DEACONS/TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT 2025
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18
As we look back over the last twelve months we rejoice and give thanks for all that has been accomplished and pray continually into the challenging areas of church life.
This year has been a period of change and a season of waiting on God. We had begun a period of pastoral vacancy in January 2024 when sadly, we had to say “Goodbye” to Tim as he retired due to his poor health. We thank God for Tim’s faithful service and celebrated his ministry here with a farewell service and lunch in June. Then we truly embarked on our journey to seek a new minister. In the autumn the deacons met with two candidates but despite positive conservations these friends did not believe God was calling them to Bridgwater. We came together in prayer each Monday morning to focus on seeking a new minister. Then in December Helen Culy opened a conversation with us and came to preach with a squint in January. This led to her returning on March 30[th] to preach with a view. This was a very special weekend getting to know Helen and her family and discerning God’s will together following which church members called Helen to be our next minister. She accepted and will be inducted as our new pastor on Saturday May 31[st] . We thank God and rejoice as we begin this new chapter of church life working with Helen. Throughout this whole process we have drawn close to God and trusted Him to be our constant companion, our hope and our provider.
Attendance at Sunday worship has fallen slightly again this year to an average of 25 each week. Several members are no longer able to get out as much as they would wish due to age and health concerns. However, we regularly welcome new friends including those who are in our town due to their work at Hinkley Point. We are also currently welcoming two young ladies (one from China and the other from South Korea) seeking asylum. Thanking God for them and praying their applications for their ‘right to remain’ documents will be successful. Our small groups continue to offer times to study God’s word, prayer and build relationships. They are valued and highly recommended by all who attend them.
Throughout the week our building continues to bustle with community and church activities. Community groups including Senior Citizens, Blossom in Somerset, Ballet, Rock Choir, Natures Bond, and U3A groups. They were joined by the Youth Musical Theatre Company in the autumn and a small Girl Guide after Easter. We rejoice and thank God that our building can be a welcoming home for so many groups. As church we continue to hold Coffee morning on Wednesdays, Make it on Monday, Friday Art and CAMEO as places where everyone is welcome to come along and friendships are made. Our Parents & Toddler group welcomes between 8 – 16 children each week providing a save space for them to play while the adults make connections and support each other. However, all these groups would benefit from more help to enable the work to continue.
DEACONS/TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT 2025
During the year we have offered our building for use by the Community church for a wedding and to all the churches of Bridgwater for a joint churches Pentecost service which was a great success and followed by a second joint service at Harvest. Our own harvest thanksgiving service focused on the work of BMS world mission and Bridgwater Food Bank, and we joined together for a shared lunch following the service. At Christmas we joined together for services of celebration with Alive and Methodist friends as well as holding our own traditional carols by candlelight service and afternoon carols for all service connecting with the wider community.
In September we opened the church as part of the National Heritage Week, welcoming the wider community in to look around our building, enjoy a light lunch in the cellar coffee bar and connect with the research undertaken by one of our members into the names on the war memorial board at the back of the church.
Our Christmas fayre was a great success again this year. Rock Choir and St Mary’s Hand Bell ringers kindly performed during the fayre and the Girl Guides helped to serve the lunches. The fayre gave friends opportunities to gather socially, connect a little deeper with each other and invite those from the wider community as well as raise money for our Roof project, BMS World Mission and Home mission.
After almost a year’s service, as our cellar project manager, we said ‘Goodbye’ to Ian Setchell in March. At the same time Sarah Evans stepped down from running Renew@TheCellar each Friday. An uncertain time for the coffee bar! We thank God for all that Ian and Sarah brought to the cellar project. Sarah is continuing to serve on the management team as the church prays for a fresh vision for this space. The lack of volunteers has meant the coffee bar has only opened one day a week since Easter for our Renew Wellbeing session, on a Friday but we continue to pray for a new focus. Ideas will be explored in the months ahead. We rejoice at the provision of the energise project spaces, pray God will bless them and trust Him to reveal His purposes for the cellar coffee bar.
We continue to support BMS missionaries Alan & Megan Barker in Nepal, with our prayers and have learnt a little about the work of WEC International as two of our members are preparing to rejoin this mission organisation working in Australia.
The deacons meet regularly with the leaders of Alive Family Church and MSBN. This is helping build relationships between the congregations. We pray together and encouragement each other. We pray for a greater sense of unity in the future allowing the churches to journey together despite our differences. On the 1[st] Saturday of each month, we help Alive Family church host Messy Church. This outreach for junior aged children is very well attended by families with no church background. We pray for more practical input from our congregation in the year ahead.
Our Grade II* listed building has been extremely challenging this year. We engaged a conservation architect to carry out a complete roof survey so we can better understand the extent of roof works needed to stop rainwater finding its way into the building causing further fabric damage and obtaining quotes for the work so that we can begin grant fund raising next year. Unfortunately, we needed to carry out emergency repairs to the roof over the offices as rainwater damage was affecting the use of these room and damaging internal structures.
DEACONS/TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT 2025
We also carried out emergency work to the sanctuary windows and fitting emergency lighting to all areas of the building to improve health & safety. Also, following a routine inspection, it was found that the manse roof needed extensive work so a loan has been secured from SWBA and this work carried out.
Throughout this busy year with its extra pressures of a pastoral vacancy we have waited patiently and prayed for God to bring the right person at the right time to be our next minister. Our prays have been answered. We now rejoice that God has called Helen to walk with us into the next chapter of church life. So let us step forward in faith, excited and expectant of what the future holds for God’s church at BBC.
April 2024 from Jiosoft
'April 2024 BBC acc.
| Category | Amount | Sub/totals 1360.00 3199.50 2213.25 1928.41 8701.16 -127.68 -1239.32 |
|---|---|---|
| INCOME | ||
| Church offerings | 300.00 | |
| Church offerings:CO Direct debits | 1040.00 | |
| Church offerirngs:Gift Day | 20.00 | |
| Subtotal Offerings | ||
| Hall Rents:Age UK | 156.00 | |
| Hall Rents:Alive! | 750.00 | |
| Hall Rents:Art Group | 54.00 | |
| Hall Rents:Ballet | 325.50 | |
| Hall Rents:Blossom | 515.00 | |
| Hall Rents:Cameo | 64.00 | |
| Hall Rents:Flab to fab | 24.00 | |
| Hall Rents:hall rent - Points of View | 30.00 | |
| Hall Rents:LWC | 520.00 | |
| Hall Rents:Rock Choir | 600.00 | |
| Hall Rents:Senior Citizens | 105.00 | |
| Hall Rents:SingingFor Fun | 56.00 | |
| Subtotal Hall rents | ||
| Income:Church Building projects | 20.00 | |
| Income:Coffee Morning | 61.00 | |
| Income:Other Inc – Aviva | 2132.25 | |
| Subtotal other income | ||
| Rental income | 230.63 | |
| Rental income:Cottage Rent | 525.00 | |
| Office rents | 1172.78 | |
| Subtotal rents | ||
| TOTAL INCOME | ||
| PAYMENTS | ||
| Admin & Fees:Bankline Charges | -3.60 | |
| Admin & Fees:Other and Incidentals | -86.58 | |
| Admin & Fees:WEBApayroll charges | -37.50 | |
| Subtotal charges | ||
| Caretaking& Cleaning:Caretakers wages | -520.39 | |
| Caretaking& Cleaning:Cleaners Wages | -572.48 | |
| Caretaking& Cleaning:CleaningMaterials | -146.45 | |
| Subtotal cleaning | ||
| Church Premises:Broadband | -408.00 |
Page 1
April 2024 from Jiosoft
| Church Premises:Electricity | -637.22 | -2575.66 -3027.36 -6970.02 |
|---|---|---|
| Church Premises:Maintenance | -70.04 | |
| Church Utilities:Gas | -1250.94 | |
| Manse:Council Tax | -209.46 | |
| Subtotalpremises | ||
| Ministry:Salary | -2843.16 | |
| Ministry:VisitingPreacher expenses | -184.20 | |
| Subtotal ministry | ||
| TOTAL PAYMENTS | ||
| Result this month April 2024 |
Treasurer notes April 2024
Surplus for the month – this includes income from Aviva
Page 2
Rolling summary Apr24-Mar25
| BUDGET 24-25 | BUDGET SUBTOTALS | 24-25 ACTUALS | ACTUAL SUBTOTALS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| INCOME CATEGORY | ||||
| Church offerings | 7,800.00 | 5,783.79 | ||
| Church offerings:CO Direct debits | 14,500.00 | 14,195.00 | ||
| Church offerirngs:Gift Day | 3,000.00 | 20.00 | ||
| Gift Aid | 3,500.00 | 2,574.65 | ||
| **Subtotal Offerings ** | 28,800.00 | 22,573.44 | ||
| Hall Rents:Age UK | 984.00 | |||
| Hall Rents:Alive! | 9,000.00 | |||
| Hall Rents:Art Group | 735.90 | |||
| Hall rents: Baby group | 36.00 | |||
| Hall Rents:Ballet | 2,271.50 | |||
| Hall Rents:Blossom | 7,997.75 | |||
| Hall Rents:Cameo | 469.00 | |||
| Hall Rents:Flab to fab | 267.00 | |||
| Hall Rents:hall rent - Points of View | 50.00 | |||
| MSBN | 5,577.00 | |||
| Hall Rents:Rock Choir | 1,800.00 | |||
| Hall Rents:Senior Citizens | 579.00 | |||
| Hall Rents:SingingFor Fun | 296.00 | |||
| Hall rents - talkgroup | 96.00 | |||
| Hall rents - The YoungMusical | 581.00 | |||
| Hall rents: misc | 28,000.00 | 1,664.66 | ||
| Subtotal Hall rents | 28,000.00 | 32,404.81 | ||
| Other - allocated BMS,HM mission etc | 750.00 | 266.81 | ||
| Other income | 300.00 | 745.96 | ||
| Wedding/funerals | 320.00 | 50.00 | ||
| Income:Church Building projects | 1,500.00 | 873.63 | ||
| Income:Coffee Morning | 1,180.00 | 991.50 | ||
| Donations | 1,400.00 | 407.00 | ||
| Income:Other Inc – incl Aviva assumng4mths | 8,416.00 | 92,490.28 | ||
| Subtotal other income | 13,866.00 | 95,825.18 | ||
| Rental income | ||||
| Rental income:Cottage Rent | 6,534.00 | 6,562.50 | ||
| Office rents | 16,600.00 | 14,268.02 | ||
| Subtotal rents | 23,134.00 | 20,830.52 | ||
| TOTAL INCOME | 93,800.00 | 93,800.00 | 171,633.95 | 171,633.95 |
| PAYMENTS | ||||
| Admin & Fees incl Bankline Charges | 130.00 | - 127.44 | ||
| Project worker | 9,200.00 | - 8,854.29 | ||
| Music licence | 390.00 | - 386.72 |
Page 3
Rolling summary Apr24-Mar25
| Organ/piano | 270.00 | - | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other and incidentals | 200.00 | - 879.59 | ||
| Admin & Fees:WEBApayroll charges | 480.00 | - 410.85 | ||
| BU subs | 330.00 | - 367.50 | ||
| Other | 700.00 | - | ||
| Subtotal charges | 11,700.00 | - 11,026.39 | ||
| Caretaking& Cleaning:Caretakers wages | 6,245.00 | - 6,253.68 | ||
| Caretaking& Cleaning:Cleaners Wages | 6,870.00 | - 6,947.83 | ||
| Caretaking& Cleaning:CleaningMaterials | 2,000.00 | - 1,601.82 | ||
| Subtotal cleaning | 15,115.00 | - 14,803.33 | ||
| Church Premises:Broadband/landline | 5,000.00 | - 5,746.12 | ||
| Church Premises:Electricity | 7,700.00 | - 6,807.24 | ||
| Church Premises:Maintenancegen | 1,000.00 | - 14,159.69 | ||
| Church Utilities:Gas | 8,400.00 | - 7,574.97 | ||
| Church insurance | 3,250.00 | - 3,305.11 | ||
| Church Water rate | 150.00 | - 213.65 | ||
| Church lift maintenance | 1,200.00 | - | ||
| Church electric doors | 700.00 | - 792.00 | ||
| Church fireprevention | 5,000.00 | - | ||
| Church roofgutter/roof survey | 2,000.00 | - 5,696.71 | ||
| Emergergencylighting project | - 4,055.78 | |||
| Manse:Council Tax | 2,400.00 | - 1,493.46 | ||
| Manse insurance | 460.00 | - 975.45 | ||
| Manse water rate | 360.00 | - 193.23 | ||
| Manse maintenance | 500.00 | - 1,771.00 | ||
| Cottage insurance | 320.00 | - 326.39 | ||
| Cottage maintenance | 900.00 | - | ||
| Subtotalpremises | 39,340.00 | - 53,110.80 | ||
| Ministry:Salaryest 4 months F/T | 10,923.00 | - 13,419.64 | ||
| Ministry:VisitingPreacher expenses | 700.00 | - 1,050.79 | ||
| Subtotal ministry | 11,623.00 | - 14,470.43 | ||
| Mission - BMS | 500.00 | - 266.81 | ||
| Mission - HM | 500.00 | - 196.81 | ||
| Mission - other | 500.00 | - 189.00 | ||
| Subtotal mission | 1,500.00 | - 652.62 | ||
| TOTAL PAYMENTS | 79,403.00 | 79,403.00 | - 94,063.57 | - 94,063.57 |
| asper 24-25 bgt | 24-25 actual | |||
| 96446.07 Net surplus 77,570.38 9172.86 |
||||
| Current acc c/f at 31.3.2025 | 96446.07 | |||
| Energise balance c/f at 31.3.2025 | 9172.86 |
Page 4
| Summary sheet for AGM | Summary sheet for AGM | Summary sheet for AGM | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2. Financial statement - INCOME | |||
| CATEGORY | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | |
| Offerings/receipts | |||
| Church offerings s/os,DDs offerings | 22,115.00 | 19,978.79 | |
| Church offerirngs:Gift Day | 2,845.00 | 20.00 | |
| Gift Aid | 3,491.00 | 2,574.65 | |
| Hall Rents:Age UK | |||
| Hall Rents:Alive! | |||
| Hall Rents:Art Group | |||
| Hall rents: Baby group | |||
| Hall Rents:Ballet | |||
| Hall Rents:Blossom | |||
| Hall Rents:Cameo | |||
| 0.. | |||
| Hall Rents:hall rent - Points of View | |||
| MSBN | |||
| Hall Rents:Rock Choir | |||
| Hall Rents:Senior Citizens | |||
| Hall Rents:SingingFor Fun | |||
| Hall rents - talkgroup | |||
| Hall rents - The YoungMusical | |||
| Hall rents total | 25,216.00 | 32,404.81 | |
| Allocated BMS,HM mission,foodbank etc | 690.00 | 266.81 | |
| Other income | 1,981.00 | 745.96 | |
| Wedding/funerals | 50.00 | ||
| Income:Church Building projects - roof fund | 623.00 | 873.63 | |
| Income:Coffee Mornings | 1,144.00 | 991.50 | |
| Donations | 407.00 | ||
| Allocated Income – incl Aviva assumng4mths | 4,699.00 | 92,490.28 | |
| Rental income | |||
| Rental income:Cottage Rent | 6,300.00 | 6,562.50 | |
| Office rents | 11,348.00 | 14,268.02 | |
| TOTAL INCOME | 80,452.00 | 171,633.95 | |
| 2. Financial Statements - Expenses | |||
| CATEGORY | |||
| Admin & Fees incl Bankline Charges | 127.44 | ||
| Project worker | 2,890.00 | 8,854.29 | |
| Music licence | 386.72 | ||
| Organ/piano | - | ||
| Other and incidentals | 879.59 | ||
| Admin & Fees:WEBApayroll charges | 2,205.00 | 410.85 | |
| BU subs | 367.50 | ||
| Caretaking& Cleaning:Caretakers wages | 5,935.00 | 6,253.68 | |
| Caretaking& Cleaning:Cleaners Wages | 6,947.83 | ||
| Caretaking& Cleaning:CleaningMaterials | 1,601.82 | ||
| Subtotal cleaning | 7,604.00 | ||
| Church Premises:Broadband/landline | 5,746.12 | ||
| Church Premises:Electricity | 7,665.00 | 6,807.24 | |
| Church Premises:Maintenancegen | 7,501.00 | 14,159.69 | |
| Church Utilities:Gas | 8,297.00 | 7,574.97 | |
| Church insurance | 3,305.11 | ||
| Church Water rate | 213.65 | ||
| Church lift maintenance | - | ||
| Church electric doors | 792.00 | ||
| Curch - fireprevention | - | ||
| Church roofgutter/roof survey | 5,696.71 | ||
| Emergergencylighting project | 4,055.78 | ||
| Manse | 3,063.00 | ||
| Manse:Council Tax | 1,493.46 | ||
| Manse insurance | 975.45 | ||
| Manse water rate | 193.23 | ||
| Manse maintenance | 1,771.00 | ||
| Cottage insurance | 326.39 | ||
| Cottage maintenance | 1,188.00 | - | |
| Ministry:Salaryest 4 months F/T | 13,419.64 | ||
| Ministry:VisitingPreacher expenses | 1,050.79 | ||
| Subtotal ministry | 32,941.00 | ||
| Mission - BMS | 353.00 | 266.81 | |
| Mission - HM | 300.00 | 196.81 | |
| Mission - other causes | 210.00 | 189.00 | |
| TOTAL PAYMENTS | 80,152.00 | 94,063.57 | |
| net(deficit)/credit | 300.00 | 77,570.38 |
Page 5
Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Bridgwater Baptist Church (Charity Number: 1194817)
I report on the accounts of Bridgwater Baptist Church for the year ended 31 March 2025 , which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities, the Balance Sheet, and the related notes.
Responsibilities of the Trustees
The trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011. They consider that an audit is not required for this year and that an independent examination is sufficient.
Responsibilities of the Independent Examiner
It is my responsibility to examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011, to follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission, and to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of Independent Examiner’s Report
My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the trustees where necessary. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no audit opinion is given.
Independent Examiner’s Statement
In the course of my examination, no matter has come to my attention:
-
Which gives me reasonable cause to believe that, in any material respect, the requirements to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act 2011 have not been met; or
-
To which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
The accounts are consistent with the accounting records of the church and comply with applicable charity accounting requirements. Overall, they present a true and fair view of the financial position of Bridgwater Baptist Church for the year under review.
James Culy
Independent Examiner
Date: 3rd January 2026