Trustees’ report 2022
After the restrictions caused by the pandemic over the last two years we have seen a welcome return to something more like normality in our church life. We were all delighted to sing together again, to have communion, to be able to meet together in person again for home group and, not least, to have more cushions in the pews! We can look back with thankfulness to God for his safe-keeping as well as look forward to how he will be at work in TBC in the future.
There have inevitably been difficult and sad times and we feel the loss of Maureen and David, both of whom had served the Lord faithfully in this church for many years. We feel too for Mary in the loss of Neil.
The prayer mornings started again in September and have now become a more regular monthly gathering. They are a precious time leading to a deepening desire to meet with God, to share with each other and to discern God’s way forward for us as a church. We were disappointed that the Make Lunch Club did not develop as we had hoped but we have reengaged with the Primary School who plan to bring some classes to look round the church during this summer term. The men’s breakfasts, the coffee morning and Coffee & Company for those who have been bereaved are meeting a real need in the community and we pray that they will continue to grow.
We have looked outwards in other ways also: the hall was used for a number of weeks for an exercise class for people referred from the surgery; we have continued to support the Foodbank with financial gifts as well as actual items; we have supported Young Minds working with children and young people with mental health issues and have also given to special appeals for Afghanistan and Ukraine as well as other causes.
Over the past year some major work has been done on the building. The flat roof above the side entrance and the coping stones at the front of the church had allowed significant ingress of water so urgent remedial work was needed. The damaged plaster in the upper room and staircase has been repaired; the front of the church re-painted, the south boundary wall repaired and re-pointed, and the new arched windows were finally installed. The building is not an end in itself; it is there to serve us as a worshipping community and to enable us to reach out to share God’s love. It was with this in mind that a group was formed to consider how this could be achieved. Their first output was the issuing of a questionnaire to ask the church how this could best be done and we hope that the responses will enable us to make the building more welcoming and versatile.
Broadband was finally installed and has enabled us to use Zoom not just for Sunday services but also on occasions for homegroup. We have bought a new laptop which can cope with the demands of showing the PowerPoints and running Zoom at the same time; special thanks to Debbie who spent hours setting it up. We hope to have a team of volunteers who can operate the laptop on Sunday mornings.
Because we are small in number everyone plays a necessary part in church life and we thank you all. We are grateful to those who take part in the Sunday services by reading or leading intercessions, to our musicians who enhance our worship, to those who welcome us in to the church, who make the coffee, do the flowers, run the BMS Birthday scheme, clean the church and help with the men’s breakfasts, Coffee & Company and the coffee mornings. Special thanks to Anne and Michael who do so much behind the scenes as well as upfront for their faithful and practical service. We are very blessed to have Jim as part of our church family and are grateful for his systematic preaching and his deep desire to teach God’s word
faithfully, for the hours that he spends in preparation and for his pastoral care. Nor must we forget Fran whose administrative skills are vital for the ongoing running of the church.
What will the next year bring for TBC? Where will God lead us? Seeking God eagerly in prayer is going to be vital in answering these questions. Let’s continue to seek what he wants us to do and be as a Christian presence and witness in Thaxted, knowing that he will be with us and will equip us for the task in hand.
Michael Berresford, Jim Ford & Frances Griffiths
| Unrestricted funds |
Unrestricted funds |
Unrestricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Restricted funds |
Endowment funds |
Total | funds | Last year | Last year | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| to | the nearest | to the nearestf | to the nearestf | to the nearestf | to the nearest€ | |||||||
| E | ||||||||||||
| A | ||||||||||||
| Regular Offerings | 17.264 | 17.264 | 16.533 | |||||||||
| Donations & Other Income | 3.820 | 3,820 | 474 | |||||||||
| Manse Rent | 9.9s3 | 9,953 | 10,875 | |||||||||
| Raised for other Causes | 296 | 296 | 216 | |||||||||
| Gift Aid | 4,512 | |||||||||||
| Wednesday Fellowship | 5l | |||||||||||
| ubtatal (Gross | inczmefar AR) |
31,037 | 295 | 31,333 | 32,661 | |||||||
| A2Asset andinvestmentsales, | ||||||||||||
| (seetable). | ||||||||||||
| rotatreceip"E::::@] | l-75,',;1 l-1 | :r,e:alI-E7l | ||||||||||
| A3 | ||||||||||||
| Ministry | 2,671 | 2,671 | 1,775 | |||||||||
| Mission | 1,720 | 296 | 2,016 | 2,547 | ||||||||
| Church Running Costs | 4,114 | 4,114 | 3,645 | |||||||||
| Manse | 1,813 | 1,813 | 2,962 | |||||||||
| Administraion | 1.214 | 1.214 | 3,352 | |||||||||
| Outreach/Evangelism | 800 | 800 | 86 | |||||||||
| Church Reoairs/lmorovements | 8,840 | 8,840 | 6,618 | |||||||||
| UVednesdayFellowship | 20 | |||||||||||
| Sub(ofal | 21,172 | 295 | 21,468 | 21,005 | ||||||||
| A4Asset andinvestment | ||||||||||||
| ruerorrecetpr,sllPaymenrql,"""1 A5rransfersbetweenfundsI-I A6Cashfundslastyearend |
6e,2101 cashrundsthisyear""rrel |
1 i-I i t-] |
1l 1Lr"""ll i -t I -lI ll f-] I |
-i ; 6e,210ll ?r^o?sll-id |
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Endowment | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| funds | funds | funds | ||||
| to nearestf | toneareste | to nearest€ | ||||
| 81Cashfunds | Current Account | |||||
| ---_--lr_-_l-l | ||||||
| Total cashfunds | ||||||
| (agree balanceswithreeeipts | and payments | |||||
| account(s)) | ||||||
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Endowment | ||||
| funds | funds | funds | ||||
| tonearest€ | to nearestf | tonearest€ | ||||
| 82Other monetary assets | ||||||
| Fund towhich | Cost (optional) | |||||
| 83lnvestment assets | ||||||
| Fund toYvhich | Cost (optional) | Current value | ||||
| 84Assetsretained forthe | Church Builbing | |||||
| charity'sownuse | Manse | |||||
| Fixtures, Fittings & Equipmemt | ||||||
| Fund towhich | Amount due | When due | ||||
| 85 Liabilities | BMS Birthday Scheme | Restricted | ||||
| Home Mission | Restricted | |||||
| Signedbyoneor twotrusteeson behalfof allthe truslees |
Name | |||||
| t | G-e-i-trPr-r-:+rs |