RICKMANSWORTH BAPTIST CHURCH ## Deacons' Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022 ## CONTENTS |Page|2-4|Deacons’ Report| |---|---|---| |Page|5|Table 1: Outline Summary of Fund Movements| |||Table 2: Statement of Financial Activities| |Page|6|Table 3: Statement of Assets and Liabilities| |Page|7-9|Notes to the Financial Statements| |Page|10|Independent Examiner's Report| |Page|11|Supplementary statement: Payments to Charity| Page 1 RICKMANSWORTH BAPTIST CHURCH ## Deacons' Report for the year ended 31 March 2022 The trustees present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022. ## Reference & Administrative details Registered Address: High Street, Rickmansworth, Herts, WD3 1EH. Charity Registration Number: 1175867 Trustees: The Revd G N Garland (Minister) Mr D C Langley, Secretary Mr K A Wall, Treasurer Mr D C Bass, Deacon Mrs S J Loader, Deacon (appointed 13 July 2022) Mr T W Wright, Deacon (appointed 13 July 2022) Mr C A Jacques, Deacon (resigned 21 July 2021) Property Trustees: The Baptist Union Corporation Limited Baptist House, 129 Broadway, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 8RT. Bankers: CAF Bank Ltd, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4JQ. National Westminster Bank Plc, 159 High Street, Rickmansworth, Herts, WD3 1RN. Independent Examiner: Mrs P Kavanagh Brown FCA, Woolbeding, Sherwood Road, Tideswell, Derbyshire, SK17 8HJ. ## Structure, Governance and Management The Charity is governed by an Approved Governing Document. Members of the Church are accepted in accordance with the Constitution which requires them to be or to have been publicly baptised on the profession of faith in Jesus Christ, or following other modes of baptism to renew their public profession of faith in Jesus Christ. The members’ meeting takes place three to four times per year and has responsibility for the overall policy of the Church. In accordance with the Constitution, the members appoint Deacons, who together with the Minister, Church Secretary and Treasurer (who are also appointed by the Members), are responsible for the day to day running of the Church’s work and witness, and 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 charitable objective. Relevant matters may be submitted to the Church meeting by the Deacons for guidance, or may be raised by members in Church meeting for further consideration by the Deacons. Though the Constitution permits decisions to be made at Church meetings by appropriate majorities, the Church seeks to work by consensus wherever possible. ## Objectives 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, community service 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 is set out above, the Church provides a variety of activities both to its membership and to the community generally. Its premises are also extensively used by community groups. 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 as living Lord. Page 2 RICKMANSWORTH BAPTIST CHURCH ## Deacons' Report for the year ended 31 March 2022 (continued) ## Objectives and Activities (continued) 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 am and the sanctuary is open for prayer and Bible study on Wednesday mornings. There is a Sunday school for children during the morning services. The Church seeks to be a friendly and welcoming community and anybody is free to attend its services. Several new members joined the Church during the year. The Church runs a prayer and discussion group on Saturday morning to promote the growth of faith and to support the members of the Church, who are unable to attend. As well as the opportunity for private prayer on Wednesday mornings, there have been Bible studies and lectures at other times. The Church hosts a Toddler Group which meets in the hall and lounge on Tuesday mornings, with the purpose of assisting the community and demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ. It holds a monthly charity coffee morning and supports a local food bank. The Church operates systems to ensure that all people working with children and vulnerable adults are appropriately vetted with regard to the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Church has read the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit, and is satisfied that the activities outlined above clearly demonstrate that the charity is providing a benefit to the public. ## Achievements and Performance The Church does not only measure the success of its programmes in numbers, including financial numbers, but also in less tangible areas like fellowship and encouragement. The Deacons recognise that these are difficult to measure, but believe that 2021-2022 was a positive year in the life of the Church. Although the Church’s charitable income was seriously reduced during the period of government restrictions because of the Covid-19 pandemic, it recovered as expected in 2021-22. The virus did not cause any long-term disruption and the Trustees consider the Church’s reserves to be sufficient to carry it through similar disruption. ## Financial Review Rickmansworth Baptist Church is a registered charity and meets the definition of a public benefit entity under FRS102. Assets and liabilities are initially recognised at historical cost or transaction value unless otherwise stated in the relevant accounting policy notes. The Church continues to raise the funds which it needs to carry on its activities from within its own membership and congregation. No wider public appeal was made for funds during the year, but the Church receives substantial support through rental income from an office building, Gable House, and a maisonette, which it owns in Rickmansworth. Rickmansworth Baptist Church expressed its part in the life of the wider Church by making grants to national and international Christian organisations and societies with Christian aims or with 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 nevertheless contribute substantially to the achievement of the Church’s objectives. The Church is a participating employer within the Defined Benefit section of the Baptist Pension Scheme and has been making ongoing deficit payments to cover the costs of past service of its employees within the Scheme under a recovery plan. The Church understands that if it had left the Scheme at the year-end, it would have to have made a one-off payment estimated to be £20,900 (2021 £38,800) to meet its statutory obligations to the Scheme. The Page 3 RICKMANSWORTH BAPTIST CHURCH ## Deacons' Report for the year ended 31 March 2022 (continued) ## Financial Review (continued) deficit is much reduced once again, thanks to additional payments by the Church and work by the Baptist Union and the wider Baptist Family to transfer surplus assets to the Scheme. The Church has no plan to leave the Scheme and expects to continue to make payments to the Scheme in line with the recovery plan. ## Reserves Policy: The Deacons have established a Reserves Policy to enable the Church to function effectively and meet its obligations in the event of a decline in our income or a major cost. Recent years have seen large fluctuations in both income and expenditure, so the Deacons are unable to determine a fixed level of reserves, which may be appropriate. However, it keeps the reserves under review by budgeting to ensure that it can cover the Minister’s stipend for at least three years in the future. The financial results for the year, together with a summary of the accounting policies adopted are set out in the accompanying financial statements. A few highlights are set out below. ## Income: Offertory and envelope income is recovered from the reduction in cash collections on account of the Covid-19 crisis. It was enhanced by an increase in numbers attending Sunday worship. Other income also recovered, following the decline in hall lettings on account of the Covid-19 crisis. Rental income showed a slight inflationary increase. D C Langley, Secretary 8 September 2022 Page 4 ## **RICKMANSWORTH BAPTIST CHURCH Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 March 2022** ## **Table 1: Outline Summary of Fund Movements** |**Fund name**|**Note**
**ref.**|**Fund**
**balances**
**brought**
**forward**
**As restated**|**Income**|**Expend-**
**iture**|**Transfers **|**Gains and**
**losses**|**Gains and**
**losses**|**Fund**
**balances**
**carried**
**forward**| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**Restricted**||**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**|**£**||**£**| |Gift & Legacy|6|11,770|31|0|0||0|11,801| |||11,770|31|0|0||0|11,801| |**Unrestricted**||||||||| |General Reserve|8|29,441|0|0|0|||29,441| |Gift & Legacy|6|39,394|0|0|0|||39,394| |Outreach & Ministry Fund|7|17,250|6,604|-17,959|2,855|||8,750| |Renovation Fund|9|11,000|0|0|1,000|||12,000| |General Fund|10|151,771|114,938|-74,814|-3,855|||188,040| |||248,856|121,542|-92,773|0||0|277,625| |Sub-total||260,626|121,573|-92,773|0||0|289,426| |Pension Reserve|12|-20,697|0|3,615|||682|-16,400| |Total funds||239,929|121,573|-89,158|0||682|273,026| ## **Table 2: Statement of Financial Activities** |**Note**
**ref.**
**Unres-**
**tricted**
**funds**
**Restricted**
**funds**
**Pension**
**reserve**
**Total**
**funds**
**Income and endowments from:**
**£**
**£**
**£**
**£**
Donations and legacies
23,794
0
0
23,794
Investments
5
84,827
31
0
84,858
Other income
12,921
0
0
12,921
**Total**
121,542
31
0
121,573
**Expenditure on:**
Charitable activities
69,660
0
0
69,660
Other expenditure
23,113
0
-3,615
19,498
**Total**
92,773
0
-3,615
89,158
**Net income/(expenditure)**
28,769
31
3,615
32,415
**Other recognised gains/(losses)**
2
12
0
0
682
682
**Net movement in funds**
28,769
31
4,297
33,097
**Reconciliation of funds:**
Total funds brought forward
12
248,856
11,770
-20,697
239,929
**Total funds carried forward**
277,625
11,801
-16,400
273,026
Actuarial gains/(losses) on defined benefit|**Prior**
**period total**
**funds**
**As restated**
**£**
18,211
83,561
6,201| |---|---| ||107,973| ||67,660
17,978| ||85,638| ||22,335
10,498| ||32,833
207,096| ||239,929| Page 5 ## **RICKMANSWORTH BAPTIST CHURCH** ## **Independent Examiner's Report to the Deacons and Members On Financial Statements for the year ended 31 March 2022** I report on the Financial Statements of the Church for the year ended 31 March 2022, which are set out on the attached pages. ## **Respective responsibilities of trustees and examiner** The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the Financial Statements. The charity's trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that an independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to: - (a) examine the Financial Statements under section 145 of the 2011 Act; (b) to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and - (c) to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## **Basis of independent examiner's statement** My examination was carried out in accordance with General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the Church and a comparison of the Financial Statements presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the Financial Statements, and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the Financial Statements present a 'true and fair view' and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below. ## **Independent examiner's statement** In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention (1) which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements (a) to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; and (b) to prepare Financial Statements which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 Act; have not been met; or (2) to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the Financial Statements to be reached. ## **Mrs P Kavanagh Brown 15 September 2022 CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT** ## **Woolbeding, Sherwood Road, Tideswell, Derbyshire, SK17 8HJ** ` Page 10