BARNSTAPLE BAPTIST CHURCH FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024 Barnsta leBa tist Church- Trustees Annual Re ort Year Endin st 31 December 2024 The trustees present their annual report and financial statements for the year ending 31st December 2024. References and administrative details Reglstered Address & Charity Number Boutport Street, Barnstaple, Devon, EX31 ITD Charity Registration Number 1173772 Trustees Reverend Peter Spencer Price - Minister Rhian Wyn Hogan - Secretary (Yearly appointment) Hilary Kathryn Boone (retired April 2022 and re-elerted April 2022) Vivien Moore {retired March 2023 re-elected March 2023) Christopher Perry-Treasurer (Yearly appointment) Property Trustees The Baptist Union Corporation Limited, Baptist House, 129 Broadway, Didcot, Oxfordshire OXII 8RT Tel: 01235 517700 Email: buc.corp@baptist.org.uk Bankers Baptist Union Corporation Limited Registered office Baptist House, PO Box 44, 129 Broadway, Didcot, OXII 8RT Also Lloyds Bank plc. Registered OfFice: 25 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7HN. Registered in England and Wales No. 2065 Independent Examiner Catherine Williams FCA DChA Westcotts (SW} LLP 47 Boutport Street, Barnstaple, Devon, EX31 ISQ Email: cat.willimas thomaswestcott.co.uk BackRround information Barnstaple Baptist Church started life in 1814. The first Church building was finished in 1823, with a Church in Boutport Street opening for worship in February 1833. This building proved too small, the site was cleared, with the current building opening in July 1861. th On 7 June 2017 the Church approved a new Constitution, based upon a template for a "Charitable Incorporated Organisation" (CIO} produced by the Baptist Union, working in conjunction with the Charity Commission. Application was made to the Charity Commission to register a new charity and this was completed on Ilth July 2017. The CIO started its activities under the governance of the new Constitution as st from l January 2018. Structure Governance and Mana2ement The Charity is governed by an Approved Governing Document - the Constitution. Membership of the Church is open to those who have professed faith in Jesus Christ so by applying for membership they have indicated acceptance of our beliets, a willingness to participate in the activities of the Church, have shown their agreement and willingne55 to abide by our governing constitution. Individuals seeking membership who have not been baptised in the manner described in the Baptist Union's Declaration of Principle may be welcomed as Associate Members at the discretion of the Church Members, Meeting, based on the applicant's public profession of faith, this enables them to participate in Church Members, Meetings, but with restricted voting rights, as determined from time to time by the Church Member's Meeting. A Church Member's Meeting normally takes place bi-monthly, other than August and December and has responsibility for the overall policy of the Church's activities. In accordance with the Constitution, the members appoint Trustees, who together with the Minister, Church Secretary and Treasurer (who are also appointed by the Members annually), are responsible for the day to day running of the Church's work and witness, the financial and legal aspects of the charity. All members are encouraged to take an appropriate part in the spiritual and practical tasks involved in the furtherance of the Church's charitable objective. Relevant matters may be submitted to the Church Meeting by the Trustees for guidance, or may be raised by members in Church Meeting for further consideration by the Trustees. Though the Constitution permits decisions to be made at Church meeting5 by appropriate majorities, the Church seeks to work by consensus wherever possible. Normal Ob"ective5 and Activities The principal purpose of the charity is the advancement of the Christian faith according to the principles of the Baptist denomination, to include the advancement of education and such other general charitable purposes, in such parts of the United Kingdom and the world, as the Church shall determine. In order to achieve the principal objective which 15 set out above, the Church provides a variety of activities both to its membership and to the community generally. The aim is to show the love of Jesus Christ in both word and deed and to bring people into a closer relationship with Him a5 living Lord. Central to the work and witness of the Church is the provision of regular public services of Christian worship. These services take place each Sunday at 10.30 a.m. with servlces at other times, which are advertised on the Church Notice Board and the church website which also contains our ETHOS statement. The Church seeks to be a friendly and welcoming community and anybody is free to attend any of these services. Achievements and Performance Our numbers of regular attendees though not large is stable with visitors often boosting the numbers for Sunday worship. 2024 ha5 been a challenging year in all forms of measure, our aging congregation have like all other walks found the big cost of living increases hard, especially in the cost of food, gas, and electricity, to help we offer every Wednesday morning after our Bible study to which everyone is welcome, a time of fellowship with board games chat etc. with plenty of beverages and snacks in a warm and welcoming environment. Our web site has the weekly sermon available on line for those shut in or would just like to listen again, it also contains a great deal of information about the Church and its activitie5, into a search engine put "Barnstaple Baptist Church" and follow the links. Secretar¢s ReDOrt Membershi and attendance. Church Membership at the end of 2024 is 26. Sunday worship attendance was on average 35 persons. Although all our permanent members and attenders are adult, we had I child attend intermittently throughout the year. 2 Children attended Sunday school throughout the months of July and August. They were staying with their grandmother who is a member of the church. Pastors Re ort on Church activities: 2023. I/ OVERVIEW. Normal Church activities continued throughout 2024, albeit a number of health challenges affecting several of our church family. However, even though most of the church are in their 60,s, 70,s and 80,s , most continue to come on Sundays and are faithful in both their commitment of time and finance. 21 WHAT WE WERE ABLETO DO: a) Happily, we were able to hold a Harvest Festival Service and donated a substantial amount of non- perishable food to The Freedom Centre, Barnstaple- an outreach center caring for the needs of the most vulnerable in the area. We also donate any surplus food to the charity next door, 124, who care for young people who have been excluded from home or school. b) We were also able to send £300 to the Baptist Missionary Society for the Pakistani Appeal and £500 to the Baptist Home mission, and Baptist missionary society for their general work fund c) Our annual shoe-box appeal enabled us to send many toys and resource5 to needy children in the third world via the Samaritans Purse appeal. d) Our annual Suffering Church Sunday appeal meant that we could send fund5 to persecuted Christians in countries on the Open Doors World Watch List via the Open Doors UK Charity. e) Locally, we hold a drop-in coffee morning each Wednesday offering a "warm space" for anyone to come in for a chat and free refreshments and have supported Age Concern by letting at a nominal rent our fellowship facilities on most days of the week for a range of social activities. f) Happily, we have continued to build on the 2023 growth in financial giving on the part of the church members, and the gradual increase in hiring income, the pressure to sell the building has abated. In the meantime, the leadership and members remain upbeat about our future as a gathered group as we continue to endeavor to be a beacon of light, hope and compassion to our local community. Treasurers re ort In 2024 there has been some very sacrificial giving meaning I can report that we are ahead of our set budget, there has a150 been renewed support for the hire of our hall and premiss which has allowed us to carry out some very necessary roof repairs and to internal damage making good from water ingress as well as other overdue general maintenance issues highlighted in our last quinquennial report we also needed to tackle the making good of falling ceiling in the Ministers office which had become dangerous and liable to collapse. We have managed to contain our gas and electricity costs by careful management throughout the year and turning the gas heating off for the summer period, I have been able to renew our contract with SSE energy on favourable terms for a fixed three-year term The church has been fortunate to welcome Age Concern North Devon on a regular weekly basis, which has proved beneficial to both parties, with some interest from their clientele to Church activities in particular the Wednesday coffee morning which we expect to become more popular over the winter months. Our rooms and hall letting programme has been very successful with now only Friday evenings being available to hire and the Fellowship room in use every day most weeks. The hall and part of the upstairs were used by the youth group Allstarz for 3 days in August as a rehearsal venue for their musical in a week" In all 70 children and 10 adults attended each day. We have also continued to support Barnstaple's "Theaterfest" happening in June each year. We now feel secure and settled in our building although old and continuing to need repair it would appear we are where GOD wants us. We have had to change banks as CAF bank has no high street representation in a bank with a counter service so. we have opened a savings account with the Baptist Corporation Bank also a current account with Lloyd's bank, we have cancelled our account with CAF Bank as they could not provide u5 With the service we needed. Finaly it 15 proposed that we sell our present manse in 2025. a large old building needing modernising, to purchase a more up to date property suitable as a manse suitable for the ministry envisaged for Barnstaple Baptist Church in the future. Financial Review - Accounts for the ear endin 31st December 2024 The accounts have been prepared on a 'receipts and payment5, basis and in accordance with Section 133 Charities Act 2011. The previous period comparative figures represent activities from the 1st January 2023 to 31st December 2023. The Church raises the funds it needs to carry on Its activities from within Its own membership and congregation and the letting out of rooms and hall on a regular basis to local community activities including dance, Judo, games, majorettes, and the Age Concern charity. The most significant expense relates to Revd. Peter Price as Pastor of the Church, who leads and co- ordlnate the Church's activities including the Sunday Servlces, provlding pastoral care for the congregation and others in the community, hi5 objective is to equip and encourage the membership in their life of Christian witness, and service. The Church expressed its part in the life of the wider Church by making grants to local, national, and international Christian organisations and societies with Christian aims and objectives compatible with the Church's own charitable purpose. The Church is heavily dependent on its membership working as volunteers in all aspects of the Church's activities, many of which run with little or no impact on the Church's expenditure, but neverthele5S contribute Substantially to the achievement of the Church'5 objectives, however with 3 very aging congregatioll we are f inding it increasingly difficult to be physically involved in anything but the dailylweekly activities of running the Church. The financial result5 for the year are Set out In the accompanying financial statements. The Bapt15t Union Pension Fund has cancelled our Deferred Debt Arrangement IDDA) along with many other Churches affected, and our liability underthe "Cessation Event" has been written off as from the end of October 2024. Reserves Pollcy The Trustees have established a Reserves Policy to enable the Church to function effectively and meet its obligations in the event of a decllne in our income ora major cost. Having considered the relevant risks of changes in Income and expenditure, the Trustees have determined that the appropriate level of reserves is in the range £7,500 to £12,500, representing up to three month's forward expendlture. Signed on behalf of the Trustees C G Perry TreasurerJTrustee Barnstaple Baptist Church Independent examlner's report to the Trustees on the unaudlted financlal statemenls of Barnstaple Baptist Church. I report to the Trustees on my examination of the accounts of Barnstaple Baptist Church for the year ended 31 December 2024. Respectlve responsibllltles of Deacons and Members and independent examiner As the charitys Trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 ('the Act,). I report in respect of my examination of Barnstaple Baptist Church's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent examiner's statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: accounting records were not kept in respect of Barnstaple Baptist Church as required by section 130 of the Act; or the accounts do not accord with those records. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examinations to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Catherine Willlams FCA DChA Independent examlner Westcotts (SW) LLP 47 Boutport Street Barnstaple Devon EX311SQ 31 SL 2oZ S BARNSTAPLE BAPTIST CHURCH - CHARITABLE INCORPORATED ORGANISATION - CHARITY NUMBER 1173772 FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER Z024 GENERAL FUND RECEIPTS & PAYMENTS ACCOUNT YEAR ENDING YEAR ENDING 31112120Z3 3V1212024 Receipts Note Offerlngs Income tax recovered on glfts Donations and other income Hlre and contributlons for use of premlses Raised for other causes Rent received from manse Grants re￿iVed Interest recelved Totsl Receipts 33,168.09 7,207.40 466.93 5,896.00 1,164.00 10,200.C() 35,261.60 8,718.94 160.00 7,673.50 400.00 10,625. 1,883.76 3.02 58,102.42 64,725.82 Payment5 Mlni5try Upkeep of church premlses Mlssion Admlnlstration & general expenditure 37,824,71 15,179.50 2,937.00 3,795.95 38,632.00 25.285.37 1,735,24 3,809.37 Total Payments 59.737.16 69.461.98 Net receipts for the period 1',634.74 4.736.16 Transfers from General Fund to Building Fund Transfers fromlto General Fund fromlto Community Evangellst Fund 5,000.00 3,504.50 Balance- at start of period 8,965.95 12A31.21 Balance- as at end of perlod 12,331.21 11,099.55 The bolonce on the Geneml Fund represent5 unrestrirtedfvnds to be usedby the chorlty Infulfilling Its charitobk oblectfve5. BARNSTAPLE BAPTIST CHURCH - CHARITABLE INCORPORATED ORGANISATION - CHARITY NUMBER 1173772 FINANCIALSTATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER 2024 BUILDING FUND RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT YEAR ENDING YEAR ENDING Receipts 3111212023 3V1212024 Envelopes and other Income Legacy VAT recovered Total Receipts Payments General repairs & improvemErit5 Total Payment5 Net receipts for the period Transfers to Building Fund from General Fund Balance- at stsrt of period 439.50 439.50 Balance- as at end of perlod 439.50 439.so The bolonce on the Building Fund repre5entsfvnds to be used bythe chorltyfvr bulldlng projerts. TransAe￿froffl the Genernl Fund a￿ unrestrlrtedfunds thot the Trvstees hove set csldefor thls purpose. Envelopes and other income are restrfrtedAunds whlch have been glven to the chorltyfvr the Bulldlng Fund. A Leg