the ANNUAL REPORT 2024
Pastor's Re ort 2024 - Anthon Smith Isoioh 40..30-31 But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles,. they will run and not grow weary, they will wolk and not befoint. I can't deny I have very mixed emotions as I write this report being the last one as your paid Pastor. I started my ministry here with those words above from Isaiah ringing in my head. Indeed, they are, if you hadn't noticed, the words above the doors as you enter the church. Those words have been a constant source of encouragement, challenge and refuge when times have been tough. However, looking back over the last year, l am so encouraged with all that has happened. We are blessed with an amazing preaching team, worship team, Trustees and Elders. God is indeed good. My specific thanks also must go to Rachael for all she has done for the church over the last year. So many who faithfully volunteer in so many other areas. Forgive me for not mentioning you all but you know who you are. We couldn't do it without you and you have my thanks for all you do. The main theme I felt God was leading u5 into was a call to prayer for renewal. Thank you to everyone who has faithfully prayed particularly on the days in the month you committed to. As a result towards the end of 2024, we saw a significant number of people exploring baptism. Praise God! That will continue into 2025, Please keep praying. There is more to do! We saw our membership grow with not only new people being added to the fellowship but as a consequence new and varied gifts being added as well. Finances throughout the year have been secure so Thank you to all who give so faithf ully. We have continued to support specifically"Every Life" and "Tek Ura". We have sought to build the kingdom not only locally but further afield and it has been an absolute blessing to hear from those organisations and others about how God is being faithful to their calling. The last year has in many ways been a year of securing the foundations we alreadv had but preparing for an expansion of Hi5 kingdom. l am really excited for the church for 2025 as someone new comes to lead you on into the next season. HGBC is not a building it Is a community and we go forward from 2024 united in our calling.
A signifi'cant part of 2024 has been looking for a new pastor. Whilst that may seem challenging my encouragement is that we must not become desperate but with such spiritually talented people in our fellowship to keep moving forward and trust God and wait for as long as He determines. He has a plan. We are simply called to Trust and Obey. l am not sure what 2025 holds for me but l am so encouraged by all that has happened in 2024. In particular our desire to reach out more into the community. The planning for the new "Sunflower" group which started fully in 2025 was a fulfilment of a vision I felt God laid on my heart pre Covid and it is finally happening. I promise that until I leave I won't give up on my passion for all of you and this church community. Finally Thank you to all of you who have prayed for me, put up with all my faults and continually encourage me. Many of you know that I regularly sing when in the office the words below which are my testimony to God's faithfulness. However, just before I finish, I want to pay tribute to Adele for her continual support, guidance and encouragement particularly when things have been tough not only in 2024 but throughout the years. I couldn't have done this ministry without her. Thank vou l Apparently, she has plans to keep me busy when I retirel God sent His Son, they called Him Je5U5 He came to love, heal andforgive He lived and died, to buy my pardon An empty grove is there to prove my 5ovior lives CHORUS.. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow Becouse He lives, ollfeor is gone Because I know, He holds thefuture And life is worth the living Just because He live5 How sweet to hold o newborn Boby Andfeel the pride ond joy He gives But greater 5ti11 the calm os5urance This Child can face uncertain days because He live5 And then one day, I'll cross the river I'llfvght life'sfvnal war with pain And then 175 de¢7th gives woy to victory I'llsee the lights of glory And I'll know He lives Blessings and prayers as you move forward. Life IS worth the living! Just because He lives Anthony (Pastor and Friend)
THE CHURCH YEAR 2024: Church Secreta Derek Brown As church secretary l am aware of almost all the elements of church life both physical and spiritual. The exercise of writing an annual report focuses the mind on all the blessings we have received in the past year One of the most exciting of these is to see the growth in membership and those attending the services. However the baptistry being used for a double baptism on Easter Sunday made it a real celebration of the ressurection of Jesus! Rachael continues to work tirelessly to reach out to the children and families who are part of our church family both within and without the church building. The school work and term parties together wih events including Christmas Unwrapped and Easter Cracked continue to be a blessing to many as well as those atten(ling our Tuesday Toddlers group. Thank you to all those who regularly support her together with all the children and parents that the fellowship comes into contact with. Who Let the Dads out? once a month on a Saturday for Dads and their children is also an initiative which continues to grow and enables us to reach and support those within the community. As I said last year our building is a tremendous resource and an asset to have at our disposal. 25 years after the initial construction. a number of major repairs have been necessa ry to maintain its integrity as a safe facility. Electrical re wiring including replacing the car park lighting and the refurbishment of the vestibule has been carried out to make a more welcoming space to those entering the building. These works have obviously involved a considerable financial investment but, as our treasurer has stated many times'God is good, and we have been able to cover these costs via the generosity and commitment of the fellowship. Attendance at our worship services on a Sunday and a Wednesday continues to grow and our Sunday online presence is enjoyed by those who are unable to attend in person. Life Groups, Oasis Toddlers, Pop in Lunches and Women's fellowship continue to attract good numbers as does Simply Walk who use the church building on a Monday morning. All these activities enable us to continue to share the Good News and at the same time make real friends with those living around us. On behalf of the church I would like to thank all members of the fellowship who give so much of their time and commitment to ensure the Gospel continues to be shared with those around us. Whatever area that 15, Children and youth work, Audio Visual support, Stewarding. Tea and Coffe dutie5, Leading and preaching plus many other things remember, to paraphrase of Ecclesiastes 11-1, 'if you cast your bread upon the waters it will return to you on every wave,. In June 2025 Anthony will be retiring after over 10 years as pastor here at Holmer Green. I would like to take thi5 Opportunity to thank him for his commitment to the fellowship over this time. Much has been achieved which can be attributed to his passion to establish and grow the Kingdom
Not only has he overseen the spiritual growth of the fellowship but he has also encouraged many individuals to 'step up to the plate, and fi'nd the calling of God on their lives. Through the team ministry model that has developed under his guidance the leadership has been strengthened and a variety in the way God's Word is delivered on a Sunday and Wednesday has been established. His managerial skills enabled the fellowship to face and survive the trauma of Covid, which many other churches sadly failed to do, by encompassing new technology to 'keep the flock together,. Financially the fellowship is also in a healthy place due to his practical guidance especially in relation to the Pension fund deficit and in so many other ways where he has used his 'bargaining skills, to achieve the best result in building the kingdom both spiritually and practically. I trust he will indeed enjoy his retirement when it comes in June and he will take the time to relax and reflect on a job well donel Thank you Anthonv. This brings us to the future. As we continue to seek the way ahead for the fellowship and the right person to lead us forward l am reminded of a hymn l used to sing in my youth the chorus of which says, I know Who holds thefuture, And He'll guide me with his hand. With God things don't just happen,. Everything by Him is plonned. So os Ifoce tomorrow, With it5 problems lorge ond small, I'll trust the God of mirocles, Give to Him my all. One new initiative I havent mentioned is the regular Friday evening 'Pray for revival, meetings and the Prayer days. CH Spurgeon said 'prayer is the powerhouse of the church, and l am convinced that the blessing we are currently enjoying are as a direct result of these meetings. In 2 Chronicles 7:14 we read.. If my people. who are called by my name, will humble themselves ond proy and seek myfoce and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hearfrom heaven, and I willforgive their sin and will heol their lond. We live in a very needy world but praise God. Jesus is the answer! God bless you Derek
TreasUr,5 Re ort 2024- Ste hen Box This report sets out the key figures recording the income and expenditure of the church from 1st January 2024 to 31st December 2024. They have not yet been audited by an external auditor. However the amount of money we have in the bank is confirmed by bank statements and will not change. We ended the year with just over £100 000 in the bank. This is considerably more than the Baptist Union recommends but that situation will change if we cease to gain income from the manse. There are three tables attached. Balance Sheet This is in our case not very relevant. It captures what the organization is "worth" at a particular by listing assets and debts. We do not have any outstanding debts. The assets are a combination of the cash we have available in our bank accounts and property. The properties listed are the manse and the church building. The buildings technically belong to the Baptist Union so whether or not they should appear on our balance sheet is debatable. The figures are intended to be rebuilding costs father than the market value of the manse and church. They were last valued by the Baptist Union in 2016. If the buildings are counted as belonging to the church then we are "worth" £1260 257 The most useful figure on the balance sheet is the cash in hand sum of £100 267. Income and Expenditure Sheet As the title suggests this table lists all the income and expenditure for the year. There are five sections on the financial statements. The first two refer to"Restricted" giving. This is sums of money that have been given for a specific purpose. In our case we have two restricted funds. One is called the "Pastor's Fund" This is used to help to meet the needs of those known to the pastor. The other fund is the proceeds of recent Gift Days that we have given to Tek Ura. The money has been given to them so the auditor may well agree to us moving this money into the General Fund. We will then close that restricted account. The table summarises our income and outgoings. There are some numbers under a heading of Notes. Each number refers to seperate table that provides more details. Finally this sheet sets out the balance carried forward to the start of 2025. Our regular, faithful giving amounted to £66 027, a small increase on the year 2023. Overall we have generated a "surplus" in 2024. One large contributing factor to that has been a full year's rental income form the manse. We spent nearly £21000 on the church building last year. That includes work on the guttering, lighting and the refurbishment of the foyer. We will continue to keep up a high standard of equipping our main worship centre.
Giving to mlsslon The deacons/trustees have committed us to giving away about IO% of our income to mission mainly overseas. In addition to that we have received some money that has been raised for specih'c missions. The table shows that we have reduced the number of organisations we have supported. Our biggest giving {£10 4341 has been to the Albanian charity"Tek Ura" We have committed to this level of support for three years and are working to ensure that our relationship is developing into a significant partnership with this group who are displaying the love of Jesus in their area. In total we have given £11612 to overseas mission - well above our IO% target (which we nominally calculate as £8 0001. As mentioned above the manse has been rented out for the whole of 2024 and has produced a net rental lonce maintenance and letting fees are deducted) of £20 511. We have needed to spend very little on maintenance- installing an extractor fan and cutknng back some trees. We raised the rental by 5Yo at the start of 2025. Our Gift Aid tax refund from HMRC of £15 105 is a significant sum of money. Just about all of our regular giving can trigger a rebate. To make a claim we simply sent to HMRC the name, address of each Gift Aid donor and the amount that each has given over the year. We are also able to claim on cash giving up to a value of £30 per gift. They are very punctual in sending us the refund. Summary Our financial position is very sound. We have managed to keep our buildings in good condition and have made some improvements. We have supported a Pastor and a part time Families Worker. Other treasurers sometimes tell me they are surprised that a church of our size can support two minister5 such as ours. It has been possible as a result of the generosity of our members. Thank you all. We are grateful to the probation service for including us on their list of sites where people doing community service can repay their debt to society. They have certainly saved us some money. We expect 2025 to bring its own challenges but we have entered the new year in a Strong position where we have money to support a number of initiatives to extend God's Kingdom. God is Goodl Stephen
Holmer Green Baptist Church Incorne and Expendlture for year ending 31st Dec 2024 2024 2023 Restricted {Pastorf$l Fund Balance brought forward Receipts Direct Charitsble Expenditure Balance carried forward 745.91 50.00 465.00 330.91 5245.91 (Note 31 4,500 (H) 745.91 Restricted (Gift Day} Fund Balance brought forward Receipts Transfer lo General Fund for Tek Ura Balance carried forward 6,000.00 2.540.00 8,540.00 0.00 6930.00 930 OQ 6.000.00 General Fund Receipts Weekly Offerings other donations reiVed Other raised income for misE (Notg 21 Other income (Note 31 Transfer from Restricled Fund (Tek Ural Total 66,331.50 0.00 3,210.95 49,944 72 8.540.00 128,027.17 63,610.05 2,763 36 34.027.36 100.400.77 Dirgct Choritsblo Expenditure Cost of services Ministry Church l Manse upkeep Other causes Other expenses Total 1,053.84 47,622.06 20,891.18 17,635.79 8,075 68 95,278.55 1,437.87 41,455.65 32.883.34 11.49527 7,791.13 95.063.26 INote 41 (Notg 21 (Note 51 Surplusldeficit for the year 32.748.62 5,337.51 Balance brought fopward Surplusldeficil for the year Balance carried forward 68,949.52 32.748.62 101,698.14 63,612.01 5,337.51 68.949.52 All Funds balance ¢arried fovNard 102,029.05 75.695.43
Holmer Green Baptlst church Notes to the Financial Stat•m•nts 1 Accounling policles Basls ol aecountlng These accounts hav8 bÈèn prepa under the historical cost convents.on and applicable accounting stand8rds. and in accordan with Accounting and Reporting by Charities- Statement of Recommended Practice ISORP 20051 and the Charth"es Act 1993. Bas1$ of Property Valuations The church and manse are revaluecl as per Baptist Union recommende(I figures every 5- 7 years when they carry out a review The last review was conductèd on 19th Dernber 2016 ststU8 of Charity The charity was fornally registered with thè Charity Comrnissioners in 1996. Calh Flow Statom•nt The trustees have taken advantagé of the exemption conferred by th8 Financial Reporting Standard Number 1 and have not prèpared a cash flow statement on th8 basis that this Is a small charity. 2 Other Caus•8 2024 Raised 2024 Given 2023 Raised 2023 Given Raised For Missions supported BMS Wodd Mission Home Mission L8prosy Mis510n Spurgeons Operation Sami RopelProj8Ct Pos5ibl8 Wycombe Youth for Christ Bookslleaflets given away One Can Trust Tearfund Everylile International Tek Ura Istewardshipl Wycornbè Homèless Connectson Restore Hope 1731.19 1186.50 120.00 2070.00 105.00 650 00 330 C() 235 C() 479 09 300.00 76.49 564.31 128850 400 00 000 480 39 100.00 20 C(J 350 00 10434 00 83.38 200.00 Vvho Let the Dads Out Pop In Events Junior Church Playmates l Toddlers Schools Youth Club Simply Walk lexpl 149.66 232.13 1.547 87 1.596.39 336 35 750 09 197 94 132.89 195 35 96.00 222.36 137801 107427 488 60 709 90 18656 233 26 228.S3 1,230.10 1,386.45 100(KJ 94.41 3.210.95 17,601.37 2,763.36 11,495.27 3 Other Incomo 2024 2023 Pop In Ilncl Use of Premises Gener81 Events Inteiest HMRC Refund Simply Walk Ilncl Oth8r Income Manse Rental Unexplained surplus Inco 2.802.20 1.276.64 1.147.66 2,426 42 15,10539 2,1(.27 2,796.35 21,646.00 637 79 49,944.72 1,624.60 450.00 821.70 1,882 15 15.464 75 2,070.62 939 50 10,274 04 500 00 34,027.36
Holmer Green Baptist Church Notes to the Financial Staternents 4 Church & Manse Upkeep 2024 2023 Water charges '. manse I church Electric I gas ." manse I church Telephone I broadband Insurance Repairs and purchases Igenerall Manse Expenses 0.00 2,336 04 588.53 1,895.82 16,070.79 000 20.891.18 295.52 2,772.12 729.86 1.675.71 5.181.49 1.938 77 12,593.47 S Other Expens06 2024 2023 General Adminislralion I Sundries Fees and subscriptions Cleaning and catering Photocopying and printing CCLI 770.18 2,246.21 2.410.94 1,675.98 972.37 8,075.68 176 85 2,390.72 2,656.33 1,576.05 861.17 7.661.12 6 Non-monetary assets held forthe church's own use The church is the beneficial owner Isubjecl to relevant Irustsl of the following assets, the legal lille of which is held by The Charities Custodian Trustee, The Baptist Union Corporation. These assets are stsled at insured values. Last valuation by Baptist Union 19th December 2016. 2024 2023 Church and contents." Church held for church's own use Manse.. 6 Weathercock Gardens, Held as investment 980.000 180.000 1,160,000 980,000 180,000 1.160,000 The accounts and slalement of assets and liabilities Ibalance sheet) as set out in pages 110 6 inclu e for the year ending 31 st December 2023 are as approved by the Deacons. Signe Ichurch Secreta Date..
Holmer Green Baptist Church Balance sheet Dec 31st 2024 Nots 2024 2023 Fixed Inon-monetaryl Assets Church and Manse Church Held for ehur¢h'$ ¢)wn use Manse Held for investment 980,000.00 180,000.00 1,160,000.00 980,000.0 180,000.0 1,160.000.0 Monetary assots Lloyds current account Lloyds Instant Access account Lloyds Instsnl Access Online account BU Corp 7 day account (opened Jan 20231 BU Corp 3 month account (opened Jan 20231 15,717.99 15.105.39 6.382.3 15,464.7 28.258.76 42.946.91 22,641.4 31.206.9 Cash in hand 102.029.05 75,695 4 Non Monetary *8sets 1,160,000.00 1,160,000.0 Total assets 1.262.029.05 1,235,695 4
HOLMER GREEN BAPTisf CHURCH INDEPENDENTEXAMINER'S REPORTTO THETRUSTEES FOR THE YEAR ENDING 3111212024 Re8pectlve re8POn81bllltles oltrustees and examlnei The charity's trustees are responsible foi the preparation of the accounts. The charity's trustees consider that an atsdit is not required tor this year under section 144121 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) and that 8n independent examination is needed. It is my responsibility to examine the 8ccounts as set out in the following 4 pages, under section 145 of the 2011 Act, to follow the procedures laid down in the general directions given bythe Ch8rity Commission, to state whether particular matters have come to my attention. Ba81$ of Independentexaminor's statement My examination was carried out in accordance with the general directions given bythe Charity Commission. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit and consider th8t an gudit is not required for this year under section 144121 of the Charities Act 2011. Independent examlner'8 statement In the course ofmyexamination. no matters. except as disclosed below. have come to my attention.. I Which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirement in the accounting iequirements of the 2011 acts have not been met. to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act. and to Prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting ofthe 2011Act have not been met, or 2 To which in my opinion attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Matter¥ requlrlng dS8¢108ure The accounting procedures did not make it possible to follow 811 entries to the various categories of income and expenditure and l understand that a newaccounting system has now been introduced for2025. The balances in the 8ccounts attheyearend exceeded the balances shown in the accounts by £637.79 ofwhich £626.80 mayrelate to a receipt of£626.80 in FebTU8rywhich I cannot see in the accounts. This difference has been adjusted for by an additional line in income. l am satisfied that the balances totalling £102 029.35 shown in the accounts represent the true position at the year end. Mr P Roberts 21 Partidge Close Signed......................................... Chesham 8vck8