mec mickf ield evangelical church CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Richard Teade IPastOTI Email.. rich.teaAe.mec@gmail.com Addres5.' Mickfield Evangel￿al Church. Stonharn RL1. Strffdk. IP14 SLS Sunday Services. 11am and 6..30pm Mickfield Evangelical Church (MEC) Trustees Annual Report (fAR) (Financial year end 23rd May 2024) For the period 01/01/2￿23/2o24 The legal structure of the charity known as 'Mickfield Evangelical Church, is: Charitable Inco￿Orated Organisation (CIO) registered with charity number: 1190791. The CIO was fornied on 23 May 2024 and first rcceiv¢d funds 24 May 2024. The address and principal office of the charity is: Mickfield Evangelical Church Stonham Road Mickfield Suffolk IP14 5LS The trustees are the following: Following registration of th¢ CIO on 10108122, all of the following trustees were appointed with effect from 02109122. Of these trustees, Mr Richard Jarncs Tearle is employed by the church as full-time pastor. Chairlpastorltrustee: Richard James Tearle Trustee: Kevin Catto Trustee: Gareth James Hart Truste¢: Richard James Hart Trustee/Secretary: David Felix Wilding The governing document of MEC CIO is: The CG3 Church Constitution as provided by Edward Connor Solicitors. The Church Handbook sits alongside the Church Constitution, is consistent with it, and sets out in more detail how the church functions. The Handbook includes our Basis of Faith, Doctrinal Distinctivcs and Ethical Statements. The purpose and objects of the charity are as found ID the Church Constitution: mec mickf ield evangelical church CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES The advancement of the Christian faith in accordance with the Basis of Faith, primarily, but not exclusiv¢ly, within Stowmarket and the surrounding neighbourhood; and Such other charitable PUTposes as shall, in the opinion of the charity trustees, put into practice the Christian faith in accordancc with the Basis of Faith, including but not limited to.. the prcvention and relief of necd, hardship and sickness; the advancement of education. and the provision of facilities in the interests of social welfare for recrcation or other leisur¢ time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of th¢ir youth, age infirniity or disability, financial hardship or social circumstances with the object of improving their conditions of life. Provided that the advancement of such purposes must be undertaken in a manner that is conslstent with the Doctrinal Distinctives and Ethical Statements as may be adopted and amended by the Church from time to time. The work of the year: We had as a theme and focus for the year: the preciousness of Jesus. We have sought to see his preciousness more profoundly. As noted in the TAR for 2022 wc had begun thinking, praying and planning to build 'Gospel Gateways, as a church. The 'Mickfield Community Meal,, a monthly 2-course hot dinner for local people, tackling loneliness and isolation, began in December 2022. The meal has continued since. We build relationships with local people (mainly but not exclusively retirement-aged) and w¢ share the Christian gospel with them through a short 'thought for the day, talk and our conversations and invitations. The rneal has seen great growth. 'Friends on Friday, followed in January 2023. This is a monthly drop-in coffee morning, a place for 'meeting old friends, and making new ones, based around coffee, cake and chat. This has also been an effective way to build bridges into our local community. 'Kids Club, followed on in February 2023. This is a primary school aged l-hour teatime club, on a Friday. It is the younger counterpart of our longstanding (secondary school aged) Friday Club, youth group. We have seen many children, churched and unchurched, coming along, having fun and learning about Jesus. A little later on in Autumn 2023 we began 'Mickfield Mini Music, which is a toddler group serving local families. Th¢ numbers peak and trough but w¢'ve had lots of contact with people we wouldn't othenvise Co[￿ect with, and some of our warnier local contacts too. The work of 'Friday Club, continues to be very effective in not only supporting our youth, but engaging their friends with Christianity and also rnuch needed support during a tricky mec mickf ield evangelical church CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES season of life. Our youth work has developed to include a regular Saturday/Sunday afternoon ministry specifically for discipling the young people within the church. The 'Open the Book, team continued to scrve in Stonham Aspal primary school, and through this and many othcr m&ans, not just our fornial regular "Gospcl Gateways" w¢ make Jesus known. There has been a real growth in local community events in the village of Mickfield and the church has sought to engage with these wholeheartedly, as well as inviting locals to our events too. During Autumn 2022 we trialled the 'Hope Explored, course in the pastor's home. We then ran thc coursc in Spring 2023 for the whole church over 3 consecutive Thursday evenings. We also released a set of Easter videos online and started a new l Oam Good Friday service. Our Growth Groups continucd to run during 2023 and a high proportion of our adult members are connected with and attend these. The groups continue to be the mid-week heartbeat of the church, drawing us together to do that New Testament 'one-anothering' which is harder to achieve on a busy Sunday morning in a packed building. During 2023 we continued our 'Want Life?? series in John's Gospel. We also l¢arnt about being 'Everyday Disciples, from Luke chs l O- I l. The 'Bubbles under the Sun, (Ecclesiastes) series was well received. In July we had the privilege of baptising a younger member. During the summer terni we considered how we might be 'On the Move, from the book of Numbers, and what held God's people back then, and could hold us back too. We continued our 'Respectable Sins, series considering anger over two sessions and also gossip. We had a range of other speakers and studi¢d 'None Besides You. a series on some of Asaph's psalms. We enjoyed our usual refreshing surnrner programme, including a lengthy interview with the hilarious and profound Marian Paish. During th¢ Autumn t¢nn we studied Romans 1-8 in the mornings, w¢ thereby began our 'Best News Ever, series...the explosive good news contained in Romans has radically shaped the modern world and can be explosive in our lives too. Parallel to this, in the evenings we covered a wide rangc of topics around human sexuality and the teaching of the bible. At Christmas we listened to '5 Christmas Belters, _ 5 songs from Luke's Gospel. During this time, we also held the Michael Tink¢r kids concert, we responded to local flooding with hampers for those effected in Debenham. Our pastor attended th¢ national leaders conference in Blackpool. After this w¢ had our bi-annual church weekend away at Sizewell, our speaker was Simon Rowell who challenged us, from the book of Acts, about our ' Life Goals, It was, as ever, a wonderful weekend of fijn, fellowship and food. Immediately following this Mid-suffolk District Council (MSDC) issued a Breach of Condition Notice (BCN) against some of our events and Gospel Gateways. This story mec mickf ield evangelical church CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND ANO WALES continues into 2024, thankfully the BCN was withdrawn after we issued a Prc-action Protocol (PAP} with the help of a barrister. Subsequently, (2024) we applied to MSDC for, and were issued with, a Certificate of Lawful Existing Use or Development (CLEUD) and an accompanying Legal Memo which spelt out in no uncertain terms that our actions were and are well within the pem]issions applied to our building. They are the very norn]al missionallevang¢listiclcommunity-serving activities of a local church in modern Britain. We now feel free to continue with our work unhindered. The above situation prompted us to address "trellis" structural issues in our church, to enable the spiritual "vine" to continue to grow. Up to 23 May 2024 we undenvent a rigorous process in pursuit of an appropriat¢ part-time administrator. We also worked hard to teach on, and develop our leadership (elders and deacons) and team structures, bringing Clarity to the whole. The work of the year, as above, is in accord with the requirement that our existence and activities be for the Public Benefit. Wc continue to serve the public, in the 2000-year-old Christian tradition, as we seek to r¢ach Mickfield and Mid-suffolk for Jesus. We seek to meet this Public Benefit requirement in the following way: There arc three main identifiable ben¢fits to the public or sections of th¢ public that flow from the church fulfilling its purposes. l. Thosc who come to know and continue in thc love of God report that accepting the love of God in J¢sus Christ was the best decision they ever mad¢ and that knowing this love gives them strength in their everyday life. 2. Advancing the Christian Faith promotes a moral fram¢work. This framework is outlined in the Bible, the Old Testament being interpreted by the New Testament. A summary of the framework is the command for people to love God with their heart, soul, mind and strength and love one's neighbour as oneself. An exposition of the framework can be found in chapters 5-7 of thc Gospel of Matthew. Church members are encouraged to live out their faith within the community and to put this moral framework into practice in their everyday lives with everyone they interact with and so this benefits the members of the public who interact with members of the congregation each day. 3. It is for the public good that the main beliefs of the Christian Faith are made known in society, ¢v¢n if people dIsa￿ee with the Christian m¢ssagc, because this enables peopl¢ to mec mickf ield evangelical church CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALE5 make informed choices concerning religious belief and contribut¢s towards a frcc society where different ideas and beliefs ar¢ widely known by the public. In these ways, to name a few, our charitable objects and purposes promote and pursue human flourishing, the common good and th¢ public benefit. Financial Review The income of the church is made up the generous regular and spontaneous giving of church members and the Gift Aid which often accompanics this. Again, we have seen God's generous provision for us. We've seen the regular online financial giving double (and more) and hold at that level. Having initiated a revitalisation work at Great Blakenham Baptist Church (GBBC) a number of years ago, we are partnered with GBBC in our shared gospel work. GBBC continue to contribute 75 /0 olth¢ total cost of Michael Lawrence, with MEC covering the other 25 %. MEC continues to employ both Michael Lawrence and Richard Tearle. We are encouraged by the church finances. Reserves Policy The church has a Building Fund. Th¢ church has typically not built-up major reserves. How¢ver, the trust¢¢s are committed to developing a Reserves Policy. Three areas seem particularly pertinent: l ) reserves to cover 3 months wages, 2) reserves towards the needs of our building, especially given our numerical growth, and 3) res¢rvcs towards the dcployment of additional gospel workers. Regarding this latter need we have decided to create a restricted 'Training Fund, within our savings account, to enable us to build a fund tow'ards the employment of a gospel worker in a training role here at Mickfield in the futur¢. We hereby confirn] that we, as trustees, have considered the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit and consider that our purposes and praclices meet the requirements as abovc. Trustees Approval and Signatures: Mr Richard ames Tearle Mr David Felix Wilding (Trustee/Pastor/Chair) (Trustee/Secr¢tary) F For the Period: 1st January 2023 to 23rd May 2024 (First funds recieved 24th May 2024) Contents Page Legal and Administrative Information Receipts and Payments Accounts Statement of Assets and Liabilities Legal and Administrative Information Address: Stonham Road Mickfield Stowmarket IP14 5LS Trustees: Richard James Tearle Kevin Catto Gareth James Hart Richard James Hart David Felix Wilding Bankers: TSB Receipts and Payments Unrestricted Restricted Endowment Total Last Funds Funds Funds Funds Year To the nea￿st To the nearest To th8 near951 To the nearest To the nearest Recei Standing orders Cash Bank interest Gift aid Total receipts Pa ments Children and youth Books Insurance Telephone and internet Licences and subscriptions Wages and salaries Visiting speakers Online ministrylwebsite Church events Repairs and mainlenance Equipment Legal and professional lees Water Light and heat Bank charges Charitable donations Total payments Statement of Assets and Liabilities at the end of the period Unrestricted Reslricted Endowment Last Funds Funds Funds Year To the nearest To ¢h8 I￿rest To the nearest To the nearest Assets Land and buildings Plant and machinery Current account Savings account Total assets Llabilities PAYE liability Creditors Nel wages control Pension liability Total liabilities Signed by two trustees on behalf of all the trustees: ¢J Mr Richard James Tearle Mr David Felix Wilding (Trustee/PastorlChair) (Trusteelsecretary)