2022 ## LIBERTY CHURCH SWANSEA Charity Registration No. 1176598 TRUSTEES’ REPORT FOR THE PERIOD UNTIL DEC 2022 ## **LIBERTY CHURCH SWANSEA** ## **TRUSTEE REPORT** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022** The Trustees present their report and accounts for the period covering all dates from 1 January 2022 until 31 December 2022 We went into 2022 with many of the restrictions of COVID-19 all around but the feeling of life coming back to a state of normal was definitely there. We came back from COVID with a blank sheet of paper as we had gone from a very busy church with many programmes to having a Sunday service and a few online meetings and events. As it turned out, 2022 was a pivotal year for us as we came out of COVID and began to build again. We asked God to help us by showing us what He wanted us to develop, although many ministries could not be started straight away as the leaders had moved in the previous year. However, by the end of the year, there was a large number of ministries that we had managed to re-introduce to the church. ## **PRAYER** Every January we start our year with a week of prayer and fasting. In 2022 we decided to extend the time by a week and so we had a fortnight of prayer and fasting from January 17th – 30th. During this fortnight we met every morning by zoom, met at the church for prayer and also had various zoom prayer meetings at various times. We also had prayer walks as well as go to different places in the city to pray together. Prayer is an important part of Liberty Church and throughout 2022 we have had two early morning prayer meetings by zoom 6:30-8am, Revival Prayer on Fridays from 10am-12pm and we also meet at 7pm on Fridays for our church prayer meeting. We were meeting at Siloh Chapel for prayer but moved to Bethel when the Friday Night Kids Club started in September. ## **SUNDAY SERVICES** In January 2022 we decided that we had gone to level 0 and that we no longer needed online services in the mornings, something which had been our usual practice during the previous year, since COVID. So, we moved back to meeting in the morning at Siloh Chapel and livestreamed the service for those who couldn’t make it or felt uncomfortable meeting in public. We also started Kids Church again at Montana Community Centre. Slowly but surely our congregation made their way back to church although, like most other churches, some people had left the church and moved on or simply did not return. While some had left, we were also blessed because so many new people had come. We continued meeting on Sunday mornings at Siloh Chapel until November 27th 2022 when some of our congregation started to meet over at Bethel Church in Llansamlet. So at the end of 2022 we had two congregations meeting at two churches every Sunday morning. ## **BE-GROUPS** One of the strengths of Liberty Church are our Be-Groups. These are small groups of people who meet weekly on various nights to worship, pray and support each other. We really made an effort to get our Liberty congregation into Be-Groups and many have gladly joined. During 2022 we had around 10 groups meeting by Zoom every week with between 5-12 people in each group. The groups included groups for Kids, Youth and adults. We also have a Worship Be-Group and in the autumn we started a Wednesday Be-Group in the church during daytime. We have a dedicated team - 1 - ## **LIBERTY CHURCH SWANSEA** ## **TRUSTEE REPORT** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022** of Be-Group leaders who pastor and look after the people in their group. This has been a wonderful blessing and strength to us – especially in COVID times. ## **FRIDAY NIGHT KIDS CLUB (FNKC)** We restarted our very popular FNKC in September – and around 120 kids came. We had gathered a new team over the summer and we were all so happy to see the children again. The nights were full of the great things that had previously made up FNKC – dances, cool rules, 60 seconds of fame, dramas, songs and a great message for the kids every week. There was always lovely prizes and the kids loved it. The numbers tapered off a bit as the weeks went on but there was an average of around 50-60 kids. ## **KIDS CHURCH** We restarted Kids Church again in February 2022 and the parents would sign in their children at Montana Community Centre before the service at Siloh started. The kids Church had their own programme that included games, crafts, songs and a kids’ message. The children were happy to have their own church in their own place and the parents enjoyed having a bit of space too. ## **LIBERTY YOUTH** The teenage youth in our church started to meet on Wednesday afternoons at the home of our Youth Pastors Dave and Rachael McLeay. They always started with Hot Chocolate and biscuits and had an afternoon of playing games, watching a ministry videos and sharing together after a message from Dave or Rachael. It was good to re-gather the youth as a group and this has continued. ## **ALPHA** In May 2022 we started an Alpha group for those interested in the bigger questions in life. We held it at the local pub – the Plough and Harrow. At first we had many people come and it was great to see many deciding to follow Christ. Many of them would get baptised later on in the year. Alpha was led by Samuel Brown and had a great bunch of facilitators that turned up every week. Alpha has been a great tool in bringing people to church. ## **BAPTISMS** We had two baptismal services in 2022. The first was in church in April and the other was at the beach in September. At these services we heard people give their testimonies of how Jesus had changed their lives. ## **LANTERN COMMUNITY** During the pandemic a lady called Jean started to attend Liberty Church. For 26 years she has led a group of people who have learning difficulties. They had met in several locations over the years but Jean asked if they could use our church to meet. So we started to meet on the second Sunday - 2 - ## **LIBERTY CHURCH SWANSEA** ## **TRUSTEE REPORT** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022** afternoon of each month. These amazing people come with their parents or carers and they sing, share and have crafts. Some of our Liberty congregation have started to help the group too. They often go for a meal together and twice a year they come to church and take part in our service. This has been a special addition to our church in 2022. ## **‘TRANSFORMERS’ BUILDING TEAM** Siloh Chapel is a beautiful chapel but there was still work outstanding that the local council had stated needed to be dealt with. So a team from Scotland came down for 4 days in July and joined our team in Swansea. They fixed the back of the stage and installed a new pew there. They finished the platform and added a new wooden decoration around the stage. They built a beautiful sound area with the old balustrade which turned out so well. The work that teams did was incredible and the standard of their work was first class. Pastor Mark’s brother, Paul, led the team and we are so grateful. They paid their own expenses and saw it as a ministry to the Lord. ## **THE HEAVENLY MAN** In October we had the joy of hosting a well-known international speaker called Brother Yun from China. He had been imprisoned for his faith for 7 years and his story was inspirational. The church was packed full as he shared his story and prayed for us. We hope he will return to Liberty Church again as his ministry made a great impact on us all. ## **YOUTH WITH EXPERIENCE** One of the ministries we started in 2022 was ‘Youth with experience’ which took over from our preCOVID ‘Liberty Seniors’. We started the group by having a day trip to the ‘Purple Badger’ centre in the Gower. We had around 25-30 of us attend and it was a fantastic day. From then we met twice every month on a Tuesday morning. Every week was different and special with tea, coffee and lovely cakes provided. Every week there was a craft and a take home gift. There were special events for the Queen’s Jubilee and other occasions. People would share stories and poems and every week there was a little talk by one of the group. One Tuesday we held a MacMillan’s coffee morning and raised a bit of money for this special cause. ## **SOCIAL EVENTS** We held a few Social Events in 2022 where we invited the local community into our church. We had a fantastic sale to raise money for our building fund and hundreds of people came in and had a bargain and a good chat. We also provided teas and coffees for everyone and an area for prayer. We had ‘Church in the Park’ one Sunday in July and we just enjoyed being together, having a service in the park followed by food and games. Many people came to speak to us and we made new friends. At Halloween we had a ‘Light up the Night’ party at church and so many families attended. We had games, food and competitions. Every leader dressed up and the whole night was a great success. At Christmas we held Carol Services in both Siloh and Bethel churches which the community attended well. At Siloh we had a ‘Christmas Family Night’ where we had our own choir and loads of fun – as well as Santa preaching for the first time ever. We ended the year with our Hogmanay and Watchnight Service where we had loads of food, games and fun before ending the year with worship, testimonies and prayer. Again, many people from the community came. - 3 - ## **LIBERTY CHURCH SWANSEA** ## **TRUSTEE REPORT** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022** ## **INTERNATIONAL MINISTRY** Liberty Church continues to reach out to our international community here in Swansea. In 2022 we restarted our Spanish Church once a month on a Sunday led by Pastors Jean Pierre and Jessica. They also run a Spanish speaking Be-Group for Spanish speakers not only in Swansea but over the world. We also helped many people from various nations who contacted us or who started coming to our church. We have helped Asylum seekers and refugees who have come to Swansea with finding accommodation and help furnishing their homes. We helped many from Nigeria, Iran, Ukraine, Honduras, El Salvador and other nationalities. ## **STUDENTS MINISTRY** We had the joy of having some students come to Liberty and some of them wanted us to start a Student Ministry. They met after church most Sundays and went for lunch together. They also had games nights and other events so they could meet and bind together. They also hosted some Friday Night worship nights throughout the year and many other students attended. ## **MISSIONS TRIPS** We had the privilege of taking some of our congregation on Mission in 2022. It has been impossible to go on Mission in 2020 and 2021 so it was great to start again. In October we had a team go to Romania to work with the ‘Smiles Foundation.’ They did so many things – from working in the gardens, taking church services, painting buildings and so much more. They came back with lots of photos, memories and, most importantly, new friends. We will plan many other Missions trips as the world opens up once again. ## **ONLINE MINISTRY** Pastor Mark has a one hour teaching ministry every Sunday morning on Facebook live and during the pandemic it was from 9-10am. When our church and other churches started to have morning services he changed his teaching to 8am thinking that very few would come an hour earlier – but they did. He continued this throughout 2022 and still to this day. Pastor Mark and Pastor Dave had live worship nights on Tuesdays and Fridays but due to the increase of church activity they had to lay it down. When we moved to Sunday morning service only we started live streaming the service on Facebook and YouTube and this has been a huge blessing to those who can’t get out or who are far away. Our Media team have improved no end to include this important ministry. ## **WHATSAPP** We used WhatsApp for communicating with all of our Be-Group members. We also set up many WhatsApp groups between leaders and ministries so that it was easy to communicate with many people. One of the most effective ways we communicated was through a WhatsApp List where the Pastor could send out a message that was delivered to everyone in the church with WhatsApp. So 150 people could read that one message immediately. This was useful when things changed and meetings were cancelled in the COVID-19 times and we continued using this as a primary tool for communication in 2022. - 4 - **LIBERTY CHURCH SWANSEA TRUSTEE REPORT** ## **FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022** ## **BETHEL** In 2019 we met with the Trustees of another Chapel over in Llansamlet - Bethel Chapel. Bethel church was an independent church of the same group of churches as Siloh Chapel. They had heard what happened at Siloh and came and saw Siloh during a Toddlers morning – they were amazed. They asked if we could help them and we decided to do a Christmas Carol service in December 2019 – which was a great success. Then COVID came and our plans were put on hold for two years. In 2022 we met again with the Trustees of Bethel and planned ahead. They were overjoyed that we could continue the work that they had started and that Bethel had a future as a church. They wanted to release any of their funds to start up our new church. We added three of our Trustees to join the Bethel Trustees and when the original Trustees are happy to see a new church at Bethel they will step back and Bethel will come under Liberty Church (and charity) and we will take responsibility for the building and ministry. In September 2022 we asked our congregation to pray and decide whether they wanted to stay at Siloh and continue the ministry there or go to Bethel to start a new church there. Around 25 people felt they wanted to start the new church and our first Sunday in two places was Sunday 27th November. Originally we had hoped to open to the public on that date but we realised that this was unwise as we had no kitchen, the electrician said we needed new wiring, we had very few sockets and the lights in the back hall were not working. But, as we met as a team we decided we should still meet on Sunday mornings to get to know each other, worship together and pray for the area. So, since November around 25-30 of our Liberty family have been meeting at Bethel. We had 10 leaders and 3 would go to Bethel and 6 would stay at Siloh with Pastor Mark going between them both. So on November 27th we started in Bethel and we have also been working on the physical building ever since. We are in the process of completely renovating the back hall, installing a commercial kitchen, getting new wiring for the electricity and applying for the pew removal. We will also put new radiators in the back hall to make it warmer. And for the first time in its history – Bethel will have WiFi and a phone line. - 5 - ## **LIBERTY CHURCH SWANSEA STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES Year ended December 2022** |**Year ended December 2022**|||| |---|---|---|---| |**INCOME AND EXPENDITURE**
**INCOMING RESOURCES**
Offerings & donations
Gift Aid
Projects
Donations from Organisations
Other Income
**RESOURCES USED**
**DIRECT CHARITABLE EXPENDITURE**
**Support costs**
Salaries & related costs
Training and conferences
Other Ministers costs
**Administration**
Building Running Costs
Building Maintenance
Office costs
Licences & software
Bank, Legal & Professional fees
Membership
**Ministry Costs**
Gifts & Guest Ministers
Missions
Kids & Youth Ministry
Liberty Seniors
Media & Worship
Outreach
Pastoral Ministry
Projects
**Other**
Depreciation
(Profit)/Loss on disposal of assets
**Total resources used**
**Net incoming/(outgoing) resources before transfers**
**Transfer between funds**
**NET MOVEMENTS IN FUNDS**
**Balances B/forward at 1 January**
**Balances C/forward at 31 December**|**Unrestricted**
**Funds**
**£**|**Restricted**
**Funds**
**£**|**Total Funds**
**2022**
**£**| ||71,396
-
9,726
-
-
11,650
8,565
140
12,337
5,616||| ||**102,024**|**17,406**|**119,430**| ||65,348
-
404
-
98
-||| ||65,850|-|65,850| ||13,790
-
211
8,857
3,632
-
2,883
-
1,249
44
2,820
-||| ||24,585|8,901|33,486| ||200
-
-
2,603
2,394
-
30
-
854
-
1,403
-
624
-
-
5,600||| ||5,505|8,203|13,708| ||2,226
4,320
450
-||| ||2,676|4,320|6,996| ||**98,616**
**21,424**
**3,409**
**(4,018)**
**(2,944)**
**2,944**
**465**
**(1,074)**
**1,502**
**6,195**
**1,967**
**5,120**||| **Independent examiner's report on the accounts** ## **Section A Independent Examiner’s Report** |**Report to the trustees/**
**members of**
**On accounts for the year**
**ended**
**Responsibilities and**
**basis of report**|Liberty Church Swansea|Liberty Church Swansea|Liberty Church Swansea| |---|---|---|---| ||||| ||December 2022|**Charity no**
**(if any)**|1176598
CE012884| ||||| ||I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/12/2022.
As the charity's 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 the Trust’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** I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have **examiner's statement** come to my attention in connection with the examination (other than that disclosed below) which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: - the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or - the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or - • the accounts did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a ‘true and fair’ view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. |||| |---|---|---| |**Signed:**
**Name:**
**Relevant professional**
**qualification(s) or body**
**(if any):**
**Address:**
|Pete Waterman (digitally signed)|22ndApril 2023| |||| ||Pete Waterman (Retired Accountant)|| |||| |||| |||| ||38 Cannisland Park, Parkmill, Swansea SA3 2ED|| |||| 1 **Section B Disclosure** **Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose** . Update for items raised in IER December 2020 and December 2021 _Some internal process, around the generation of expenses, and recording need improvement, and the church payment card system helps with this, but control policies around this need some better understanding and systems for approval need a revision._  Limited improvements on the card payment system however apart from the expenses guidelines, the control policies have still not been revised. _Overall oversight by Trustees is generally insufficient, with little engagement and support of those actually doing the processes and data entry._ - Trustees oversight has continued to be insufficient _Working practices that need to be reviewed over this next 12-month period are:_ - _Use of budget and performance measures allowing oversight of the Leadership Team and ministries/operation of the charity by the Trustees._ - No reporting against budget was made during the year - - _Development of new policies and procedures e.g. conflict and register of Interests, strategic risk register, acceptance of gifts/hospitality, whistle-blower policy, antibribery policy, trustee appointment, skill mix and evaluation policies, reserves investment and internal finance control policy/checklist, fixed asset register, Church policy register, payment and use of payment card policy._ - Many of these have been completed or started, but not known if fully accepted. The following have not been done: - _strategic risk register, acceptance of gifts/hospitality, anti-bribery policy, internal finance control policy/checklist, fixed asset register, Church policy register, payment and use of payment card policy, expense policy_ - _A RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed) analysis, would be helpful to help understand limits, boundaries and improve best working practice in managing and use of finance, personal and resources in the charity as a whole._ - The RACI document was created; however, as the compliance team ceased to exist in 2021 there is no evidence of this being used in the working practices of the Church 2