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2023-03-31-accounts

ChristChurch Tilehurst Trustee Annual Report & Financial Statements April 1[st] 2022 – March 31[st] 2023

Registered Charity Number: 1169691

CONTENTS

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS .........................................................................3 STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE, MANAGEMENT ........................................................................3 AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES .......................................................................................4 Aims ............................................................................................................................................. 4 Objectives .................................................................................................................................... 4 ACHEIVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE ...................................................................................5 Sunday Worship Services ............................................................................................................. 5 Preaching Ministries. ...............................................................................................................................5 Special Services: ......................................................................................................................................6 Bible Study Workshop. ............................................................................................................................6 Sunday School & Creche. .........................................................................................................................6 Prayer and Praise. ...................................................................................................................................6 Pastoral Care & Fellowship ........................................................................................................... 6 Growth Groups........................................................................................................................................6 Tea & Tots. ..............................................................................................................................................6 Coffee Morning. ......................................................................................................................................7 Fellowship Lunches. ................................................................................................................................7 Prayer ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Community engagement, Evangelism and Mission ...................................................................... 7 Assemblies. .............................................................................................................................................7 Good News for Tilehurst Magazine. .........................................................................................................8 Torch. .....................................................................................................................................................8 School Fayres. .........................................................................................................................................9 Community Carol Singing.........................................................................................................................9 ‘Christianity Explored’ & ‘321 Course’. .....................................................................................................9 Pro-Life Work. .........................................................................................................................................9 Missions & Aid. ..................................................................................................................................... 10 Volunteers .................................................................................................................................. 10 FINANCIAL REVIEW .............................................................................................................10 DECLARATION .....................................................................................................................11

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REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Charity Name ChristChurch Tilehurst Registered Charity Number 1169691 Principal Office 26 Brooksby Road Tilehurst Reading RG31 6LY

Charity Trustees

Daniel Dwelly (Elder/Pastor) Graham Newton (Elder from June 2022) James Muldoon

Peter Ward (Elder until March 2023)

STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE, MANAGEMENT

ChristChurch Tilehurst is constituted as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and governed by a constitution with trustees elected by charity members in accordance with our Church Handbook.

The Church Handbook also requires the elders of the Church must be trustees, though trustees do not have to be elders. Mr James Muldoon is the only serving trustee who is not also an elder. This has given greater accountability for the charity and the flexibility to ensure CCT continues to operate with the required number of trustees with proper expertise.

The elders have met on a regular basis through this year to provide oversight of the church activities and discuss both pastoral care and ministry business in light of our purpose, objectives and aims.

In June 2022, Graham Newton was appointed an elder of ChristChurch Tilehurst. His contributions have already been significant and a tremendous benefit to the leadership team and the church. Pastor Dan Dwelly, in connection with his tenth year serving this congregation, was sent on a three-month Sabbatical (August-October 2022) for rest and refreshment, which we are pleased to report was most profitable.

This year began with a membership of 45 individuals, growing to 47 but then ended with 45 after two members sadly deceased. The members have met quarterly to discuss church business, assess the finances and vote on church matters.

In addition, ChristChurch Tilehurst is a member of the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches (FIEC, fiec.org.uk), a network organisation supporting independent churches across the UK. The FIEC has no governing authority or responsibility for the charity but offers a

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supporting role, facilitating partnerships with other churches in the network, running training and conferences and providing advice.

AIMS, OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES

AIMS

The aims and objectives or ChristChurch Tilehurst (CCT) are set out in the charity’s governing constitution which states that the purposes of the church are;

OBJECTIVES

CCT is committed to its objective of furthering the Christian faith in Tilehurst, Reading and beyond. When planning activities, the elders and trustees have considered the Commission’s guidance on public benefit and have sought to enable anyone in our reach to live out the Christian faith within the local church community, or have the opportunity to explore Christianity for themselves.

Some of the particular activities we engage in to achieve our objectives include:

The church also pro-actively engages with the wider community at a number of events through the year, including community fayres or by celebrating key festivals and cultural events (Christmas, Easter, Harvest, All-Hallows Eve: ‘Light Parties’, Remembrance Sunday).

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ACHEIVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

SUNDAY WORSHIP SERVICES

The focal point of church life is our weekly Sunday morning services hosted at Westwood Farm Junior School at 10.30am. The services aim to provide an engaging time of worship through contemporary and traditional music, prayers, Bible readings, the Lord’s Supper, baptisms and sermons. These services have been open to all and provide a good opportunity for the general public to observe and participate in church life or connect with our Christian community.

We have had the privilege of worshipping together as a mixed group of people from different backgrounds, nationalities and economic status. It has been our aim to ensure a very warm welcome to everyone attending our services, especially visitors and newcomers and whether they are Christian believers or not.

Preaching Ministries. The Bible is a primary element to our church life and remains a central component of our worship and practice. Through the Bible, we believe Jesus speaks to us, encouraging and challenging us to live our lives for him. In this year, the preaching and Bible ministry has covered:

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Special Services: As well as these sermon series, our Sunday gatherings also included:

Bible Study Workshop. An interactive Bible Study working through 2 Peter.

Sunday School & Creche. We are especially glad to welcome many young families to ChristChurch each Sunday and serve our children through a Sunday School ministry. Through songs, Bible Memory Verses, stories and crafts, we have been able to teach the children about the Christian faith and deepen their knowledge of the Bible. We have been extremely grateful to Hannah Martin, Jenny Taylor, Penny Runnalls and Alex Clayton who have been leading this ministry and the wider team of volunteer teachers and helpers. A creche was also relaunched in November, catering for the very youngest in the congregation.

Prayer and Praise. CCT is blessed with a large and gifted team of musicians so we were pleased to host Prayer & Praise about once a month on a Sunday evening. These were times of informal prayer and sung worship and allowed an alternative style of worship to our Sunday morning services.

PASTORAL CARE & FELLOWSHIP

The elders and pastor have continued to provide pastoral care for the congregation through visitation and counselling. It has also been encouraging to see how church members have continued to care and support one another too, showing Christ-like love and compassion.

Growth Groups. These are smaller groups in the church meeting in-person on a bi-weekly basis for prayer, support, encouragement, and Bible teaching. We are especially grateful for the team of volunteer leaders who have led these groups. These proved to be a great encouragement to the members and where we have seen growth in Christian maturity.

Tea & Tots. In Autumn 2022, our parent and toddler group (originally called ‘Stay and Play’) was reintroduce following the pandemic. These are hosted at congregant’s homes on a Thursday morning and provide a relaxed opportunity for parents to meet up and their children to play together. Through this ministry it has been encouraging to see parents practically and prayerfully supporting each other.

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Coffee mornings Fellowship Lunch

Coffee Morning. About once a term, Tea and Tots would also host a coffee morning when the wider church family were invited to socialise together. Church is an intergenerational family and it was great to provide this opportunity for a mix of people to be together.

Fellowship Lunches. On seven occasions, usually following a morning service, congregants were invited to bring a packed lunch and eat together. Many provided extra food to cater for any visitors with us. Sharing meals together also gave us time to build and strengthen relationships, especially with new or visiting people.

PRAYER

Enabling opportunity for corporate prayer has remained a key priority for the elders and a vital part of church life. We’ve hosted a Sunday evening prayer meeting once a month but towards the end of 2022 we were able to reintroduce our Saturday morning prayer meeting instead. We also hosted a ‘Weekend of Prayer’ in January 2023.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, EVANGELISM AND MISSION

Sharing the message of Jesus Christ has remained a key priority for the church during this year and we have been encouraged by some of the opportunities God has given us. Perhaps our primary evangelistic endeavour this year has continued to be our Sunday morning services where we often receive visitors, some of whom are not Christians, and when we seek to faithfully proclaim the good news about life in Jesus every week.

As well as these services, we can highlight some other key opportunities:

Assemblies. Our Pastor Dan has been invited into Westwood Farm School on a few occasions, including Easter, Harvest and Christmas. These have been great opportunities to meet staff and pupils and share a Christian message in the school. This contact sometimes leads to other opportunities when Dan has met pupils and their families outside the school setting, strengthening our positive Christian presence in the community.

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Good News for Tilehurst Magazine. We have been very glad to continue producing another Easter edition of our community magazine. This was a high quality, professionally produced 20-page magazine. The content included articles from the pastor and personal stories from our church members, connecting their life experiences and faith in relatable ways. There were activities for children, recipes, games and information on resources and organisations offering help, such as Torch Help Hub and Christians Against Poverty (CAP). Each magazine was delivered by our members to around 4000 homes in our area. The magazine has been well received by the community and our members have been encouraged by the opportunities it has given them to build connections with their neighbours. We have also seen new people attending our church after having received a copy.

Torch. Over this year, it has been really good to join up with the Torch Help Hub in Reading. This was an initiative that grew out of the pandemic when a small network of churches rallied together with the aim of meeting practical needs of the most vulnerable in the town. Their work has continued to expand and grow even after the pandemic. A small team from our church have become Torch volunteers and have begun serving a number of clients in our area. Torch has provided us with some brilliant opportunities for reaching out to people we could not have otherwise met. Torch has a strong and clear Christian ethos and have earned a good reputation with local authorities, social prescribers and other organisations. A few of our Torch clients have now started attending church regularly and exploring the Christian faith for themselves. The members also voted to regularly support Torch financially.

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School BBQ
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School Fayres. It has been our privilege to support Westwood Farm School at their annual fundraising fayres by running their BBQ. We have really enjoyed getting to meet lots of people in our community through these events but also in being able to serve as part of a team together.

Community Carol Singing. has become a tradition now for some of our church to gather at a nearby parade of shops to sing carols at Christmas. We run some craft activities for children and provide some mince-pies partnership with the local Co-Op store. Members of the public have also joined in with the singing too!

‘Christianity Explored’ & ‘321 Course’. One of our Torch clients and some other new people coming to our church have responded well to our invitation to investigate Christianity through these two courses. Through video presentations, Bible studies and set questions, these courses provide participants with an interactive and informal opportunity to discover the good news about Jesus for themselves.

Pro-Life Work. Pastor Dan Dwelly has been active among a local network of Christian prolife supporters who have conducted some educational outreach in the Reading town centre. Using poster boards, displays and literature, the team seeks to initiate conversations with the general public about abortion with a view to changing opinion and sharing the good news about Jesus. There are often great conversations, when some have changed their mind or been challenged to think more about this topic. Others have taken information for postabortion support having suffered trauma or know others who have suffered in the wake of

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Community Carols
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an abortion. Though some oppose this work, we are often struck by the many who express support and appreciation for our efforts too.

Missions & Aid. We have also continued to financially support and pray for a number of overseas missionaries in India, Italy, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. We have continued to pray and support aid and outreach in the Ukraine after the outbreak of war there. We introduced a weekly donation box for Norcot Pantry which is a project of FAITH ReadiFood Food Banks and hosted by Norcot Mission Church.

VOLUNTEERS

The elders and trustees would like to thank all our volunteers who work incredibly hard to make CCT a welcoming and supportive Christian community. We believe the church is like a body, with different members providing different gifts and abilities and it has been fantastic to see them serving each other with these gifts. We would especially like to thank Mrs Hannah Martin, our Safeguarding Lead, and Mr Louie Over, our Church Treasurer. Also, Jan Broady and Keith Munday, our Health and Safety team.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The church is supported through the generous voluntary giving of its members and congregants.

The trustees have implemented a policy of maintaining a balance of unrestricted funds greater than or equal to approximately three months of operating costs for the charity, wherever possible. This is designed to support the ongoing operation of the charity in the event of fluctuations in donation income, upon which the charity relies. Three months is considered sufficient time for the trustees to identify an enduring decline in giving and take action to control costs or generate income as required.

As at 31 March 2023 the charity’s general unrestricted funds stood at £69,894 .

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DECLARATION This annual report has been prepared bythe trustees and approved bythem. Si8ned on behalf of the Trustees: SIGNED: FULL NAME: Daniel Dwelly Graham Newton posrrioN: Eldernrustee Eldernrustee iorh January 2024 th 10 January 2024 DATE: li

I CKARfTY COMMISs￿N IOR (N6LANO ANO WALES Recelpts and payments aw)unts C16a F•rth• p¥trJd Section A Recei ts and payments Totslfw i4￿y••f A1 4¢75Y 49J19 $14 14• 11• 4*Js •47 17 7s,nJ 75 Section B Statem•nt of assets and liabilities at the end of the period

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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Til•lAnt 1189691 Receipts and payments accounts CC16a Forth• ￿tIod fmm 0110412022 31103r2023 Section A Receipts and payments R•strfGtgd funds Endowmont fund8 Total fund¥ Luty•ar A1 Recol ts 44rn ¥7S5 Gmd knBI 1&22e Sub total(Grossincome forAR) Sthtotsi 49Pf9 16.229 A3Pa monts 3•1 5T4 StAtf thst5 Adftln Fe8B lo C&7y GuBsl Speak Groups Co￿p￿anCe 975 Youth GftyJp 5B1 EvÈnls 241 oth9r 6¢7 S￿t0￿1 A4A•8•t and InbY•tmont purtha888,1800 tabhl SS208 55308 48.880 5,889 A6 CaBh funds la¥t yollrend Cash fwKts th&5 Y￿r￿ 75,783 69M94 24 75.BU7 58.4S0 75.8Q7 69.918 Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period Categori•& Details fvnds funtls ounts FSI

Totalc•shfwxts 69.194 24 lunds lund8 Details B2 Oth•r momtsry assets Details B4 Ass•ts reta1￿￿1•rth• eharlty's use Ilhn Details BS U•blllt Sb3n¥d by one orl¥iJ blJStees on b8halF of abtha busteos t)at8 ofat¥mv io/oi ahamN•¥*on P2 8¢xx>unts ISSI 10ffj1r2024

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