ANNUAL CHURCH REPORT 2022-23
New Life church, Sunderland
JANUARY 28, 2023 BY CECIL CHERIAN LUKOSE
Warm welcome to everyone present here in the matchless name of our lord and savior Jesus Christ. It is my honor to present this brief report of spiritual, mental and physical growth of New life church, Sunderland, for the year 2022-23.
Church services:
Throughout the year God's grace led our church marvelously and miraculously. Recovering from Covid pandemic, God helped us to resume our normal in-person church service and helped us to continue that throughout 2022. Under the guidance of holy spirit and leadership of Pastor Prince Mathew , New life church, Sunderland has experienced spiritual and physical growth.
Currently we have 13 ministry teams serving with Choir and worship, Ladies, Sunday school, Youth talent, Young professionals and students, Bible study, fasting and intercessory prayer, prayer cell, hospitality, building committee, media and PR team, transportation, PA system operation.
This year on Sundays, our church offered English worship service for our youngsters followed by main church service from 3:00 Pm until 5:30.
This year we witnessed a tremendous physical growth in our church members. According to our latest membership forms we have 76 members strong attendance, from 22 families and a 12 member strong bachelor community. Our members attend our church services from various parts of North East England covering Durham, Sunderland, Birtley, Gateshead, Newcastle and Long Benton.
This year we expanded into multilingual worship and live translation provided by our brothers Cecil Cherian lukose and Rooble Varghese, for the benefit of our members who comes from various linguistic back ground which includes Malayalam, English, Hindi and Tamil.
Our general church records are as follows:
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Baptisms We had one baptism this year for our dear Sarah Sam on 5th February. Pr. Prince Mathew conducted the ceremony at Enon Baptist church, Sunderland.
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Birth Two of our families were blessed with newborn babies last year. Brother Shinu Yohanan and Sister Sneha Shinu were blessed with a baby
girl Emily Yohan Shinu. And Brother Feby Thomas and sister Ashley Eldhose were blessed with a baby boy Samuel Tom Feby
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Death By God’s grace and protection we did not had to encounter any death in our church. However, our church members have gone through bereavement of their near and dear ones and church as family was able to offer comfort and condolences.
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Dedication We had our first baby dedication service this year for Rafael Reuel Cherian by our Pastor Prince Mathew .
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Membership This year we accepted the membership of Assemblies of God and we have been given a one year certificate which needs to be renewed on an yearly basis with a 50£/month fee.
Our members always had the freedom and encouragement to bring any issues, problems, or doubts to the notice of church committee without any hesitation and all of those issues brought to the attention were dealt with in a professional manner and sorted out on the basis of word of God.
Ladies ministry:
Ladies ministry was Coordinated by Sister Lucy Prince in a blessed way. A ladies meeting was conducted every alternative week on zoom platform. They spent time praying for various prayer request of the church and every week a member was chosen to share form word of god, giving a chance for spiritual growth. This year ladies pooled in an offering and from this offering collection they offered a £300 support for a marriage ceremony in India.
Sunday School ministry:
Last year we had a blessed Sunday school ministry. Brother Binu Mathunni Rachel was appointed a headmaster and after his resignation Sister Lucy prince was appointed as headmistress in his place. Last year we had an great line up of teachers like Sister Anitta Kuriakose, Sister Pretty Jomon, Brother Feby Thomas, Sister Bency Sam, and Sister Akhila Prince who replaced Sister Sneha after her resignation for maternity reasons. We also had Sister Lucy Prince and Sister Subitha Jobin on standby to cover the absence of any teachers. By the end of the year we have 20 students divided in 5 different classes according to their age and at the end of last year we conducted an annual Sunday school examination .
In the new Sunday school year we have increased the number of classes to 6 and added a baby sitting creche to support our teachers with very young kids. We have also added Sister Jeffy Jobin and Sister Sini Mathews to teach year 5 and UKG and have appointed Sister Teena and Sister Lucy Prince as standby teachers.
Sister Lucy prince also serves as our health and safety executive and maintains a general information file on every student with information’s such as allergies, the first contact person, and consent to take them to hospital in an emergency situation. Sunday School also maintains the attendance record of all students. In case of fire emergency, Sister Lucy Prince is also trained to be the official fire marshall and will lead the evacuation procedures.
Youth talent ministry:
Last year we had a blessed youth talent ministry led at the beginning by Sister Sneha Shinu and after her resignation, Sister Anitta Kuriakose took over the charge. Youth ministry team organized excellent talent meetings with very interesting and unique programs presented by our youngsters and elders alike. Last year we had our Vacation Bible School (VBS) done in collaboration with Excel ministries on 12[th] and 13[th] August 2022. The event was coordinated by Brother Feby Thomas and Sister Anitta Kuriakose. The team organized an excellent two day event which was a blessing to all, followed by a first of its kind evangelism rally through the streets of Sunderland which the youngsters found very engaging.
Choir and worship ministry Leader:
Bro Sam George leads our choir team with a great passion and dedication towards Lord and encourages everyone to participate in the worship. Sister Akhila prince leads the English worship before the Malayalam session. Choir sets a divine atmosphere to experience the presence of the lord and feel the power of holy spirit.
Young Professional and Students ministry:
We have a service dedicated to our young professionals and university students where they can open up and discuss various issues and engage in intercessory prayers. This team is coordinated by Bro Joel Saji Mammen and Bro Cecil Cherian Lukose and meets on a monthly basis at brother Cecil’s house. The energetic youth have cover wide variety of activities
from presenting lively skit programs for church annual function to in-depth discussions on socio-political-spiritual issues. The team organized a one day spiritual event in collaboration with their counterparts from Leeds Zion Church of God, Leeds, in our church building followed by a tour of Marsden beach and Angel of North sculpture.
Bible study:
Every Friday, Pastor Prince Mathew, leads an in-depth bible study on the zoom platform covering various topic from tabernacle to cities of refuge and currently we are covering the book of Jude in depth. From the month of November bible study was successfully expanded into an in-person area wise cottage meeting, giving a chance for members to gather together in each other’s house and enjoy fellowship together with bible study. Church community is divided into 5 areas : Newcastle 1, Newcastle 2 , Gateshead, Durham and Sunderland and one family from each area hosts cottage meeting each week.
Fasting and intercessory prayer:
Our church organizes an hour of intercessory prayer on zoom platform every Saturday from 7:00PM onwards.
First weekend of every month the church organizes a 3 day fasting prayer in hybrid zoom plus in-person format and members participates in these meetings with great spiritual hunger. Guest pastors are invited for these fasting meetings and they offered blessed sessions sharing from word of god.
The Sunday following fasting prayer, Lord supper is conducted offering people a chance to come closer to God by remembering the sufferings of Lord Jesus Christ.
Evangelism and Outreach programs:
One major comeback in the last year after recovering from Covid pandemic was that we were able to do evangelism and outreach services in public again. Brother Feby Thomas led excellently and conducted evangelism outreaching various parts of north east from Durham to Newcastle. The main encouragement is to witness the participation of kids and youngsters who were really excited about sharing their faith with complete strangers without any hesitation. Brother Feby initiated a new program to deliver evangelical tracts directly to the houses in the immediate area surrounding the church and in the last year with the help of other participating
members has managed to complete the entirety of the area surrounding the current church
Prayer Cell:
Intercessory chain prayer conducted on the Saturday morning is the main spiritual support behind all of our events and church services. Sister Deepa Andrews led an amazing ministry this last year, diligently collecting prayer request from the Friday testimonies and sharing them to prayer participants on Saturday morning along with their scheduled time slot.
Hospitality:
Hospitality and love feast is another ministry which everyone enjoyed last year right across the age group. Sister Bency George coordinated the preparation of love feast with different members of church and this coordination was much more effective after fasting prayer for preparation of Kanji and payar. Along with Sister Bency, other members of church who regularly helped with catering services are Brother Sam George, Brother Feby Thomas, Brother Linju Eldhose and others.
With the growth of church an election was performed to understand everyone’s opinion about love feast. Two options were given and the church majority agreed to shift toward snacks to reduce the load on working community. (Love feast election result : option 1 : snacks - 15 votes / Option 2: 4 team option to prepare feast – 5 votes)
Building committee:
Last year between the month of September and October we made an offer of £175,000 for the purchase of Hall Garth mission 5 Bright St, Roker, Sunderland SR6 0JQ, as our own church building. Although everyone supported generously in finance and prayer, the purchase couldn’t go ahead as the mortgage arrangements with banks couldn’t be agreed upon. But through the process we learned a lot and praised god for this.
Thereafter, a Church Building Committee was formed with Brother Sam George, Brother Viju Samuel, Brother Linju Eldhose, Brother Binu Mathunni Rachel and Brother Jobin Ajith Kumar as its members.
With the church growth we are in need of a new bigger hall to rent and the building committee was very energetic in looking out venues for hiring. We looked at many prospective halls like Kings church Gateshead, and other venues in Sunderland.
Last year we also conducted an anonymous voting to know the preference of morning vs evening timeslot for worship and three options were given in this voting :: Morning, Evening or Anytime. Finally from results it was agreed to keep the current evening timeslot until next time. (Voting results Morning : 8 votes, Anytime : 18 votes, evening : 11 votes.)
Media and PR team:
Halfway through the year a new team was sought for Media and PR coordination and we started with Sister Sara Sam and Brother Albin Prince, while also praying for third name. However the need for third name never materialized as Sister Sara and Brother Albin did a good job with media and PR team coordination.
Transportation:
Last year we started with Brother Linju Eldhose as Transportation coordinator , but brother Linju had to resign due to his job circumstances and brother Albin Prince took charge in his stead.
Last year we planned to organize a two day church trip to south Wales, however the plan couldn’t be finalized in time to execute it. It was later replaced by a one day trip to Hamsterly forest on 27[th] August and the event was Coordinated by Sister Akhila Prince. The trip was a great success to refresh youngsters and parents alike and gave a good opportunity to strengthen out brotherly bond with various sporting events.
PA system Operations:
Our public systems operation team consist of Brother Linju Eldhose, Brother Albin Prince, and Brother Sharon Thomas and they performed a great service during every meeting by setting up the PA system, and controlling the sound mixer and song projection and wrapping up the PA system at the end with help of other church members.
Last year a very good feedback speaker worth £500 was donated by one of our member to church choir and requested to be kept anonymous.
Special awards and appreciations:
Last year we honored everyone who did exceedingly well in their studies, professional and cocurricular lives. We presented memento to all our students who graduated from their university courses. We also presented a special memento to Bro Shinu Yohan for his chartered scientist
achievement from Science council. We presented a special memento to our Lego champion Emil Yohan Shinu who made us all proud by setting a world record for being the youngest kid to assemble most number of Lego sets. And finally we have our prize distribution and appreciation for students and participants of Sunday school examination and talent test program.
Core committee:
Last year God enabled Pastor Prince Mathew to lead the church as director along with Brother Cecil Cherian Lukose as church secretary and Brother Shinu Yohan as church treasurer. The committee held 4 quarterly meeting last year to discuss various matters of church and these meeting minutes will be logged in an online database for future reference. This report after its final approval, along with other meeting minutes and detailed treasurers report for this year will also logged in the same database. We want to thank you sincerely for all your spiritual and physical support, engaging discussions and brotherly love during last one year. Let us work together in the field of our master and reap the ripe harvest.
God bless
Church Secretary
_____ Date : 28/01/2022 Cecil Cherian Lukose
NewLife Church Sunderland
1178817
CC16a
Receipts and payments accounts
For the period To from 1/1/2022 12/31/2022
Section A Receipts and payments
| Section A Receipts and payments | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 Receipts Tithes 18,565 Offerings 5,224 Gift Aid refund 6,582 Mission fund - Ladies fund - Interest free loan - Annerversarydonations 526 VBS Donations 1,085 Church buildingdonations Vehicle donations 1,212 Other income 86 - 33,280 - - Sub total - Total receipts 33,280 A3 Payments Buildingrent 2,310 Guest Pastorgift 1,200 Support & Charitydonations 1,550 Audio/Visual Equipment & licenses 1,183 Books and stationery 418 Provisions 800 Gifts 958 Vehicle expenses 4,799 Mission fund - Ladies fund VBS expenses 1,685 Interest free loan AoG 400 Evangelism 255 Annerversaryexpenses 1,470 - Sub total 17,028 - - Sub total - Total payments 17,028 Net of receipts/(payments) 16,252 A5 Transfers between funds - A6 Cash funds last year end 16,186 ## Cash funds this year end 32,438 Unrestricted funds to the nearest £ Sub total(Gross income for AR) A2 Asset and investment sales, (see table). A4 Asset and investment purchases, (see table) |
to the nearest £ - - - - 440 21,400 - - 2,853 - - - 24,693 - - - 24,693 - - - - - - - 300 21,400 - - 21,700 - - - 21,700 2,993 - 68 3,061 Restricted funds |
to the nearest £ Endowment funds |
Total funds to the nearest £ 18,565 5,224 6,582 - 440 21,400 526 1,085 2,853 1,212 86 - 57,973 - - - 57,973 2,310 1,200 1,550 1,183 418 800 958 4,799 - 300 1,685 21,400 400 255 1,470 - 38,728 - - - 38,728 19,245 - 16,254 35,499 |
Last year to the nearest £ |
| - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
18,565 | 10,810 | ||
| 5,224 | 1,476 | |||
| 6,582 | 5,405 | |||
| - | 1,100 | |||
| 440 | 675 | |||
| 21,400 | - | |||
| 526 | - | |||
| 1,085 | - | |||
| 2,853 | - | |||
| 1,212 | - | |||
| 86 | 199 | |||
| - | - | |||
| 57,973 | 19,665 | |||
| - - - |
- | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | - | |||
| - | 57,973 | 19,665 | ||
| - - - - - - - - - |
2,310 | 1,028 | ||
| 1,200 | 1,199 | |||
| 1,550 | 3,900 | |||
| 1,183 | 1,282 | |||
| 418 | 375 | |||
| 800 | 531 | |||
| 958 | - | |||
| 4,799 | 1,187 | |||
| - | 1,706 | |||
| 300 | - | |||
| 1,685 | - | |||
| 21,400 | - | |||
| 400 | - | |||
| 255 | - | |||
| 1,470 | - | |||
| - | - | |||
| 38,728 | 11,208 | |||
| - - - |
- | |||
| - | 14,600 | |||
| - | 14,600 | |||
| - | 38,728 | 25,808 | ||
| 2,993 | - - - - |
19,245 | - 6,143 | |
| - | - | - | ||
| 68 | 16,254 | 22,397 | ||
| 3,061 | 35,499 | 16,254 |
Section B Statement of assets and liabilities at the end of the period
| Categories B1 Cash funds B2 Other monetary assets B3 Investment assets B5 Liabilities B4 Assets retained for the charity’s own use Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees |
Details Bank account Details Details Details Sound system Minibus Details Signature Total cash funds (agree balances with receipts and payments account(s)) |
to nearest £ to nearest £ 32,438 3,061 - - - - 32,438 3,061 OK OK to nearest £ to nearest £ - - - - - - - - - - - - Cost (optional) - - - - - Cost (optional) Unrestricted 2,700 Unrestricted 14,600 - - - - - - - - - - - - Print Name Prince Mathew Shinu Yohannan Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Unrestricted funds Restricted funds Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which asset belongs Fund to which liability relates Amount due (optional) |
to nearest £ Endowment funds |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| OK | |||
| to nearest £ Endowment funds |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| Current value (optional) |
|||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| - | |||
| When due (optional) |
|||
| Date of approval |
|||
| Prince Mathew | 10/18/2023 | ||
| Shinu Yohannan | 10/18/2023 |
Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees Newlife Church Sunderland On accounts for the year 31[st] December 2022 Charity no 1178817 ended (if any) Set out on pages 1 to 2 (remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets)
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/12/2022.
Responsibilities and As the charity's trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the basis of report 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 which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or
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the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or
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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.
- Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.
Signed: Date: 31/10/2023 Name: OTax Limited Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (if any):
Address: 39 St Marks Road Sunderland SR4 7EF
1
Oct 2018
IER
Section B Disclosure
Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).
Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .
2
Oct 2018
IER