## **Greenacres Congregational Church Galland Street Oldham OL4 3EU** ## **Trustees Annual Report for the period October 2023 to October 2024** ## **Charity Name – Greenacres Congregational Church** ## **Charity Registration number – 1183815** ## **Objectives and Activities** The objectives of the CIO are to advance the Christian Faith in accordance with the principles of Congregationalism for the benefit of the public in accordance with the statements of belief appearing in the Constitution of Greenacres Congregational Church. - The advancement of the Christian Faith in accordance with the principles of Congregationalism mainly, but not exclusively, by means of broadcasting Christian congregational messages of an inspirational and teaching nature. - To advance the Christian Faith in accordance with the principles of Congregationalism in the Oldham Metropolitan Borough for the benefit of the public through the holding of prayer meetings, lectures, public celebration of religious festivals, producing and/or distributing literature on Congregationalism to enlighten others about Congregational beliefs. - To provide a place of worship in the Oldham Metropolitan Borough, for the advancement of the Christian Faith in accordance with Congregational principles. ## **Looking back over 2024** September seems to come round quicker and quicker each year that goes by. This report is not only an opportunity to reflect on the last year but also a legal requirement of the Charity Commission to update members on the Church’s governance and financial position. Despite being back to normal, Covid is still affecting our lives and many of our fellowship have succumbed to the infection over the last year. This has resulted in some missed attendances due to isolation but thank goodness the life threatening nature of the illness seems to have passed for now. The year started with the AGM on 8[th] October 2023 when officers of the Church were elected and the annual report and accounts were approved. These were subsequently submitted to the Charity Commission before the deadline and they are available on line for anyone to view. Whilst we are still without a minister we have had an application from a suitable candidate – Ruairidh MacRae, Ruiairdh preached at our Church on Sunday 1[st] September, he also preached at Springhead on 29[th] . Further to our agreement to move forward with Springhead for a shared ministry, we now need to agree the practical and financial details of how a shared ministry would work with Springhead before meeting and deciding whether we want to Call Ruairidh to our Churches. Our very grateful thanks to Rev’d Frank Wroe, Rev’d Liz Dean and Peter Butler as well as all of the other visiting Ministers for being so willing to step into the breach and lead our worship each week. Bible study continues to be held by Zoom and face to face house meetings on alternate weeks whilst Prayer meetings have returned to a face to face format. The Friendship choir continues to thrive and meet alternate Saturday mornings and is always looking for new members, Zumba, Pilates and Table Tennis have also been ongoing activities over the year and are well supported. The Friendship centre has also thrived throughout the year and as well as providing great food has been a centre for outreach at our Church. The Friendship centre has contributed £800 To Church funds this year. Unfortunately, Sylvia has had to step down from leading the work in the kitchen which has put a greater strain on those remaining. Stuart who has taken responsibility for leading the Friendship centre for the last few years has also decided that it was time to take a break and stood down as of the middle of September. The Diaconate and Trustees had a long and difficult discussion about the Friendship Centre continuing on reduced resources and without a “responsible” leader and took the difficult decision to close the Centre out of safeguarding and Health and Safety concerns as of the 12[th] September. The Church owes a great debt of gratitude to all of the team who have worked so hard over recent years to make it such a great success. Hopefully, we will be able to resurrect it at some point in the future. Following the decision last year to run an Alpha course at Church, Stuart and the support team set up and ran the course here at Greenacres. There were five attendees and those who attended agreed that it had been a worthwhile exercise. The relative success of the course has led to the team running a further course this year which has just started. ## **There have been a number of services and meetings of note during the year these being :-** 12th Nov: Remembrance Sunday. A moving service led by Revd. Liz Dean. We stood to remember the fallen of two World Wars and other conflicts since. Malcolm Dean paid tribute to one of the men from Greenacres who had served in the First World War and been awarded the Military Cross, Lieutenant Harold Platt Hall died of his wounds on 9[th] November 1918 and was buried in France on 11[th] Nov 1918 the day his parents received the telegram. Records relating to Harold’s background, his parents and his war service were on display for us to view. The church was filled with poppies, a beautiful display adorned the spiral staircase in the foyer and our poppy wreath was later laid at the Waterhead War Memorial. After the two minutes silence the ‘Last Post’ was sounded and at the end of the service, The National Anthem was sung. 19th Nov: The Puppet Ministry: Led by Peter Butler. Peter’s theme was the parable of the talents and the puppeteers certainly use their talents to provide thought provoking words and music. Paul who spoke on behalf of the group said Jesus just wants to love us all so much. The puppets sang three songs including ‘You raise me up’. The encore was ‘Elvis’ who sang a gospel song to close. An uplifting and entertaining Sunday worship. 3rd Dec: Advent Sunday. Held at Roundthorn Salvation Army Citadel. Major Pam Ralph-Barratt suggested we take our gifts for their ‘Children at Christmas Appeal’ to their Citadel and join with them in worship. This proved a huge success and we were warmly welcomed by their fellowship. The Salvation Army also use their multimedia system and screens for services and we were shown a beautiful video of the Nativity along with a carol written by an army officer. Our gifts were presented during the service and afterwards we joined the salvationists for refreshments. 10th Dec: Led by Revd. Liz Dean and the children of Greenacres Primary School. We are grateful to the teachers and children of the school for performing their Nativity play ‘Follow the Star”. As always, the children were brilliant and sang their hearts out. Liz also brought along Ignatius the church mouse puppet who told the children why Mary and Joseph had to travel to Bethlehem. 24th Dec: The Christmas Carol service led by Liz. We were joined by members of Springhead Congregational Church. Following this service, a Rowan tree was planted in the church grounds in memory of Rev. Dr. Walter Riggans. He was the Learning and Development tutor for the Congregational Federation. He sadly died suddenly, four days after his last service which he led at Greenacres on Whit Sunday 2022. Yvonne Campbell, the General Secretary led a memorial tribute to Walter. His daughter, Robyn also attended. After the planting, coffee and mince pies were served. Christmas Day service led again by Liz. The offertory that morning was in support of research into Motor Neurone Disease 28th Jan: Revd. David Ireland from Union St URC and Chief Executive of Francis House Children’s Hospice made a welcome return to Greenacres. David is always amusing and made us laugh telling his anecdote of being in a pub prior to a meeting in London, drinking pints with a nun and a priest, an unlikely scenario he said but totally true. He also told us about his involvement with Francis House Hospice and the great faith of those who founded the hospice that the cost would be met. David was the architect for the project and was unsure this would happen. Sister Aloysius told him God would provide and 34 years later the hospice is still giving care and support to children with cancer and, to their families. 11th Feb: John Pollitt from Springhead Congregational Church returned to Greenacres. People commented on John’s excellent sermon and clear speaking. His amusing sermon was based on striving for perfection. Growing up he believed he would play football for Oldham Athletic and cricket for England. 25th Feb: Led by Major Pam Ralph-Barratt of Roundthorn Salvation Army. This was a lovely well attended service and we welcomed Pam and her fellowship to Greenacres. Six hymns kept Margaret busy playing and the service went on until 12:10 p.m. Pam taught us a new song which had us moving around church, greeting and giving high fives to one another. She was very sincere in her preaching. We also watched a video of the work the Salvation Army carries out across the world, helping to feed and educate people through donations of self-denial from their own congregation and other salvationists throughout Britain. The preaching fee we gave to Pam along with a further donation of £75 from our benevolent fund will go towards this project. 10th March: Mothering Sunday Service led by Susan Titmuss of Greenfield Methodist Church. A lovely service, which Susan based on Moses in the bullrushes and the love and care of all our mothers. Daffodils were handed out to all the ladies in church that morning. 31st March Easter Sunday: Peter stood in for Liz who had written the Easter service but was unable to be there that morning. A very fitting service with Holy Communion, which was well attended (55) Families of members came as did others who liked to take communion on this special day. Simnel cake and Easter eggs were served as refreshments afterwards along with the special homemade malt loaf brought by Tony Edwards who had flown in from Northern Ireland to celebrate Easter with us. Our thanks to Peter for helping out at short notice. 7th April Tim Hopley: It was a pleasure to welcome Tim from Greenmount URC back to Greenacres. Tim spoke about the disciple known as Doubting Thomas and asked how many of us would have doubted the risen Christ without being shown the evidence of His wounds. Tim also gave a demonstration of the sliced unpeeled banana and asked us to believe the impossible. We were also grateful to Tim for leading us in our communion service. He will did so again when he returned in August. 19th May: Whit Sunday and 352nd Church Anniversary Service. The No Strings Attached Puppet Ministry made a welcome return to Greenacres. Peter led the service. The puppets entertained us with a Pentecostal theme and Fiona, a lady from their Methodist Church performed dance movements with a shimmering gold banner. Our hymns also fitted the theme with ‘Breathe on me Breath of God’ and the ‘Spirit lives to set us free’. The puppeteers also made reference to the history of our church and noted King William III was the monarch in 1672. After the service we enjoyed cake and other refreshments in the church hall. 26th May: Service led by Catherine Booton, the Learning and Development Manager for the Congregational Federation. This was Catherine’s first visit to Greenacres, an excellent speaker, Catherine spoke about the events following Pentecost and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Her son Harry also spoke about his role for the youth within the Federation. Catherine was also interested in the social events of our church. She will return to lead worship again in November. 16th June, Service led by David Morgan the former pastor of Mount Pleasant Mission now the Revive Methodist Church: David is a very knowledgeable preacher of the Old and New Testament and does so without notes. He explained with great eloquence just what is meant by being born again of the Holy Spirit. He also explained the meaning behind the sacrificial offerings of the Old Testament. 23rd June Led by Revd. Alan Kennedy: Alan also played the organ for the hymns. His theme was based on Jesus and his disciples facing the storm and asked would you get into the boat? Alan’s hymns were all based on the storms of life e.g. ‘Would your anchor hold’ and “God who made each great wide ocean’ 30th June Led by Revd Barbara Bridges: Barbara last led our Harvest service and it was good to welcome her back to Greenacres. Barbara commented on singing the Lord’s Prayer which reminded her of being back in Sunday School and only sings it when she is at Greenacres. Barbara said she would try to avoid mentioning the Euro football and the forthcoming General Election Her sermon was based on two Bible readings, Jairus’s daughter and Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth. She voiced how the people involved in the readings might have felt and this brought the stories to life. 28th July: Service led by Revd. Alan Kennedy of Walkden Congregational Church, ably assisted by his partner, Nathan. Alan’s theme was the ‘Feeding of the Five Thousand” His readings, hymns and sermon gave insight into Jesus performing this miracle, mentioned in all four gospels. Nathan gave a dramatic reading of the miracle as though he was there at the time speaking to some of the disciples who were asking him to provide a meal for thousands out of a few loaves and fishes. Comedy as well as drama is always a welcome addition to Alan’s services. 4th August: Tim Hopley from Greenmount URC led our worship and Communion service. Tim gave a very clever address about a man searching for God. In this address, Tim’s origami skills were put to the test. The man in the story sailed to America on a ship, in New York he stayed in a hotel but he couldn’t find God in any of these places. He then flew back to London on a jumbo. Each time, Tim did well in making the paper change shape. The man having had no success in finding God decided to take the space shuttle, another valiant effort from Tim. When the man returned to earth, he realised God had been in all the places he had visited as Tim unfolded the paper to reveal the shape of a cross. 11th August: Led by Yvonne Campbell, the General Secretary of the Congregational Federation. Yvonne spoke about the beginnings of Congregationalism and how Greenacres was one of the first Congregational churches as our founder, Robert Constantine was expelled from the Anglican church in Oldham and forbidden to preach within five miles of that church for refusing to conform to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. Yvonne’s message to us all was that God is Love, her sermon and hymns reflected this. Her unusual and ‘magical’ prayer book changed from blank pages and black and white to colour when people understood and followed the Christian teaching that God is Love. 1st Sept: Communion service led by Revd. Roo MacRae. Roo attended with his husband James. They were both given a warm welcome by our fellowship. Roo’s sermon was based on Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well. He also spoke about care and compassion for one another and for our community. Roo is an excellent speaker and his accent easy to understand. We felt he spoke from the heart, especially during his prayers of intercession. He led our communion service in a most caring and instructive way. After the service everyone chatted to Roo and James, we felt sure we would like him to preach again. Roo led the service for Springhead Church on 29th Sept. 29th Sept: Our Harvest Thanksgiving Service. Led by Elisabeth Sweeney Smith, the current President of the Congregational Federation. As in previous years, our donations for the Food Bank will be taken to Roundthorn Salvation Army. ## **Church meetings** The quarterly church meeting in Oct 2023, followed the AGM. It was at this meeting that final arrangements were made for renting out the church manse. Tenants moved into the manse in January. The whole house had been redecorated and was in excellent condition. Ryder and Dutton act as our agents, taking 14.5% of the monthly rental. As at 30th June, the end of our financial year, the manse rental has brought £4,194 in extra income for our church. At our quarterly meeting in February this year, the idea of a shared ministry with Springhead Congregational Church was put to our members. It was agreed this was something we should pursue. At the May church meeting, it was announced our church profile had been amended to include the possibility of a shared ministry. Springhead have confirmed their members are agreeable to this which makes the employment of a minister much more affordable. At our meeting in August, it was revealed that Revd. Roo MacRae from Eyemouth in the Scottish Borders had applied for the position of Minister at Greenacres and Springhead. At the service in July which was held at Springhead, Rev MacRae joined us. He met with the deacons at Springhead and in the afternoon he joined our deacons in the church lounge for informal discussions and to look around the church. Rev MacRae was invited to lead our communion service on 1st Sept, which was well received. Roo and his husband James chatted to our fellowship over coffee following the service. He led the worship at Springhead on 29th Sept. If both churches and Rev. MacRae decide they would like to and can continue with the application, we will invite him to lead another service at each church “with a view” to him becoming our minister. The decision to call a minister will be made by church members at an extraordinary meeting. ## **Church Maintenance** Whilst there have been no items of significant expenditure over the last year we have continued to undertake roiutine maintenance of our property. The details of these works and cost can be seen in the attached accounts. ## **Social group report** The social group consists of 6 people and meets about every two months to plan church social activities. Since September 2023 there have been 13 events: two quiz nights, three bingo sessions, a car treasure hunt, a coach outing to Llandudno, a brass band concert, a trip on the East Lancashire Railway, a church meal, a visit from Mikron theatre and a visit to Manchester Monastery. In this period, the Social Group made a profit of £360, half of which went to church funds and the other half to local charities. ## **Other Matters** Our Church has been advertising to call a new minister for a significant period of time as has our neighbouring Church at Springhead. At our quarterly Church meeting we agreed that the cost of calling a full-time minister was unsustainable and we agreed that we would, if possible, move forward with a part time minister shared with Springhead if the opportunity arose. As mentioned above, we have had an interest from a suitable candidate and we are waiting to establish whether Springhead are ready to move forward with a view to asking the applicant to “preach with a view” ## **Structure, Governance and Management** The structure of our CIO remains unchanged with a Minister, 5 Trustees and up to 12 Deacons. ## **Trustees** Following last year’s AGM, the five trustees of the Charity were:- I Bairstow Chair J Dean Secretary M Fowler Treasurer L Dean (Rev) P Butler In accordance with the rules of the Charity trustees need to step down in rotation every 3 years and this year the period of office for Margaret Fowler (treasurer) and Peter Butler will come to an end. There will therefore be two Trustee vacancies at the forthcoming AGM. Following our last AGM, there were also three vacant posts for Deacons. Since that time Gary Croad has resigned and there are therefore currently 8 Deacons. Deacons are required to retire and if they wish stand for re election every four years. This year David Hopkins, Margaret Fowler and Peter Butler reach their fourth year. ## **Deacons and Trustees** ## **Deacons** Joy Dean Until Oct 2027 Margaret Fowler Until Oct 2024 Gail Waterhouse Until Oct 2026 Stuart Paulley Until Oct 2025 Ian Bairstow Until Oct 2025 David Hopkins Until Oct 2024 Peter Butler Until Oct 2024 Gary Croad Retired 2024 Liz Dean Until Oct 2026 (trustee until Oct 2025) (trustee until Oct 2024) (trustee until Oct 2025) (trustee until Oct 2024) (Trustee until Oct 2027) ## **Roll of Honour** We sadly note the passing of Maureen Pickles of our fellowship who passed away on 21[st] August 2024 . ## **Financial Review** ## **a) Revenue** During the year ending 30[th] June 2024 the church had a revenue income of £48,363 and running costs of £33,585 leaving an in year operating surplus of £14,778. A summary breakdown of income and expenditure is given below. The full detailed audited accounts are attached at the end of this report. ## **Income** ## **Expenditure** |Offertory|£19761|Cleaning/pulpit Supp|| |---|---|---|---| |£5053|||| |Gift Aid|£4602|Manse|| |£4798|||| |Investment Income|£6612|Utilities and general exp|| |£10,900|||| |Donations, grants, fundraising|£5618|Admin and Legal|| |£3428|||| |Funeral/wedding Fees|£0|Donations|| |£2369|||| |Room Hire|£7235|Buildings|| |£7037|||| |Other|£91||| |Rental income Manse|£4194||| |Legacy|£250||| ||--------||----| |----|||| ||£48,363||| |£33585|||| Members might want to note that the offertory income has remained relatively static when compared with last year. This is the first time for a number of years that we have not seen a year-on-year reduction. The Church’s financial position has been much improved due to an increase in room hire income for our buildings along with the income from the rental of the Manse. The Expenditure is also significantly below normal as we are not funding the cost of a minister. The church is incredibly fortunate to still have a very generous but reducing fellowship and our thanks go to all of you for your kind generosity. The figures do however support the view that a part time minister at an annual cost of around £20,000 is much more sustainable than a full time one which would cost of the order of £40,000 per year. ## **b) Reserves and Investments** The general position of reserves and investments remains unchanged. Adjustments and transfers are noted below. - £12.7k increase in valuation of the Nucleus long term investment fund - £2.8k increase in the Nucleus medium term investment - £10k increase in the COIF ethical investment income shares - £81k increase in Manse Valuation from £129k to £210k It is worthy of note that our investment valuations have increased this year. This along with the re valuation of the manse has resulted in an increase in the value of our assets. Our revenue position this year continues to be distorted as we have been without the cost of a full-time minister for a long period. As such, our overall balance sheet is positive. Nevertheless, we should be mindful that utility costs are increasing rapidly and these along with the cost of even a part-time minister will make financial sustainability in future years challenging. We must hope and pray that with the engagement of a new minister we will see a growth in our fellowship with the capacity sustain our ongoing expenditure without too much reliance on our reserves. I am pleased to be able to report that given the relatively high levels of reserves our Church is still in a strong financial position. Our buildings and grounds are in a good state of repair and we have no foreseeable exceptional expenditure that threatens the overall viability of our fellowship. God willing with the positive impact of social events, fund raising and room rentals and the ongoing support of our fellowship we will be able to sustain worship at Greenacres for many years to come. A full copy of our audited accounts is attached for information below. These will be presented to our AGM for approval prior to submission to the Charity Commission. Ian Bairstow Chair of Trustees GREENACRES CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 30JUNE 2024 GREENACRES CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024 2024 Offertory income Donations. grants and fundrdisi LeEaCV Funeral and weddin8 fees Room Hire 19761 5618 inots i) 7586 250 723S 4593 Property Rental Investment I￿orne Other income Tax reclaimed on covenants 4194 (note 2) (not• 3) 66 91 6421 20 S029 43539 Minister's stipend and pe￿On aeanlng and pulplt suppty Manse expenses General expenses Admlnlstra¥ve expenses Donations made Buildi￿ and equirthent maintenance 4911 1446 {rtote4) (notè5) {note6) Inote71 {note81 10726 3389 2266 3428 7037 33585 15099 37837 14778 5702 1441731 1498751 1293951 144173 GREENACRES CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH BALANCE SHEET ASAT 30 JUNE 2024 2023 Land and 8uildin8S Manse 210000 129000 Churth Land and Buildi 275000 4850fy) 275000 404000 Equipment Sound System & Multi Media 10723 12511 Investments Inole91 342407 315998 Cash at bank and in hand (note 10) 47016 31221 Accounts recelvable 1730 1730 Tot•1 assets 886876 76S460 Current Ilabllltles (nots ii) 1945 1285 Total assets tess current liabilities 884931 764175 Church Funds General Fund Revaluatir)n Reserves {nots 13) Deficit on income and expenditure account {note 12) 693376 693920 8750 212200 1293951 8750 105678 1441731 884931 764175 Pa￿2 GREENACRES CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024 2023 Ilote l Donatlon51 grants and fundrablng Other donatlons 3700 4791 Grants Collettions forcharity Festive coffee momin8 Fund Taising 725 1205 611 1185 802 83 102 S618 7586 Note 2 ljwesknent Incomè Bank Interest Royton Tnst COIF intome frorn units D8 BerryTrust income K LockeTrust Income reachers Bulldlng Soclety Interest 301 137 1356 3193 1079 218 438 3182 1068 213 6612 6421 Notè 3 Othèr Intomè Sale of Fridge Freezer Sale of Old Media Items 91 91 20 Pa88 3 GREENACRES CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 30JUNE 2024 Water Rates -12S -159 Insurance Repalrs and Renewals Ener8y Costs Rental Costs Ground rent 377 4249 194 356 1236 13 4798 1446 Insuran Telephone Electrlclty Gas Water 4174 579 1289 4371 516 1241 4825 10726 Postage ststlonery and consumables General prlntln8 costs Remembrnnce Daywreath and expenses Caterlng costs Copyrl8ht ￿￿nCeS Le8al fees Accountanty and Audlt Fees Alpha Course Expenses Health and Safety Expenses Klng's Coronatlon Prayer Books Mlscdlaneow expenses li 14 37 21 324 302 1675 1578 300 617 2S2 323 3428 164 Pay4 GREENACRES CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH NOTES TO THE AccouKrs YEAR ENDED 30JUNE 2024 Oonatlons to affifiated as%KI S91 Rob Burrow- MND Dr Kershaws Oldham Mountain Rescue 8riti5h Red Cr05$ 257 260 225 CWM MIn￿ty and ￿￿oft Christian Aid Salvation Amy Franos House Othr DonatK>ns 750 75 198 2369 2266 Noto 8 Bulldlry and equlpn*rt malnt Bulldlrvd repal Land maintenarKe Window cleaning Cleaning materials nd ￿arni Costs Sound System & MU￿• Me(tia Costs Souftd System & Multl Medkna Depredation 2334 2259 235 2467 220 226 349 1150 3S 17 7037 Nudeus Medium Term Nudeus LongTerm Teachers BuIldI￿socIety COIF Ethical Invest￿ Income Shares 49262 122218 109502 54207 53321 116720 106734 342407 315998 Pag• 5 GREENACRES CONGREGATIONAL QIURCH NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS YEAR ENDED 30 JUNE 2024 Note 10 Cash at ￿nkand In hand Bank Current account 10295 Bank reserve account Petty cash 21172 39 47016 20B71 55 31221 Accounts ptyable Fund ralslni hoidln8 x¢ount Coffee colltttlon holdlnl %count 1542 I￿5 2(Kl 203 1945 1285 Not• 12 Churth Fw Youth and Recreadon Fund- Ca￿ts1 Youth and Recrea￿On Fund- In¢off Terc. BulldlNd Endowment Fund Waterhead Fund- Cawtsl Watethead Fund. Interest Le8acy Fund Hlstorlcal Recelpts Fund Benevolent Fund Endowment Fund Communlon FuThl 2011 2011 2766 2766 298￿7 298007 36fy)$0 36￿50 112CM) 11746 693374 693920 Nudeus Investsnent Revaluaiim Reser¥e Capital Units Rthluatlon ReseNe Manse Revaluation Reserve 21480 109720 81Cb) 212200 5944 99734 105678 P*s• 6 CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trustaesl members of GEIIN Acfcls CJh