Bromsgrove Baptist Church New Road, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 2JD
01527 877190 www.bromsgrove-baptists.org.uk Charity Number: 1154922
Charity Commission Annual Report 2022
Our year began with prayer and much discussion as we sought to understand God’s plan for the future of Bromsgrove Baptist church and how we might best serve our local community. As the year progressed, our minister Paul Lewis took a period of sabbatical which allowed both him and us as a church family to continue to prayerfully consider what God had laid on our hearts and minds. The year closed with Paul tendering his resignation and our gratitude to him for so faithfully serving during his time as minister over the last eleven years.
Aim & Purposes
Bromsgrove Baptist Church’s aim is that that through all of our church activities, as well as through involvement in our wider communities, all people will come to accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Jesus has so much to offer all people, whether life seems easy or not.
We are seeking to demonstrate the love of God for all people through the way in which we live our lives of faith in unity together.
With the Bible to help everyone understand who God is, we believe that we are guided by God’s Holy Spirit to be an expression of the community that God longs to see throughout the world.
Objectives & Activities
When planning our activities for the year, we have considered the Commission’s guidance on public benefit and, in particular the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. We believe our purpose as a church is to be “Offering the transforming love of Jesus Christ in the realities of life”. We hold that closely through our core values of “Belonging”, “Growing”, “Serving” in the words that we speak, as well as in our care for each other, and support for our local community.
BELONGING I Corinthians 12.12-27. Acts 2.42-47. John. 13.31-38 Our vision is to be a communty of God's people living out compassionate care. offering generovs hospilality, and embracing ways ol gracious belonging. We will do Ihis by: LoNing each olher as family, caring for the whole person, and lovlng our neighbour as ourselves. Being open wlth our welcome to ensure that everyone feels al home and thows that Ihey are valued in our community. Giving priority to those in need os we release time and resource5 to the meet the needs of those around us. Demonstrating our commitment lo Jesus through baptism and our commitment lo each other through Covenant Partnership. Respecting view-points and opinions different to our own as we willingly explore dlversity logelher, and respond lo each olher In Chrlst-like ways.
Achievements & Performance
Belonging:
We have continued to enable people to understand that Bromsgrove Baptist Church is a place where we belong together in Covenant Partnership. As the first Covid-19 lockdown began in March 2020, we put in a place a “Staying Connected” plan to ensure that we maintained regular contact with those who were the most vulnerable and isolated. This plan proved to be so successful that it has continued throughout 2021 and 2022. Our church attendance can be seen to have slightly increased towards the later part of the year as new individuals have begun to worship with us.
The strength of our belonging together is seen in the outworking of church life, not in numerical data. To that end, it is through all that we share together, and through all that we offer to others, that we truly demonstrate that Bromsgrove Baptist Church is a place to belong together, where the depth of our love and care for each other, and those who are currently beyond our church community, is unquestionable.
Growing:
We have continued to hold ‘hybrid’ services, both meeting in person and also making our Sunday morning service available via live stream. As we met in person, we have continued to bear in mind those who are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 by upholding some safety measures to reduce the risk of transmission. Numbers attending our children and youth work have also been maintained.
Serving:
We have been pleased to serve those within our local community in a number of ways as Covid-19 restrictions have continued to ease meaning we have been able to resume meeting in person. From the very youngest members of our community through our parent and toddler group ‘Little Wonders’ and ‘Messy Church’ Jubilee and Advent events which welcomed toddlers and younger school aged children along with their parents or carers were a great success. These welcomed many families and allowed us to have meaningful conversations with those who attended from the local area. We were also able to continue serving the older members of our community through outreach such as ‘Coffee Pot’.
The Christmas season saw the return of in-person pantomime performances, following two years of virtual performances due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions. We welcomed around 500 people through our doors to watch Saltmine’s performances of ‘A Christmas Carol’ and will be welcoming more for our schools’ performances of ‘Rapunzel’ in January 2023 as this had been delayed from its usual slot in mid-December due to unforeseen circumstances. A further 150 people attended our Christingle service on Christmas Eve.
We continue to have a strong association with the Bromsgrove Street Pastors who use our building as a base for their outreach each week.
Our ongoing support of Bromsgrove Youth & Community Hub (The Hub), which operates out of the basement area of our premises, has continued to be vital.
We also became a collection point on a number of occasions throughout the earlier part of the year for the donation of much needed items to be transported across to Ukraine in response to their invasion by Russia. We worked in partnership with the charity Food.gives, a Barnabas aid project. The plea for the donation of items such as food, clothing and sanitary supplies saw an overwhelming response from those in our local community.
Leadership
Our leadership priority is to enable others to actively participate in the life of the church. Our Minister and Deacons form our core “Leadership Team”, alongside whom we affirm others in “Co-ordinator” roles. During the summer of 2022, our minister, Paul Lewis took a period of sabbatical. Following Paul’s return, he tendered his resignation which will become effective as of 31[st] January 2023.
Financial Review
Overview
The church had a strong year financially with giving and rental income exceeding budgeted amounts and spending, despite the strong rise in energy prices, being under budget through reduced spending on major projects. Hence there was a small surplus for the year. There remain big expenditures anticipated in the near future with an ageing main boiler and some of the church gas-fired heaters now unrepairable due to age. For a fuller account please see the attached accounts documentation.
Reserves Policy
Bromsgrove Baptist Church does not have a formal reserves policy. We are mindful of the guidance to retain sufficient reserves in order to be able to close the church in an orderly manner should this be required.
Administration Information
Bromsgrove Baptist Church is situated on New Road in the town of Bromsgrove. The correspondence address is: Bromsgrove Baptist Church; New Road, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, B60 2JD.
Those individuals who have served on our Leadership Team for all or part of the period of this report are:
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Mrs Sian Anderson (co-opted to provide Administrative support)
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Dr Claire Curtis
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Dr David Law
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Rev Paul Lewis
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Mr Simon Miles
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Mrs Rose Pauley
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Miss Morgan Robinson
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Mrs Jean Spencer
Approved by the Leadership Team at their meetng on 12/9/2023
Using "Receipts and Payments" Method
2022 END OF YEAR STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS
| Account (General Fund) | Actual | Budget | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castle Kids Rental | 7900.00 } | ||||||
| Hub Rental | 5645.00 } | A | |||||
| Rent for Use of Charity Centre | 7516.00 } | 21061.00 | 17000 | ||||
| Donations | 6598.89 } | B | |||||
| Giving - Gift Aided | 81509.80 } | 101784.69 | 92800 | } | 100000 | ||
| Giving - Non-Gift Aided | 13676.00 } | 7200 | } | ||||
| Gift Aid Claimed | 20279.40 | 20000 | |||||
| Events | 2672.67 | 3000 | |||||
| Income from Other Trading Activities | 206.98 | 0 | |||||
| Dividends & Investments | 85.40 | 80 | TOTAL | ||||
| Interest Received | 370.94 | 40 | INCOME | ||||
| Repayments | 162.13 | 0 | 146623.21 | ||||
| Audiovisual Systems | 0.00 | -500 | |||||
| Church Cleaning | -4902.00 | -4700 | |||||
| Church Insurance | -4322.81 | -4544 | |||||
| Church Maintenance | -2142.25 } | -3945.23 | -2500 | ||||
| Church Repairs & Renewals | -1802.98 } | ||||||
| Major Projects | -23300.98 | -40500 | |||||
| Communications Service | -1074.17 | -850 | |||||
| Consumables | -1511.36 | -1500 | |||||
| Electricity | -2352.86 | -2400 | |||||
| External Speaker Fees | -1173.39 | -150 | C | ||||
| Licence Fees | -1485.56 } | -1024 | } | ||||
| Organisation Subscriptions | -588.60 } | -2572.16 | -1024 | } | -2048 | ||
| Fees & Subscriptions | -498.00 } | ||||||
| Gas | -9771.41 | -4800 | |||||
| Miscellaneous | -55.81 | 0 | |||||
| Photocopier & Printing Costs | -940.29 | -400 | D | ||||
| Rubbish Collection | -915.54 | -825 | |||||
| Water & Sewage | -3406.11 | -492 | E | ||||
| Manse Cncl Tax & Services | -4594.39 | -3669 | |||||
| Manse Insurance | -464.88 | -420 | |||||
| Manse Repairs & Renewals | -1159.56 | -1000 | |||||
| Ministerial Expenses | -784.54 | -1500 | |||||
| Minister Eee NIC | -2594.91 } | ||||||
| Employee NIC | 0.00 } | START 2022 | END | ||||
| Ministerial Income Tax | -3366.20 } | CAF CASH | 90365.20 | 40492.57 | -49872.63 | ||
| Income Tax | 0.00 } | CAF GOLD | 47988.15 | 98327.62 | 50339.47 | ||
| Administrator Pension | -1579.52 } | TOTAL CHANGE | 466.84 | ||||
| Ministerial Pension | -9412.21 } | F | |||||
| Administrator Salary | -8072.99 } | FUNDS CHANGE (pg 2) | -4,300.78 | ||||
| Ministerial Stipend | -22844.88 } | -47870.71 | -50871 | ACCOUNTS | CHANGE | 4767.62 | |
| TOTAL CHANGE | 466.84 | ||||||
| Bank Charges | -81.50 | -100 | |||||
| Financial Services | -201.00 | 0 | G | ||||
| AHAVA | -1500.00 | -1500 | |||||
| Baptist Home Mission | -6000.00 | -6000 | |||||
| Baptist World Mission | -5500.08 | -5500 | |||||
| Other Children's Ministry | -77.87 } | ||||||
| Sparks | -545.17 } | ||||||
| Sprout | -346.29 } | ||||||
| Children's Ministry | -793.97 } | -1763.30 | -4500 | H | |||
| Other Church Events | -21.43 } | ||||||
| Pantomime | -3586.56 } | ||||||
| Church Events | -677.03 } | -4285.02 | -3500 | ||||
| Compassion | -672.00 | -672 | |||||
| Hope & Kindness | -1500.00 | -1500 | |||||
| Literature & Advertising | -734.49 | -750 | |||||
| Meninadanca | -1500.00 | -1500 | TOTAL | ||||
| National Mission | -1500.00 | -1500 | EXPENDITURE | ||||
| NoviMost | -1500.00 | -1500 | -141855.59 | ||||
| TOTAL INCOME LESS EXPENDITURE | 4767.62 | -12071.00 |
| FUNDS | Start | Income | Expenses | End | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restricted Funds | |||||
| 1000 Days | 20969.86 | 20969.86 | |||
| Fellowship | 1002.79 | -186.00 | 816.79 | -186.00 | |
| Holding | 4024.28 | 1022.42 | -5222.90 J | -176.20 | -4200.48 |
| Little Wonders | 9445.46 | 816.32 | -632.36 | 9629.42 | 183.96 |
| Mission Visits | 1693.66 | 1693.66 | 0.00 | ||
| SBHS CU | 102.82 | -98.26 | 4.56 | -98.26 | |
| Unrestricted Funds | |||||
| Contingency Fund | 51672.00 | 51672.00 | 0.00 | ||
| TOTAL | -4300.78 | ||||
| General Fund (pg 1) | 49442.48 | 146623.21 | -141855.59 | 54210.10 | 4767.62 |
Notes to Accounts
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A Includes agreed annual rental of £5000 for Basement and £645 for other hire of the building to use for the Hub work.
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B Donations relates to "small" donations which are not attributable to individuals and are therefore eligible for "gift aid on small donations".
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C External Speaker fees are higher than budgeted owing to a period of sabbatical leave by the minister not known at time of budgeting.
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D We are now back to hiring our copier as well as paying for service which includes copies.
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E Heat (Gas), Light (Electricity) and Water (incl Sewage) were budgeted together up to and including 2022 so the amount was split arbitarily.
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F The ministerial pension was considerably less than budgeted because contributions for the closed Defined Benefit Scheme dropped in August saving the church £374.35 per month.
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G This fee is mainly paying for our independent check of accounts, £200, and £1 is a setup check on our new card reader machines.
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H The "Other" category for Children's Work and Church Events has been introduced to help budget specific amounts to related lines from 2023.
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J The Holding Account has ended with a negative balance both because the church was owed a little money discovered in checks, now repaid, and it is likely not quite enough was placed from "General" in 2021. This is not a significant problem and should be resolved in 2023.
Formal Pensions Statement
The Church is a participating employer in the Baptist Pension Scheme (“the Scheme”), which is a separate legal entity administered by the Pension Trustee (Baptist Pension Trust Limited). The assets of the Scheme are held separately from those of the Employer and the other participating employers. The Scheme, previously known as the Baptist Ministers’ Pension Fund, started in 1925, but was closed to future accrual of defined benefits on 31 December 2011. Prior to this date the main benefit provided through the Defined Benefit (DB) Plan was a pension of one eightieth of final minimum pensionable income for each year of pensionable service together with additional pension in respect of premiums paid on Pensionable Income in excess of Minimum Pensionable Income. Since 1 January 2012, benefits have been provided through a Defined Contribution (DC) Plan. A formal valuation of the DB Plan at 31 December 2019 by a professionally qualified Actuary used the Projected Unit Method. At the valuation date the market value of the DB Plan assets was £298 million, whilst the level of assets needed to pay benefits was £316m, giving a deficit of £18m (equivalent to a past service funding level of 94%). The Church and the other participating employers in the DB Plan are collectively responsible for funding this deficit. The next actuarial valuation of the DB Plan within the Scheme is due to take place not later than as at 31 December 2022.
On 30th June 2022 the Baptist Pension Scheme signed an agreement with the insurance company Just Group (“Just”) to secure DB Plan members’ pension benefits. Just are now providing financial backing for all pensions provided through the Scheme’s DB Plan and following this transaction, the Scheme no longer has a shortfall. An updated Recovery plan was then signed in August 2022 under which recovery contributions from each participating employer in the DB Plan reduced to £1 per month from August 2022.
BROMSGROVE BAPTIST CHURCH
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT CHARITY NUMBER 1154922 PERIOD OF ACCOUNTS 1 January 2022 to 31 DEC EMBER 2022
Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner
The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charity's Act 2011 (the Charity's Act) and that an independent examination is needed
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examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charity's Act
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to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission (under section 145 [5] {b} of the Charity Act) and
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to state whether particular matters have come to my attention
Basis of independent examiners statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a 'true and fair' view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiner's statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention
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(1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in, any material respect, the requirements:
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to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act.
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to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the Charities Act have not been met ; or
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(2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding
of the accounts to be reached.
Signed
K R Moore
Date
18[th] September 2023
Keith Roger Moore
KLM Accounts
Independent Examiner
15 Shenstone Road
Great Barr Birmingham B43 5LW