Anchor Church
Report and Accounts Year ended 31 December 2022
1 Lamb's Passage, London EC1Y 8AB www.stewardship.org.uk
ANCHOR CHURCH
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
ADDRESS FOR CORRESPONDENCE c/o The C of E Birmingham 1 Colmore Row Birmingham B3 2BJ GOVERNING DOCUMENT Constitution dated 20th August 2019 CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER 1186793 TRUSTEES RESPONSIBLE FOR Rev Chris Mitton MANAGING THE CHARITY Joshua Barber (appointed April 2022) Taylor Batte (resigned September 2022) Helena Kittle Joel Lines (appointed April 2022) Patrick Masih (appointed April 2022) Sebrina Miller (resigned April 2022) Miriam Sadler Kenny Smith (resigned June 2022)
BANKERS INDEPENDENT EXAMINER
Co-operative Bank Archie McDowall BA, CA Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB
INDEX
Page 1 Legal and Administrative Details Page 2 Summary Trustees' Report Page 3 Independent Examiner's Report Page 4 Receipts and Payments Account Page 5 Statement of Assets & Liabilities Pages 6-7 Notes to the Accounts Appendix Full Trustees' Report
Page 1
ANCHOR CHURCH
REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
The Trustees have pleasure in submitting the Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022.
Objects of the charity
The charity, which is a church, is governed by a constitution and is constituted as a charitable incorporated organisation. The charity's principal object, as set out in its governing document, is to advance the Christian faith.
Review of the charity's main activities and achievements
Please see appendix for full Trustees' report.
In planning the activities the Trustees have applied the guidance on public benefit issued by the Charity Commission.
Financial review
During the year income reduced by £5,900, to £62,400, and expenditure increased by £14,200, to £56,900. As a result the cash held by the charity increased by £5,600, to £75,300, of which £73,500 is unrestricted and can be used for any charitable purpose.
Reserves policy
The trustees have determined that the charity should aim to hold unrestricted cash of no less than £14,000 (which equates to about 3 months of necessary unrestricted expenditure) so that the charity could continue to operate should income and / or expenditure vary adversely. At the year end, the charity held unrestricted cash of £75,300 and the charity is complying with its reserves policy.
Governance
Responsibility for setting policy and for making operating decisions rest with the trustees who meet regularly to monitor the activities of the charity. New trustees are recruited and appointed by the existing trustees.
Responsibilities of trustees
Charity law requires us as Trustees to prepare financial statements for each accounting year which record the receipts and payments of the charity for the year.
We are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable us to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011.
We also have a responsibility to safeguard the assets of the charity and to take reasonable steps to prevent fraud or any other irregularities.
Approval
This report was approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf by:
Chris Mitton
____ Chris Mitton
Date: 20 October 2023
Page 2
INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT
TO THE TRUSTEES OF
ANCHOR CHURCH
I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of Anchor Church ('the charity') for the year ended 31 December 2022 on pages 4 to 7 following.
Responsibilities and basis of report
As the trustees of the charity you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (‘the 2011 Act’).
I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s 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 2011 Act.
Independent examiner’s statement
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 1. accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the 2011 Act; or
- the accounts do not accord with the accounting records.
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.
Archie McDowall
Archie McDowall BA, CA
Stewardship 1 Lamb's Passage LONDON EC1Y 8AB
Date: 26 October 2023
Page 3
ANCHOR CHURCH
RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
| Notes Income receipts Donations Gift aid receipts Other grants Income from events Total receipts Payments 2 3 Total payments Transfers between funds 5 Net movement in funds Cash funds as at last year end Cash funds at this year end A Net of receipts / (payments) before transfers Grants paid in relation to charitable activities undertaken by others Payments in relation to charitable activities undertaken directly |
General Designated Funds Funds £ £ 40,810 - 6,357 - - - 1,911 - 49,077 - 34,019 - 5,826 - 39,844 - 9,233 - - - 9,233 - 64,477 - 73,710 - Unrestricted Funds |
Restricted Funds £ 4,810 275 8,263 - 13,348 16,331 721 17,052 (3,704) - (3,704) 5,251 1,547 |
Total 2022 £ 45,620 6,632 8,263 1,911 62,425 50,349 6,547 56,896 5,529 - 5,529 69,727 75,256 |
Total 2021 £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Funds £ 40,810 6,357 - 1,911 49,077 34,019 5,826 39,844 9,233 - 9,233 64,477 73,710 |
|||||
| 54,613 11,655 2,000 - |
|||||
| 68,267 | |||||
| 37,244 5,444 |
|||||
| 42,688 | |||||
| 25,579 - |
|||||
| 25,579 44,148 |
|||||
| 69,727 |
The notes on pages 6 - 7 form part of these accounts.
Page 4
ANCHOR CHURCH
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
| A Cash funds Cash at bank with immediate access B Other monetary assets Gift aid due to charity Other debtors C Liabilities Falling due within one year: Trade creditors Taxes due Fee for Independent Examination D Assets retained for charity's own use Contents and equipment |
General Designated funds funds £ £ 73,486 - 73,486 - 194 - - - 194 - 500 - - - 1,020 - 1,520 - Unrestricted Funds |
Restricted funds £ 1,770 1,770 - - - - - - - |
Total 2022 £ 75,256 75,256 194 - 194 500 - 1,020 1,520 Value 2022 £ 2,000 2,000 |
Total 2021 £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 69,727 | ||||
| 69,727 | ||||
| 508 - |
||||
| 508 | ||||
| 500 199 840 |
||||
| 1,539 | ||||
The trustees have used insurance values as the trustees are unable to reliably estimate current values; insurance values may differ materially from current values.
E Guarantees and secured debts
The charity has not given any guarantees and has not provided its assets as security for any liabilities.
The accounts were approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf
by Chris Mitton
date: 20 October 2023
_____Chris Mitton
The notes on pages 6 - 7 form part of these accounts.
Page 5
ANCHOR CHURCH
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
1 Accounting policies
The accounts have been prepared on a receipts and payments basis and comprise a statement that shows the charity's receipts and payments, a statement that summarises the charity's assets and liabilities and related notes. The accountancy profession have determined that only accounts prepared in accordance with applicable accounting standards present a 'true and fair' view and, as these receipts and payments accounts have not (and cannot) be prepared in accordance with accounting standards, these accounts do not present (and are not intended to present) a 'true and fair' view of the charity's financial activities and state of affairs.
General funds are unrestricted funds which are available for use at the discretion of the trustees in furtherance of the general objectives of the charity. Designated funds comprise unrestricted funds that have been set aside by the trustees for particular purposes. Restricted funds are donations which are to be used in accordance with specific restrictions imposed by donors; they include donations received from appeals for specific activities or projects.
| 2 Payments in relation to charitable activities undertaken directly Employment costs Note 4 Ministry expenses Equipment Events and outreach Rent Insurance Governance Administration and support 3 Grants and gifts paid to others Organisations: Slavlands Christian Fellowship Organisations < £1k Individuals |
Unrestrict | Designated funds £ - - - - - - - - - - - - - ed Funds |
Restricted Funds £ 4,385 - - 11,945 - - - - 16,331 - 721 - 721 |
Total 2022 £ 17,441 3,352 83 20,388 4,848 524 1,154 2,561 50,349 - 721 5,826 6,547 |
Total 2021 £ |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General funds £ 13,056 3,352 83 8,442 4,848 524 1,154 2,561 34,019 - - 5,826 5,826 |
||||||
| 18,439 5,911 4,918 2,346 2,100 561 890 2,079 |
||||||
| 37,244 | ||||||
| 2,014 680 2,750 |
||||||
| 5,444 |
Page 6
ANCHOR CHURCH
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2022
4 Transactions with related parties
Lydia Mitton, spouse of a trustee, received £2,193 (2021: £1,096) in her position co-running an outreach program; these payments are permitted by the charity's governing document.
Three trustees received grants during the year. Helena Kittle received £1,500, Chris Mitton received £289 and Taylor Batte received £1,572. The three trustees were not part of the decision-making for these grants, which are permitted by the charity's governing document.
| 5 Movement of funds General funds Restricted funds Meals and Music Church has left the building His Story Ukraine Relief South Africa Mission trip Total funds |
Opening balance £ 64,477 64,477 4,949 302 - - - 5,251 69,728 |
Receipts £ 49,077 49,077 2,000 183 395 721 10,049 13,348 62,425 |
Payments £ (39,844) (39,844) (5,613) (445) - (721) (10,272) (17,052) (56,896) |
Transfers £ 223 - 223 - - - - - 223 223 - |
Closing balance £ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73,487 | |||||
| 73,487 | |||||
| 1,336 39 395 - - |
|||||
| 1,770 | |||||
| 75,257 |
The Meals and Music fund relates to a grant provided for work with refugees and unaccompanied asylum seekers. The Church has left the building fund relates to various outreach projects across the city (see trustees' report).
Page 7
Appendix
Anchor Church – Full Trustees report
2022 was a year both of recovery and reorientation. The pandemic began to give way, but to a world that seemed set on continual rapid change. It was a year that saw the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the Commonwealth Games come to Birmingham, three prime ministers, war in Europe, and two World Cup competitions. Many of us experienced significant personal change, with house moves, city moves, babies, bereavement, unexpected sickness, financial challenges, and a lot of weddings!
Prophetically, many described it as a year of ‘ shaking ’ . When the Bible speaks of shaking, it refers to moments when God allows the things that we had seen to be dependable in the earth being revealed as temporary and flimsy. It is not an invitation to anxiety, but to place our confidence in a different place. It is an invitation to look up, to the surety of the heavenly things and away from the idols of the world. Again and again, we felt like the Lord ’ s simple message was for us to lift our eyes above the fray and to fix our eyes upon Him. He is our steadfastness; He is our vision; He is our strategy; He is and will always be the stability of our times. Without knowing all the answers, we fix our eyes on the Waymaker.
Recovery and reorientation. Recovery, because for many of us the knocks of life and continual change had left us more deeply exhausted than we had realised. We slowed down, became more humble, and are rebuilding with healthier rhythms. But within this we are also experiencing a reorientation: a shift in how we operate — to move less in our busyness and competence and endless pursuit of control, and to move more deeply into His strength, His rhythms, His timing, His Ways. Our fragility is the altar for His power. The dreams that we had before the pandemic are not forgotten, but we are learning that He will fulfil them not through our efforts, but as an outplay of our intimacy with Him.
The following report details many of the ways that we have become simpler, deeper, and more focused. It is a testament to the beautiful gifts and simple service that you have all offered. Thank you. Journeying with you all is among the greatest privileges. Listen as you read to the voice of the Spirit, and the sense of preparation that is held in what the Lord has been doing. Greater things are yet to come.
Ministry Updates:
Alpha
Over the past year, Anchor Church has partnered twice (March-May 2022/ January- April 2023) with Christ Church Selly Park to facilitate the running of the Alpha Course. Alpha is a space to explore life, faith and meaning in a relaxed and informal environment (with really great cake and Ikea plants). Throughout the two Alpha courses, we have welcomed 28 guests. Some guests have made a commitment or recommitment to follow Jesus and one guest is now leading on Alpha after previously being a guest on the first course. A big thank you to the amazing team of volunteers who have contributed to both Alpha courses, in which we have enjoyed a fruitful and vibrant partnership with Christ Church.
His:Story
His:Story is an eight week introduction to the story of the Bible, written by Chris over the past ten years. It teaches how the Bible holds together as a single story, from Creation through to Jesus ’ return, unpacking the story in seven parts (Creation; Exodus; Land; Kings; Exile; Jesus; Church). This year we completed the publication of the course workbooks in their new design, built a website, and seventy took part on the course in the autumn, in partnership with Christ Church. In 2023, we will complete the filming and editing of it as an online syllabus.
Leaders in Training
We have two trainees for ordination (Pete Dalton and Will Stevenette), and one placement student from Christian Youth Ministries as a trainee children ’ s and families worker (Lucy Bridgewood). Having the opportunity to be both blessed by their many gifts and to input into their ongoing development has been an enormous blessing to us.
Overseas Mission
We ’ ve continued to send and support mission in various parts of the world, with Cheri serving on a refugee base in Greece in January, Helena (who remains a trustee and ongoing mission link for us) joining the Children at Risk team with YWAM Muizenberg, and a team from Anchor joining YWAM Durban for three weeks in August to serve and learn alongside the local team in many aspects of their ongoing ministry.
Marriage
We kicked off the marriage ministry early 2022 with 4 couples partaking in the HTB pre-marriage course. We then ran the marriage course for already married couples later in the year. Both courses were self-led through access to the online videos but with support couples paired with the pre-marriage course cohort. Looking ahead, we plan to run both of these courses with more structure, hopefully in a physical location and are actively looking to find practical ways of supporting and championing newly-weds.
Mission Connect
We redistribute 15% of our unrestricted income (our monthly giving) to supporting various mission projects that are in line with our broader vision. Firstly, thank you to our Anchor Community for giving so generously this past year. We appreciate times are hard at the moment, but through your continued generosity we have been able to support and bless our missionaries, and other ministries, this past year. We are truly grateful to you all. The Mission Connect team meet a few times throughout the year and prayerfully consider where our support should be offered. For the last financial year, we had a total fund of £10,000 - we budgeted £5,000 to support our missionaries (10 gifts of £500) and the remaining £5,000 for other giving. With regards to the missionary funds, not all of this was needed by our missionaries last year. This enabled us to support other needs expressed by some of our missionaries, and carry over the surplus to our "Other Giving" pot.
PAGA
We have seen Paga evolve from prayer walking around the city centre to a more intentionally open and free space, without specific agenda, waiting on what God is speaking over Anchor and Birmingham. This year, we are looking to pair prayer and worship together under the banner of Paga, to grow in the practices of worship and prayer and to seek His face as we intercede for our city.
Pastoral Culture
Pastoral ministry in a church environment is always concerned with human thriving. In reality, this encompasses so many elements of the life of our church community, from how we welcome people on a Sunday, what we share in our teaching, and how we pray for each other. Our specific approach for building emotional and spiritual health leans on three things: table, prayer, and Companions. This year, table formed an important part of how we healed and journeyed through a time of significant global change, and personal circumstances. We continue to offer deeper prayer ministry for individuals with specific emotional or spiritual wounds, alongside the developing space for prayer ministry on Sundays. Companions simply offers individuals with 1:1 support, for coffee, encouragement and prayer, through difficult times.
Practices
Spiritual Practices continue to form a key part of our discipleship strategy. These form a regular part of our teaching and approach as a community, as we look to steward lives that are formed according to the heavenly and counter formed to the stories and habits of the world. We have twelve core practices, which you can find on our website and will form the backbone of our teaching programme in 2023.
Prayer Ministry
Prayer Ministry now has a regular team that is available to pray and we sense an increasing move of the Spirit during ministry moments at church. There is a growing number of people seeking prayer after the gathering and a sense of increased expectation for God to move. We long to see more when it comes to the miraculous, including (but not limited to) seeing the Lord bring healing, prophecy and Holy Spirit encounters.
Relay
We've been having loads of fun over the last year in Relay looking at things like God's love for us, how we can share our faith, and why we should be listening to God. With the launch of a new curriculum, we have also had the opportunity to come alongside Anchor and begin to look at our church's practices, and how we can apply them to our lives. Towards the end of 2022 we began a half-termly joint youth night with Christchurch, which has seen lots of fun, blessings, and food. Our team of leaders have continued to be incredible (Relay team is obviously the best team!), and we've had the joy of welcoming on new volunteers over the past 12 months, with more people joining soon.
Students
Students are a thriving group within the Anchor Community. This year they have formed a table, and continue to grow in depth and maturity in God. We have students within every part of the Anchor Church life, including worship, preaching, cafe, table leadership and more. We have found ourselves constantly thankful for and inspired by our amazing student community.
Table
Table is a foundational practice for us at Anchor. We gather weekly across the city for great food, honest conversations, deep community, and to invite our friends and neighbours in. During the pandemic, online tables had become a key place of connection and encouragement for many of us. As we emerged and recovered, we were keen to recapture the local and missional vision of table, alongside it being a place for connection and community for us. Hence we paused table over the summer and autumn. At our weekend away in November, we returned to the wider vision for table — as a place both for deep connection for us, and hospitality for our neighbours and friends — with a view to relaunching table in January 2023 with eight new tables.
Teaching
Biblical teaching is essential for forming us into ideas and practices that lead us deeper into the Way of Jesus. This year we ’ ve taught multiple series, including Connect (how we become community rather than consumers); Walking Barefoot (living with surrender in our finances, relationships, singleness, etc.); Order Your Ways (how apprenticeship to Jesus works); and Colossians (stepping into a heavenly perspective in earthly situations). We also formed a learning community among our teachers, investing in training material to help us develop as clear communicators of the story of Jesus.
Weekends Away
We had two weekends away in our ongoing friendship with our favourite retreat centre — The Greenhouse at Barnes Close. In May, we had a retreat weekend, as we gave time to rest, food, and community. In November, we gathered with a more specific focus around the relaunch of table.
Worship
As a worship team, we entered a season of simplifying our gathered times of worship, reducing the musical input and allowing Jesus space to draw us back to the heart of worship and to encourage worship engagement across the whole community. This was a special and fruitful time and we are now taking what the Lord has done in us into a new season of development and growth. Our team has grown significantly in the last months and we're excited to see what this next year holds.