overlap. People can bring ideas to the co-ordinators. Possible names were suggested for the four areas. The Elders will discuss the plan again and Steffan will contact those who might be able to join the teams. Any other members who would like to be involved to make themselves known. ## (c) Safeguarding Officer This was discussed earlier in the meeting. Chris Maguire has said that she would consider doing the role and will have a chat with Dawn Williams to see what is involved. ## **34.9 Building Project** - i. Sale of Mount Elim: Building has been valued at about £125,000. If we went to auction would probably achieve £100,000. Assuming that price is achieved we are now short £23,000. - ii. The possibility of a loan from Kingdom Bank is still available but would prefer not to take that up unless necessary. - iii. Prices have gone up so it is quite possible that the original target will not be sufficient. So we continue to apply for grants. It is easier to get grants at this stage rather than when the building is complete. - iv. The Steel frame has been erected. The next stages are: floor; roof and then the walls. - v. Before it was capital costs but we are looking at individual items - fixtures and fittings. - Lighting - Flooring - Heating - Solar Panels - Audio Visual - Kitchen requirements - Internet - Chairs - Placement of Baptistry ## **34.10 Financial Report** Dawn Davies gave the financial report as detailed in the documents distributed before the meeting (see attachment). God has been fantastic, and His people have shown great generosity. The work of Gaius Douglas (from Penuel Church in Roch, Pembrokeshire), in auditing the accounts has been greatly appreciated. ## **34.11 Plan for the Spring/Summer Term** - (a) Holiday Bible Club and Easter Egg Hunt – 10am-2pm - March 26[th] - (b) An Evening with Slavco Hadzic – March 27[th] - Involved in organised crime in Bosnia. Suggestions for the evening. Possibly having pizza and setting the room up with tables. Produce flyers as soon as possible. Emphasise the story. - (b) Easter Weekend: March 29th – Good Friday Service at 6pm March 31[st] – Easter Services at 10.30am and 6pm April 1[st] – Church Walk at 11am - (c) Family Open Day – April 27[th] . The 40[th] anniversary was well attended. This would be similar with a bouncy castle and displays. - (d) Welcome Sunday – May 5[th] . Follow on from Family open day with appropriate service. - (e) Bible Training Day with Phil Jenkins – May 18[th] . Teaching us how to read and share the Bible. - (f) Summer Trip – discussion over usual venue of Tenby - June 23[rd] 2024 (g) Summer Camps - (h) Heart of the Valley Show - (i) Church Away Day – National Botanic Gardens, with John Funnell (Abersychan) – September 28th ## **34.12 Social Ideas and Outreach Possibilities** Steffan mentioned that there are lots of people on the fringes of the Church. They may not be comfortable attending regularly on a Sunday, and at the moment, we don’t have anything else that we could invite them, to get to know church members and to hear the gospel simply in a more informal setting. For example: Coffee Morning / Afternoon / Community Lunch / Activities, with short talks and epilogues. Steffan shared the challenge and burden he felt personally regarding befriending others and getting to know people in the community in general. Talk with Steffan if you have ideas or a heart to be involved in this work. The Elders will discuss this further, ## **34.13 AOB** There was no AOB ## **34.14 Prayer** The meeting closed with prayer at 9.20pm. **Annual Report AGM March 2024** ## **1. Sunday Schools** _Junior Groups:_ Lizzie, Jayne and I currently teach the younger children. We are still using the Go Teach and Come Learn books. Before Christmas we looked at Esther, People Jesus helped, God’s people come home and Stories Jesus told. Since Christmas we have looked at Jesus is born, God makes the world and Learning to trust Jesus. The children listen very well, are happy to ask questions and enjoy the activities in their work books. Since September the number of children in the junior class has dropped as some of the older ones moved up to the senior group, we now have around 5-6 attending most weeks. We are very thankful for your prayers for both teachers and children over the years and ask that you would continue to pray that as we prepare the lessons we would know God’s blessing and the Word of God would speak to the children and that each one would come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. ( **Sue** ) _Senior Group:_ It continues to be a real privilege to teach the Senior Sunday School class. We had newbies join us in September, taking the group up to a regular 12. Gwenllian continues to be on ‘maternity leave’ and I am so grateful for Dawn who has stepped in to share the work. It was a real highlight to hear her share her testimony with the group! hWe have studied the main events in Exodus, looking at their biblical significance and applying lessons to our day to day lives. It was amazing to realise afresh how foundational these events are in biblical history. Since finishing Exodus, we have been studying Ephesians and will continue over the next few weeks. We always enjoy time with the group, and it is thrilling to hear them freely sharing and praying together. We are so grateful to see signs of real growth and faith in many of the group. Please continue to pray for all the young people, that they will prove the reality of the truths that they hear. **(Cath)** ## **2. Busy Bees** Since last autumn our numbers have fluctuated in Busy Bees, with anything up to 14 children attending, this makes for very lively sessions. This includes babies and toddlers. We have mums and grans and sometimes dads, everyone is welcome. They all seem to enjoy the sessions and we appreciate all of our ladies who give up their time to help - Denise, Lynn, Glynis, Kath Hamm and more recently Heather, who has joined us. We could not operate without the help of these ladies as they prepare the food and help with tidying up afterwards. They are also invaluable in socialising and talking with the mums etc. Mums will often chat to us about any problems they may be having and ask us for advice. It is always sad when one of the children leave to start school. We have a free play session, snack time, which starts with us singing a simple song of thanks, this is usually followed by a short Bible story and sometimes a craft. We then finish with singing and instruments which the children love. We thank God for all of our children and the ladies who faithfully help us, if anyone would like to join us please feel free to come along on a Tuesday morning at 9.30am you would be very welcome. ( **Kerry** ) ## **3. Children and Young People** _Clwb Ponty:_ This year we have looked at key events in the Book of Acts; the Life of Joseph; and we are currently doing an overview of the Exodus, Having a theme for each week has enabled us to have a variety of activities, like Lego week, Nature walk week, Games Night; while maintaining old favourites such as the Big Quiz, Motto (verse) of the term, Bible story and songs. The highlights this year include the Easter Holiday Bible Club, and the evening with Impact Youth at Hafod Wennol Farm. As always, we are grateful for the help and support of the planning team - Paul Davies, Cath and Sam – and to Victoria who stepped back in the summer after many years of faithful service. It is an answer to prayer that special events, such as the Bible Club, Neon Party and St David’s Day party have been effective in drawing children, from Llangiwg School in particular (especially when linked with a school assembly); however it is difficult to keep them regularly every week. We are very grateful for the small group of faithful children who are able to come every week ( **Steffan** ) _Impact Youth:_ Since Impact started a few years ago, we continue to see a steady growth in numbers, on average around eighteen youngsters join us weekly. They come from mainly Mt Elim and Bethel, but we do have a small number that will join us from non-Christian backgrounds. Since the autumn term, we haven’t been following a particular programme but tend to do something different every week. We have looked at “difficult questions” such as assurance of salvation, had table talk discussions, looked in depth at Bible verses, had prayer groups and recently some of the youth shared their own favourite Bible verses and readings, which was such an encouragement to us as leaders! As for prayer, we thank God for each of these youngsters and the growth that we are seeing in them spiritually. Even the non-Christians take a genuine interest in what it means to be a Christian and we pray that each of them will be saved in God’s perfect timing. Please pray for continued growth in numbers, that we would have more young people come from non-Christian backgrounds so that they can hear the good news of Jesus. Also for continued wisdom for us as leaders, that God’s name continues to be front and centre in everything we do.( **Caroline** ) ## **4. Women’s Meeting** We continue to meet every Thursday morning and have been encouraged and blessed with the growth in numbers and now average between 10 – 17 ladies attending where we share concerns and support one another. We are currently studying the book of John with the study book by John McArthur and we continue to delight and take pleasure in God’s word with much discussion on the eternal Christ; the incarnate Christ; the forerunner of Christ; the unrecognised Christ and His deity; the glorious Christ. We have a precious time of prayer after each study where we pray for one another and the wider church and give thanks to God for answered prayer including the remarkable spiritual and physical healing . We also put the prayer points on the Ladies’ WhatsApp group to keep other members unable to attend up to date and for those ladies who have recently joined the group WhatsApp but unable to attend the meetings. We continue to thank God for His goodness and look to Him through His son the Lord Jesus for the continued strength to love one another as Christ has loved us. ( **Dawn W** ) ## **5. Prayer Meeting and House Groups** It is such a blessing that the prayer meeting continues to be at the heart of the life of the church: we are dependent on God in all things, and it is a great opportunity to grow together as a church family. It has been encouraging, therefore, to see the average number grow to about 14-16 this year, with more people praying each week. We have had some notable meetings when there has been a real measure of freedom and the prayers have flowed. We’ve also been blessed by the visits of Maged Drotta (Arab Focus Media) and Clyde Briggs (Open Doors); and we were able to have a joint meeting at Bethel, Clydach, for the work in Cwmtawe School. It must noted, however, with some concern and sadness, that less than a quarter of the membership attend regularly, and some of the most faithful attendees are not members. What are the obstacles? How can those be overcome? How can the meetings be improved to make them more accessible? This is a matter that requires some soul searching; for me as the leader most weeks, and all of us as members. Also, as more people struggle to attend in the evenings (especially in the winter) should we consider an occasional daytime prayer meeting during the darker months? It has been good to be able to offer Zoom again this year for those who are unable to attend in person. The monthly prayer meetings on Zoom for the building project have also been an important aspect of church life this year again. The _House Groups_ have continued to meet, and we’ve been enriched and encouraged as we’ve studied Jeremiah and Ephesians together. There is potential for real mutual prayer and support, and we are grateful to David for setting the programme for each term. There is some uncertainty regarding the future of the group at Steffan and Cath’s due to numbers. Please remember that this group is not just for younger people – it is for people of all ages who live in that ‘patch’ ( **Steffan** )