## Report and Accounts
Year ending 31 December 2020
Charity No: 1177702
## **CHARITY INFORMATION**
**STATUS** The church is a registered charity Charity Registration No: 1177702
**TRUSTEES** Travis Snode (Pastor; Chairman) Jeff Bryan (Secretary) Loveday Cole (Treasurer) **GOVERNING DOCUMENT** Constitution of Downham Baptist Church dated 2018 **REGISTERED ADDRESS** 31 Oakshade Road Bromley BR1 5QB **BANKERS** Barclays Bank Plc
## **CONTENTS**
Page 1 Legal and Administrative Details Page 2-4 Trustee’s Report Page 5 Receipts and Payments Account Page 6 Statement of Assets & Liabilities Page 7 Notes to the Accounts
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## **TRUSTEES’ REPORT**
## **Structure, Governance, and Management**
Downham Baptist Church is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) that is governed by an approved Constitution and Bylaws which states that: ‘Under the authority of Jesus Christ and the Word of God, the Membership of the Church is the final authority within this local Church’.
Membership of the church is open to anyone who professes the Christian faith in accordance with the church’s Basis of Faith, has been baptised by immersion after salvation and satisfies such other requirements as have been specified by the Church Constitution and Bylaws.
The authority of the membership is normally exercised through the election of officers to govern the church. The Officers of the church are the Pastor and Deacon(s) as well as the Secretary and the Treasurer (in the event that the Secretary and Treasurer are not Deacons). The charity trustees of the church are the persons appointed to the offices of Pastor, Deacons, Secretary and Treasurer.
The members of the church must meet at least every 15 months for an annual general meeting (AGM) but normally meet every quarter. The charity trustees must meet every quarter to manage the administration of the church.
Further explanation of the church’s structure and governance can be found in the Church Constitution and Bylaws.
## **Objectives and Activities**
The objects of the church are the advancement of the Christian faith in accordance with the Basis of Faith primarily but not exclusively within Downham, London and the surrounding neighbourhood; and such other charitable purposes as shall, in the opinion of the charity trustees, put into practice the Christian faith in accordance with the Basis of Faith provided that the advancement of such purposes must be undertaken in a manner that is consistent with the Ethical Statements as may be adopted and amended by the church from time to time in accordance with the provisions of the Church Bylaws.
The main activities of the church are providing a place of worship, advancing the Christian faith, educating people about the Christian faith, providing pastoral care and outreach, as well as supporting evangelical missionaries.
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The church provides a place of worship at 60 Churchdown, Bromley, BR1 5PQ. Worship services are advertised to the general public through signage, leaflets, websites, social media and word of mouth.
The church advances the Christian faith by preaching the Gospel, through public worship services, small group and home Bible studies, personal discipleship courses, and various outreach events and efforts in the community. Every week, the church also educates people about the Christian faith at Sunday services, at groups for children and young people, and in small group Bible studies.
The church provides pastoral care and outreach by teaching God’s Word appropriate to the needs of the members and attendees and equipping the members to be actively involved in pastoral care and outreach as a demonstration of their Christian faith.
The church also trains and supports missionaries to carry the gospel to other parts of the United Kingdom and overseas. Those trained as missionaries will then go out to other parts of the world with the gospel message. Financial support for missionaries is given by the church members to a missionary fund and then paid directly to the individual or the charity the individual works with.
The church benefits the general public by providing worship services that are open to the general public, providing teaching about the Christian faith through a range of age-based small groups, providing information about the Christian faith through various outreach events and efforts and by providing training and mentoring for those who desire to serve as Christian workers.
The worship services, small group Bible studies, and other events and clubs are open to anyone who wants to attend. Personal discipleship and further training and mentoring are more selective, giving priority to those who have become members, have attended faithfully, and who have the potential to go and teach and train others. This is always done with the long-term aim of trying to benefit people from all backgrounds. Such decisions are made in accordance with the procedures set out in the constitution, taking into account the principles set out in the Bible and the context in which those principles are applied today.
## **Achievements and Performance**
2020 was a very challenging year for everyone with the global coronavirus pandemic. Our interim pastor resigned in February and then in the middle of March, we closed the church doors for six months due to the national lockdown. Pastor Travis Snode returned from his sabbatical in September. On 20 September 2020, we reopened the church for public worship and managed to begin meeting in person for most of the rest of the year apart from the four week lockdown in November.
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During this period, the church strove to maintain its fellowship and ministry through online services, prayer meetings, and Bible studies. Most of our outreach was done through online means, though we also did quite a bit of leafleting during the last three months of the year.
When we reopened the doors of the church, we had several new people begin attending the church. Also, most of our regular people started coming back once we reopened. We are thankful for this and also for the fact that, even with the unique challenges of the year, the giving of the church stayed consistent and even increased.
## **Financial Review**
The Church continues to raise the funds which it needs to carry on its activities from within its own membership and congregation. We also were able to reclaim a good amount of funds through Gift Aid that was reclaimed going back to 2018 when our church was officially registered with the Charity Commission.
The Church was able to give over £560 to world missions. We were also able to raise £402 to give to the New Hope Residential Centre in Dublin as well as £440 for a family in need in our community.
Most of the ministry of our church is carried out by members and regular attenders who volunteer their time and skills with little to no impact on the church’s expenditure, but nevertheless greatly contribute to the achievement of the church’s objectives.
The Church ended 2020 with £7191.56 in unrestricted funds as well as £363.20 restricted for missions, £11.35 restricted for the building fund, and £402 restricted for our Christmas offering for the New Hope Residential Centre.
## **Reserves Policy**
The Church put 5% of all unrestricted income into Reserves this past year. The church has £3201.61 in reserves and intends to keep putting funds into the Reserves until it reaches £3500 which is approximately one quarter of the church’s annual budget.
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## **STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES**
|**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020**|**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020**|**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020**|**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020**|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||
|||||Total|Total|
||Note|Unrestricted|
Restricted|
Funds|
Funds|
|||Funds|
Funds|
2020|
2019|
|**INCOMING RESOURCES**||£|
£|
£|
£|
|||||||
|_Incoming resources from generated_
_funds_||||||
|Voluntary donations|2|11,341.36|
2,762.85|
14,104.21|
16,866.83|
|Activities for generating funds||0.00|
0.00|
0.00|
40.00|
|Gift aid recovered||5,452.29|
0.00|
5,452.29|
0.00|
|Other income||0.00|
0.00|
0.00|
263.22|
|Total incoming resources||16,793.65|
2,762.85|
19,556.50|
17,170.05|
|||||||
|**RESOURCES EXPENDED**||||||
|||||||
|Charitable activities||(12,829.96)|
(2,410.48)|(15,240.44)|(15,758.29)|
|||||||
|Total Resources Expended||(12,829.96)|
(2,410.48)|(15,240.44)|(15,758.29)|
|||||||
|Net Movement in Funds||3,963.69|
352.37|
4,316.06|
1,411.76|
|||||||
|||||||
|Fund balance brought forward||3,227.87|
424.18|
3,652.05|
2,240.29|
|||||||
## **STATEMENT OF ASSETS & LIABILITIES**
|**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020**|**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020**|**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020**|**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020**|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||
|||2020|
2019|||
|Cash and Cash Balances||||||
|Barclays - Current Account||7,968.11|
3,652.05|||
|||||||
|||7,968.11|
3,652.05|||
|||||||
|||||||
|||||||
|Debtors||||||
|HMRC Gift Aid - not yet claimed||500.00|
3,402.07|||
## **NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS**
|**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020**|**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020**|**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020**|**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020**|**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020**|**FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||||||
|**Note 1 Accounting Policies**||||||
|The accounts have been prepared on the receipts and payments basis with a Statement of Assets and
Liabilities.||||||
|||||||
|**Note 2 Restricted Voluntary Donations**||||||
|At 31 December 2020 there were funds held of
as detailed below.||£776.55 relating to gifts given for a specific purpose||||
|||||||
|||**Bal 31.12.19**|**Receipts**|**Payments**|**Bal 31.12.20**|
|||||||
|- Missions||318.20|
605.00|
(560.00)|
363.20|
|- Local Evangelism||10.00|
5.00|
(15.00)|
0.00|
|- Building Fund||0.00|
11.35|
0.00|
11.35|
|- Events||0.00|
1,499.50|
(1,499.50)|
0.00|
|- Other Designated (Christmas
Offering)||0.00|
402.00|
0.00|
402.00|
|- Other Designated (Book Fund)||51.00|
0.00|
(51.00)|
0.00|
|- Other Designated (Youth Club)||44.98|
0.00|
(44.98)|
0.00|
|**Total**||**424.18**|**2,522.85**|**(2,170.48)**|**776.55**|
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