## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2021** ## **Aims and purposes** The aim of the church (as set out in its Constitution) is to bring glory to God and advance the Christian faith by strengthening the personal faith and witness of its members and by communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ to other people in the locality and beyond. In fulfilling this aim the Church, in prayerful submission to the authority of Scripture, endeavours to: - pursue the worship of God, centred on the preaching and teaching of the Bible; - cultivate a caring fellowship that encourages and builds up its members; - share the good news of Jesus through local outreach and by supporting missionary work further afield; and - demonstrate the love of God by meeting needs in the local community. ## **Objectives and activities** The trustees have considered the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion. The church is committed to encouraging and enabling as many people as possible to worship with us and become part of the church family in order to grow in the Christian faith. The church is also committed to providing pastoral care and support for its members and others with whom it has connections. In addition the church seeks to undertake appropriate mission and outreach work in its locality and to support through prayer and finance mission and outreach work in other parts of the world. The church operates from a building in Newhall Street, Princes End, Tipton. In order to facilitate the work of the church through its various activities, to create a welcoming environment and to honour God, the church seeks to maintain the fabric of the building to an appropriate standard. ## **Achievements and performance** _Worship, Bible study and Prayer_ At the beginning of the year worship services were affected by the second national lockdown because of Covid 19 which lasted from December 2020 to the end of March 2021. Whilst churches were allowed to meet (with restrictions), attendance at services was impacted as many chose not to attend. Equipment was purchased and installed allowing services to be live-streamed and uploaded onto YouTube. After the initial teething problems which might be expected the live-streaming has worked well and provides access to services for those who are housebound, those who are unable to attend on a particular Sunday for whatever reason and those who might find the church via the internet. It is perhaps unlikely we would have begun using this technology other than because of Covid (or at least not so quickly) and this is a particular blessing which has come out of a very difficult time, making public worship available to a wider audience. Virtual weekly prayer meetings via Zoom were held throughout the year with attendances of between ten and twenty people each week. Midweek meetings (Grace Groups) also continued via Zoom throughout all of 2021 providing an opportunity for Bible study and prayer. Numbers continued to be good with up to thirty people participating across 5/6 different groups. During 2021 one member died, five members resigned (four of whom transferred to other churches), two members were transferred to the Honorary Members list and one new member joined the church through baptism. At the end of 2021 membership stood at 48. The church continued to employ a full-time Staff Elder who worked alongside the other Elders in leading and developing the work of the church. ## _Church building_ Minor repairs and maintenance were undertaken across the year. A structural defect with the front wall of the church building was identified, professional advice was obtained from structural engineers as regards necessary remedial works and an order was placed with a building contractor after a tender exercise. However, the work had not been undertaken by the end of the year. ## _Children and Youth work_ Church youth work was also significantly affected by the pandemic. The church Boys’ Brigade company with Girls’ Association (3[rd] West Bromwich) met virtually online from January until April, resuming face to face activities after the Easter holidays and then meeting face to face for the remainder of the year. ## _Stay and Play_ Our stay and play group for pre-school children and their carers was closed from January until early June when it re-opened for the final few weeks of the Summer term. It functioned as usual from September to December. ## _Older people_ During the course of the year it was decided that the church’s weekly meeting (Friday Club) for elderly and otherwise housebound ladies, which had been closed since March 2020 because of Covid-19, would not re-open. The church leadership began working on plans for a different and wider ministry for older people which it was hoped would begin around Easter 2022. ## _Community involvement_ As a result of the pandemic the various community events in which the church would usually be involved were all cancelled. ## **Financial Review** Total income for the year amounted to £73,356. Expenditure totalled £62,559 giving a surplus for the year of £10,797. Offerings amounted to £50,890 compared to £47,932 in 2020. The Gift Aid tax reclaim was £8,831, a decrease of around £3,000 over the previous year. ## **Reserves Policy** The Elders seek to maintain reserves in the order of one year’s expenditure to allow for the loss of offertory income for whatever reason, to provide for major repair or maintenance costs and to ensure sufficient funds to maintain and potentially expand pastoral ministry. At 31 December 2020 unrestricted reserves stood at £129,000. ## **Volunteers** The church expresses its thanks to the many volunteers who assist with all aspects of the church’s work and without whom many church activities simply would not take place. ## **Structure, governance and management** The church is a charitable incorporated organisation (registered charity number 1162960) governed by a Constitution registered with the Charity Commission on 3 August 2015. Church members elect Elders who are responsible for the day to day management of the church and as such are charity trustees. Responsibility for certain key decisions such as calling a pastor or approving major work on the church building rests with the whole church membership in general meeting. The Elders who served during the year were:- Mr T Ambrose Mr G Coghlan Mr P Watts (Secretary) Mr B Turner ## **Administrative information** The church is situated at Newhall Street, Princes End, Tipton, West Midlands, DY4 9HL. The correspondence address is 3 Waring Close, Princes End, Tipton, West Midlands, DY4 9NW. ## **P WATTS Secretary** CHARITY COMMISSION Annual Accounts for the period P￿10d slail d￿e To Perlod end dale chailly Name &QlkCE eo I chaiityNo (Ilèny> Seitlon A Statement of financial a(tivities IlTrr¢stdrted funds Restfl Investment5 Cash at b•nk and in hanil 05 (Note 10) 8Q6 08 0,￿72 1.I'3 i£q Tolol ¢uiKent US5etS 80 Cieditois: amouTrts falllng due withln one yèar (Note 17) BID Jvet curKenl 05sets/(IlobllliiTes) B11 rotol OSSL>ts less cviienr1lo￿.1itieS 612 Ciédlt0I5.' amounts lalllng due after one year Provlslons tor Ilablllties and charges (Note 11) 013 Net Ossels B15 Funds ol the Chaflty UH¥e5tflcted fuFtds Deslllnaled luftd5 Total uttrestrlcted lufid5 Restilited inconie fullds tndowment lunds (Notp 13) DIB (Note 12) B19 T¢>tol funds o?0 71,34 Signed by one or IWO tiuslees behall ol 311 the Ifuslees 5ignaluFE Date ol appFoval 2812122 2Alzlzz CC39(a) March 2012 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independei)t Exainiiier's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Go.oc L Co ri r7 Ll?U T 7 Y Ckl(Jr/c£i Charlty no (If any) On accounts forthe year ended 315 { Dic Joa I 116agÉ0 Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the abo charity {'th8 Trust") for Ihe year ended Responslbllltles and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparatlon basls of rèport of the accounts In accordance wlth requirements of the Charitiès Act 2011 ("the Act"). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounls carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. I have completed my examination. l ¢onflmi that no material matters have come to my attention {olher than that disclosed below ') in connection with the examlnation whlch gives me Gause to belleve that in, any mat8rlal respect.. accounting records were not kept in accordance wlth sectlon 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord wilh the accounting records Independent examiner's statement I have no concerns and have come across no oth8r matters In connectlon with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order lo enable proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Please delete IILa words in the brackets if they do nor apply. 1014- Slgned: Date: Name: i ur£.LiL- ri Rolovant professlonal quallflcatlon{s) or body {If any): Address: 110 r nfthiri LJh /L g r l?iDLPJ)A i)Y&orJL IER October 2018