2023-12-31-accounts

TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH

(a Registered Charity in England & Wales – Number: 1154127 )

Dyffryn Road Llandrindod Wells Website: www.tabernaclebaptist.co.uk

Trustees’ Annual Report and Statement of Financial Activities

(Annual Return and Accounts)

for the year ending 31[st] December 2023

Tabernacle Baptist Church, Llandrindod Wells Trustees Annual Report 2023

The Trustees have pleasure in presenting their report and financial statements for the year ending 31[st] , December 2023. The Trustees believe that the financial statements comply with the current statutory requirements and the Charity’s governing documents.

Charity Objectives

The objects of the Church are:

• 1) the advancement of the Christian faith in accordance with the Confession of Faith, primarily but not exclusively in Llandrindod Wells and the surrounding neighbourhood;

• 2) such other charitable purposes as shall, in the opinion of the managing Trustees, further the work of the Church.

It does this for the public benefit by means of its main activities which are as follows:

• Regular Sunday morning and evening Services.

• Mid-week Bible Study, Prayer Meetings and occasional Missionary Meetings, on Tuesday evenings. For the first two months of the year, during one week per month, the Church Fellowship met in small groups rather than a mid-week service in the Church. The Church followed a process of reading the Bible together which involved the Church setting a monthly book or group of books in the Bible for the Fellowship to read during the month, following a study plan which involved answering a series of questions about the text. The Fellowship then met in small groups to discuss and share what they had learned from the book or books in question. During Lent and Easter, the whole Church read a book of appropriate daily readings, in preparation for Easter i.e. ‘From Glory to Glory’ by Tom Parsons and the weekly Bible Studies included discussions around the readings of the previous week. During the remainder of the year, the Bible Studies focused on a series of monthly Biblical modules i.e. The Plan of Salvation, Who is Jesus Christ, Errors about Jesus and salvation, What is the Old Testament all about and What is the New Testament all about.

• Sunday School, during the Sunday Morning Services.

• Parent/Carer and Toddlers’ group on Thursday mornings (“Tab Tots”).

• Bi-Monthly Coffee, Cake and Chat Meetings on Friday mornings.

• Friday evening Children’s Meetings – the Church Junior Club for children aged from 4 years old to the end of Primary School.

• Friday evening, after Junior Club, young people’s meetings for youth of Secondary School age (Tabernacle Youth Club – TYC).

• Visiting of and distribution of literature to the local community. This included the distribution of the Church Calendar.

• Support (financially, practically and in prayer) of other Christian workers/organizations in the UK and overseas.

• Church Camps (currently this is through arranging places for Tabernacle young people at externally organized camps).

• Annual Holiday Bible Club.

• Gospel Tent outreach at local shows.

The above list of activities reflects the normal position in the Church, post the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the Covid-19 restrictions were removed during 2021, the advice provided through the weekly notice sheet to those attending the Church reflects the ongoing need for the use of hand sanitizers and the freedom for those attending to wear face coverings if they wish.

Charity Details

Address of the Charity:

Tabernacle Baptist Church, Dyffryn Road, Llandrindod Wells, Powys LD1 6AN

Correspondence Address:

Mr. John Mitson, “Carneddau”, 4 Highbury Fields, Llanyre, Llandrindod Wells, Powys LD1 6NF

Trustees of Tabernacle Baptist Church

Elders: Rev. Robert Thomas and Rev. Tom Baker (Joint Pastors with effect from 23[rd] January, 2023).

Deacons: Mr. Matthew Butterfill, Mr. Kevin Lewis, Mr. Gerald Hughes, Mr. John Mitson (Secretary), Mr. Josh Thomas and Mr. Andrew Wilson. Deaconesses: Mrs. Hilary Bowen and Mrs. Eleri Halliday (Treasurer).

Independent Examiner

The independent examiner for Tabernacle Baptist Church is currently Mr. Eryl Jones, B.Sc.; F.C.C.A.; C.T.A. 12 Station Terrace, Llanybydder, Carmarthenshire SA40 9XX

Bankers

HSBC PLC Middleton Street Llandrindod Wells Powys LD1 5EU

Organisation

The charity is administered by the trustees listed above. New trustees are appointed by resolution of the members of the charity in accordance with the constitution. They remain in office until their resignation, disqualification or until their term of office expires, in accordance with the church constitution.

Paid Trustees

Rev. Robert Thomas and Rev. Tom Baker (Joint Pastors)

Staff

At the beginning of the year, in addition to the Pastor, the Church had in place an Assistant Pastor (in training). This was a 3 year appointment and the purpose of the post was to give a man who was preparing for the Christian Ministry the opportunity of working in support of a Pastor in an active local church in order to gain hands-on experience of ministry. The individual gained from mentoring by the Pastor and the Church gained from the involvement of the Assistant Pastor in the life of the Church and their skills and qualities. The post was filled with effect from 1[st] December, 2020 and the employee was a valued addition to the ministerial provision within the Church. Church Members and Officers very much appreciated the contribution made to the Church and its ministry by the Assistant Pastor (in training) and, during December, 2022, Church Officers prepared a proposal for consideration by the Church that, although his 3 year appointment still had some months to run, the Assistant Pastor (in training) be appointed as Joint Pastor with the current Pastor. This was considered by the Church Members at an Extraordinary Church Meeting, held on 23[rd] January, 2023, when it was unanimously resolved that the Assistant Pastor (in training) be appointed to the post of Joint Pastor with immediate effect. The Church also resolved to continue with its Assistant Pastor (in training) programme but no appointment to this post was made during the year. In addition, no appointment was made to the post of Intern to work in the Church.

Activities

Regular Meetings

The regular meetings on a Sunday continued throughout the year with a morning service at 10.30 am and an evening service at 6.00 pm. The Sunday School meets at the same time as the morning service, with the children joining the service at the start and then departing for their own programme including their classes. The average attendance at Sunday services was 70 – 80 people of all ages, with 8 – 13 children attending Sunday School. The live streaming of the Church services continued throughout the year and a number of people continued to watch the services from across the country.

Our Mid-week meeting is held on a Tuesday and comprises Prayer Meetings and Bible Studies, together with the occasional Missionary Meeting.

Other weekly activities include Tab Tots (our Parent/Carer and Toddler Group), Junior Club (for children aged 4 to the end of primary school) and Youth Club (for young people of high school age). The twice-monthly Coffee, Cake and Chat sessions have grown in popularity while our bring and share Fellowship lunches continue to be held on the first Sunday of each month and remain as popular as ever.

The Church Membership on 1[st] January, 2023 amounted to 47 and during the year it decreased by 1 and increased by 7 so the total number of members by 31[st] December, 2023 amounted to 53. Although there is always an element of movement in Church membership as friends move in and out of the area, it is encouraging to report that our Church Membership has remained reasonably steady. The main ministry is provided by our Joint Pastors but, during the year, we have been ministered to by one of our Church Deacons and, occasionally, by a visiting speaker.

Outreach Activities

A variety of different outreach activities have included a Harvest Supper, held in the Church and a Church Bonfire and Fireworks Evening which started on a local farm and then continued with refreshments and a meeting at a local community hall, close to the farm and our partner Church, the Pound Baptist Church. Other outreach activities comprised a series of Carol Services, including an outside Christmas Eve Carol Service; a Christmas Sunday Fellowship Lunch; the distribution throughout the town and surrounding area of the Church Calendar, which contains landscape photographs of the local area, taken by members and friends of the Church, and appropriate Bible Texts and embedded helpful thoughts; and use of the Gospel Tent at local shows as well as the distribution throughout the town of invitations to our events and activities.

Children’s and Youth Work

The young people’s work continued to have good numbers attending, with 20-40 adults and children at our ‘Tab Tots’ toddlers’ group, 30-35 primary school aged children at ‘Junior Club’ and 5 - 10 teenagers at ‘Tabernacle Youth Club’ on a weekly basis. A Holiday Bible Club was held in the first week of the school Easter Holidays when the theme was ‘Good News’, the same as last year. Many in the church helped and a pleasing number of children attended. The format, adopted in 2018, of holding 2 full days, with the provision of lunch, rather than 4 half days, was maintained and a good time was enjoyed by all.

Mission

On various occasions throughout the year, we hosted visits from representatives of Christian missionary societies who updated us on their activities. These meetings were held in the Church and, on occasions, were live streamed.

We have continued to support Christian missionary organizations and individual Christian workers in prayer and through financial support. Some of this support has been in the form of one-off gifts while others have been supported on a regular basis. During the year, specific gifts have been sent to support ministry in Ukraine, Peru, Philippines, Poland, India, Jordan, Turkey, Syria, Mongolia and Papua New Guinea.

Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals.

We have held a number of funeral services during this last year. In addition, one wedding was held and one baptismal service at which two young people were baptized.

Use of the Church Building.

In addition to our own services and activities, the Church building has been made available, in the past, to Christian organizations including ministers’ fraternals and mission organizations. However, no such use took place in 2023, partly because of a general reduction in face to face meetings and the increase of virtual activities.

Buildings and Facilities

Ongoing work has been undertaken on the structure and fabric of the building and the surrounding premises so as to maintain them in a safe condition and to ensure that they are fit for purpose. The work of closing in the upper spaces above the side rooms in the hall was completed, during the year, and the fitting of the fabric covered panels has significantly improved the acoustics in the hall, creating an excellent lesser space for smaller meetings.

During the year, the Church completed its annual review of its Safeguarding arrangements. The Church continues to be a member of Thirtyone:eight, formerly the

Churches Child Protection Advisory Service, and uses their service for DBS checks. It also uses their model documents to assist in reviews.

The Church also reviews its Health and Safety risk assessments on an annual basis and this process also ensures that on-going advice regarding use of hand sanitizers, originally received during the Covid-19 pandemic, is included in the Church weekly notice sheets.

Funding

Our funds are received mainly from the members and those attending our services. The trustees consider the financial position of the Charity to be satisfactory, and that sufficient and appropriate reserves are held to safeguard the future operations of the Charity. Our reserves policy is to have 9 months expenditure in hand, or more if we think appropriate. We recognize that the current reserves exceed that amount as we are now employing a second Pastor, in a joint pastorate arrangement. During the year, the Church Officers undertook and completed a further Financial Review using the Charity Commission questionnaire on ‘Internal Financial Controls for Charities’ and this was found to be a useful exercise for the Church. No adjustments to the Charity’s financial controls were deemed to be necessary on this occasion.

Financial Report – for the financial year ended 31[st] December 2023

	Charity Name	Charity Name	Charity Name	Charity Name	Charity Name	No	No		CC16a
	TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH, LLANDRINDOD WELLS					1154127
	Receipts andpayments accounts
	For the period from		Period start date		To		Period end date
			01/01/2023				31/12/2023
Section A Receipts and payments
	Unrestricted General funds		Restricted Mission funds		Designated Capital ~~Projects funds~~		Total funds		2022
	to the nearest £		to the nearest £		to the nearest £		to the nearest £		to the nearest £
A1 Receipts
Offerings	111,359		31,786		-		143,145		134,659
Gift Aid Claims	17,795		4,449		-		22,244		17,534
Bank Interest	1,549		-		-		1,549		170
Private Copying	10		-		-		10		50
Tab Tots	94		-		-		94		56
Premises Fees	0		-		-		-		100
Misc	946		-		-		946		230
Sub total _(Gross income) _	131,753		36,235		-		167,988		152,799
									-
A2 Asset investment sales, (see table).	-		-		-		-		-
Total receipts	131,753		36,235		-		167,988		152,799
A3 Payments
RWT Ministerial Costs (inclusive of Employer's NI, pension, mileage, book ~~allowance)~~	40,541		-		-		40,541		38,012
TLB Ministerial costs (inclusive of Employer's NI, pension, mileage, book allowance)	38,918		-		-		38,918		26,979
RWT, pension arrears	6,072		-		-		6,072		0
Intern costs	0		-		-		-		1,856
Visiting speakers	1,380		-		-		1,380		1,395
Sunday School	1,098		-		-		1,098		1,092
Children's Work	1,329		-		-		1,329		2,398
Donations & Gifts	102		-		-		102		161
Bank Charges	209		-		-		209		205
Printing	5622		-		-		5,622		5,868
Building Rep & Maint	1218		-		-		1,218		216
Fittings	3615		-		-		3,615		1,644
Fuel	7518		-		-		7,518		4,267
Water	286		-		-		286		149
CD Recording	0		-		-		-		35
IT, Wifi & Web, Licences	1168		-		-		1,168		1,168
Insurance	1050		-		-		1,050		1,106
Auditor Fee	180		-		-		180		180
Kitchen Supplies & Food	1263		-		-		1,263		1,082
ThityOne:Eight (Safeguarding)	307		-		-		307		252
Ministry Support	18		-		-		18		140
Benevolence	6300		-		-		6,300		9,555
Sundry	857		-		-		857		1,478
Mission Support	0		57,640		-		57,640		51,430
Project expenditure	0		-		1,771		1,771		1,683
**Sub total **	119,051		57,640		1,771		178,462		152,351
A4 Asset investment purchases, (see table)	-		-		-		-		-
Totalpayments	119,051		57,640		1,771		178,462		152,351
Net of receipts/(payments)	12,702		- 21,405		- 1,771		- 10,474		448
A5 Transfer to Mission Fund(Tithe)	- 21,608		21,608		-		-		-
A6 Cash funds lastyear end	94,686		1		18,961		113,648		113,200
Cash funds this year end	85,780		204		17,190		103,174		113,648

Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the	Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the	Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the	Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the	Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the	Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the	Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the	period	period
Categories	Details				Unrestricted funds		Restricted funds		Designated Fund
					to nearest £		to nearest £		to nearest £
B1 Cash funds	Cash At Bank and in Hand				85,780		204		17,190
							-		-
					-		-		-
	Total cash funds				85,780		204		17,190
	(agree balances with receipts and payments account(s))				✅✅✅		✅✅✅		✅✅✅
					Unrestricted funds		Restricted funds		Designated Fund
	Details				to nearest £		to nearest £		to nearest £
B2 Other monetary assets	Cash & Voucher to bank				345		-		-
	Voucher				190		-		-
	Details				Fund to which asset belongs		Cost (optional)		Current value (optional)
B3 Investment assets	-						-		-
	Details				Fund to which asset belongs		Cost (optional)		Current value (optional)
B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use	Building at historical cost				Unrestricted		112,990		-
							-		-
	Details				Fund to which liability relates		Amount due (optional)		When due (optional)
B5 Liabilities	-				Unrestricted		-
					Restricted		-
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees	Signature				Print Name				Date of approval
					E. Halliday				28.3.24