2023-12-31-accounts - New Park Street English Baptist Church

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AGM 24th January 2024

In attendance:- 13 members and 1 friend

Opened by singing “Be Still” together accompanied by Andrew on guitar.

Apologies:- Jon, Naomi, Joel, Becky, Sarah, Cerys

Deb then read from Matthew Ch.14 v 22-23. Deb led in a short reflection on this passage. This passage is after the feeding of the 5000. Peter walks on the water but then doubts when the seas become rough. Jesus invites us to have complete trust, even in uncertainty. Where are we? Are we daring enough to step on the water and walk towards Jesus? Have we got so far and lost our footing and doubting? Are we a mess and needing rescuing by Jesus? Are we still in the boat, observing?

Followed this with a time of open prayer reflecting again on this passage and praying for our meeting

AGM Secton

Opened at around 7.20pm

Minutes of last meeting – Were circulated by email. Everyone happy that these are an accurate record of the meeting.

Matters arising – None

Safeguarding

The safeguarding statement was read out as this is a legal requirement. Deb briefly explained the purpose of safeguarding before reading this statement. Following the statement Deb asked if any questions or comments. Ceri commented about the safety around serving teas and coffees after the service and children running around. Ceri didn’t feel either of these things should stop but that maybe a reminder ath the end of the service to be mindful and wat out for little ones. Maybe advise to not carry too many drinks and to try and get a drink and move away from the table to chat in more open areas.

Treasurers report and budget

The figures for the church accounts for December 31[st] 2023 are as follows:-

Current Account £43752.42 Building Fund £3128.68 Lloyds 32 day Account £12343.13 BU Corp Dep Acc £70036.84

Current Account

The current account has been very good this year; the giving in the church has been exemplary as you can see from the figures you have on your handout sheets. We can look at those in more detail in a few moments. The end of year balance is around £4000 more than the previous year but I will

just point out that there is no transfer of funds from the current account to the building fund this year.

Building Fund

The Building Fund has been very quiet this year. The regular contributors to the fund have continued to so do and I thank them for that. Expenditure in the fund has been minimal amounting to only £67.19 so this has given us a small launch pad back into greater solvency after the big spend of last year (toilet block).

Lloyds 32 Day Account

This account has been paying a little better in interest, the rate being 2.6% for most of this last year. Well, it is better than the 0.3% that it had dropped to.

BU Corporaton Deposit Account

This account has done well for us paying a Fixed Interest of 3.00% for the year. This amounted to £2039.91 interest.

As you requested, we have re-invested the whole amount for this coming year, that is, to the 30[th] November 2024, and it will be at the fixed rate of 5.00%.

Ladies Fellowship Account

As you are aware, this account has now been closed completely. There will be no more collecting for water projects.

The overall amount raised for various water projects over the years was £13869.53.

Both the current account and the Building Fund are now accessible on line and I have cards for both accounts. Pam also has access to the accounts in order to maintain accountability. If there are any questions regarding the accounts, please feel free to ask.

Lastly, I would like to record my thanks to Mr Goronwy Williams for, once again, giving his time and abilities as Independent Examiner for the church accounts

Budget

The budget statement for this coming year is attached to your bundle and is open for discussion

Thanks noted to Bill for all his continued work with the finances and the budgets.

BMS report

£972.73 was sent in April/May after a really encouraging BMS sunday service this included the regular giving, a donation from the chapel, a direct cheque to BMS and an offering in the service. £60 was also sent to the BMS Christmas appeal in December.

Phil is still spending some time working remotely from the UK as well as being able to return to Afghanistan on a fairly regular basis although their work out there is still under increasing scrutiny.

October saw a series of earthquakes around the province of Herat. Thankfully all the staff were ok. Not so fortunate for the locals who live in mud huts in that area.

Peter and Louise have had a very busy year and seem to have travelled and stayed in many places and been involved in many exciting events including the wedding of their son Jonah to Abbie in August. In November they have to learn a new word in Bangla, “Oberod”, which means blockade as

travel in Bangladesh has been disrupted because of blockade days, strike days and demonstrations as they headed to national elections.

Pam encouraged people that they are free to read any of the emails/prayer letters but please don't remove any of the Afghanistan ones from the chapel.

Thanks noted to Pam for her report and continued work with BMS.

Pastoral report

Around the time of our AGM last year, a small group of friends came to visit Jon and me here in Holyhead. The friends were not from here, they were actually mostly from Bala, but they are people with a heart for Wales and a heart for the people of Anglesey, and a desire to stand with us and pray with us here in this place. And they prayed with us – for us personally, for Holyhead, for our church, for God’s Kingdom to come.

I don’t know whether that afternoon of prayer was a turning point but, ever since that day, all I can say is that lots of people have ‘rocked up’ at our church. We’d already started to have a trickle of new people coming, but it is in the last year that we have really seen a change. And I just want to start by praising and thanking God for this. We have not done any advertising. We’ve not had a huge presence on Facebook. We haven’t had some big recruitment campaign. Our noticeboard outside – and I can only apologise for this – is still a complete mess, although Ian now has it in hand! But despite all this, God has just brought people in our direction. A few have come from other churches, others have moved into the area, and most excitingly, some people are new to all this or are coming back after a long time away. It has been really exciting and such a blessing to welcome new people and we praise and thank God for his generosity to us.

My all-time highlight of the year was the baptism of Steve, Ann and Gareth in November – it has been such a joy to get to know them and see how God is working in their lives and their families. We also welcomed Joel and Becky into membership and it has been lovely to see them getting involved with the worship group and in other ways too, and we love that trumpet playing Joel! We had a wonderful dedication service on the beach for Georgie, Heddwen and Caleb back in September. Another lovely moment was the wedding blessing for Sue’s son and daughter in law where we must have had a record number of nationalities present in the chapel.

But I really want to emphasise that growth is not primarily about numbers and bums on seats. God is interested in each one of us and longing for each one of us to grow: in our faith, in our relationship with him, in our fellowship with one another, and in developing our unique gifts. It has been wonderful this year to see people stepping up into new roles, preaching or leading a bible study for the first time, providing hospitality and pastoral care for one another. I am a passionate believer in the priesthood of all believers and the ministry of the whole body of Christ. I am not the only minister in this church. We are all ministers. My role as the one set aside as pastor is most certainly not to do everything, but to help and encourage all of you to grow in faith and discipleship, and to discern ways that God might be calling you to serve him. We grow together as we walk together and watch over one another, and I’ve really enjoyed our Sunday Special Services this year where we’ve had the chance to hear testimonies from one another, and last time lots from the children, as to how we are seeing God at work.

But growth can also bring growing pains. As any parent of teenagers knows, growth can be rather messy. We’ve suddenly gone from 1 midweek group to 3, 5 if you count the breakwater group and

the prayer meeting. Whereas in my first 3 years here we usually had 25-30 people attending on Sunday mornings, now we are getting between 40 and 50 most weeks. And people come with mess! We’re all different, with different needs, at different stages in our faith journeys. In my role as pastor I’m finding I don’t always know where to focus my time and energy. And I’m aware that, for those of you who are longstanding members, numerical growth can be difficult as suddenly we don’t know who everyone is, and it can feel uncomfortable and maybe we are not quite so not sure of our place in the family. But I want to say to all of you that you are seen and you are valued. I want to thank each one of you for being so welcoming and hospitable, for being willing to try new things and cope with changes, for making the effort to get to know new people, and for your continued commitment and support for our church. I pray that all of us, no matter how long we have been worshipping here, can truly feel like part of the family and find a welcome.

I would like to say a massive thank you to all those in positions of leadership. To the deacons for all your hard work and support – there are plenty of ministers for whom every deacons’ meeting is an ordeal to be got through – but I really enjoy spending time with all of you! To the Junior church leaders who give up so much of their time and are so committed to the children of this church – thank you for all that you do and I just want to say that Sarah this has been such a difficult year for you and we continue to pray for you. To the pastoral care team – I know it’s taking us a while to get going but I thank you to all of you for your care and concern for everyone in the church – and the Christmas baskets made by Ceri and Beryl were greatly appreciated. And to all who serve in practical ways, with the cleaning, the flowers, the tea and coffee, the worship group, Wendy who sorts out all the communion stuff – thank you all so much. And there’s so much that goes unseen – financial giving – thank you so much everyone for your generosity and love. And all the prayer that goes on in secret. God sees each one of you and it delights his heart. Once again, for some people here this has been an extremely difficult year because of illness or bereavement. We rejoice that Sue is so much better after her cancer and radiotherapy. But there are many more who are really struggling and we continue to hold one another before God, especially those who can’t be with us week by week.

One of the things I have been concerned about as we grow as a church is that we do not forget our witness to this town and the surrounding area. We had a wonderful meeting the other day to start thinking about the possibility of a Renew Wellbeing space here in the town, and I’ll be saying more about that later in the meeting. But I want to end this report by saying simply that our God is good, and we can trust him. Often I live as though I don’t really trust him – I try and fix things, and do things in my own strength, or run around after all the wrong things and forget to follow him and end up getting stressed and anxious. But the simple truth is that he’s good, he loves us, he’s with us, and we can trust him. And if we are living in that truth, then we as a church will naturally be a witness here in Holyhead. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. People can’t help be drawn to its brightness. So let’s put our confidence in God and he will lead us step by step into 2024.

Thanks noted from Deb but also our thanks noted to Deb. Bill in particular wanted to note thanks to Deb for the honesty in her report and the verses from the opening of the meeting that highlight that in the uncertainty we need to focus on Jesus. Ceri also wanted to thank Deb for her support and discipleship.

Time of reflection and open prayer

Suggested dates for the year – QBMs 24[th] April, 17[th] July, 23[rd] Oct, AGM + QBM 22[nd] January 2025. AGM closed around 8.20pm and the QBM opened

DETAILS OF ACCOUNTS	DETAILS OF ACCOUNTS	DETAILS OF ACCOUNTS	NEW PARK ST. ENGLISH BAPTIST CHAPEL	NEW PARK ST. ENGLISH BAPTIST CHAPEL	NEW PARK ST. ENGLISH BAPTIST CHAPEL	NEW PARK ST. ENGLISH BAPTIST CHAPEL
	For the Year ended 31st December			2023
Note 1	Basis of Accounts						page 1
	These accounts have beenprepared on a "Receipts and Payments" basis,
	and in accord with sections 144,145 Charities Act,2011
					2023		2022
					£s		£s
Note 2	Raised for Other Causes		(Income)
	Home Mission				55.00		90.00
	B.M.S.				832.73		290.10
	Tear Fund(Earthquake)				481.60		0.00
	LeprosyMission				123.10		0.00
			Ukraine Appeal		0.00		282.29
				SubTotal	1,492.43		662.39

Note 3	Donations/Other Sources		(Income)
	Other Gifts & Gift Aid S/Os not Inc in Offerings)				8,440.00	6,870.00
	BUW Anglesey				3,550.56	3,264.00
			Anon Gift			1,000.00
	AngleseyPrayer Net		Clayton Baptism		70.00	50.00
	WeddingBlessing		Lawrence Wedding		200.00	200.00
			MemoryRob Jones			201.55

				SubTotal	12,260.56	11,585.55
	Freewill Offering		(Income)		3,100.00	2,250.00
	Baptist Union Grant for This Year(Income)				3,000.01	3,692.28
	Income Tax Refund on Gift Aid			(Income)	5,697.69	4,868.18
	Weekly Offerings				14,346.68	14,547.06
				Total	39,897.37	37,605.46
Note 4	Ministry		(Outgoings)
	Net Stipend(Gross -(Tax +NIC+Superann.)				9,509.24	8,880.10
	Superannuation Contributions				3,039.12	5,003.12
	Total Nat. Ins. Conts. + Income Tax				2,968.72	2,731.19
	Minister's Travel Expenses(Car Mileage Allowance)				2,582.55	1,047.15
	Pulpit SupplyFees				580.00	420.00
	Manse YearlyCouncil Tax				2,335.20	2,244.17
	Manse YearlyWater Rates				976.83	876.46
	Manse Rent				5,400.00	5,400.00


			Grant Repayment			461.54
	Minister's Conference Expenses				446.48	220.00
	Minister/Deacons Awayday				226.25	0.00
Manse Repairs/ Renewals - See separateprinted B/F Acc. Rep
				Total	28,064.39	27,283.73
Note 5	Mission		(Outgoings)
	Home Mission				1,200.00	1,200.00
	B.M.S.				932.73	290.10
	NWBA Gift				560.00
	Tearfund Earthquake Appeal		Ukraine via BMS		500.00	150.00
	Barnabus Water Project		Ukraine via Bly'wood		59.23	150.00
	LeprosyMission				123.10	50.00



				Total	3,375.06	1,840.10
		(Continued on Page 2)


DETAILS OF ACCOUNTS (Continued)		Page 2		2023	2022
Note 6	Upkeep of Chapel Premises	(Outgoings)
	ElectricityBill			1,539.61	1,428.18
	Building& Contents Insurance			1,407.46	1,371.31
	Water Rates			135.56	134.34



			Total	3,082.63	2,933.83
Note 7	Administration	(Outgoings)
	Baptist Union Affiliation Registration			128.75	122.50
	Donation J.Church workbooks/literature			300.00	300.00
	CCLI Copyright and Performance Fee			181.00	169.00
	Website Fee			195.27	184.92
	Fasthosts Web Domain			0.00	62.94
	Printer Inks + stamps			49.72	106.58
	Communion Wine			0.00	68.00
	Safeguardingtraining			80.00	180.00
	Pastries AM service	Piano Tuner		112.97	65.00
	Youth Group	OfferingBox		34.80	33.99
	Fairtrade Products	Window Cleaner		31.88	10.00
	Microsoft/McAfee	Argos Software		69.98	67.98
	Flowers			27.20	20.00
	Harvest Table			99.15	60.36
	Cytun			20.00
	Whiteboard			79.19
	Paper Towels			48.54


			Total	1,458.45	1,451.27

Note 8	Summary of Transfer of Funds
	CurrentAccount to BuildingFund			0.00	1000.00
	CurrentAccount to BuildingFund			0.00	4000.00

				0.00	5,000.00

Note 8a	Invested Funds			2023	2022
	Baptist CorpDeposit Account(1year fixed		rate)	67,996.93	67,591.38
	Int 1st Dec 2023	Int 1st dec 2022		2,039.91	405.55
	End of Year 2023	End of Year 2022		70,036.84	67,996.93


	Lloyds 32 DayAccount			12,082.78	12,043.46
	Int 31st Dec 2023	Int 31stDec 2022		260.35	39.32
	End of Year 2023	End of Year 2022		12,343.13	12,082.78

NEW PARK STREET ENGLISH BAPTIST CHAPEL - HOLYHEA Page 1 FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 3 December 2023 General Receipts and Payments Account (Main Current Account)

Note No. 2 3	2023	2022
	£s	£s
	14,346.68 3,000.01 1,492.43 3,100.00 12,260.56 5,697.69	14,547.06 3,692.28 662.39 2,250.00 11,585.55 4,868.18
Total	39,897.37	37,605.46

4 5 6 7 te 8	28,064.39 3,375.06 3,082.63 1,458.45	27,283.73 1,840.10 2,933.83 1,451.27 5,000.00
Total	35,980.53	38,508.93

	3,916.84	903.47

2021	39,795.58	40,668.85

	43,712.42	39,765.38

	###	###
	40.00 ###	30.00 ###

NEW PARK STREET BAPTIST CHAPEL - HOLYHEAD. Page 2

FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER 2023

Building/Fabric Fund Account

Building/Fabric Fund Account
Receipts Total Building Fund Offerings Transferred from C/A Balance carried forward from 2022 2021 Payments Total Payments for 2023 (See Itemised List of Building/Fabric Fund Expenditu Balance of Account @ 31.12.23 Balance at Bank at end of 31.12.23		2023	2022
		£	£
		485.00 0.00 2,710.87	3,480.00 4,000.00 9,503.61
	Total	3,195.87	16,983.61

	2022	67.19	14,272.74
	re)
	Remainde	r 3,128.68	2,710.87

	31.12.22 & 31.12.2	3,128.68	2,710.87
		2 3,128.68	2,710.87

Total Assets - Representing Balances on the following Accounts:

2023 2022 General Account - Main Curr. Account 43,752.42 39,795.38 Building/Fabric Fund Current Account 3,128.68 2,710.87 Lloyds 32 Day Account 12,343.13 12,082.78 BU Corporation Deposit Account 70,036.84 67,996.93 Total ### ### Liabilities Nil Nil Long Term Loans Nil Nil JUNIOR CHURCH FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR 2021 (Additional to Main Church Statemen	2023 2022 General Account - Main Curr. Account 43,752.42 39,795.38 Building/Fabric Fund Current Account 3,128.68 2,710.87 Lloyds 32 Day Account 12,343.13 12,082.78 BU Corporation Deposit Account 70,036.84 67,996.93 Total ### ### Liabilities Nil Nil Long Term Loans Nil Nil JUNIOR CHURCH FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR 2021 (Additional to Main Church Statemen	2023 2022 General Account - Main Curr. Account 43,752.42 39,795.38 Building/Fabric Fund Current Account 3,128.68 2,710.87 Lloyds 32 Day Account 12,343.13 12,082.78 BU Corporation Deposit Account 70,036.84 67,996.93 Total ### ### Liabilities Nil Nil Long Term Loans Nil Nil JUNIOR CHURCH FINANCIAL STATEMENT FOR 2021 (Additional to Main Church Statemen
A Amount carried forward from 31.12.22 Amount received in Offerings & donations during the Year	mount(£s	)
	769.84
	755.85

Donations from Main Church Fund Total Total Expenditure incurred during the Year Amount remaining in Bank at the end of the Year 2 31.12.23 Cash in Hand at the end of the Year 2023 Carried Forward to 2024 TOTAL	300.00
	1,825.69

	873.23

	537.80
	414.16
	952.46