ANNUAL REPORT
Year to 31st December
2024
Name of Charity - Honiton Family Church
Registered Charity Number- 1181655
Registered Address - High Street, Honiton. Devon, EX14 1 LW
Trustees - The following individuals served as charity trustees:
Ellen Batten - Resigned 25.12.24.
Danny Beaven - (Secretary) Appointed
24.11.24.
Helen Beaven - (Treasurer) Appointed
15.12.24.
John Braithwaite- Appointed 24.11.24.
Helen Charters- Appointed 25.01.21
Sarah Bird Appointed 19.01.2025
Property Trustees
Baptist Union Corporation Ltd,
Baptist House, PO Box 44. 129 Broadway, Didcot, Oxon,
OX11 8RT.
Bankers - Lloyds, 82 High Street, Honiton. EX14 1JJ.
Independent Examiner-vernon Accounting, Manor House, 143
High Street, Honiton, EX14 1 LJ.
Organisational Structure and Decision-making
Processes
Honiton Family Church (HFC) is an unincorporated
association with Managing (Charity) Trustees appointed
by a meeting of Members. Members of the church are
accepted in accordance with the constitution. which allows

open membership, so that persons who have not been
baptised in the manner described in the Baptist Union's
Declaration of Principle may. at the discretion of the
members. meeting, be accepted for membership based on
their own public profession of faith. All members are
encouraged to take part in the spiritual and practical tasks
involved in the furtherance of the charitable objective.
Members meetings take place four times a year and have
responsibility for the overall policy of the church.
Additional meetings are held as required. In accordance
with the constitution, the members appoint Trustees. who,
together with the Minister, Church Secretary and
Treasurer (who are also appointed by the members), are
collectively known as the Diaconate. The Diaconate have
overall responsibility for ensuring the successful day to
day running of the church's work and witness, as well as
the financial and legal aspects of the charty.
Relevant matters may be submitted to the Members
meeting by the Trustees for guidance or may be raised by
Members in Members meetings for further consideration
by the Trustees. HFC is governed by a church
constitution. Though the constitution pemiits decisions to
be made at church meetings by appropriate majorities,
the church seeks to work by consensus wherever
possible.
Objectives
HFC is a Baptist Church and is a member of the Baptist
Union of Great Britain (Baptists Together). HFC is
governed by a church constitution that is based on .20th
March 2008 Approved Governing Document for BUGB
churches.. This document states that the principal
purpose of our charity is "the advancement of the Christian
faith according to the principles of the Baptist
denomination. The Church may also advance education
and carry out other charitable purposes in the United
Kingdom andlor other parts of the world.. HFC occupies
premises which are held by the Baptist Union Trust
Corporation on Trusts which are entirely compatible wtth
the above objective.
As Honiton Family Church, we are oriented by a vision to
'Seek God's kingdom in Devon as in heaven.. This means

that:
Jesus Christ is the origin. means, and goal of all that
we are and do.
We are family-friendly, committed to everyone; both
young and old, rich and poor etc.
We seek to be grounded, imaginative and relational
in our life together.
We aim to embody Christ both inside the church, and
within the town and wider area.
We aim to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ in both
word and deed and to bring people into a closer
relationship with Him as the Living Lord. Moreover, we aim
to be a church that welcomes people of all types and
experiences into our church family, confident in the
transforming power of Jesus in all our lives. In order to
achieve this, HFC provides a variety of activities both to its
membership and to the wider community. HFC is heavily
dependent on its membership working as volunteers in all
aspects of the church's activtties. Many of these activities
run with little or no impact on the church's expenditure, but
nevertheless contribute substantially to the achievement of
the church's objectives.

Activities During the Year
2024 was another exciting and challenging year for the
church. The first 6 months were especially hard due to Rev
Judson stepping down at the end of 2023. Numbers
attending have gone up and down depending on personal
matters. The summer weeks were spent having Yellowship
meals" as well as unfortunately having to cancel one
Sunday service in July and having an outside setvice in
August due to building work.
The youth work continued and there are plans to run a
Youth Alpha, as well as inviting the youth members to all
members meetings to enable their voice to be heard.

We rejoiced in the baptism of one of our young people
during the year and were pleased to see them go on to the
first stages of youth ministry training in the autumn.
Various community-based groups have been using our
building space in different capacities, and our opportunities
to be involved in the wider community have increased. We
have had some significant building works, including a
remodelling of the upstsirs office area and renovation of
the old toilet and middle corridor.
The church has sought to estsblish deeper relationships
with the wider community. One of the highlights of the
year was celebrating our Carols by Candlelight service,
as well as a Santa's Grotto which was held in the run up
to Christmas.
We have had a team of people looking for a new pastor
to fill the pastoral vacancy and a vision day was held
where we identified where we are and where we feel that
we are called to be. This team will be meeting again in
the new year.
The church has also voted to become an incorporated
charity (CIO), adopting the mixlel constitution prepared
by the Baptist Union Corporation. with provisions to be
kept as close to the current constitution as possible. The
transition is ongoing.
We also now have a treasurer Helen Beaven, who starts
work in January, and the role of church secretary will be
shared between Danny Beaven and John Braithwaite.
Regular Activities
Sunday Services: As stated above, 2024 involved some
flux in our attendance and activty. This was due to a
number of factors, some unknown. The youth and
children's work has been a real blessing and we have
experienced growth again which started in September the
year before. Again, the summer weeks were spent having
'fellowship meals" where food was prepared to facilitate a
renewal in people's relationships, interaction, and a sense
of community. We aim for our services to be accessible to
seekers as well as both new and mature Christians by
having a simple and fluid Servi￿ structure. A number of

people have joined us, and we are delighted that non-,
new and experienced Christians are finding our
community helpful for their spiritual growth.
Little Stars Parent and Toddler Group: Little Stars runs
every week during term time and is attended by, on
average. twenty Ck&year-olds and their carers. It has
been encouraging to regularly see new parents attending.
Little Stars is a great access poinl into church. and it is a
great way for us to build relationships wrth our wider
community. We have been able to invite the families in
attendan￿ to other events including services and family
and communty events. We have themes, parties. and
graduations and at the end of the summer te￿n we hold a
'graduation ceremony" during our Sunday servi￿ for
those starting school. Throughout 2024 Little Stsrs
continued to meet and continued to go from strength to
strength.
Life Groups: HFC runs three Life Groups. These groups
encourage social fellowship and growth of faith and
discipleship. Although our Life Groups are attended mainly
by church members, they are open to anyone who would
like to contact a group and learn more about the Christian
faith. In the last year. the groups have tended to develop
their own resources and pattems, some focusing on Bible
study, others on sharing food, others on relationships. The
groups provide a great opportunity to encourage one
another and to pray for those who are struggling or who
have things to celebrate.
Prayer Meetings: This moming prayer was active on
Wednesday from 9:30 to 1 Oam every week. There have
been a farthful core of people keeping rt going, praying for
the community and wider area, as well as the world. We
read a Psalm, the Old Testament and New Testament and
share the Lord's Prayer.
Alpha: We ran an Alpha course in the spring of this year
in partnership with the Anglican church in town and were
in partnership with Kilmington Baptist Church. A core of 20
people attended regularty.
Other Activities
Pastoral Care: This year. pastoral care has primarily

taken place through the Lrfe Groups (see above). We are
still trying to be mindful of those who are part of our
community, or who are on the fringes. but who may not be
invested in a Life Group. There are a few people who are
heavity involved in the support of others. visiting regularly,
especially the frail and unwell.
Repairing the building: Significant renovations were
undertaken in the year by a number of small contractors,
organised by Chris Doran. A new toilet was installed, as
well as the upstairs office space being reconfigured for fire
safety and convenience. Some of the unused parts of the
building were renovated to enable their use again. This
work will continue in 2025 with further decoration and the
instsllation of a main kitchen.
Light party: This was organised as an attemative to the
conventional Halloween celebrations that children
otherwise become involved in. A large number of
children turned out to celebrate the light of the world, with
lots of games and excitement. This was a great chance
to offer something different to the wider community.
Santa's Grotto: We also organised a Santa's Grotto
which was, in part, specifically tailored for children with
learning difficulties or who were neuro diverse. This
was a brilliant opportunity to provide something
different for people who had nothing like this nearby.
Achlevements, Performance and Public Benefit
We have continued to run our regular activities and
services without the leadership of a minister. Whilst this
has been a heavy load for some, it has also provided the
opportunity for new people to exercise new skills and
gifts. We are looking to consolidate and strengthen the
Trustee team during the coming year in order to enable
our activities to continue. Our achievements during the
year are largely reflected in the activities described
above.
As a church, our objectives are for the public benefit and
our activities are open to the whole of the local
community. The trustees had due regard to the
commission's public benefrt guidance.

Financial Review
Income reduced somewhat in 2024 to approximately
£45,000, but this is not unusual when there is no
minister. The vast majorty ofthe Church's income came
from donations by the congregation, supplemented by
the letting of rooms and the Church manse.
The 2023 accounts included anticipated gfft aid tax
refunds of £6,000. To date this has not been claimed,
and the 2024 accounts are adjusted to exclude this until
such time as a valid Gift Aid claim is made and tax
refunds received.
Expenditure was slightly higher than income at around
£58,000, on account of the Church renovation project
spend. Without a minister, the expenditure on staff costs
was considerably reduced to the payment of the
administrative staff.
The church did not hold any funds as a custodian
trustee.
Helen Charters (a trustee) was employed by the charity
during the year to carry out cleaning and. on a temporary
basis, for administrative work.
Reserves Policy
The Trustees consider it necessary to hold
approximately £16,000 to cover the expenditure of the
Church, should donation income cease for any reason
or should the Church have to close. During 2024, this
balance was held in a savings account to generate
interest.
Signed
Church Secretary - Trustee.
Date

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CHARITY COMMISSION
FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
Independent examiner's
report on the accounts
Section A
Independent Examiner's Report
Report to the trusteesl
members of
".hill Itxi N."
iiip
Honiton Family Church
On accounts for the year
ended
31 December 2024
Charity no
(if any)
1181655
Set out on pages
9-10
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above
charity (Ihe Trust") for the year ended
D 3, PITI I
Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation
basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act
2011 ('Ihe 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 the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission
under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have
come to my attention (other than that disclosed below ') in connection with
the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material
respect:
accounting records were not kept in accordan￿ with section 130 of
the Act or
the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
Independent
examinerfs statement
I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection
with the examination to which attention should be drawn 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:
202)
Name:
John Hilton
11