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2023-04-05-accounts

Sunday, May 5, 2024

Grace Community Fellowship

Charities Commission Report: Charities Commission Report: 2
17th November 2021 to 5th April 2023 2
Activities over the last year and assessment 2
1. Administration & Governance 2
2. Biblical Foundations 2
3. Teaching 3
4. Prayer for the community 4
5. Developing core spiritual practices: meditative re-alignment 4
6. Sundays together 5
7. Nurturing Young People 5
8. Meeting one-to-one for spiritual direction 6
9. Providing spiritual direction for everyone 6
10. Developing life shaping practices and liturgies 7
11. Numbers Attending & Appropriate Location 7
12. Finances 8
13. Paid Services & Employment 8

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Sunday, May 5, 2024

Grace Community Fellowship

Charities Commission Report:

17th November 2021 to 5th April 2023

Activities over the last year and assessment

1. Administration & Governance

  1. We registered Grace Community Fellowship as a Charity which was an important and key milestone in the development of our fellowship.

  2. With regard to Governance, on the advice of the Charity Commission we raised the number of trustees from 4 to 5 with the addition of Alicia Chapman

  3. As we set out on this journey our administrative load was not high because we met twice monthly in houses with no more than 12 people meeting

2. Biblical Foundations

  1. We laid a clear, comprehensive and attractive foundation for us as a worshipping community which can be found on the Charities Commission website as our outline beliefs and practices.

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3. Teaching

  1. We have moved from relatively informal meetings to more planned and structured delivery

  2. Preparation for the first series of messages was comprehensive; which included a thorough reading of:

  3. The whole New Testament with short commentary from CS Lewis

  4. Working the Angles - Eugene Peterson

  5. Teaching resources have been sourced or purchased for the entire community; these include:

  6. A Contemporary Testimony: our world belongs to God

  7. Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity (Eugene Peterson)

  8. As Kingfishers Catch Fire: Eugene Peterson’s Sermons

  9. Teaching has been delivered on:

  10. Faith, Hope and Love (Col 1)

  11. Expressing our Faith in Love (Col 1 v3-4)

  12. Grace: Radical Self Giving even to The Cross

  13. The God of Grace: Abounding in Love & Faithful to the End

  14. Grace Unmerited and Transforming

  15. Christianity: The Shape of the Cross

  16. Christianity: a Story of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Consummation

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Grace Community Fellowship

  1. Christianity: a Journey of Faith, Hope, Love, Death, Life and Grace

  2. Christianity: More the Conquerors (Rom 8)

  3. Christianity: Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death (Psalm 23)

  4. Christianity: A Lens of Love

  5. Communion: Life in the Blood

  6. The Lord’s Prayer

Given our limited time and resource we placed considerable effort in thinking about and trying to develop a good teaching programme.

4. Prayer for the community

  1. Whilst members pray for one another, and we pray when we meet, dedicated and regular prayer explicitly for the needs of the church community has been difficult to achieve due to our members not being in close proximity to one another.

  2. We will look to address this.

5. Developing core spiritual practices: meditative realignment

  1. Over the year we all became deeply convicted of the need to develop our personal faith life through prayer and daily meditative reading. Our

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Grace Community Fellowship

Sunday, May 5, 2024

describe this daily practice is meditative realignment

  1. We want this Biblical and meditative practice become a foundational activity for every trustee and attendee. All of our thinking, engaging and planning will flow out of this practice, a practice that leads to renewed hearts, transformed minds, and a deep Spiritual connection to Christ and each other.

6. Sundays together

  1. Our meeting together on the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month has been very well attended; It is shared around a meal; it is a time of prayer and teaching; everyone is included

  2. It’s been a time of blessing and is valued by all

7. Nurturing Young People

  1. We have included young people in the heart of all we do

  2. Teaching on our Sunday meetings has included them, and we are now moving in the direction of them having context specific teaching

  3. Topics have included:

  4. Looking at the Biblical Story

  5. The Voices that Shape Us and The Voice of Christ

  6. We have resourced the Young People with books to read; such as

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  1. Bear Grills and novels based on Christian themes

  2. We have also started a monthly Youth Group led by Lindon Craven

  3. This has been very well attended, enjoyed by all, and we have looked at:

    1. What the nature of this group should be

    2. Prayer

This has been a great start.

8. Meeting one-to-one for spiritual direction

  1. Everyone has engaged and met with others and done so organically

  2. No attempt has been made to organize or co-ordinate this getting together other than very occasional and light encouragement

  3. It appears that we can do better in this area and perhaps a little more encouragement and proactivity is needed from all

9. Providing spiritual direction for everyone

  1. is affording everyone the opportunity to give and receive spiritual direction

  2. support outside of our Sunday meetings

  3. We will continue to promote this way of life through regular and gentle encouragement

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10. Developing life shaping practices and liturgies

  1. Attention was invested to the way our Sunday gatherings (teaching and liturgy) and daily spiritual practices (meditative realignment) can be enriched

  2. With regard to Sunday gatherings The Worship Sourcebook by Faith Alive has been purchased and distributed to everyone should they have time to engage with its content

  3. Gareth Jones has given time to scan the book, digest its main themes and look at what can be done to include some of its insights

  4. This enriching of the Sunday gathering going to require time and investment to flesh out over the coming year

11. Numbers Attending & Appropriate Location

  1. We originally started with 5 adults and 4 children

  2. Without advertising we have risen to 8 adults and 7 children - which is very much close to our capacity (and in some respects over)

  3. Trustees will therefore look for an opportunity to rent alternative space

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12. Finances

  1. As can be seen from our accounts

  2. Whilst our income is relatively low, we have shown sound financial management and prudence, not once running into a financial deficit or running the charity beyond our means

  3. Summary

    1. Income £12,975.08

    2. Expenditure £10,762.76

    3. Closing balance £2,212.32

13. Paid Services & Employment

  1. We are more than happy to employ Dr Gareth Jones for 2 days a month, knowing that he works far more hours than we currently can pay him for.

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Grace Community Fellowship Sunday. May 5. 2024 ned Garcth Joncs Heather Joncs Lindon Crnvcn Samantha Craven Pagegof9

From 17/11/2021-05/04/23

Starting balance (£
-)
Income
Donations (£
12,975.08)
Total income (£
12,975.08)
Expenditure
Hospitality (£
1,324.12)
Consultant Services (£
8,400.00)
Other (£
1,038.64)
Total Expenditure (£
10,762.76)
Final balance (£
2,212.32)