2025-12-31-accounts - Lumb Baptist Church

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Lumb Baptist Church Annual Reports 2025

Reference and administration details

Trustees:

Mrs Sally Fielden - secretary

Mrs Elizabeth Rimmer - treasurer

Miss Marilyn Grainger

Prof Peter Fielden

Mr Ian Rimmer

Mrs Ros Bill

Mrs Julie Sharp

Mrs Beryl Tattersall

All the above were appointed on 11[th] May 2023.

The minister Revd Stephen Ansell is also a trustee and has been in position since March 2022

Registered Office.

Lumb Baptist Church, Burnley Road East, Lumb Lancashire BB4 9PL

Operating from: Lumb Baptist Church – as above.

Bankers

TSB, 55 Bank Street Rawtenstall, Rossendale, Lancashire BB4 7QN

Independent Examiner

Mark Heaton FCCA FCIE

Chartered Accountants

1[st] Floor, Block C, The Wharf,

Manchester Road,

Burnley

BB11 1JG

Trustees Report

Year Ended 31[st] December 2025

The Trustees present their report on the activities of the Charity.

Objects

The principal purpose of the Church is the advancement of the Christian Faith according to the principles of the Baptist Denomination. The Church may also advance education and carry out other charitable purposes in the United Kingdom and/or other parts of the world.

Reports

1.	Minister	Page	2
2.	Secretary	Page	4
3.	Treasurer	Page	5
4.	Lumb Little Lambs	Page	6
5.	Manse	Page	6
6.	Men’s group	Page	7
7.	Open the Book	Page	7
8.	Prayer meetings	Page	7
9.	Renew Wellbeing	Page	8
10.	Safeguarding	Page	8
11.	Sunday School	Page	9
12.	BMS	Page	10

Minister

It is wonderful that the Lord God Almighty loves us so much that He calls us His sons and daughters. I hope you felt and still do feel the joy and blessing at having discovered or been reminded of this fact through our key verse for 2025:

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 1 John 3:1a

My big prayer of last year was that each of us felt the truth of this, and so were able to serve God and witness to our friends and colleagues confidently

It has been great to see some new faces at our services or at one of our groups over the past twelve months. I pray that this may continue.

I have a lot to be thankful to our Lord over 2025 which has been an eventful year with plenty of highlights. Here are just some of them:

Alpha

In last year’s ACM report, I told you that over the space of a couple of weeks, three people felt I should run an Alpha course. Well, our first course (more are planned) started near the beginning of September with six people attending, two of whom were from outside of the church. It was a real privilege and very exciting to get alongside them all and watch each of them grow closer to God as the weeks went by. The good news is that four of them plus one of the helpers are now attending baptismal classes.

Sabbatical

Taking three months away from LBC gave me the opportunity to refuel and to seek God’s will and guidance as to how I should lead our church.

During this time, I also studied and put together notes for a sermon series on the life of Joseph. I have already preached some of this series up to the point where Joseph is in gaol. Despite both he and his family being very flawed characters, God still used them for His purposes and worked them into His plan for our salvation. One of the key things this series can teach us then, is that we don’t have to be Super Christians to carry out God’s will, for He can turn our weaknesses into His opportunities.

Apart from Joseph, I have written a preaching course and have read the history of LBC, but more on that later…

May I thank all of you for allowing me to have this sabbatical. Thank you too to all those who preached while I was away.

Preaching

I started the year preaching the ‘difficult texts’ of Luke’s gospel (chapters 10-13) because it is always good to engage in something challenging from Jesus. Then, during my sabbatical, the preachers covered Colossians and I finished with Joseph, followed by an Advent series on Judah and Tamar.

Acre Mill

As of the 1st of September, I have been working for Acre Mill the equivalent of one day a week and preach there seven Sundays a year. They are a lovely bunch of people, and I am enjoying getting to know them better. My hope is that in the coming year both Acre Mill and Lumb will have the opportunity to work closely together.

As you read the rest of this Annual Church Report and other people’s contributions, you won’t fail to notice how much work it takes to run a church such as Lumb. So, I want to say a massive thank you to all those seen and unseen who dedicate their love and time to serving Lumb Baptist Church and therefore God.

2025 has been a busy year, but what about 2026? Our key text is,

This is what the Lord says: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6: 16

Funnily enough, God laid this verse on my heart at the beginning of last year, but I didn’t know quite why. Then, when on sabbatical and reading the LBC history book, I was deeply impacted by the incredible faith of those who went before us especially those who formed the church and built the first chapel. It then became apparent that God wants us too to walk in the ancient paths – in the good way our forefathers did – the way of faith! 2026 will therefore be a year where we explore what it means to be filled with faith, both on a personal level and also as a church. My prayer for the coming year is that each of us will have the faith not just to know, but to fully expect that God can do the impossible in our lives and in the life of Lumb Baptist Church. May He richly bless you in the coming year.

Steve

Secretary

We are very pleased that this has been our fourth year of Steve and Sarah’s ministry with us, we continue to be encouraged by their work at Lumb, including Steve’s weekly preaching and pastoral work and the new events that he has led us into.

In my report I will mention items not covered in the other separate reports.

We are delighted to have continued our links with Water School over the past year by them having their Easter, Harvest and Christingle services in our building. We also again, gave every child a Real Easter Egg and a Real Advent Calendar, and Peter Fielden continues as a school governor with them.

On Good Friday Graham Barnes led a local walk over to Towneley Park and we saw in Easter Day with an early sunrise with communion service on our field.

Steve had his sabbatical for three months after Easter and we are grateful to those who took our Sunday services during this time. We particularly appreciated the visit of Reach Puppets in June to take our church anniversary service. We are glad that Steve found this time to be encouraging and beneficial to his ministry.

In May we had a VE Day Celebration with Water Band in our car park which was well attended by the local community.

We also had two outside services in the car park on Summer Sunday afternoons where new contacts were made.

In November we had a Patch the Pumpkin event for children after school under the creative leadership of Jennifer and Grahame Long.

We have enjoyed four bring and share lunches after Sunday services during the year.

In December the Ladies had an enjoyable Christmas Meal at The Waggoners on the same evening the men had their meal.

Christmas saw the return of outside Fire Pit Carols this year; this was an encouraging event where a large number of visitors enjoyed singing carols around the fire pits led by Water Band. We are delighted that our relationship with the Band continues. They also played a key part in our annual Remembrance Day service. We also started another carol singing venture at The Commercial Inn, where a number of folks sang carols with the regulars at the pub, they were very well received.

Many thanks to everyone who has been involved in all of our church activities, it’s really encouraging to work and worship together.

As we look back over the year, we thank God for his many blessings and we pray that we may be obedient to His leading as we reach out further into our local community to share the precious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Sally

Treasurer

Again, we thank God that the finances held well in 2025. Sharing ministry (1/6) with our local Baptist church, Acre Mill Baptist from September brought in 4 months additional income (£2468) which had not been planned for when the budget had been prepared in 2024. However, our weekly offerings were also up by 12.8% in 2025 against 2024! The 2025 budget we passed had produced an in-year deficit of approx. £5000 which in reality was a much lower £2095 deficit at year-end.

In 2025 we introduced a larger electronic system for card payments which is more prominent and easier to use for attendees. I continue to use a Facebook page for Baptist Treasurers to seek advice and also offer information to others.

Part way through 2025 I completed ten years of being treasurer at Lumb and have valued support from Daniel Sharp, Peter Bill (heating & lighting monitoring and contracts) and the weekly income team of Barbara and Peter B with additional occasional support from Glenys and Marilyn. Peter does the weekly banking run to our bank in Rawtenstall – the only bank I believe left in the town. Thank you to the wider finance team who assisted with a lengthy budget meeting particularly, in November as well as being on hand on the Finance WhatsApp group (Graham, Julie and Fiona).

At the start of 2025 I also became Acre Mill Baptist’s Treasurer.

Bank Balances at 31.12.25		2024
TSB Current	£2877.64	£2971
TSB Savings	£25,790.18	£27,872
BU ACCOUNT	£ 8171.03	£8088
TOTAL CASH BALANCE £36,838.85		£38,931

NB FYI: realistic end-year balance £36,452.93

The following payments made in Jan 2026 against costs/donations made in 2025:

Younger SS trip £40.28/Water Band £200 (donation received against this)/BMS Christmas Appeal £97.50/Pennine – fire equipment service £48.14) TOTAL £385.92

I complete gift aid claims every other month to aid cash flow and the Small Gift Aid donations claim is completed annually at the tax year end. Can I remind tax payers who have completed gift aid forms for me to please ensure that they pay sufficient tax to cover the claim to avoid a personal bill from HMRC.

We donated the following amounts in 2025 to other charities:

BMS £2036 (tithed based on 2024 general weekly offerings)

HOME MISSION £2036 (tithed based on 2024 general weekly offerings)

Operation Agri £220 (raised through appeal)

Water Village Band £200 (met by individual donation)

We also donated a Real Easter Egg and a Christian Advert Calendar to every pupil at Water School to the total cost of £1478 which was all met by appeals we put out to the congregation.

Notes on any Significant variances on the end year budget report (to follow along with the Year-End Receipts and Payments Report)

- Graveyard maintenance over budget due to some 2024 charges invoiced in 2025 plus increase in charging since new contractor.

- Gas over budget by more than £1K

- COMMUNITY £785 costs not budgeted for and mainly VE Day & ALPHA ** hence variance but HOLIDAY CLUB was budgeted and not used £1000

Repairs Church - Un-budgeted boiler replacement done and paid Dec £3270.00 hence deficit £2555

The Reserves Policy for Review 07.03.26

The Reserves policy of our church is to hold six months’ staffing costs and six months’ regular expenditure to allow the church to adapt to any changes in the income or expenditure of the church. This is subject to a minimum of £20,000. After preparation of the 2026 budget, six months’ regular expenditure is deemed to be £32,000

Assessment notes of treasurer re position at 31/12/25

The end of year cash balance (realistic figure) £36,452 is compliant with our Reserves Policy for 2025 (£31K).

As is the normal case at this time of writing, Mark Heaton of KM Accountants, Burnley are auditing the accounts a statement will be available at the AGM on 7 March 2026.

In His service: Elizabeth Rimmer 02.02.26

Lumb Little Lambs

As you will know our Baby and toddler group (Lumb Little Lambs) meets regularly on a Thursday morning, 9.1511.15, during term time. We usually get about 6-8 children, the majority of whom are under 2. We’ve had a couple of new mums join us in the Autumn along with our regulars. It’s a lovely friendly group. We always have a God/Jesus based story time, followed by some songs and a prayer leading into snack time.

A massive thank you to everyone who helps out on a Thursday and also to those who help move the chairs on a Sunday and help to put them back in place later in the week.

Anyone who might be interested in helping with LLL please see me or Steve.

And please keep praying for this group. Thank you Susannah

Church Manse 1049 Burnley Road East

The church manse continues to be rented out to the same tenants and is managed by Ryder & Dutton in Rawtenstall. Currently the tenants have a renewable 6-month contract; the latest started November 2025. The building is quite old and so requires regular maintenance. As part of the 2025 church budget process, we set a maintenance budget of £3,000. However, the actual spend was slightly more at £3,167. The net income from the manse in 2025 (rent minus R&D fees and maintenance spend) was £6,754.

Sally

Men’s Group

Our theme is to foster a friendly social atmosphere focusing on building and celebrating strong relationships through shared activities for both members and non-church members. We currently have 21 gentlemen in the group, both working and retired. Our members are encouraged to suggest activities for consideration, two of which, we have enjoyed this year.

During 2025 our activities have included a visit to the British Commercial Vehicle Museum in Leyland. Another lecture by the local historian Stephen Oldfield. A day out in August to the Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, near York. In October our annual games evening again produced some friendly rivalry with Ian Rimmer going home with two prizes for winning both the Darts and Table Tennis and Grahame Long a worthy winner of the Dominoes challenge. We ended the year with a good number of us enjoying Christmas dinner at the Rose & Bowl in Stacksteads.

From group feedback several men have expressed that our meetings have provided an opportunity to get to know others during enjoyable social group activities.

We value your prayers for our group year ahead.

Graham Barnes

Open the Book

‘Amazing’ and ‘Incredible’, that’s how two children described a visit from the Open the Book team, but the wonderful thing is that they were describing stories from the word of God.

We often get spontaneous clapping from one school, but this means they are engaged and taking in the stories from the Bible.

One teacher made a point of telling us about her class when we told them to be kind and helpful like the Princess in the story of Baby Moses. They painted pictures for each other and were really helpful to one another.

Children aren’t brought to church or Sunday School anymore, so this means we must go to them, and let God’s Word speak for itself.

Our weekly Open the Book sessions have enhanced the relationship between our church and Water school. We see our building full at their termly assemblies.

Please continue to pray for the team, the schools, the staff and the pupils. If anyone would like to join the team please see Grahame, Jennifer, Sally or Julie. Thankyou

Jennifer

Prayer Meetings

‘What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear

What a privilege to carry

EVERYTHING to Him in prayer’

We have a regular 30 minute prayer meeting every Sunday morning, 9.45 to 10.15 , thanking God and committing the service to Him, and for everyone who comes to the service.

Every Wednesday morning, 11am-12, there is a prayer meeting held in the lounge, especially thinking

about the outreach of our church into the community.

On the last Sunday evening of the month there is a prayer and communion service.

And on the first Saturday of each month we have a prayer meeting , 8.30-9.30am. These are also held in the lounge.

These meetings are all special times of coming together as part of the body of Christ. With times of praise and thanksgiving, confession and bringing our requests to our Heavenly Father. These meetings are a vital part of our church life. They are open to everyone.

‘Trust in, lean on, rely on, and have confidence in Him at all times, you people; POUR OUT YOUR HEARTS BEFORE HIM.

God is a refuge for us’ (Ps 62:8)

Susannah

Renew Wellbeing Lumb

For this year’s report I thought I’d let a few other people say what the group means to them.

“Renew gives me time for myself, a place of peace and quiet as well as friendship and fellowship”.

“My husband has dementia and my life revolves around him, ensuring he is happy each day. I see very few other people to chat with so Renew gives me the opportunity to talk with others and has become a place where I can keep social and spiritual contact with the church. I see its value within the community and am glad my husband feels safe at Renew and enjoys having friendly banter and playing dominoes with others”.

“Renew has become a lifeline for me as I have struggled with my mental health”.

“We can do art and crafts, jigsaws, read a newspaper, play some dominoes, knit and natter, although sometimes it’s more natter than knit, but never mind it’s an enjoyable hour and a half and we always have a cup of tea and some homemade cake……very nice. Ladies and gents welcome!!!”

A big thank you for these contributions,

Ros Bill on behalf of Renew Wellbeing Lumb

Safeguarding Report

As I have noted previously, Safeguarding is a very sad but a completely essential component of the fallen world in which we live. As a church, it is so important that we adopt the “gold standard” in safeguarding practice to protect all who may be at risk, and also, equally importantly, to protect those who work with children, young people and adults at risk (formally known as “vulnerable adults”).

During the past Church year, I am very pleased to report, and offer great thanks to our Father in Heaven, that we have had zero safeguarding incidents during the past year. It is so important that we seek to maintain this record in the coming year, but also that we continue to have in place the appropriate mechanism to deal with a safeguarding issue, should it arise. The key Safeguarding person at Lumb is Julie Sharp, (Designated Person for Safeguarding). Julie organises both the DBS checks and training sessions. She is also the “go to person”, should there ever be a safeguarding incident. She is also very willing to advise on all aspects of safeguarding. A lesser role is that of the “Safeguarding Deacon” (at Lumb this is Peter Fielden) whose role it

is to ensure safeguarding best practice is being followed, and to publicise the need for training and DBS checking.

Safeguarding best practice is described in our local church Safeguarding Policy, which is a lengthy but necessary document, based on best practice guidance from the Baptist Union. This document is compiled to explain in sufficient detail about how we should implement safeguarding best practice within all meetings that include children, young people and adults at risk. Each year our policy is reviewed and adjustments made to reflect best practice and updated advice from the Baptist Union. You may find a copy of this document on the church website. There is also a printed copy pinned to our notice board at the back of church. If anyone requires a printed copy, please contact Peter Fielden as the Safeguarding Deacon.

Please be aware that we are required by law to run a DBS check on each of our church workers. At Lumb, it is also our policy that our deacons should be both formally safeguarding trained and DBS checked for completeness. If you would like to help with our work, at Lumb with either children, young people or adults at risk, then please ensure you have an up-to-date DBS check. If you are unsure whether your old DBS check is still valid, or need to enlist for a DBS check, then please ask Julie.

Finally, please understand that whilst Safeguarding is there to ensure a safe environment for all who may be described as children, young people and adults at risk, it is also there to ensure the safety of all our dedicated workers who serve in such an environment within our fellowship at Lumb.

My heartfelt plea is unchanged from my precious annual reports: It is that, whether or not you are affected by safeguarding practice directly, you hold the safety of our children, young people and adults at risk, and also those who serve as workers with these groups regularly in your prayers. Please pray for the Lord’s protection and guarding in all that we do at Lumb in this regard – many thanks.

Peter Fielden (Safeguarding Deacon)

Sunday School Report

A Positive Year for Our Children

It has been another encouraging year for our Sunday School, and we continue to be thankful for the presence of children and families within our church. It is a joy to see young people learning about God and being part of our church life, and we are grateful for the opportunity to support them in their faith as they grow.

Organisation and Classes

We began the year with two classes, but by the end of the year this had increased to three. This change was made to better meet the needs of the children in Key Stage 2, who now have lessons more suited to their age group rather than sharing sessions with the younger children.

Improvements to the Primary Room

We have begun to refurbish the primary room during the year, and we are very grateful to Grahame Long and a team of helpers who gave their time to paint and improve the space. The refreshed room will provide a brighter, cleaner and more welcoming environment for the children.

Teaching and Learning

Throughout the year, the children have been learning about the power of prayer. We have explored the prayers of people from the Bible including Queen Esther, Daniel, Jonah, and Paul and Silas, helping the children to understand that prayer is important in all circumstances.

The new Key Stage 2 children’s group have been using the resource book A–Z of Renew Wellbeing , which has provided a helpful structure for their lessons and encouraged thoughtful discussion around faith and wellbeing.

Trips and Special Events

The children have also enjoyed special events during the year. At Christmas, the older children and young people went to the Rossendale Ski Slope for tubing, while the younger children visited Lancashire Play Village in Rawtenstall. Both trips were thoroughly enjoyed and provided valuable opportunities for fellowship and fun together.

For the Sunday School Anniversary, we welcomed Reach Puppets, and it was particularly special for us as our own Archie was one of the puppeteers.

Christmas and the Nativity

At Christmas, all the children took part in the Nativity play; it was good to see this service so well attended, and there were many favourable comments on how well the children and young people told the story of Jesus’ birth.

Thanks, and Looking Ahead

We are thankful for all those who help in Sunday School and for the continued support of the church, and we look forward to seeing how God continues to work in the lives of our children and young people in the year ahead.

Julie Sharp

BMS World Mission

We remain committed to the BMS and have continued to support them throughout 2025. They work in 30 countries across four continents “to help people experience fullness of life in Jesus Christ”. Their ministry is more or less summed up in three titles

Heart for the Gospel
Hope for the World
Help for the Journey

There is a lot of information about the activities of the BMS on their website and their magazine ENGAGE is available free of charge www.bmsworldmission.org

During 2025 we supported the BMS as part of our Tithe giving sending £2,036 sent quarterly over the year.

Also during Christmas rather than sending cards to individuals we asked people to send one to the fellowship and donate what we saved on cards to BMS. This way we raised a further £97.50.

For the 2025 Harvest Appeal we had a change from the normal and decided to support Operation Agri (we supported this via to Baptist Men’s Movement for many years before the BMS started their Harvest Appeals). The appeal was Bees, Trees & Seeds focussing on empowering farmers in Tanzania and was part of the IMARIKA project. IMARIKA brings together community groups ans equips them with essential life kills in village community banking, conservation agriculture, fuel efficient stove making, afforestation, beekeeping and poultry keeping.

Operation AGRI; Christian love in action “The love of Jesus is shown in action, supporting needy communities to attack the basic causes of poverty, regardless of their ethnic and cultural backgrounds”www.operationagri.org.uk During our Harvest Appeal we raised £220 to help their work.

Thank you for your continued support. Ian Rimmer

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