Secretary Report 2025
We’re so grateful to God for his faithfulness for another blessed year at Caerwent. Membership numbers continue to rise as more people enter into a covenantal relationship with the church.
In June we gladly welcomed Chris and Alistair to serve as Elders of the Chapel. These men have served at the chapel for many years and it was a joy for the members to recognise their calling as Elders.
In July we gave thanks for Ken Foot who stood down in his role as Elder. We’re so grateful for his wisdom and faithful service in this role.
During the year Rosemary Esbester, Dorothy Fuller and Brenda Watt all went to be with the Lord. We’re thankful for all of them and the various ways they served at the Chapel and their faithfulness in prayer for the church
The challenge of space continues to be a significant one. Most weeks we are having to put out extra rows of seats for the new faces we are seeing.
We are pressing forward with plans for a new building being led by our building committee: Chris Esbester, Alistair Forsyth and Donna Witchard. A successful percolation test has been carried out at the site identified for the building. We’re now in the stage of engaging with the local authority with an intent to seek planning permission. Even at these early stages we’re so thankful for the Lord’s leading and guiding as we seek his will for this massive project in the life of the church. Every few months we meet together on a Saturday morning to have breakfast together and to pray specifically for this project.
The weekly meetings apart from Sunday and Wednesday are:
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Little Fishes, Wednesday morning: This gathering has seen some really good numbers during the year with so many commenting that this is most friendly group for toddlers in the area and recommending it to others.
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Coffee Morning & Sew it’s Thursday, Thursday morning: While the numbers have not been very high this is a useful space for people to meet and hold conversations away from the busyness of a Sunday morning.
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Village Café, Friday morning: This continues to be a real lifeline to many in the village. Most Friday’s we are seeing between 60 – 80 people come for breakfast and/or cake. We pray that there would be meaningful connections made with the chapel
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Youth, Friday evening: This meeting has grown over the year culminating in an BBQ event at Tom and Hilary’s house. The young people went through the Youth version of Christianity Explored which was really well received.
The two main community outreach events are the Holiday Club in July and the Wreath Making evening for ladies in November. Both were really well attended and appreciated by the community and a real sense that when the Chapel put on an event it is done well.
We’re grateful to all the workers who give of them time and energy to run these events, our prayer is that eternal fruit would come from the many seeds that have been sown this past year.
We continue to be an active part of AECW. In June we hosted the quarterly cluster prayer meeting. Although the numbers were down it’s always good to meet with the other cluster churches and pray with and for one another.
We continue to support our 5 core missionary organisations prayerfully and financially. We also have associations with many more who represent their missions on a Wednesday evening. This year we have heard from: Fiona Earnest (AEM), James McKee (WEC), Tirzah Jones (UBM) and Peter Aird (SGA)
It has been a joy to welcome various visiting preachers during the year including those from our cluster churches and some from further afield. We were blessed by the ministries of Kristian Dimond (Wellington) & Gareth Davies (Cardiff) for our anniversary services, Steffan Jones (Pontardawe), Jonathan Thomas (Abergavenny) and Paul Daniel (Crickhowell)
We’ve also been blessed by men from our church preaching both on a Sunday and leading the Wednesday evening prayer meeting. It’s wonderful to be a church that is able to send so many preachers to local churches to preach God’s word, to be an encouragement to these often small congregations and develop their own preaching gifts.
Finally, it’s a delight to welcome Evan and Meg Millership to the chapel. Evan will be trainee pastor with us for two years. This will be a great help to Gwydion as more and more people attend church with various needs. Evan will be spending time with Gwydion in visitation, sermon preparation and generally getting to know the demands of a Pastoral ministry. In parallel with this he will also be studying in Union School of Theology. Please support him in this role and pray for them as they settle with us.
Andrew Close (Secretary)
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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Sèetion A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of 6¥hJ&ELI eéL sAé2risf P£ On accounts for the year ended Charity no (if any) I i&g¥2S Set out on pages I report lo the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity I'the Trust") for the ye8r ended Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the reqLJirements of the Charities Act 2011 1.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 14515)Ib) of the Act. I have completed my examination. I confirrll that no material matters have come lo my attention I in connection with the examination which gives me cause lo believe that in, any material respect.. accounting records w8re not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do nol accord with the accounting records Independent examinerfs statement I have no concern5 and have come across no other mallers in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable proper understanding of the accciunts lo be reached. Please delete the words in th8 brackets if they do not apply. Signed: Date: 202 Name.. Relevant professional qualificationlsl or body Address: IJPI IER October 2018
Section B Disclosure Only Complete if the examiner needs lo highlight matters of concern Isee CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts.. directions and guidance for examiners). Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER October 2018