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2023-03-31-accounts

Great Harwood Christian Fellowship Annual Report 2023

– (Covering Financial Year April 2022 March 2023)

Charity Registration Number: 1174952

Date of Annual General Meeting : Thursday 11[th] May 2023

Aim and Purposes

The aim and purposes of the Church are:

Objectives and Activities

GHCF promotes the Christian faith by providing a weekly programme of events which are open to everyone and provided free of charge. In particular, we try and support people in their Christian faith by providing:

In order to provide these services, it is important that we maintain our property on commercial Road, Great Harwood in accordance with all appropriate guidelines.

Pastor’s Report May 2023

Introduction

I preached my first official sermon on the 17th April 2022 and it seems like that was just yesterday. The year has pasted so quickly.

But God has been good to us as a family of believers here in Great Harwood. God is answering our prayer in many ways but also in the addition of new believers and members to our church.

1. New Members

We thank God that he is adding to our fellowship’s membership.

David Smith

David started coming to the fellowship not long after I started here. He is the result of the Lord blessing the labour of the outreach table on a Thursday. For years David walked past the table until he stopped one day and had a conversation with Colin Kay.

Ena van Staden

My mum has come with us from GBC Lancaster. She has been a member there until now. She has committed to become a member and serve the church here at GHCF. I am amazed at her spiritual growth and thank God for her diligence in studying the scriptures.

David Talbot

I am really thankful for David who has been serving this fellowship so faithfully for a long time. He has decided to become a member of the church. This will mean that we can utilise David’s gifts even more in the future.

2. Past Achievements

2.1. Sunday evening bible study through the Psalms. After COVID there was no evening service so the Elders thought it appropriate to start a bible study going through the Psalms on Sunday evenings.

This was done with several outcomes in mind:

The Tuesday evening prayer meetings which started at 7.30pm in the summer, was well attended. In the winter the attendance dropped due to the dark nights. The prayer starting time was also changed to 7pm. After the attendance stabilised at approx 15 people, it started to grow to almost 30 attendees.

The elders want to keep encouraging members and non-members to attend the prayer meeting. It is imperative that the whole church pray together. This is how we grow in unity and we better understand the heart of the church. It is the engine of the church. It drives the church. Do we want a 1.2 engine or a V12 super charged engine?

1 Thess 5:16-18

16 Rejoice always;

17 pray without ceasing;

18 in everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

2.3. Wednesday afternoon Equipping the Saints doctrinal studies. This started nine weeks ago, we started with a Wednesday afternoon bible study called “Equipping the Saints.” (Eph 4:12). This bible study looks at the doctrines that the church believes in.

The purpose of this bible study is two-fold.

• We look at scriptures the underpin the doctrines we believe such as the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of the Inerrancy and Infallibility of scripture etc… This will enable brothers and sisters to defend the faith (Jude 3) and to defend their theological position from scripture.

• It is also an opportunity to hold up our theological position against scripture and to see if it holds up against the truth of scripture.

3. Deacons

1 Tim 3:13 “For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.”

There are a few things I would like to say about deacons in the church. Firstly we distinguish between standing in the office of a deacon and the function of a deacon.

Any office by its definition in the church no matter how small comes with authority. Paul is clear when he writes in 1 Tim 2:12 “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man…”

Phoebe -Rom 16:1 Now I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea; 2 that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a benefactor

of many, and of myself as well.”

Letters of introduction to strangers were common in Bible times. The mention of Phoebe in this way means that she was probably either the bearer of the letter or accompanied those who took it to Rome. Paul’s reference to Phoebe as “our sister” indicates that she was a member of the Christian church and his sister in Christ. Her designation as “deacon or servant” (m and f: one who serves as a deacon, with responsibility to care for the needs of believers—‘deacon, one who helps the believers.’) could mean that she was someone who was known to serve the church faithfully (the Greek diakonos means “servant”). Phoebe was a trusted member of the body of believers.

Lydia was a worshiper of God (Acts 16:14), and, when Paul found her, she was honouring the Sabbath, which means she was likely a Jew. The account of Lydia’s conversion says that she was gathered with a group of other women on the Sabbath at a place of prayer near the river outside of Philippi. The fact that Paul, Timothy, Luke, and Silas came to the riverside to speak to the women most likely indicates there were not enough Jewish men in Philippi to open a synagogue there.

The leaders of the New Testament church are the elders (1 Tim 5:17; 1 Peter 5:1-5) who are assisted by the deacons who carry out the practical duties as required in the church.

We are all told to serve each other, to do good to each other, to bear each other’s burdens to serve the body of Christ (Matt 20:26-28; John 13:12-14; Gal 5:13-14; Gal 6:2; Gal 6:10). Hebrews 10:24 says that we are to stir up one another to love and good works. Surely we should be thankful for men and woman who are willing to serve the church? Should we not encourage brothers and sisters to serve the body of Christ?

So, we look back over this past year at the two deacons who were appointed last year.

Paul

Paul has been a deacon now for a year. We are seeing Paul grow into this role and we pray that he continues to serve the church diligently. In the future Paul will take over from Rob as the mission coordinator for GHCF.

Michael

Michael has become a new father recently. We are thankful that the Lord has blessed both Michael and Alice with baby Grace. This will add to the responsibilities that Michael has as a deacon. Deut 6:1-2,7

6:1 “Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments, which Yahweh your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do it in the land where you are going over to possess it,

2 so that you and your son and your grandson might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I am commanding you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.

7 “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.

Michael has served diligently on the sound & media team over the last year. Michael is also along with David Talbot responsible for the church’s social media presence which will be increasing in the very near future. Colin

As a man who has been nominated as a deacon the scriptures say in 1 Tim 3:10 “And these men must also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons if they are beyond reproach.”

The words “first be tested” here in this text as indicated by the present tense of the verb speaks of an ongoing evaluation of all the deacons characters in the church.

1 Tim 3:2 makes the term “above reproach” clearer for us. It is a general heading to the qualifications for overseer or elder. This expression does not mean “without sin,” which would disqualify everyone except Jesus, but “above scandalous reproach.”

Galatians 5: 13-14 says it so beautifully

“13 For you were called to freedom, brothers; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in this: “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR AS YOURSELF.”

Paul’s overriding concern is that elders and deacons have a good standing among both Christians and non-Christians.

So, we do not expect Colin to be perfect this evening, nor do we seek to judge him by his past as this would disqualify any of us from serving in the church. But we have seen that Colin over the last 6 months has served the church more and more. Over the last 6 months I have spent a lot of time with Colin and Jayne. I have encouraged him and have rebuked him. I have learnt that a man’s true character is revealed when he is rebuked and Colin’s response was immediate repentance and he immediately addressed the issue. He was humble and non-argumentative. Colin freely submits to the eldership of this church as stated in Heb 13: 17 “Obey your leaders and submit to them…”

So, I ask you, to prayerfully and with love, kindness and grace to consider Colin as deacon for the church. I have the utmost faith that he will grow as the other deacons will grow in their service to this church and their relationship with God, as we should all do.

Colin Kay, retiring Deacon

Colin was married recently and has relocated to Southampton with his new wife. He goes with our blessings and grateful thanks for his enormous contribution to the life of the Fellowship over many years. He has exercised his many gifts, with particular strengths in assisting the Outreach Team and with general

maintenance work in and around the church building. We are happy that they will return to our Fellowship when they are back in the north visiting family and friends and we look forward to welcoming them.

4. Vision & Future Plans

4.1. Vision Last year, I lay a vision for the church to become a

  1. Visible church

2. Praying church

3. Serving church

We are growing into this vision. For the church to have an impact in its community it must be a visible church. The community must know that the church is present in the community. The church must be serving the community or else it will be branded as a church who is a church without action.

For the church to know how it should serve and respond to the community, it has to be a praying church. As a church we need to seek the guidance of our God to lead us in the direction we need to go but also how to reach out to our specific community. That is why it is so important for the whole church to come together in prayer on a Tuesday evening. To call out collectively to our God. This is an encouragement to the church when we pray together. It brings unity to another level.

Only then can we be effective in our serving of the community. This brings me to the plans of the church for the next year.

4.2. Future Plans

As a church we have an opportunity to reach out to our community as a church in a very effective way.

We pray daily for the Lord to open doors for us so that we can engage with unbelievers. We also know that many people don’t want to come into a church building as many find it intimidating and daunting. That makes inviting people to church challenging. Also, people have a lot of prejudices and preconceived ideas about Christians.

That can make reaching out to the community as Christians more challenging.

Many see the church just as a voice who tells them what they can and can’t do. But the church needs to become a church that is visible serving the community.

When I first came to Great Harwood I saw the Muslim’s across the road at the clock tower making a big issue of how they have helped a child with a wheel chair. The mother who was not a Muslim and was white was encouraging people to go to the mosque because they are “loving and caring” people.

Is the not what we should be doing?

How will the world know that we are His disciples?

John 13:32 “By this all will know that you are My disciples, [if you have love for one another].”

4.2.1. Community Outreach Projects

Rachel Van Staden:

Introduction

I’ve been asked to give a short presentation on church-led social action; what it is; how we can start. I’m going to touch on the biblical basis and motivation for church-led social action.

Then we’ll take a look at our community because we need a profound understanding of the community to help us identify what the needs are. I’ll talk about the Cinnamon Network (who they are and what they do and how they can support us) and then give a few examples of social action projects

that we could do here at GHCF.

Lastly, I’ll talk briefly about funding sources for social action projects. 4.2.1.1. Church-led social action?

Social action is all about increasing our effectiveness and impact in our local community. It’s about running a project (or several projects) where we meet a need in our community; we help people in our community in a practical way. Through a social action project, we will develop relationships with people outside church and through these relationships, we will have the opportunity to share the gospel.

4.2.1.2. What’s the biblical basis and motivation for church-led social action

Knowing this is important and it’s simple…because of Scripture. Scripture is the motivation for us as Christians to reach out to people in our community and to demonstrate Christ’s love to others through love, practical care and support.

Winning the lost for Christ is our mission! Great Harwood; Rishton and Clayton is our mission field! God seeks to save the lost and He uses ordinary men and women like us to win others for himself.

The concept of loving, caring and supporting others is rooted in the Old Testament law; in Exodus; Leviticus 19:9-10 and Deuteronomy 14:28-29 and 26:12. In the New Testament, the command throughout is to model our lives on Christ and to help those who have less. As a Social Worker, I find it fascinating that almost all modern social services have roots in the Christian church yet with the secular progression of our society, social work has now completely abandoned its Christian roots. This gives an opportunity for the church. We are in a unique position to respond to poverty and hunger, to family breakdown, to loneliness; to mental health issues and so on. Go through scriptures…

4.2.1.3. Having a profound understanding of our community helps us to understand the needs of the community.

• I started with the Geography of our community and looked at the Indices of Deprivation (2019)

Although this is sad to state and to realise - this will be to our advantage when applying for funding (I’ll talk more about this shortly).

• Civic - Looking at the civic side of our community.

It’s important to understand what other civic agencies, organisations and voluntary groups are already doing in the community. Understanding what areas are most stretched and where the gaps are to ensure that we compliment rather than compete with other good work.

We all know that statutory provision is most under-resourced and strained. Lancashire County Council is no different. friend SW; what is the social need? Family breakdown support (prevention) of). Hyndburn Borough Council have written a Local Economic Plan and a Corporate Strategy in which it says that Housing is their priority. Cllr - what is the social need? Families are isolated (partly due to technology).

From a website search there are clubs and societies here and they are mainly interest clubs (sport; hobby clubs etc). The Methodist church is prominent on the high street with their charity shop and they do

lunches every week (which is wonderful). Spoke with CVS - what is the greatest social need in Great Harwood; Clayton and Rishton - family support/loneliness/youth

• Looking at the Business side of our community - Lots of independent businesses here which is great especially because the larger businesses are more socially conscious of their community. Major supermarkets (Tesco; Morrisons and Aldi and the Coop) all have community champions (networking opportunities & fundraising opportunities)

• GHCF

Our asset is the church building - we have this room we can use for a group. Volunteers motivated by the love for Jesus who want to love and serve the Town.

Social action projects will be an income stream for our church (rent of this room; contribution to the energy bills - increased recently!)

4.2.1.4. Cinnamon Network - Christian charity

They want to make it as easy as possible for churches to set up and deliver social action projects in their communities.

Find effective social-action projects and help them develop so they can be replicated through churches across the country to help even more people. They have a list of recommended projects which offer best practice, tried and tested initiatives that churches can replicate easily and quickly.

4.3 Theology for Ministry

Starting on the 22nd of May 2023 the Theology for Ministry Group will gather together for the first time. The main goal of the meeting of this groups for is the creation of depth in theology not only with the male deacons but also to create depth in the church.

We also need to look to the future of the church and develop men who are grounded with a solid foundation in biblical theology that has been tested. This is the basis of a strong and lasting biblical church.

4.4 Social Media

As a church we recognise that a large portion of our culture now “live life” online. Therefore, it is relevant for the church to have a presence online on various platforms through which we as the church can preach the gospel. Both David and Michael are using their gifts to help create and post sermons and other information that proclaim Christ. It is also helpful to keep the church and the wider community informed of meetings and events at church. Conclusion

Our vision remains to be a visible, praying and serving church.

Through the Community Action Projects we aim to serve the community as the church of Jesus Christ.

Through Social Media, Community Action projects and Evangelism both personal and corporate we aim to be a visible church in Great Harwood and the surrounding area.

In training believers we are looking to the future of the church in that it will have future leaders.

In all of this, we are a praying church, only following where God the Father leads us through Jesus Christ His only begotten Son

Public Beneft Statement

When planning our activities for the year, the Trustees have considered the Commission’s guidance on public benefit and, in particular, the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion.

We aim to enable people to live out their faith as part of our community through worship and prayer; learning about the Gospel and developing their knowledge and trust in Jesus.

Provision of pastoral care and Missionary and Outreach work.

Structure, governance and management

Great Harwood Christian Fellowship is an Independent Church and a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. The Fellowship adopts the FIEC statement of faith. Its governing document (Constitution) and its Church Handbook for members, were approved at an Annual General Meeting of the membership on 9[th] May 2017

The Deacons meet on a monthly basis to discuss finance, administration and building maintenance matters relating to the running of the Fellowship. An Elder attends these meetings for communication purposes. The Elders meet with the Pastor on a monthly basis to discuss the Spiritual life of the Fellowship: direction of worship, teaching, Bible Study meetings, Outreach etc. The full board of Trustees (Elders and Deacons) meet together on 4 occasions during the year, as required by our constitution document.

Policy Documents

In addition to the Constitution Document, Great Harwood Christian Fellowship has the following policies in place to ensure the health, safety and protection of church members:

Fire, Health and Safety Management

Data Protection

Safeguarding Children and Vulnerable Adults

The church undertakes regular reviews of each of these policies and carries out audits and training as required by named individuals.

Administrative Information

The principal address of the charity is 91 St Huberts Road, Great Harwood BB6 7AF.

The Trustees are as follows:

Francois Van Staden – Pastor

Neil Collier – Elder

Justin Willis - Elder

Gil Ratcliffe, Deacon, Treasurer

Shirley Collier – Deacon, Secretary

Jennifer Blackmore – Deacon

Colin Kay – Deacon (Resigned 31.3.23 to relocated to Southampton) Paul Iddon – Deacon

Michael McCormick - Deacon

Policy on Reserves

The Fellowship holds a sum of money in a Reserve Account for use in exceptional circumstances. The current level of these funds (at 31[st] March 2023 is £17,985) The funds are not restricted or specifically designated for certain uses. The Trustees authorise any use of these funds when requested by the Treasurer.

Receipts and Payments - 2022 23

- 2021 22

Cash in bank 31.3.22
Cash in Reserve
account 31.3.22
(A)
Receipts
Donations
Bookstall
Church service
ofertories
Oferings via Bank
Other Income
Reserve Account
interest
Tithe income
(B)
Payments
Bookstall
Church maintenance
Church running costs
Donations to
Missions/Tithes
Other payments
Wages and expenses
Worship, SS, Mission
resources
(C)
(A plus B minus C =)		 £2,482
£18,152
£20,634
£274
£214
£7,306
£27,394
£6,984
£33
£3,794
£45,999
£174
£3,125
£8,789
£3,969
£0
£30,460
£1,299
£47,816
£18,817
*		 £2,874
£7,151
£10,02
5
2021-
22
£960
N/A
£12,43
3
£23,89
2
£600
£1
£4,560
£42,44
6
2021-
22
N/A
£2,189
£9,761
£4,466
£988
£13,30
4
£1,130
£31,83
8
£20,63
4

Restricted Funds

Hardship Fund 31.3.22
Income
Total
Payments
Remaining 31.3.23		 £287
£300
£587
£275
£312
Cash in bank 31.3.23
Cash in Reserve
account 31.3.23		 £832
+
£17,985
£18,817
*		 £312

Great Harwood Christian Fellowship Tithes 2022-23

Blackburn C.A.P.
Charlie Preece
Open Doors
Platform 67
Reach Across
Samaritan's Purse
SASRA
Scriptural Knowledge
Slavic Gospel Association
Uma Sharma (Nepal church)
United Beach Missions		 £750.00
£500.00
£200.00
£350.00
£150.00
£550.00
£150.00
£360.00
£150.00
£713.80
£95.00
£3,968.80

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