**LIBERTY CHURCH SWANSEA TRUSTEE REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2023** The Trustees present their report and accounts for the period covering all dates from 1 January 2022 un:l 31 December 2022 __________________________________________________________________________________ We entered 2023 as a fairly young church that had just come through Covid and we were in the process of rebuilding. Around 30 people had le? the church for various reasons since Covid began and we were moving from an online church back to face to face church. At the end of 2022 we had sent out around 25 people to Bethel Chapel in Llansamlet, Swansea and had started meeFng on Sunday mornings from November 27[th] . ## **We had many great moments in 2023 and here is a quick resume:** ## **KIDS CLUB** We had restarted the Friday Night Kids Club in September 2022 and it kept on going unFl March 2023 when our Youth Pastors moved on. We pray that the kids who came to FNKC will have seeds sown in their lives and that maybe we can get a team together to restart this incredible ministry. ## **KIDS CHURCH** Kids Church had been stopped at the end of 2022 and a?er our Kids Pastors le? Mary Ritchie felt the burden to restart and she gathered a great group of leaders who had a great heart for our children. So we restarted Kids Church in April 2023. Mary found a great curriculum for Kids and they have been following this since then. We thank all the team members for their ministry and passion for our children. ## **BAPTISMS** We had two bapFsmal services in 2023 - both at the beach. We love seeing people being bapFsed and look forward to many more! ## **LIBERTY YOUTH** A?er our youth pastors moved on we felt that we should conFnue to minister to our teenagers. So I stepped into the gap and we were meeFng on Wednesday’s a?er school. I must say I was completely out of my depth and realised that young people talk a different language to me and funcFon in a parallel universe! We moved to Friday nights but we had to stop for a while as we didn’t have enough leaders. ## **ELEVATE, YOUNG ADULTS & STUDENTS** One of the best and most exciFng things that started in 2023 was the creaFon of ‘Elevate’ young adults and students ministry. I challenged Lydia, Harry and Chris about the fact that 74% of ChrisFan young people backslide at uni. They decided to put on a worship night for all freshers and young adults at Liberty Church. So in September we had our first one – and around 150 young people came. The worship was absolutely incredible and I felt that night God say ‘This is the start of a movement.’ They also did a Christmas ‘Elevate’ and conFnue to bring young people to a place where they can worship in an incredible way. The Elevate worship band consists of local young people as well as band members who travel from England to join us. ## **WORSHIP & TECH TEAM** Our worship and media team was down to bare bones when some people le? in 2023 but as the year went on God added people to Liberty and to our worship and tech team. More and more people joined both teams and we ended the year with a full worship band. In Bethel Pastor Lameck led worship and he developed a great team there.. We are blessed at Liberty with people who have a heart not only to worship but to lead our people in worship. Our Prayer & Presence nights were a wonderful opportunity for all of us to get together to worship the Lord. ## **ALPHA** Alpha was run under the leadership of Ashelle with the help of her Be-Group ‘Great Oaks.’ Ashelle trained the group for running Alpha – amazing! It was a useful Fme to both empower our exisFng people to lead small groups as well as reach out to pre-believers and new-believers. We had about 23 people coming each week and around 9 ‘guests’ including a table of young people. ## **SOCIAL MEDIA & ONLINE** We had switched from having pre-recorded morning services to live streaming from Siloh in 2022 so we conFnued live streaming throughout 2023. This was a challenge for our media team but they did so well. I know that many of our people who cannot come to church really appreciate watching the service live. I conFnued my ‘Garden Messages’ all throughout 2023 at 8am on a Sunday morning and pray that it was a blessing to many. The Social Media side was only covering Facebook and we didn’t have the people to develop things to, for example, TikTok, Instagram etc. but it is an area we want to develop in 2024. ## **PRAYER** Throughout 2023, we emphasised the vitality of prayer in Liberty Church. Everything comes from HIS presence. We conFnued with our joint Friday prayer meeFngs at Bethel and we had some wonderful and powerful nights. But when JP & Jess became the Pastors of Siloh at the end of the year, they really felt from God that we should also have a prayer meeFng in Landore so we can pray for the area around the church and also because some people found Bethel a bit far to get to on winters nights. So by the end of 2023 we had Friday night prayer meeFngs in both churches! On top of this we have early morning prayer meeFngs on Tuesdays and Fridays by zoom from 6:30-8am. Debs has been so faithful in leading these prayer meeFngs. In January we also had two weeks of prayer and fasFng where we help extra prayer meeFngs, prayer walks and prayer night together. Prayer is key! ## **BETHEL** Liberty Church at Bethel has conFnued to grow over in Llansamlet. Pastors Lameck and Maud have been incredibly consistent throughout 2023 and they have led Bethel to a place of unity and authority. They meet in Sunday mornings and every meeFng I have been to has been wonderful with Gods presence tangible. We officially opened on July 12[th] 2023 to the glory of God! They are raising up leaders there and we must give a special thank you to Stevie and Jan who provided great food every Sunday but also in our special occasions. We conFnued to meet in the back hall but plans are being made to take out the pews so we can move into the main hall. We put in a new kitchen as well as renovated the back hall and put in a new heaFng system. So spiritually and physically bethel is being changed! ## **MISSION 24** One of the biggest blessings we had in 2023 was linking up with Mission24 and Jonathan Conrathe their leaders. Through Paul & Julie Buion we connected with them and agreed to be the place where they hosted their very first Mission24 training in Wales. One Saturday every month over 40 evangelists from around Wales have been trained – incuding many from Liberty. We thank God for Mission24 and thank God for the blessings in our partnership in 2023. ## **CHRISTMAS EVENTS** During the Christmas period we did some great events in Siloh and Bethel. We hosted a wonderful Family Carol service at Siloh and at Bethel we had a Christmas meal where 50-60 people came. We ended the year with our Hogmanay party and watching service. The food was good, the party was fun … but Pastor Lameck led us in an incredible Fme of prayer am worship as we entered 2024! ## **LANTERN COMMUNITY** Throughout 2023 we had the privilege to host the Lantern Community once a month on a Sunday a?ernoon. Lantern was started by the amazing Jean Grainger 27 years ago and it is as strong as ever! We thank the Lord that some of our Liberty family became helpers at the Lantern Community and their meeFngs are filled with joy and laughter. Twice a year they come to our morning service and they usually sing and bring great joy to all of us. ## **JOINT EVENTS** Throughout 2023 we did a lot of joint events to make sure we kept unity between our churches. The main thing was that every first Sunday of the month we met for Liberty United. We alternated between Bethel and Siloh and it was always a great joy to meet, worship, hear God’s word and fellowship a?erwards! We had church in the park in the summer and had joint bapFsmal services. We met together for prayer and fasFng, prayer and presence and other events. Unity is key! ## **BE-GROUPS** We love our Liberty family to be in small groups and we call them ‘Be-Groups’ as we need to ‘Be the Church’ outside the walls of the church. In mid 2023 we only had three Be-Groups le? – Living Well led by Mary & Debs, Great Oaks led by Ashelle and the worship Be-Group led by Lydia. Pastor Bassem was going to help rebuild our Be-Group ministry but had to leave to go back to Canada suddenly. ## **MISSIONS** Throughout 2023 we have supported our Missions partners in the Philippines and Cambodia. The Domingo family are doing a wonderful work in Manila in the most difficult situaFons and Sandra and Graham conFnue to lead an incredible work in the capital of Cambodia. We also get behind Rachel Curnock who is sFll very much part of the mission work in EswaFni. We o?en have table top stuff to sell at our services. Thank you for all your support. Pastor Lameck led a Missions team to South Africa in March 2023 and they experienced an anointed trip as they ministered in churches and schools. They raised money for 500 pairs of shoes and socks for children over there and they came back with exciFng stories to what God had done in them and through them. We also sent a team out to Romania to help with the ‘Smiles FoundaFon.’ They also came back with heart wrenching stories of what God had done in someFmes very difficult situaFons. We plan more missions trips in the future! ## **TRUSTEES** In 2023 we saw 4 Trustees step down for various reasons but we also added three new Trustees. We are thankful for every one of them - past and present – who have helped ensure Liberty Church is run well and all the ministries can go on because of great Trustees. ## **LEADERSHIP** We have a great Leadership team – seven people who have served the Lord and served the church faithfully throughout 2023. Pastors Lameck and Maud led Liberty Bethel and we felt like we needed to raise up and appoint Pastors in Siloh. Pastor Mark was going on sabbaFcal at the start of January 2024 so this was even more criFcal. We felt that we didn’t want to bring in Pastors but that there were two incredible leaders in our team that were gi?ed and anointed to lead Siloh – Pastors JP & Jessica! We entered 2024 in a much beier condiFon than when we started 2023. So many great things have happened and so many people’s lives have been touched by the ministry of Liberty Church in Swansea and beyond. ## **LIBERTY CHURCH SWANSEA STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES Year ended December 2023** |**Year ended December 2023**|||| |---|---|---|---| |**INCOME AND EXPENDITURE**
**INCOMING RESOURCES**
Offerings & donations
Gift Aid
Missions
Buildings Fund
Donations/Grants 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 UK
Missions Overseas
Kids & Youth Ministry
Liberty Seniors
Media & Worship
Outreach
Pastoral Ministry
Grants
**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**
**2023**
**£**| ||62,596
50
10,038
-
-
5,620
-
19
-
360
5,393
-||| ||**78,026**|**6,049**|**84,076**| ||38,159
-
188
-
243
-||| ||38,591|-|38,591| ||16,736
-
-
485
3,163
-
2,776
-
1,052
-
2,490
-||| ||26,216|485|26,700| ||559
-
-
3,836
-
2,122
862
-
-
-
1,554
-
1,703
-
428
-
-
274||| ||5,106|6,233|11,338| ||2,179
4,320
661
-||| ||2,840|4,320|7,160| ||**72,752**
**11,037**
**5,275**
**(4,988)**
**(3,585)**
**3,585**
**1,690**
**(1,403)**
**1,967**
**5,120**
**3,657**
**3,718**||| **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 2023|**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 31/12/2023
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)|18thApril 2024| |||| ||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** . 2