The Quarry Gospel Church
Trustees Report
Year ending 31 March 2023
Administrative information
Registered Office: 8 Pydar Close, Ne w quay, Cornwall. TR7 3BS Registered Charity No. 1195276 Treasurer: Philip Wright Secretary: Jane Mitchell Website: www.tqgc.org Email: office@tqgc.org
Structure Governance and Management
The Quarry Gospel Church is a foundation CIO and as such is governed by trustees who are appointed in accordance with the Constitution an d Church Handbook.
Ex Officio Trustees as at 31 March 2023:
Andrew Duncan Mitchell, Pastor
Trustees as at 31 March 2023:
Ruth Dymond Linda Kenna Philip Gordon Wright
Aim and Purposes
The Trustees of The Quarry Gospel C h urch (‘TQGC’) working together with the P a stor, Andrew Mitchell have the responsibility of:
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1) advancing of the Christian faith in accordance with the Basis of Faith pri m arily but not exclusively within Newquay and the surrounding neighbourhood; and
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2) such other charitable purposes a s shall, in the opinion of the members of the Church in general meeting, put into practice the Christian faith in accordance with the Basis of F aith, including but not limited to: the prevention and re l ief of need, hardship and sickness; the adva n cement of education; and the provision of facilities in t h e interests of social welfare for recreation o r other leisure time occupation of individuals who ha v e need of such facilities by reason of their y outh, age infirmity or disability, financial hardship or s o cial circumstances with the object of impro v ing their conditions of life.
Objectives and Activities
When planning the activities of TQGC the Trustees are mindful of these responsibilities and also the Charities Commission guidance on public benefit. Therefore they seek to enable as many people within Newquay and the surrounding area to attend worship at TQGC, and live out their faith in such a way that these purposes and responsibilities are met.
To achieve this church activities centre around:
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Sunday Worship including Sunday school for those 11yrs old and younger.
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Mid week Bible study.
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Weekly home group prayer meetings.
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Pastoral care.
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Wider participation through the internet and social media.
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Social gatherings to build relationships.
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Evangelism.
These activities not only meet the aims and purposes of the church as laid down by the Charities Commission but also match the model of the church given in Acts 2:42 our church motto:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer”.
Achievements and Performance
As part of the church’s desire to live up to this great motto the members of the church came together for a week of prayer in late February early March 2023. During that week of prayer many words of scripture were shared as we considered God’s call on us as a fellowship. One of the scriptures which spoke powerfully to us regarding the future was;
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:18-19
or as the New Living Translation puts it:
“But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
As we look back on 2022-2023 we can certainly see that God is doing something new and that it has in fact already begun.
Throughout this period many individuals and groups have visited the Quarry on Sunday mornings to see if it was the church for them. Some have come and gone, others are still in the process of deciding and still others have remained. As a result we have seen the average number of worshippers increase. It is also a blessing that as we grow the unity and family atmosphere of the fellowship is being maintained.
Pastoral care is a vital aspect of life in the Quarry Gospel Church. As we give thanks for increasing numbers on Sunday mornings we are mindful that several members of the church are still unable to attend the services due to illness or infirmity. We continue to minister to their needs by delivering weekly audio CDs of our services and by visitation. It is a joy to see that the number of church members involved in visitation and pastoral care is growing.
Growth within the church is not just an issue of numbers but also one of understanding and maturity - a growth in depth of relationship with Christ himself. We have been blessed that during the past 12 months there has been a growing appetite within the church for more prayer and teaching. As a result two weekly prayer groups were established, one on Wednesday afternoon the other on Friday mornings. These compliment the prayer meetings on Sunday morning and Tuesday evening. Furthermore members requested that there should be a series of short courses on ‘Bible Basics’ for new believers or those unfamiliar with Bible Study. The first course was a great success and another is planned in June 2023.
The Website and social media ministry of the church continue to bear fruit. In the past 12 months 583 unique users have accessed the website. Of those visitors 418 were from the UK and 233 were from Cornwall in particular. The church continues to have a ministry in the North West of England, Yorkshire and the Home Counties. Further afield we had visitors from USA, and from Europe most notably Germany, Sweden, Ireland and the Netherlands. It also gives great encouragement and joy to see that our services are being accessed in places where the Christian faith is not welcomed, Turkey, Malaysia, Japan, China, Indonesia and Morocco. In total 1092 Services and 346 Bible Studies were downloaded or streamed.
When comparing the website figures with the previous year it is important to remember that for the first 3 months of that year the church was in ‘lockdown’ and therefore operating only in the digital arena. This would have had a considerable effect on user numbers.
We thank God for this ministry and for the opportunity to preach and teach the word of God in “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost parts of the World”.
During the past year an evangelism working group was formed to look at ways of reaching out to our mission field and make the Quarry Gospel Church more visible to passers-by. Various ideas were raised at the initial meetings, as a result of which a new road sign was erected, leaflets were distributed around Nansledan and Easter gift bags were given out in the run up to the Easter weekend. It was pleasing to see that it was this ‘visibility’ that brought our first group of tourists to the venue. The Evangelism working group will be a continuing aspect of church life and there are many other ideas currently in the pipeline.
At several times during the year the church gathered for social gatherings as well as services. There were Christmas quizzes and faith meals. It is planned that in the coming year there will be even more opportunities for fellowship outside of weekly services.
As a church with no building of its own everything required for worship has to be brought to the venue, set-up and taken down at the end. This is time consuming and hard work requiring commitment and dedication. We give thanks for all of those within the church who put so much time and effort into doing this. We give special thanks to those who go the extra mile and do the unexpected such as providing an unlimited range of refreshments or Bacon sandwiches!
As we give thanks for individual service in the church we thank Elaine Knight for her service as a trustee. Elaine stepped down from this role in 2022 to prevent any conflict of loyalty and we thank her for her commitment to the church and for all she did in her role as trustee.
Finally we give thanks to God for his continuing provision for the church. As well as the regular giving of tithes and offerings we give thanks for the gift day which raised £5,365. We also praise God for the £2,936 the church received in Gift Aid payments.
As we thank God for the past year and move forward into a new one we are mindful that the Quarry Gospel Church belongs to Him. He is the power at work, not us.
For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
1 Cor 1:26-31
Financial Review
The accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 are attached to this report.
Note re Pastoral Costs:
Section 6.1 of the Constitution states that:
“Any office holder appointed in accordance with the Church Handbook and any employee of the Church may receive reasonable compensation (including accommodation) for carrying out their duties as office holders and/or employees notwithstanding that they are or may be a charity trustee of the Church or a connected person to a charity trustee.”
The Pastor of the Church, ex officio trustee Andrew Mitchell, has received payment for his role as Pastor of the church and not for carrying out his duties as a trustee.
THE UARRY GOSPEI CHURCH- NEW UAY INCOME AND EXPENOITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 3tst Mardb 2023 2023 2022 INCOME Tlthes and Offerings HMRC re Gift Aid Gift5 Recei¥ed 24203 2936 5365 29365 5765 32504 35130 EXPENDI Rent Equlpment Pastoral C05t5 Sunday School Material Insurance Llcenses & SubscrlptloTrs D8S Checks Prlntlng Posta8e & Statlonery Webshe Faceto)k &CO Mlnlstry PAT Testin8 Consumables Glfts & Donatlons I54 278 204LXJ 65 7318 126 19800 208 276 221 251 72 lis 454 31 345 1870 113 42 753 2038 34521 30960 34521 30960 -2017 4170 OpeninB Balancts ai 01.04.22 Exce55 of In£orne over Expendrt¥Jre Clos1 B•l•nc•s •t 31.03.13 12236 -2017 10219 4170 12236 resent Cash In hand Bank Account.. 8arclays 455 11781 12236 10219 10219 Slgned.. P.G.Wrlght. Twsurer Inde ndeni exami I have examined the accountinz records kept byThe Quary Gospel Church forthe year ended 31 March 2023 and compared thern to the accounts Pfesented with those records. Nothing has come to my attentlon that would prevent a proper understandlng of these accounts. $18ned.. Date cs 120.13 C.Tea8ue- Independent Examiner Address.. 14• . t>0•slO4 f4aTrJ