## Rosedale Community Church Part of the Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion Annual Report for April 2021 – March 2022, presented at the AGM on 10[th] May 2022 Rosedale Community Church (Rosedale) became a charity on 19[th] October 2016. This is the fifth annual report. ## **Aims and Objectives** Rosedale’s mission statement is: Rosedale Community Church, is a Christ centred community dedicated to impacting Cheshunt, our nation and beyond with the love of God in the power of the Holy Spirit. ## We are committed to: - providing Christian education and spiritual support to the congregation and the community. - providing pastoral care to the congregation and the community. - providing a venue for community groups. - supporting charities and mission both in the UK and overseas as we are able. ## **Coronavirus Pandemic** The past year has once again been partly conducted under the various restrictions and complications of the pandemic. We continued to follow all regulations carefully and then adjusted our activities as the various rules were lifted. ## **Christian Education and Spiritual Support** - We began the year with the weekly worship online, however we returned to the building (with restrictions) at the end of June. As the regulations eased, we followed suit and finally resumed full services, including the serving of refreshments, from the end of February 2022. - Bible studies, prayer meetings and home group courses have taken place by Zoom and in person. - The weekly Sunday School was re-established in September 2021. - Our youth group provision began in July 2021 with outdoor gatherings and a wonderful youth camp in August 2021. In the autumn we re-introduced some Sunday mornings in the Hut and monthly evening gatherings. - We were once again able to provide our very popular and wonderful Nativity workshop in December 2021. ## **Pastoral Care** Sheila Woods continues as our named lead for pastoral care although the duties are shared among the members. During lockdown, each member of the leadership team was been responsible for staying in touch with a number of households from the congregation. This was mainly accomplished by phone, Zoom and visits to the doorstep. We also provided virtual coffee mornings through Zoom. Since the easing of restrictions, the pastoral care has once again been able to be in person, with visits and hospitality offered. However, there are a few individuals and households who are at high risk and so we continue to stay in touch mainly via phone. ## **Community Engagement** In April 2020 The Broxbourne Coronavirus Community Partnership was formed with Rosedale Community Church as one of the initial members. We continue to engage with them and be part of the recovery for our local area. Following the refurbishment and the reopening of our building, community groups began to return to use the hall. These have included: - The One YMCA Family Centre. 1 - Senior Fitness Class run by Stevenage Football Club. - CGL - supporting recovering addicts. - HertsMind Dementia Support. - Tiny Talk - Baby Signing. - Hearts for Herts craft café. In addition, we have provided the following groups open to all in the community: - Young at Heart - for seniors. - Parent & Toddler group. - Walks for Wellbeing We had hoped to offer free household budgeting courses utilising the resources of Christians Against Poverty. But despite extensive advertising and offering several different formats, there have been no clients. When the local primary school re-opened to visitors in September 2021, Bethany Green was once again invited to take KS1 & KS2 assemblies. One of our fellowship members, Adam Barrett, has made a significant contribution to the local community during the pandemic. He helped establish the local Food Pantry, trained to become one of our walk leaders, is a Parent & Toddler group volunteer, along with helping his neighbours with shopping and providing volunteer support for CGL. We nominated him for a Borough award and celebrated with him when he won his category in March 2022. ## **Charity and Mission Support** - At Christmas we provided three food hampers to individuals in need. - In July, Esther Green did a sponsored walk of 50 miles of the Pennine Way to raise funds for the Sierra Leone Mission. - In September we sent 60 shoe bags, containing gifts and essentials, to Sierra Leone. - We continue to be a partner church with _Open Doors_ and support children through _Compassion_ . - We collect grocery items to donate those in need either directly or through the local Food Bank. Financial donations have been given to: - The Connexion Mission Fund - Sierra Leone Mission - Compassion UK - Open Doors - Peace Cottage, Hoddesdon - Samaritans Purse - emergency medical care in Ukraine. Esther and Bethany Green are members of the of the Sierra Leone Mission Committee and were hoping to re-visit the country in the summer of 2020. This was cancelled due to Covid-19, but it is hoped that they will be able to conduct a trip by the end of 2022. ## **Strategy** Once again, some of our specific plans and goals had to be adjusted due to the Coronavirus, however we did continue our threefold focus: - Encouraging encounter with the Lord through prayer. - Encouraging growth in discipleship through training and teaching. - Encouraging growth in our witness through outreach and evangelism. The prayer line continues to be a valued resource and participation which has increased this past year. Our sermon series through Lent 2022 focused on the Lords’ Prayer whilst our in person home group has studied _Mission Shaped Living_ by John McGinley. 2 ## **Church Family** The Coronavirus has been the cause of much suffering and although we haven’t lost any of our church fellowship members, many families have been affected and mourn. We have supported them all. We have also provided help and aid as needed during household lockdowns. We have also had the wonderful opportunity to rejoice with those who are celebrating, and have held thanksgiving and dedication services for two infants. To our great sadness, some of our previous members of fellowship have still not returned to worship with us. However, we several new families and individuals have joined us and there is a significant feeling of growth, optimism and hope in our congregation. ## **Ecumenical Relationships** Rosedale is part of the local _Churches Together_ group. During the year we joined _Wormley Free Church_ for an online service, and we have developed strong links with _Life Church,_ Cuffley, with Bethany providing an online sermon, our youth fellowshipping together and our men joining _Life Church_ for their first men’s prayer breakfast. In June 2021 we were delighted to host a prayer walk and outdoor service with a church from Edmonton, London. Bethany has continued to foster links with the pastors of Enfield district churches. Bethany Green is a member of the Board of Trustees of _Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexions_ providing a valuable link with our covering denomination. ## **Building & Garden Refurbishment** The Council began the long-awaited refurbishment on 1[st] March 2021. This was initially due to be completed on 23[rd] April, but delays meant that we finally were able to resume activities in the building at the end of June. The second stage of refurbishment was the landscaping of the garden which was concluded in February 2022. We are very grateful for the hard work of Vince and Lynn Sobczak who have been the project leaders for this welcome and exciting venture. The new Community Garden will be officially opened as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations on 3[rd] June 2022. ## **Health and Safety** During the various lockdown and Covid-19 restrictions, we carefully followed all required risk assessments and procedures. Following the refurbishment we updated our Health and Safety policy and continue to complete all the weekly/monthly/quarterly/annual checks. ## **General Data Protection Regulations** In compliance with the GDPR we maintain good practise and follow our policy with regard to the signed agreements from all our members regarding the use of their personal data. With the challenges of Coronavirus lockdown, others who wished to receive our weekly e-mails have been included and we use MailChimp which permits them to ‘unsubscribe’ as they choose. ## **Safeguarding** Rosedale is covered by the _Connexions_ membership to the advisory service _ThirtyOne:Eight_ and receives regular updates and news. All policies and procedures have been reviewed and updated where required. Safeguarding Training has been provided to our volunteers either through a Zoom webinar or in-person training. There was one safeguarding concern that was referred to the local social services. There have not been any that needed to be reported to the Charities Commission. ## **Financial Concerns** Like many charities the impact of the Coronavirus and lockdowns has been considerable. However, we praise God that our church congregation have been incredibly generous and we were able to access grants from: - The _Connexion_ to support Joel Allaby. 3 - The Borough of Broxbourne for a Coronavirus hardship grant towards our building rent. - The Locality Budget and the _All Churches Trust_ for our Community Garden. ## **Employment Issues** Bethany Green remains our full term, permanent employee. Joel Allaby joined in September 2021 as a paid part-time Leadership Intern whilst also completing postgraduate studies. In February 2022 it was decided to employ a building manager for four hours per week. The successful candidate began in April 2022. ## **Structure, governance and management** Rosedale Community Church (CIO) members are the leadership team of the church and elected by those in fellowship. In September 2021 we were delighted to be joined by Leadership Intern Joel Allaby. He is funded by a grant from the Connexion and will be with us until August 2023. Becky Green, also joined the leadership team in September 2021 for a period of 12 months until her move to University. We updated our financial policy in February 2022. The leadership team currently includes: - Simon Climer (Chair of the Trustees, Employee Administrator) - Sheila Woods (Trustee and Pastoral Care leader) - Bethany Green (Pastor, Trustee, Safeguarding Co-ordinator, Health & Safety Co-ordinator, Treasurer & Book Keeping) - Titi Adenuga - Dorrett Taylor - Lynn Sobczak (Minutes Secretary) - Joel Allaby (Leadership Intern) - Becky Green (Worship & Youth) The members of Rosedale (CIO) have met regularly over the past year either in person or via Zoom and minutes have been taken. The trustees hold meetings as necessary, and in accordance with our constitution also make decisions by e- mail and phone. We would like to appoint at least one, possibly two, new trustees. 4 ## Receipts and Payments Accounts Rosedale Community Church ## Charity Number: 1169778 For the period from 01/04/2021 to 31/03/2022 ## Section A : Receipts and Payments |Section A : Receipts and Payments||||| |---|---|---|---|---| |Receipts|Unrestricted Funds|Restricted Funds|Total Funds|Last Year| |Offering& Donations|£4,069.00||£4,069.00|
£9,190.00| |Gift Aid Offerings|£16,290.00|£250.00|£16,540.00|
£16,734.00| |Gift Aid Small Donations|£2,515.00|£288.00|
£2,803.00|
£1,281.00| |Grants||£13,715.00|
£13,715.00|
£5,000.00| |Rent|£8,029.00||£8,029.00|
£12,010.00| |SundyReceipts|£4,545.00||£4,545.00|
£4,671.00| |Youngat Heart||£1,730.00|
£1,730.00|
£0.00| |Parent & Toddler||£762.00|£762.00|
£68.00| |Total Receipts|£35,448.00|£16,745.00|
£52,193.00|
£48,954.00| |||||| |Payments|Unrestricted Funds|Restricted Funds|Total Funds|Last Year| |Minister & Manse|£27,065.00||£27,065.00|
£23,155.00| |Leadership Intern|£1,325.00|£4,445.00|£5,770.00|
£0.00| |Hall RunningCosts|£9,462.00|£5,000.00|£14,462.00|
£11,072.00| |Church Overheads|£1,732.00||£1,732.00|
£1,292.00| |Mission|£2,909.00|£538.00|£3,447.00|
£1,535.00| |Garden||£177.00|£177.00|
£0.00| |Hertfordshire Community||£0.00|£0.00|
£4,800.00| |Youngat Heart||£798.00|£798.00|
£270.00| |Parent & Toddler||£292.00|£292.00|
£40.00| |Discipleship & Evangelism|£365.00||£365.00|
£78.00| |Children & Youth|£163.00||£163.00|
£150.00| |LocalityBudget||£145.00|£145.00|
£0.00| |Total Payments|£43,021.00|£11,395.00|£54,416.00|
£42,392.00| |||||| |Net of Receipts/(Payments)|-£7,573.00|£5,350.00|-£2,223.00|£6,562.00| |Transfer between funds|||£400.00|
£0.00| |Cash funds lastyear end|£9,732.00|£1,737.00||£11,469.00| |Cash funds thisyear end|£2,559.00|£6,687.00|£9,246.00|| ## Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at 31st March 2021 ||Unrestricted Funds|Restricted Funds| |---|---|---| |Cash Funds:||| |Cash|£0.00|£0.00| |Bank CommunityAccount|£2,561.00|£6,685.00| |Bank Business Premium Account|£294.40|| |Total cash funds
(agree balance with receipts &
payments accounts)|£2,855.40|£6,685.00| |||| |Other monetaryassets||| |Investment assets||| |Assets retained for church use||| |Liabilities||| Signed by one trustee on behalf of all the trustees **----- Start of picture text -----**
Signature
Print Name Bethany B Green
Date of approval 15.10.2022
The below form part of this statement
**----- End of picture text -----**
## Notes to Financial Statements at 31st March 2022 Note 1: Account Policies: The Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 on the Receipts and Payments basis. Note 2: Restricted Funds: |Fund Name|Balance at 31/03/2020|Receipts in year|Payments in year|Transfers
Restricted to
Unrestricted|Balance at
31/3/2021| |---|---|---|---|---|---| |Youngat Heart|£1,396.00|
£1,730.00|
£798.00|
£200.00|
£2,128.00| |Mission(SLM Trip)|£113.00|
£0.00|
£0.00||£113.00| |Mission(other)|£0.00|
£538.00|
£538.00||£0.00| |Leadership Intern|£0.00|
£5,715.00|
£4,445.00||£1,270.00| |LocalityGrant|£200.00|
£0.00|
£145.00||£55.00| |Garden|£0.00|
£3,000.00|
£177.00||£2,823.00| |Parent & Toddler|£28.00|£762.00|£294.00|£200.00|£296.00| |Totals|£1,737.00|
£11,745.00|
£6,397.00|
£400.00|
£6,685.00| |Agree Balance with Receipts and Payments Accounts - Yes|||||| Independent ELqmiD¢r's Report ti) the Irusteesl membcrs of Roscdale C.iTrmmuDitv Churcb I re￿rt on the accO￿ts for th¢ finan¢iul %'Lwr 1° April 21121 to J l Lb M4qrrh 20a? . Ro*pective responsiblliti¢3 vf tTu>ict4 and tXAminer Thc chdrils s ITii41¢tri Liin_%ider an 41udit is not r¥ciiiir('.cl fi)r thi% l'ear (urkkr qection 43(2 ot thc Clkvitics ALI Ily).? (Ihe ALI)) and that an ind¢p¢nd¢nl ¥.x#min#lii)n 1% neeiled. It is m!, rL'syon¥ibililv Ii). ex￿)71ne thc account5 (utK]cr s¥klivn 4.1 iifdie Ail}. Iv 1vllu￿ ihe pr4)cedutts laid in thc LtLllLTal l)irection% gilen b). thc C.'harip' Comtnission (unclLY ¥l?ilii¢lFI. 4nc W￿cr￿￿?nding vl" Ik 4lLL(TrUIILs t tjoll Should iK drdvjm ift oftler to enablc a pro Tcach¢ Signaiure= D41¢: ,' incLnt So￿.2￿k ch￿'hUn1 altham Cro LN¥ I)AR