TRUSTEES REPORT
HOPE COMMUNITY CHURCH, ADMASTON
Period: 2023/24
Aim and Vision
The aim of the church is to bring glory to God through being a caring Christian community, discipling people in the way of Christ, and witnessing to the wider community.
Our vision is to see Christ build his church as many come to trust him as real disciples, know their sins forgiven, and are led and empowered by His Spirit; and to see other similar churches planted in the Telford area.
The above is in accordance with our Statement of Faith and our Values.
Objectives
The Objectives of Hope Community Church Admaston remain as set out in the Constitution dated 2[nd] July 2013:
“The objects of the CIO is to advance the Christian Faith, in accordance with the statements of belief appearing in the schedule “Statements of Faith”, for the benefit of the public in the North Telford area, in particular but not exclusively, through the provision of opportunity for prayer, worship, teaching, fellowship, communion, the public celebration of Christian festivals and evangelism to enlighten others about the Christian Faith, and the provision of pastoral care to the community.”
Achievements and Performance
This is our eleventh Annual Report and covers the period 1[st] April 2023 – 31[st] March 2024.
Establishing a Church
The average attendance on a Sunday over the 12 month period was 37.3 persons (2022/3 = 35.7). This is a restoration to 2019 just before covid.
The age profile of the church post-covid is significantly older. The average age on a Sunday is about 53. We have seen some younger persons join during the year as well as older ones. We remain committed to seeking to reach the younger age groups.
Discipleship .
We have continued with three small groups and two on-line “Microgroups”.
Prayer
We have offered opportunities to pray together monthly on a Monday night, weekly on a Sunday morning, and weekly on a Wednesday morning. The Wednesday morning has remained on Zoom, but the Monday evening has moved to in person.
We have continued to have adhoc prayer days and half-days.
Worship, Teaching and Communion
Each Sunday and at some other events opportunity for public worship has been offered to all who wish to participate. Tony Finch has continued to write new songs which has contributed to our worship. We continue to have a monthly rota between 3 worship leaders with a pool of about 7 participants for the band. Others also occasionally lead.
During the year we have had series covering the following themes: 1 John; Spiritual warfare; Fruitfulness on the Frontline; Living by Faith – Elijah; Living by Faith – Acts; Revelation; and Tough Questions people ask.
We continued the monthly lunches during the period, and resumed occasional breakfasts.
Celebration of Christian festivals
We have had special events for Christmas and Easter. These have been fantastic events and well attended. There has been a lot of organisation and preparation for these with a huge input form volunteers for which we are most grateful.
Evangelism
People from the church have continued to work evangelistically with St Christopher’s Trust. This has included the “Fun Week” as well as regular mothers and toddlers activities, the café and groups for men and women.
We have continued distribution of the Hope Magazine to about 4000 homes which is reliant on volunteers.
We also engaged as a church with Mission 24 training and action in Telford. This included a 3-day training course which was joined by 9 from our church family. This was very significant in developing individuals and bringing healing and the gospel to people.
Pastoral Care
We have coordinated pastoral care for needy members and sought to ensure that people are contacted regularly.
As a church, we have also given regularly to the local Foodbanks.
Ecumenical
The church has retained and developed close ties with other churches in the North Telford area. This is aided through the St Christopher’s Trust work. This has all been through both online and in person prayer regularly and occasional special events such as the Good Friday service and the Mission24 week.
Regional Newfrontiers participation
The local Christ Central Shropshire region has been an important encouragement to the church leaders. There are regular leaders’ gatherings. There have also been in person and online events at a national/international level which have been of great encouragement.
Beyond Telford
During the period, we have strongly supported churches conducting humanitarian aid and evangelism in Ukraine and Zambia through the charity BREADTrust. We have encouraged our congregation to sponsor children through the Compassion programme and in disaster response appeals. We have also continued to support The Children’s Mission in Uganda with financial contributions towards them developing a school.
We also took a small group of young people to Lisbon to visit and help with some church plants there.
Social Media
Over the last few years, Tony Finch has been leading our social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. A large element of this has been producing his own songs for wider access. During the year, the YouTube channel has grown from 3500 to 4500 subscribers, with views in excess of 1.2 million and there is a high level of viewing from many countries which are high on the Open Doors persecution index.
Financial Review
Our income during the year was £35027 ( 2022/23: £30999).
Our expenditure during the year was £33077 (2021/22: £28732). Giving a surplus for the year of £1949 (2022/23 £2266).
Most giving is through standing orders but there has been a noticeable increase in cash giving across the year.
The four major areas of financial actual expenditure were
Staff Costs £18572 (56%) – increased due to the full year employment of an Administrator and an increase in Roland West’s payments (see below). Giving £3946 (12%) – this has increased from last year due to our financial position. Rent £3200 (10%) – for (mainly) Sunday use of the main hall at Admaston House and a dedicated small office.
Magazine and other printing costs £2578 (8%) - mostly for magazine printing for hand delivery to circa 4000 houses in the area
The church continues to benefit from the Government Gift Aid scheme receiving a total of £5990.
Financial Policies
The Trustees have a reserves policy which requires that the church holds a balance equivalent to 3 months of expected operating expenditure.
Structure, Governance and Management
During the year, Roland West, Tony Finch, Kevin Croker and Helen King have continued as Trustees. The trustees met once during the year, but had other regular contact to resolve any arising issues.
In line with the Charity Commission guidelines, the Trustees intend to appoint an Independent Examiner for the Financial Accounts.
During the year, the leadership team has continued with Roland West, Susan West, and Tony Finch. The leaders have continued to meet fortnightly to review all matters of church life and development.
Hope Community Church is strongly reliant on volunteers who play an essential role in the life of the church in many ways. There are rotas for a variety of specific jobs. A good level of pastoral care has been noted. Our thanks go to all participants.
During the 2023/24 year Roland West (senior church leader) has been paid £13800 for 2.1 days per week (2022/23: £12800 for 2.1 days per week). This is done on a contracted basis and includes all ongoing expenses. Only purchases on behalf of the church are separately recovered. Roland is absent for all Trustee discussions with regards to this matter. The other Trustees have agreed to extend the contract from April 2024 for a further 12 months.
This report is approved by the Trustees on the 1[st] May 2024 and signed on their behalf by Roland West (Chairman).
CC16a
Charity Name No (if any) Hope Community Church, Admaston 1152758 Receipts and payments accounts For the period Period start date Period end date To from 01/04/23 31/03/24
~~eee~~ Section A Receipts and payments
| Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Endowment funds |
Total funds | Last year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| to the nearest £ |
to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | to the nearest £ | ||||
| A1 Receipts | ||||||||
| Cash Giving 3373 Gift aided Giving 18627 3186 Income from Gift Aid 5343 647 Other Gifts and Income 4999 32343 3833 Sub total(Gross income for AR) ~~ |
~~ ~~=== ~~ |
3373 21814 5990 4999 36176 |
||||||
| A2 Asset and investment | ||||||||
| Sub total Total receipts 32343 A3 Payments sales, (see table). ~~a ~~ ~~Co) Cd)~~ |
3833 ~~a~~ ~~Cd) Dd~~ |
~~el~~ ~~Dd~~ |
3098 36176 |
35903 | ||||
| Giving 3946 Staff costs 18572 Rent 3200 Children's work Food Advertising Outreach 938 Insurance 406 Miscellaneous 2182 Sub total 29243 ~~ |
~~ ~~ |
~~ ~~a~~ |
142 960 2578 153 3833 ~~ |
~~ | ~~ee~~ |
A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) Sub total ~~—=——Sooo=~~ Total payments 29243 3833 33077 33697 ~~5 5 SS~~ | ~~|~~ Net of receipts/(payments) 3098 -0 3098 2206 A5 Transfers between funds A6 Cash funds last year end 22137 22137 19668 Cash funds this year end ~~5——=~~ 25235 -0 25235 21874
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period ~~ee~~
Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Categories Details funds funds funds to nearest £ to nearest £ to nearest £ B1 Cash funds Cash at Bank and in hand 24639 Cash in hand 597 Total cash funds 25235 ~~===~~
| B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Details Details Details Details Signature (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
OK OK to nearest £ to nearest £ Cost (optional) Cost (optional) Print Name Roland West Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) |
OK |
|---|---|---|---|
| to nearest £ Endowment funds |
|||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| When due (optional) |
|||
| Date of approval |
|||
| Roland West | 28/05/2024 | ||
HOPE COMMUNITY CHURCH ADMASTO Charity 1152758 Financial Statements For the year to 31st March 2024 I have conducted a review of the accounts and the records The records examined are well structure, complete and ordere were apparenL The management processes in pla appear, I have not conducted a full audit and have relied upon expl, by the church in reaching my condusion. l am happy to recommend these accounts as fully represenk transactions of Hope Communty Church Admaston (k Ken You 28th May
8UPPOrting them. Kl and no deficiences to be fully adequate. anations provided itive of Ihe financial Iring 2023124