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2020-12-31-accounts

BIAPT (British and Irish Association for Practical Theology)

Charity no 1181208 Registered 17/12/2018

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE PERIOD 1/1/2020 TO 31/12/2020

TRUSTEES Prof. Nicola Slee Revd Mark Bennet (Treasurer) Revd Jayson Rhodes Prof. Elaine Graham Revd Owen Griffiths Revd Dr Sarah Brush Dr Sanjee Parera Revd Dr Daniel Nuzum Prof. Anthony Reddie Dr David R. Muir Chrissie Thwaites (from July 2020)

The trustees are grateful to be able to present their annual report together with the independently examined accounts for the year ending 31st December 2020.

Preamble

This has been a most difficult year. The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the lives of all BIAPT members even as it has impacted the lives of the vast majority of the population of the world. Many of BIAPT’s members and the people they serve have been seriously ill through coronavirus, have experienced bereavement, suffered through being unable to access treatment for other illnesses, have endured worsening mental health, alienation, economic hardship and have found themselves confronted by a precarious future. It is, therefore, with great sadness that we reflect on the year that has passed. But in our sadness we search out the blessings of the past year for which we can be thankful and the promises for the years to come that inspire hope.

1. Objectives and Activities

1.1. Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document

The objects of the CIO are for the public benefit, the advancement of education in the subject of practical theology and the promotion of practical theology within the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and throughout the world by:

1.2. Summary of Activities

Our vision is to foster and promote a wide engagement with the field of practical theology within and without the academy and across all cultural and religious divides. In pursuit of this our activities over the past year, which can be divided into three areas: conferences, financial support and publications, have included:

The trustees are grateful to all who have helped to make these activities possible and to realise the BIAPT”s goals.

2. Main Achievements

BIAPT continues to grow year-on-year reflecting the burgeoning interest in the discipline of practical theology as well as the reinforcing the significance of BIAPT itself to the practical theology world. By the end of 2020 BIAPT membership had reached a peak of over 450 for the first time ever.

2.1. Conferences

Due to the pandemic our planned Annual Conference on the subject Practical Theology as Ecotheology, due to be held at Glasgow Caledonian University was cancelled. The trustees are grateful to Glasgow Caledonian University for their co-operation throughout the difficult process that lead to this decision. Likewise our BIAPT Scotland and Ireland Day Conference, originally planned for March and our Doctoral Student’s Day conference, due to be held in April, were also cancelled.

We were, nevertheless, able to put on a number of online events in order to further the objects of the charity. In July we hosted our Summer Gathering. This consisted of five events held between 14th and 16th July. It began with an event organised by the BIAPT Bible and Practical Theology Special Interest Group, which attracted 37 attendees. A discussion panel responding to the Black Lives Matter protests that were themselves a response to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis called Insurrection in the Time of Covid was held in the evening of the first day and was attended by 49 people. On the 15th July 37 delegates were able to listen to the presentations of papers by doctoral students that had originally been intended for the Doctoral Student’s Day Conference. Dr. Sam Tongue also ran a Poetry and Ecotheolgy workshop. Only 12 tickets were released for this, and the workshop was a sell-out. On the final day of our Summer Gathering we had an event organised by our Mission Studies Special Interest Group. The speakers at this event were Trevor Withers and Andrea Campanale, who re-imagined the gospel in the context of a contemporary shame culture, and James Butler who gave a talk on the subject of Pedagogy of Evangelism: Rethinking Communication of Faith in Contemporary Culture. The event was attended by 45 people.

In the autumn we were able to hold two virtual events. The first of these was a discussion on Professor Nicola Slee’s latest book, Fragments for Fractured Times and the second was an exposition by Dr Stephen Roberts of his paper, Sounding Out Lockdown: theological listening in the time of Covid-19. Together these two events attracted an attendance of over one hundred.

As it appears that the pandemic will continue throughout 2021 it is our intention to continue hosting online events and to expand our reach in order to attract more attendees from outside the BIAPT membership and from all over the world.

2.2. Financial Support

As our 2020 Annual Conference was cancelled we did not award any conference bursaries of BAME bursaries this year.

2.3. Publications

The proceedings of our 25th Anniversary Annual Conference, held in Liverpool Hope University in 2019 were published by Taylor & Francis in a special edition of the Practical Theology Journal. These will be added to and published as a hardback book in 2021.

2.3.1. Practical Theology

We have been pleased to continue to work very closely with the Contact Pastoral Trust and Taylor and Francis to publish and distribute the Practical Theology Journal to all our members. Although publication of the journal was disrupted by the pandemic we were grateful to our partner organisations for working so hard and so effectively as to have successfully produced and distributed all six editions. These, along with all previously published volumes have also been available to our members online. As trustees we remain very pleased and proud to be able to furnish our Charity members with such a high quality journal.

2.3.2. Website

We have continued to maintain an active website throughout the year, keeping members and others informed of developments and how we have adapted to the coronavirus pandemic. This year the website has also been used as a platform for BIAPT to take its place in the public square and the trustees felt it necessary to publish a statement in support of struggles of black and brown communities throughout the world for racial justice in light of the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. A further development in the use of the website was the creation of a News page, the purpose of which is to publicise news relevant to practical theology throughout the world.

3. Governance

All trustee and sub-committee meetings were moved online in response to the coronavirus pandemic and its consequent social restrictions. It was also decided to increase the frequency with which the trustees met in order to accommodate and respond to the situation in which the charity found itself.

This year we said goodbye to Monica McArdle who stepped down as a trustee. We are immensely grateful to Monica for her excellent work not only in organising and running our Doctoral Students Conference but also in assisting with the organising of our Annual Conferences and in so many other areas of the work of the trustees.

It was with great pleasure that we welcomed Chrissie Thwaites to be our trustee with special responsibility for the Doctoral Student Conference. We look forward to working closely with Chrissie over the coming years.

4. Safeguarding

Working closely with our Designated Safeguarding Person, Reverend Dr Lorraine Turner, we are pleased to report that we have been able to complete and agree BIAPT's safeguarding policy. The policy will be accessible via our website.

5. Financial Review

The charity’s income for the year ending 31st December 2020 was £21,840.92 (2019: £76,004.44). Of this £19,548.00 was received through membership subscriptions (2019: £13,232.69), £2219.00 was received through conference bookings (2019: £60,247.01), £50.61 was donated (2019: £2,457.48 ) and £23.31 was earned as interest (2019: £67.26). Our expenditure for the year totalled £9,280.05 (2019: £88,555,94). The largest share of this, £3,650.73, was spent on administration and expenses (2019: £6,813.70), with £3,441.51 being spent on the events organised by BIAPT throughout the year (2019: £68,456.53). Other expenditures include, the £1,940.00 cost of maintaining the BIAPT website (2019: £2,451.00) and the £267.81 that represents the transaction charges (2019: £1,359.99).

It is to be noted that the general reserves figure for the year (£19,000) is misleading as we were still awaiting the bill for publicising and distributing the Practical Theology Journal for 2020 when the financial period ended. The trustees are, however, encouraged to report an increase in subscription revenue due to BIAPT achieving a record high membership figure of in excess of 450. Subscription revenue was further boosted by the increase in subscription rates from £38 to £45 which came into effect this year. A modest surplus was planned for the 2020 conference in order to start rebuilding reserves. The online 2021 conference has the potential to generate a reasonable surplus and this will go some way to replenishing our much reduced reserves, especially if it attracts wider participation with the online offer. The administration costs include the cost of our Zoom account. It is to be noted, however, that moving our trustee meetings to the Zoom platform - necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic - has saved substantially on costs and have had the added benefit of reducing BIAPT’s carbon footprint.

As the above figures demonstrate, the coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on BIAPT’s finances although we recognise that being able to move many of our activities online has enabled us to continue to fulfil our charitable objects and for this we are grateful.

BIAPT (BRITISH AND IRISH ASSOCIATION FOR PRACTICAL THEOLOGY)

(A Charitable Incorporated Organisation)

Accounts

to 31 December 2020

Charity no: 1181208 Registered: 17 December 2018

BIAPT ACCOUNTS 31 December 2020

OBJECTS

The objects of BIAPT are for the public benefit,

The advancement of education in the subject of Practical Theology and the promotion of Practical Theology within the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and throughout the world by:

TRUSTEES

Dr Andrew Rogers (Chair and trustee to July 2019)

Revd Mark Bennet (Treasurer) Revd Dr Jason Boyd Prof. Elaine Graham Rev Owen Griffiths Rev Dr Julie Lunn Monica McArdle Dr R David Muir (From July 2019) Revd Dr Daniel Nuzum Prof. Anthony Reddie Revd Jayson Rhodes Prof. Nicola Slee (Chair from July 2019)

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BIAPT ACCOUNTS 31 December 2020

Income and Expenditure

Year to 31 December 20120

Year Year
to 31 Dec 2020 to 31 Dec 2019
£ £
INCOME
Subscriptions 17,048.00 13,232.69
Conference income 1,121.00 46,198.25
Event income 678.00 1,201.76
Summer School income 420.00 12,847.00
Donations 50.61 2,457.48
Interest 23.31 67.26
Total 19,340.92 76,004.44
EXPENDITURE
Practical Theology - 8,574.72
Conference 1,143.21 53,438.04
Summer School 1,500.00 13,438.19
Other events 798.30 1,580.30
Prizes and bursaries 900.00
Committee and administration expenses 3,650.73 6,813.70
Website 1,920.00 2,451.00
Transaction charges 267.81 1,359.99
Total 9,280.05 88,555.94
Surplus/ (deficit) for period 10,060.87 (12,551.50)
Funds carried forward from previous year 6,940.54 19,492.04
Funds carried forward 17,001.41 6,940.54

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BIAPT ACCOUNTS 31 December 2020

BALANCE SHEET

BALANCE SHEET
31 Dec 2020 31 Dec 2019
ASSETS
Cash and bank 17,001.41 6,940.54
REPRESENTING
General funds 16,476.42 4,835.55
Mission studies fund 297.00 797.00
Summer school balance 227.99 1,307.99
Total 17,001.41 6,940.54

Mark Bennet Treasurer 1 September 2021

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BIAPT ACCOUNTS 31 December 2020

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF

BIAPT (British and Irish Association for Practical Theology)

I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the BIAPT (British and Irish Association for Practical Theology) for the year ended 31 December 2020.

Responsibilities and basis of report

As the charity 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 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 examiner's statement

In connection with my examination, I confirm that no matters have come to my attention giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:

  1. The requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act have not been met; or

  2. The accounts do not accord with the accounting records; or

  3. The accounts do 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 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.

Mrs Monika Tabatabaian ATT MAAT

Tax Avenue Turnfields Gate, Turnfields Thatcham, Berkshire RG19 4PT

Date: 14 October 2021

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BIAPT ACCOUNTS 31 December 2020

Notes

  1. BIAPT became a charity on 17 December 2018 and now operates with its new constitution under the umbrella of a CIO.

  2. The accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis.

  3. This year has seen the extraordinary COVID lockdown and therefore various online events, with the main conference breaking even after being re-organised in virtual form online. The general reserves figure of £16,500 is misleading, as there has been no bill for Practical Theology during the year and turned out to be some £9,500 leaving total general reserves of £7,000. The increase in membership (see note 5) contributed to this welcome increase in reserves which the trustees plan to increase over time to match the risks of a small organisation holding a large conference.

  4. A modest surplus was planned for the 2020 conference in order to start rebuilding reserves, and some thought has been given to using BIAPT’s newly acquired charitable status to raise additional funds to support our work. Clearly this has not been realised, but huge success of the online 2021 conference has enabled a modest increase in reserves in 2021. The 2022 conference is being planned to make another modest surplus.

  5. Membership increased again in 2020, and was over some 450 at the end of the year representing another year of strong growth. Subscription rates increased during the year (£38 full and £25 concession to £45 full and £30 concession), but this did not halt membership growth. Renewals in 2021 have been strong with some 469 members paid up members to 31 August 2021.

  6. General admin costs include subscriptions to Zoom – online committee meetings have saved substantially on costs (and carbon footprint).

  7. Practical Theology remains strong as a journal, and indeed is developing, having moved to 6 issues a year including the incorporation of JATE with one focussed edition a year.

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