## **Wheatley Community Church** Registered Charity 1163593 ## **Trustees’ Annual Report** ## **1[st] January 2024 to 31[st] December 2024** ## **Charitable Objective** **To advance the Christian religion for the benefit of the public in accordance with the statement of faith found in the schedule to our constitution.** ## **Vision Statement** We believe we are being called by God to be a welcoming, accessible, diverse and nurturing church. Shaped by His word, we respond to His lordship, His love and to His call by seeking to be – - A community that is journeying, evolving and learning together with the Bible central to our teaching and our values. (Romans 12v16) - A praying church, a place of significant fellowship and trust where individuals are encouraged and supported to grow and develop spiritually in their walk with God. (Acts 2v42) - An all-age church, welcoming and catering for children, young people and adults alike, sharing our lives informally through the week as well as through our organised meetings. (Romans 12vv9-13) - A contemporary, lively and enthusiastic church, guided and equipped by the Holy Spirit and passionate about our faith and God’s love for all people. (John 3v16) - A community devoted to the love and worship of the God who first loved us – Father, Son and Holy Spirit (John 4 v 24) - A church given to loving service, seeking to bring hope and practical support to those around us. (Galatians 6v10) - A church committed to sharing our faith and inspiring others to discover the transforming love of Jesus. (Matthew 28vv18-20) - A church concerned for the world we live in, seeking to bring God’s justice, mercy and compassion. (Isaiah 1 v 17). ## **Activities** - Holding services of worship, prayer and teaching - Celebration of religious festivals - Pastoral support through one-to-one and small group meetings - Producing and sourcing materials to enlighten others about the basis of the Christian faith - Children & Youth Work/Education - Training programmes – young people & adults - Community projects/development 1 ## **Achievements & performance** For information on the Charity’s achievements and performance please visit the following site: https://www.wheatleycommunitychurch.org ## **Summary of Achievements and Performance** - Weekly services - Fortnightly small Bible study group meetings - Monthly prayer meetings - Quarterly discussion forums - Quarterly members’ meetings - Community meals and social events - Youth Groups (weekly) - Women’s events Some of these activities are run in partnership with others of like mind in our community. ## **Morning Services** There is some variety in our Sunday meetings, but most of them include the following key elements: - **Singing** - normally 4 or 5 songs over the course of the service. Words are put up on a screen, and the congregation are welcome to join in, or not to sing as preferred. - **Prayer** - for local, national and international needs, as well as time to bring our own prayers to God. Most people will sit or stand, but people are welcome to kneel if preferred. - **A talk** - someone will give a talk for 20-40 minutes on a passage or topic from the Bible. - **Fellowship** - after the service, there is opportunity for refreshments and fellowship with other members of the church family and guests. - **Children’s Sunday school** – children and youth have their own programme run by members of the church community who are DBS checked. Our youth stay in the main service on appropriate occasions. Our style of meeting is quite informal and children are encouraged to join in with the singing as they feel comfortable. About 30 minutes into the service, the children and young people go to separate groups and have a mix of age-appropriate activities and discussions. ## **Public benefit** All Wheatley Community Church activities are designed to be accessible to all who take part. Children and youth activities adhere to Wheatley Community Church's safeguarding policy and are supervised by experienced adults. Children and young people’s activities aim to help them to develop spiritually and morally in line with the Christian faith in order that may better understand the bible and God’s love for them. All community events aim to build social capital, to the benefit of all. Our activities are designed to reinforce the meaning that the Christian faith gives to our members’ lives and the way in which it contributes to their spiritual well-being. It helps to develop their spirituality (including strengthening their relationship with God) as well as providing a moral or ethical framework to live by. This moral or ethical framework offers benefits to wider society, as well as individual comfort, hope and a sense of purpose. 2 ## **Church leadership** Wheatley Community Church (WCC) is led by a Leadership Team (LT), each of whom is initially elected by the membership, whose responsibilities include – - Spiritual and pastoral oversight of the church as a whole - Teaching programme coordination - Oversight of corporate worship - Pastoral care & Small group coordination - WCC support of Mission work beyond Wheatley, in all its forms - Strategic and visionary planning Members of the LT must agree to the Church’s statement of faith (What We Believe) and exhibit the characteristics of leaders outlined in 1 Tim. 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. They will have relevant experience in church life and organisation and a heart for service to the Wheatley Community - for pastoral care, seeing people compassionately as individuals, and for mission and outreach. The WCC Pastor is accountable within the Leadership Team and to the charity Trustees (see below). ## **Governance** The Charity is governed by a constitution and founded as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). New trustees are appointed by the trustee body. We are an independent church with a leadership group drawn from people who have been active in the village and involved in ministry in other churches. Our position as an unaffiliated independent church was subject to a review, which was concluded in April 2024. We are members of Wheatley Area Churches and the Evangelical Alliance. ## **Charity’s principal address** ## **128 Church Road** **Wheatley Oxford OX33 1LU** ## **WCC Charity Trustees** Wheatley Community Church is a registered Charity. As such, matters of legal and financial compliance are managed by a board of Trustees. WCC Trustees must agree to the Church’s statement of faith (What We Believe). They should also have skills and experience relevant to the oversight of church organisation and/or charity governance. Wheatley Community Church Annual Return 2024 3 This board is made up as follows – - Up to two representatives of the WCC LT. - The Church Treasurer. - Other church members with relevant experience or expertise, through nomination by members and with appointment by the Trustee body. - The Chair of Trustees will not be a member of the LT and is proposed and elected by the other trustees from within their number. The Trustees met 5 times during 2024. Four of these were to cover the normal wide range of business, with our Pastor, Al, present to contribute (and take minutes). Al did not attend the fourth meeting as it was to discuss and agree the staff pay increase and a sabbatical policy, of which we were then expecting Al to be the main beneficiary. We cover a series of standing items at each meeting. These include safeguarding, finance, health and safety, risk and GDPR and the agenda for forthcoming members’ meetings. As far as possible individual trustees keep an eye on particular areas of responsibility. There have not been any significant issues of concern relating to health and safety, safeguarding or data breaches. ## **The Trustees would like to pay tribute to Pastor Al for all he did during the year, to our other employees (Brandan, Caroline and Priscilla) and the many volunteers who give so much of their time and gifts for the service of God at Wheatley Community Church.** ## **Trustees serving during all or part of period** - Jill Ewbank (to March 2024) - Wendy Taylor Hill (treasurer) - Angela Smith - Mark Humphriss (Chair of Trustees) - Joel Carras (to February 2024) - Helen Mendis (from June 2024) ## **We have the following policies in place** - Health & Safety - Safeguarding - Finance - Risk register - Terms & Conditions (staff) - Data protection - Church handbook We have the following guidance in place: - Conflict of interest - Training record Wheatley Community Church Annual Return 2024 4 ## **Financial review:** By breaking even in 2023, we were able to increase our investment in some ministries in 2024. This particularly benefitted our Mission Giving, local outreach activities and a small increase in our staff salaries. Although Wheatley Community Church’s cash position decreased by almost £8,000 during 2024, we continue to hold 6 months of reserves with unrestricted funds at year end of £66,345. Restricted Funds held on behalf of Pulse and Fusion, 2 youth outreaches in Wheatley amounted to £3,884. Our giving to mission continues to be a major focus of our expenditure and in 2024 represented 21% of our total payments, supporting ISTL Theological College and a Pastors Refreshment Course both in Albania; New Dawn School in the township of Huruma Nairobi, Kenya; Christians Against Poverty a UK ministry advising those in our area with financial difficulties; Oxfordshire Schools Chaplaincy supporting religious education in local schools; and a number of 1-off projects. The outlay of £1500 for a children’s Holiday Cub in August was covered by the Fusion Youth & Community Fund. A Church Weekend Away in October 2024 was 90% funded by those who attended. Payments outweigh receipts by about £1,000 per month - this is currently covered by reserves and we intend to appeal to the church family for an increase in giving for 2026 All areas of Ministry finished the year under budget with most planned expenditure fulfilled. ## **Financial Report/Independent Examination** _See following pages._ ## Declaration: The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees report above. Signed on behalf of the Charity's trustees. Mark Humphriss, Chair of Trustees Wheatley Community Church Annual Return 2024 5 ||**Charity Name**
**Wheatley Community Church**|**Charity Name**
**Wheatley Community Church**|**Charity Name**
**Wheatley Community Church**|**No (if any)**
**1163593**|**No (if any)**
**1163593**|**No (if any)**
**1163593**|**CC16a**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| ||**For the period**
**from**|Period start date
01/01/2024|**To**||Period end date
31/12/2024||| ||||||||| |**Section A Receipts and payments**|||||||| |**A1 Receipts**|**Unrestricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**76,888**
**19,830**
**13,549**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**

**110,267**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**110,267**
**73,587**
**25,785**
**5,668**
**2,239**
**14,124**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**121,403**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**121,403**
**- 11,136**
**2,612**
**74,868**
**66,344**|**Restricted**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**271**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**271**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**271**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**879**
**193**
**-**
**-**
**1,072**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**1,072**
**- 801**
**- 2,612**
**7,296**
**3,883**|**Endowment**
**funds**
**to the nearest £**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**||**Total funds**
**to the nearest £**
**76,888**
**19,830**
**13,549**
**271**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**110,538**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**110,538**
**73,587**
**25,785**
**5,668**
**2,239**
**14,124**
**879**
**193**
**-**
**-**
**122,475**
**-**
**-**
**-**
**122,475**
**- 11,937**||**Last year**
**to the nearest £**| |Donations|**76,888**||||||**80,769**| |Gift Aid|**19,830**||||||**18,565**| |Other|**13,549**||||||**4,160**| |Pulse|**-**||||||**590**| |Fusion|**-**||||||**160**| ||**-**||||||**-**| ||**-**||||||**-**| ||**-**||||||**-**| |**_Sub total_**_(Gross income for_
_AR)_|
**110,267**||||||**104,244**| ||||||||| |**A2 Asset and investment sales,**
**(see table).**|||||||| ||**-**||||||| ||**-**||||||**-**| |~~**_Sub total_**~~|**-**||||||**-**| |**_Total receipts_**
**A3 Payments**|||||||| ||||||||**104,244**| ||||||||| |
Staff|**73,587**||||||**69,233**| |Mission Giving|**25,785**||||||**20,840**| |Church Services/Meetings|**5,668**||||||**6,371**| |Local Outreach|**2,239**||||||**-**| |Other|**14,124**||||||**7,210**| |Pulse|**-**||||||**445**| |Fusion|**-**||||||**251**| ||**-**||||||**-**| ||**-**||||||**-**| |**_Sub total_ **|**121,403**||||||**104,350**| ||||||||| |**A4 Asset and investment**
**purchases, (see table)**|||||||| ||**-**||||||| ||**-**||||||| |**_Sub total_ **|**-**||||||**-**| |**_Total payments_**
**_Net of receipts/(payments)_**
**A5 Transfers between funds**
**A6 Cash funds last year end**
**_Cash funds this year end_**|||||||| ||||||||**104,350**| ||||||||| ||**- 11,136**|**- 801**|**-**||**- 11,937**||**- 106**| ||**2,612**|**- 2,612**|**-**||**-**||**-**| ||**74,868**|**7,296**|**-**||**82,164**||**82,270**| ||**66,344**|**3,883**|**-**||**70,227**||**82,164**| CCXX R1 accounts (SS) 12/08/2025 1 6 Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period ¢at8gorfe5 Detsits B1 C85h funds 112J J17 42 662 funds Details 06tailS Details charity's own use BS LI?￿litIeS Date of 1%08Q025 ## **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** _Section A Independent Examiner’s Report_ **Report to the trustees/** Charity Name **members of** Wheatley Community Church **On accounts for the year** 31/12/2024 **Charity no** 1163593 **ended (if any) Set out on pages** I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/12/2024 - **Responsibilities and basis of** As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of the **report** accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts 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. Independent examiner's I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come statement to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or - the accounts do not accord with the accounting records I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. **Date:** 04/08/2025 **Signed: Name:** Rebecca Morris **Relevant professional** ACA **qualification(s) or body (if any): Address:** 89 Stanway Road, Headington, Oxford, OX3 8HY 8