ALCESTER BAPTIST CHURCH
Annual Report and Financial Statement
Year Ended 31 December 2025
Charity Number 1200212
2
Alcester Baptist Church
Annual Report for the year to 31 December 2025
Charitable Object
The purposes of the Church are ‘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.’
Structure, Governance and Management
Membership of the Church is open to all who profess faith in Jesus Christ, who commit themselves to regular worship at the church, a willingness to serve through the ministries of the Church, to support the church financially and prayerfully and to live a life in keeping with being a disciple of Jesus.
Members are interviewed for membership as a way of getting to know their faith story, and a recommendation is brought to Church Members Meeting for decision. The Church is in membership locally with our local Association of Baptist Churches known as ’The Heart of England Baptist Association.’ It is in membership nationally with ‘The Baptist Union of Great Britain,’ also known as ‘Baptists Together.’
Church members take all the major decisions in the life of the church, including those that relate to the appointment of a Minister, other church staL, church trustees or church property. Four members meetings are held a year so that the whole fellowship can engage in decision making at the church.
Appointment and removal of trustees is by the Church Meeting in accordance with the Church Constitution (Section 14) and Charity law. The minister(s) are automatically trustees. The trustees together manage the day to day running of the church. Between them they cover all areas of church life, which include worship services, pastoral care and discipleship, mission, children, families and community outreach, administration and premises management.
The church had 53 members at the end of 2025, and many more friends who attend either regularly or occasionally. In 2025 we welcomed two people into membership and on Easter Sunday we shared the joy of witnessing two believer’s baptisms. This year we marked the passing of life with the families of Betty Hasson and David Stansbridge.
3
Safeguarding of Children, Young Adults and Adults at Risk.
The church has a safeguarding policy in place which promotes the protection of children, young adults and adults at risk through clearly defined processes and procedures. This policy gives clear guidance on how to maintain a safe environment for all. The Safeguarding Policy is reinforced to the church as a whole at the Annual Church Meeting, where the abridged version is read in its entirety. DBS checks are regularly done for all who work and volunteer at the church and whose role entails contact with children, young people or vulnerable adults.
Our Designated person for Safeguarding is Elaine Willis and our Safeguarding Trustee Lynne Thompson.
Activities during the Year
2025 has been a busy one in the life of the church, with many encouragements. Numbers of people attending Sunday worship has continued to increase, creating a healthy Sunday congregation. In the preaching program in 2025 we have studied:
-
A series on Relationships based on the bible’s use of the phrase “One another”
-
A study on the life of Peter
-
Lent Study in the Wilderness
-
A study through Ephesians
-
Summer series on Children in the Bible
-
And a series on the “I AM’s of Jesus
In May we welcomed Rev Jane Day to lead a ladies Day on Project Violet and lead our Church 385th Anniversary celebration.
In June we enjoyed the visit of Dr Rula Mansour from Nazareth who is Founder and Director of the Nazareth Peace Centre. Subsequently, the church agreed to partner with Rula and the work of the Peace Centre initially for a period of three years.
In July we successfully hosted the 3-day Baptist Historical Society Conference.
In September we were delighted when Jonna Fredrich joined the Alcester Baptist Church team, coming to us for 12 months from Berlin through the charity “Time For God”. Jonna very quickly got involved with the young people, launching a Youth Hub on Tuesday evening. Jonna also joined the Junior Church and Little Angels team, as well as working with Alcester Day Care, The Crafty Lunch Club, and Alcester Academy helping GCSE student with conversational German.
4
We prayerfully continued our journey in what it means to be an inclusive church, and explored how we might go forward with Equal Marriage at ABC. No decisions were taken but this continues to be a subject we prayerfully consider together.
week and the Junior Church team do an excellent job of keeping two age groups going as much as possible. A fun 3-day Summer Program was held in August on consecutive Fridays.
Little Angels Toddler Group meets every Tuesday during term times, and continues to attract young parents, grandparents, carers and their little ones. The team run the program which includes supervised play, craft, storytelling, singing and dancing creating a vibrant atmosphere in a safe space at no cost, other than those who wish to make a small donation. This July we said goodbye to two children who now move on to begin their school life. This year this was marked with a graduation party.
Three house groups continue to meet each week, providing time and space for bible study, prayer, pastoral support and the deepening of friendships. In the Autumn we ran an Alpha Group, which allowed several people new to the church to explore Christianity.
The Wellbeing Café continues to meet on Wednesday mornings, where people drop in for a coLee and a chat with friends and those who come as more occasional visitors. This venture is well supported by church people, with a handful of others who attend.
The Alcester Community Fridge continues to thrive, with many able volunteers involved in collecting food from supermarkets, and making it available through our 6-day a week opening hours, and those managing the project behind the scenes. Over 30 of those volunteers are from the wider Alcester community rather than from the church. Our two paid part-time staL continue to serve as our coordinators, bringing with them much energy and wisdom.
Meeting for prayer increased from Friday morning to now include Monday mornings too. This has been a good decision, and we have continued to see God answering our prayers.
On a Sunday morning the prayer team oLer prayer support following the service. This is proving to be invaluable and enabling people to feel supported and loved.
This year we been blessed with a new worship group under the leadership of Peter Brookes, with Jonna, Gareth, Ruth and Gary leading our worship on alternative Sundays.
5
The new PA system has enabled us to have more clarity of vision and audio, and we are grateful for all the financial gifts that made this a reality.
Lastly, the church continues to be a most generous group of people. As is usual with most Baptist Churches, all our costs are met locally by the congregation. So as well as supporting local ministry (minister, buildings, utilities etc), the church has also supported mission work nationally (though the Baptist Union’s Home Mission Fund) and internationally through the work of BMS World Mission.
In addition, gifts of various sizes have been raised for other charities as outlined in the accounts, including Alcester Day Care, Musalaha UK, Gilgal Women’s Refuge in Birmingham, and Teams4U Shoebox appeal.
We look forward to 2026 with anticipation as we look to God to lead us and guide us in all things.
On behalf of the Trustees
____ Revd Alison Mackay Minister
11 February 2026
_____ Date
Treasurer’s Annual Report For the Year ending 31 December 2024
We entered 2025 having passed a budget that required a small % increase in giving to meet our ongoing costs but which also agreed to draw a sum of £6000 from our reserves towards new audio-visual equipment for the church, if approved in the New Year. The church did indeed approve the purchase of new AV equipment at a cost of £37800 and duly raised £31,800. The new equipment will serve the church well for many years to come and brings a significant improvement to worship week-by-week. If congregational giving is an indicator of congregational health, then we appear to be in good shape!
6
Having previously raised £8800 towards a second worker, we were delighted when our ‘Time for God’ intern joined us in September 2025 for a year, her costs being drawn from that Designated fund.
For three days each week ‘Alcester Day Care’ use our premises to host their programme caring for those with dementia. It is a wonderful ministry and we are privileged to host the work. However, plans are now afoot for Day Care to move from ABC in 2027 or 2028, as soon as they can raise funds to renovate and extend premises that have been gifted to them to use. This will lead us to lose over £11000 a year in income but we know this is the right move for the project.
The church has increased its support for BMS World Mission and Home Mission again this year as we share with other Baptist church across the UK the task of mission witness to our own nation and in countries far afield. Our support for Teams4U Shoebox Appeal has also been generously supported as has our annual donation towards the work of the Women’s Refuge, Gilgal, in Birmingham.
We note our special thanks to local organisations whose grants have helped our Community Fridge work. These include Warwickshire County Council (Kind Communities Grant) and SLR Consulting, a global organisation committed to Sustainability who gave us a grant based on the fact that one of our Fridge volunteers works for them and applied on our behalf.
At the end of the year our general reserves – the amount we have in the bank - stand at 9.5 months of general expenditure, higher than the 6-8 months that is our target as approved by our Deaconate. But we are aware that in 2027 we are likely to be selling our current manse and buying a new one and we will probably need to find a significant extra sum towards that purchase. Extra reserves now will mean less to raise next year.
David Kerrigan Treasurer
7
| ALCESTER BAPTIST CHURCH | ALCESTER BAPTIST CHURCH | ALCESTER BAPTIST CHURCH | ALCESTER BAPTIST CHURCH | ALCESTER BAPTIST CHURCH | ALCESTER BAPTIST CHURCH | ALCESTER BAPTIST CHURCH | ALCESTER BAPTIST CHURCH | ALCESTER BAPTIST CHURCH | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACCOUNTS TO 31 DECEMBER 2025 | |||||||||
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | |||
| 1 | INCOME 2025 | Note | Undesignated Funds |
Designated Funds |
Restricted Funds |
Total to 31 DEC 2025 |
FULL YEAR ACTUAL 2024 |
||
| 2 | Weekly Oferings | 1 | 57,360 | 57,360 | 56,601 | ||||
| 4 | Gif Aid | 2 | 13,341 | 13,341 | 12,465 | ||||
| 5 | Fellowship Fund | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 6 | AV Project Income | 31,830 | 31,830 | 0 | |||||
| 7 | Designated Income (eg WBC) | 357 | 357 | 173 | |||||
| 8 | Other - ABC | 925 | 925 | 365 | |||||
| 9 | Other - ACF | 3 | 4,864 | 4,864 | 2,144 | ||||
| 10 | Total Oferings | 71,626 | 32,187 | 4,864 | 108,678 | 71,748 | |||
| 11 | Hire and Letngs | 4 | 13,516 | 13,516 | 15,555 | ||||
| 12 | External Grants & Gifs - ABC | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 13 | External Grants & Gifs - ACF | 3 | 1,300 | 1,300 | 2,500 | ||||
| 14 | Interest Received (BUC) | 0 | 201 | ||||||
| 15 | Interest on Savings acounts | 654 | 654 | 689 | |||||
| 16 | Wider Mission Causes | ||||||||
| 17 | - BMS World Mission | 624 | 624 | 780 | |||||
| 18 | - BU Home Mission | 0 | 35 | ||||||
| 19 | - Musalaha, Shoebox, Jamaica Appeal | 777 | 777 | 575 | |||||
| 20 | Total Income | 85,796 | 32,811 | 6,941 | 125,548 | 92,083 | |||
| 21 | EXPENDITURE 2025 | ||||||||
| 22 | Local Ministry | 5 | 37,144 | 37,144 | 34,502 | ||||
| 23 | Time for God Intern | 2,175 | 2,175 | 0 | |||||
| 24 | Manse | 6 | 7,120 | 7,120 | 9,931 | ||||
| 25 | AV Project | 3 | 37,819 | 37,819 | 0 | ||||
| 26 | Outreach Resources | 2,684 | 2,684 | 2,630 | |||||
| 27 | ACF | 7 | 7,108 | 7,108 | 8,785 | ||||
| 28 | Fellowship Fund | 100 | 100 | 398 | |||||
| 29 | Exp against Desig Income (eg WBC) | 85 | 85 | 161 | |||||
| 30 | Wider Mission Causes | ||||||||
| 31 | - BMS World Mission | 2,400 | 615 | 3,015 | 3,070 | ||||
| 32 | - BU Home Mission | 2,400 | 2,400 | 2,220 | |||||
| 33 | - e.g. Shoebox, Musalaha, Gilgal etc | 777 | 777 | 575 | |||||
| 34 | Administraton | 8 | 4,183 | 4,183 | 3,530 | ||||
| 35 | Property - Repairs & Cleaning | 9 | 6,050 | 6,050 | 4,919 | ||||
| 36 | Property - Utlites & Insurance | 9 | 7,233 | 7,233 | 7,683 | ||||
| 37 | Sundry | 10 | 2,775 | 2,775 | 1,107 | ||||
| **38 ** | Total Expenditure | 72,090 | 40,695 | 7,885 | 120,669 | 79,511 | |||
| 39 | Surplus/(Defcit) | 13,706 | (7,884) | (944) | 4,879 | 12,572 | |||
| 40 | MOVEMENT OF ACCOUNTS | Barclays Current A/C |
Lloyds Current A/C |
Lloyds 90-day Notce AC |
Lloyds 30-day Notce AC |
BU Trust Fund TA007 |
Cambs & County Bank |
Total Funds | |
| 41 | Opening Balance 1 Jan 2025 | 404.81 | 31,789.45 | 25,689.27 | 0.00 | 6,508.80 | 64,392.33 | ||
| 44 | Total Incoming funds for 2025 | 3,720 | 121,343 | 274 | 209 | 2 | 125,548 | ||
| 45 | Total Outgoing funds for 2025 | (22) | (120,647) | (120,669) | |||||
| 46 | Transfer in/(out) & Adj | (3,800) | 4,829 | (1,029) | (0) | ||||
| 47 | Transfer in/(out) & Adj | 25,963 | (25,963) | 0 | |||||
| 48 | Transfer in/(out) & Adj | (55,000) | 40,000 | 15,000 | 0 | ||||
| 49 | Transfer in/(out) & Adj | 5,482 | (5,482) | 0 | |||||
| 50 | Transfer in/(out) & Adj | 209 | (40,209) | 40,000 | 0 | ||||
| 51 | Interest | (99) | 99 | 0 | |||||
| 52 | Closing Balance 31 Dec 2025 | 303 | 13,870 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55,099 | 69,271 | |
| 53 | Net Movement in Funds | 4,879 | |||||||
| 54 | ANALYSIS OF FUNDS | O/Bal Jan 2025 | Income | Expenditure | Adjustments | C/Bal 31 Dec 2025 | |||
| 55 | RESTRICTED FUNDS | ||||||||
| 56 | ACF | 5,552 | 6,164 | (7,108) | 4,608 | ||||
| 57 | BMS Harvest 24 | 0 | 624 | (615) | 9 | ||||
| 58 | Other Mission Giving | 0 | 777 | (777) | (0) | ||||
| 59 | Total Restricted Funds | 5,552 | 7,564 | (8,500) | 4,616 | ||||
| 60 | DESIGNATED FUNDS | ||||||||
| 61 | Time for God | 8,800 | 0 | (2,175) | 6,625 | ||||
| 62 | Wellbeing cafe | 172 | 357 | (85) | 444 | ||||
| 63 | AV Project | 0 | 31,830 | (37,819) | (5,989) | ||||
| 64 | Total Designated Funds | 8,972 | 32,187 | (40,080) | 1,080 | ||||
| 65 | GENERAL FUNDS | ||||||||
| 66 | - Current Accounts | 17,670 | (9,787) | 593 | 8,476 | ||||
| 67 | - Lloyds Savings Accounts | 25,689 | 40,482 | (66,172) | 0 | ||||
| 68 | - Trust Fund BU TA007 | 6,509 | 2 | (6,511) | 0 | ||||
| 69 | - Cambridge & Countes Bank | 0 | 55,099 | 0 | 55,099 | ||||
| 70 | Total General Funds | 49,868 | 85,796 | (72,090) | 63,575 | ||||
| 71 | Total Movement of Funds | 64,392 | 125,548 | (120,669) | 69,271 |
8
Notes to the ABC 2025 Accounts
| Notes to the ABC 2025 Accounts | Notes to the ABC 2025 Accounts | Notes to the ABC 2025 Accounts | Notes to the ABC 2025 Accounts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | ||
| Note 1 | Weekly Oferings | ||
| Gif-Aided Bank Giving | 43768 | 43,781 | |
| Gif-Aided Loose Giving | 2482 | 3,581 | |
| Gif-Aided Contactless Giving | 9259 | 4,290 | |
| Non Gif-Aid Giving | 1850 | 4,780 | |
| 57360 | 56,422 | ||
| Note 2 | Gif Aid | ||
| Gif Aid on Identfed Donors | 11341 | 10,464 | |
| Gidrt Aid on Loose Cash | 2000 | 2000 | |
| 13341 | 10,464 | ||
| Note 3 | Alcester Community Fridge (ACF) Income | ||
| Donatons - Cash | 3366 | 1,987 | |
| Donatons - Contactless | 1498 | 157 | |
| Alcester Town Council (Grant) | 0 | 1000 | |
| Co-op (Grant) | 0 | 500 | |
| Warks County Council (Grant) | 1000 | 1000 | |
| SLR Consultng (Grant) | 300 | ||
| 6164 | 4,644 | ||
| Note 4 | Hire and Letng of Premises | ||
| Alcester Musical Theatre | 1964 | 1924 | |
| Alcester Day Care (£888.00 Jan 2025 was paid Dec 2024) | 9741 | 11248 | |
| Yoga Classes | 1773 | 2293 | |
| Other | 39 | 90 | |
| 13516 | 15,555 | ||
| Note 5 | Local Ministry | ||
| Minister, (Missioner 2023) - Stpends, NI and Pension | 35095 | 31,941 | |
| Travel, Courses | 1564 | 1,943 | |
| Visitng Preachers | 415 | 369 | |
| Mobile | 70 | 120 | |
| 37144 | 34,373 | ||
| Note 6 | Manse Costs | ||
| Council Tax | 2976 | 2,836 | |
| Heatng, Lightng & Water | 2300 | 2,363 | |
| Landline, Broadband & Mobile | 538 | 668 | |
| Repairs and Maintenance | 1015 | 3,383 | |
| Insurance | 607 | 680 | |
| 7436 | 9,931 | ||
| Note 7 | Alcester Community Fridge (ACF) Expenditure | ||
| Coordinator Salaries | 5172 | 6296 | |
| Electricity | 1537 | 1641 | |
| Repairs & supplies | 71 | 848 | |
| Grundon Waste Disposal | 328 | ||
| 7108 | 8785 | ||
| Note 8 | Administraton | ||
| Post, Stat, Tel, Broadband at ABC | 475 | 556 | |
| Printng, Statonary & Ofce Supplies | 1472 | 1,223 | |
| Fees, Licenses | 2066 | 1,739 | |
| Bank Charges | 170 | 0 | |
| 4183 | 3,518 | ||
| Note 9 | Property Upkeep | ||
| Church Repairs and Maintenance * see below | 6050 | 4,919 | |
| Heatng and Lightng | 4944 | 5,556 | |
| Water | 231 | 208 | |
| Insurance | 2058 | 1,919 | |
| 13283 | 12,602 | ||
| **Church Repair and Maintenance *** | |||
| Cleaning | 1642 | 1,254 | |
| New Heater | 1796 | 0 | |
| Tree Surgery | 0 | 350 | |
| Upper room brickwork | 0 | 270 | |
| Upper room Stairs - replastering & paintng | 0 | 285 | |
| Baptstry (part-payment) | 0 | 500 | |
| Other | 2612 | 2,260 | |
| 6050 | 4,919 | ||
| Note 10 | Sundry Other Costs | ||
| Defbrillator | 1170 | ||
| Laptop | 400 | ||
| Other | 1205 | 1107 | |
| 2775 | 1107 |
9
Legal Information
Charitable Status
Alcester Baptist Church (‘The Church’) is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) registered with the Charity Commission on 30 August 2022, though the Church traces its roots in Alcester back to 1640.
The Church Registration Number is 1200212
Church Address
Alcester Baptist Church Church St Alcester B49 5AJ
Trustees
During the year to 31 December 2025, and through to the signing of the Annual Report and Accounts, the following people served as Trustees in their various roles:
Revd Alison Mackay (Minister) Mrs Elaine Willis (Church Secretary) Rev David Kerrigan (Treasurer) Mrs Mary Elizabeth Bowld Mrs Alison Dance (from February 2025) Mr JeL Steers Mrs Lynne Thompson Ms Angela Whitford (from February 2025) Mr Brian John Williams
Property Trustees
The Baptist Union Corporation Limited Baptist House 129 Broadway Didcot OX11 8RT
Bankers
Lloyds Bank Independent Examiner Mr Eddy Rye FMAAT
Website
www.alcesterbaptist.org.uk
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteesl members of Alster Baptist Church On accounts for the year ended 31 December 2025 Charity no Irf any) 1200212 . Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above harity (he Trust.) for the year ended 31 December 2024. As the chartty trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation Responsibilities and of the accounts in accordan wth the requirements of the CharÉties Act basis of report 2011 (Ihe Acr). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carying out my examination, I have followd the applicable Directions given by the Charty Commission under section 145(5){b} of the Act. I have completed my examination. I c(xrfirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection wth the examination ¥vhich gNes me Cause to believe that in, any material resped.. accounting records were not keFI in accordance with section 130 of the Act or the accounts do not accord Imth the accounting records Independent examiner's statement I have no conM8 and have come across no other matters in connection wtth the examination lo which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached . Please delete the words in the brackets rfthey (*) not appty. Signed: Date: 4 February 2025 Name: Edward John Rye Relevant professional qualification(s) or body (rf any): FMA4T Address: 62 Westhill Road, Kings Norton. Binningham B38 8TN IER October 2018