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2024-12-31-accounts

LUTHERAN COUNCIL OF GREAT BRITAIN

(Council of Lutheran Churches)

ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024

Company registration number 557552 Charity registration number 232042

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Contents

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR………………………………………………………… 3
TRUSTEES’ REPORT………………………………………………………………... 4
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE………………….................................. 8
FUTURE PLANS AND STRATEGY………………………………………………… 12
FINANCIAL REVIEW…………………………………………................................. 13
PUBLIC BENEFIT…………………………………………...................................... 15
PRINCIPAL ADVISORS……………………………………………………………… 16
STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES’ RESPONSIBILTIES……………………………… 17
INDEPENDENT AUDITORS’ REPORT…………………..................................... 18
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES……………….……………………….. 21
BALANCE SHEET……………………………………………………………………. 22
STATEMENT OF CASHFLOWS………………………...………………………….. 23
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS…………....................................... 24

Company registration number 557552 Charity registration number 232042

Registered Address: 46-48, Ground Floor, Webber Street, London SE1 8QW

The Lutheran Council of Great Britain has adopted the working name 'Council of Lutheran Churches' (CLC).

This report has been prepared in accordance with the special provisions of the Companies Act 2006 relating to small entities.

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Letter from the Chairman

2024 was a year of change for CLC. Anna Kraus, our General Secretary, moved back to Germany and a new job as Executive Director for the Lutheran World Federation at their centre in Wittenberg. Bishop Tor Jørgensen, our chairman retired and moved back to his native Norway. We thank them both for their dedicated service to our Council!

After a thorough recruitment process Rev. Meelis Süld, who was previously the outreach coordinator stepped up to the general secretary role and I was elected by our members to be chairman. So now we have an ordained general secretary and a lay chairman, a reversal of the previous set up!

We sold our remaining real estate property on Sandwich Street in November for £1.5 million and subsequently made an offer for St. George‘s German Lutheran church in Aldgate, the oldest still standing Lutheran church in the country, as it came up for sale. Our bid has been accepted, and we are now in the process of buying the property and doing our due diligence. Our idea behind this investment is to give our four member churches that presently do not have a church of their own in London, the opportunity to use St. George‘s. We are also actively recruiting new member churches where St. George‘s could be of help.

Our finances are solid which has allowed us to increase the working hours of our staff to do more chaplaincy, outreach and communications work. There will be more to do for CLC in 2025!

Per Jonsson, Chairman

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TRUSTEES' REPORT

The Trustees have pleasure in presenting their report and the audited financial statements of the Lutheran Council of Great Britain, which trades as the Council of Lutheran Churches or ‘the Council’, for the year ending 31 December 2024.

Who we are:

The Council is a body of churches that have come together to express their shared Lutheran heritage and identity through common work in Britain, enriched by their cultural and linguistic diversity. Each church has its own administrative structure, which may be closely linked to the church in its country of origin, or to one of its synods or dioceses. They all offer particular ministries and programmes in Britain for the language groups they serve. The Council was established in 1948 to represent and co-ordinate the common work of Lutheran churches and parishes which have congregations or chaplaincies in Great Britain from a wide range of national and linguistic backgrounds.

Members

The ordinary members of the Council are nominated by the member churches or parishes and approved by the Directors. The following churches nominated members to the Council in 2024:

Danish

Estonian

Finnish

Synod of German-Speaking Lutheran, Reformed and United Congregations in Great Britain

Icelandic

Latvian

Lutheran Church in Great Britain (including Chinese, English, Polish congregations) Norwegian

Swedish

Trustees and Directors

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Administrative and professional staff during 2024

General Secretary: Dr Anna Krauss (to July 2024), Meelis Süld (from July 2024) Head of Chaplaincy and Development Rebecca Daniel Outreach Coordinator: Meelis Süld (to June 2024) Communications Manager Wendy Sherer (from November 2024) Administration Manager: Emily Weller Finance Manager: Judith Edward

Committees

The Council had the following committees in 2024:

The Finance Committee: Responsible for monitoring the Council's financial position, compliance with regulatory and financial requirements and risk management on behalf of the Trustees. This is achieved by considering regular management accounts in relation to budgets, reports on financial controls and reviewing the risk register.

Members

Mr Rakesh Patel (from February 2024, Chair of the committee from August 2024) Mr Per Jonsson (Chair of the committee to August 2024) Mr Jan-Eric Österlund (to June 2024) Mr Chris Stephens (from February 2024) Dr Anna Krauss (to June 2024) Rev. Meelis Süld (from August 2024) Miss Judith Edward

The Investment Committee : Responsible for monitoring the Council’s investment performance on behalf of the Trustees, by receiving investment reports and with meetings with investment managers.

Members

Mrs Eva Sheppard (Chair of the committee from August 2024) Mr Jan-Eric Österlund (Chair of the committee to August 2024) Mr Paul Renken Dr Anna Krauss (to June 2024) Rev. Meelis Süld (from August 2024) Miss Judith Edward

The Nominations Committee : Responsible for recommendations for Trustee appointments, by identifying current or future gaps in trustee skills and seeking suitable applicants.

Members

Mr Paul Renken (Chair of the committee to June 2024) Rev. Lagle Heinla (to July 2024) Right Revd. Tor Berger Jørgensen (to June 2024) Mr Jan-Eric Österlund (from June 2024) Mr Per Jonsson (from June 2024)

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The Student Work Committee : Responsible for recommending Student Chaplaincy strategy, monitoring current activities, exploring closer collaboration with member churches,

Members Rev. Rebecca Daniel Rev. Lagle Heinla (to July 2024) Rev. Silke Halfmann

The Grants Committee : Responsible for proposing grant policies and strategic direction of grant awards, to oversee the grant process and to review all grants applications. The Grants Committee is responsible for the management of the two large grant agreements with the Latvian Church and the Lutheran Church in Great Britain.

Members

Rev. Dag Magnus Havgar (Chair of the committee to December 2024) Mr Jan-Eric Österlund (to June 2024) Mrs Madelaine Mason (from August 2024) Dr Anna Krauss (to June 2024) Rev. Meelis Süld (from August 2024) Miss Judith Edward

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Legal structure, governance and management

The organisation is a company limited by guarantee and registered as a charity in England and Wales. The Council’s governing document is the Articles of Association. The Board of Trustees comprises the directors of the company.

Trustees are elected for an initial three-year period and are eligible for a further two terms of three years. The Board of Trustees can appoint a trustee to fill a casual vacancy until the next General Meeting. The Nominations Committee supports the process by seeking suitable applicants and providing recommendations. Newly elected trustees are given induction training on their duties and responsibilities as members of the Board of Trustees. Training needs are reviewed regularly, and specific training is given to trustees as required.

The Board of Trustees approves the remuneration of the General Secretary and the annual pay award given to all staff. Salaries are benchmarked against comparable roles in the charity and faith sectors.

Relationships with other bodies and external networks

The Council is a ‘recognised council’ of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), a global communion of Lutheran churches, and is entitled to attend but not vote at assemblies of the LWF. Founded in 1947 in Lund, Sweden, the LWF represents about 95% of all Lutherans and acts in ecumenical and inter-faith relations, theology, humanitarian assistance, human rights, communication, mission and development work. There are 150 member churches spanning 99 countries in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America.

The Council has been actively involved in Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), Churches Together in England (CTE), the national ecumenical bodies, as well as Faith in Europe, and the Anglican-Lutheran Society. These organisations convene meetings covering a broad range of topics related to the unity of the Church, which are attended by various Council Members and trustees.

The Council is a member of Bethphage (charity no 1046225). Bethphage was founded by a US based Lutheran charity supporting adults with learning disabilities. Now an entirely secular organisation, the Council remains one of the two members of Bethphage. A representative of the Council attends the Annual general Meeting and the Council’s General Secretary is an observer at Bethphage’s Board of Trustees. The connection with Bethphage enables the Council to support a minority group of vulnerable people who are often overlooked by society.

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ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Objectives

The Council's main charitable object is stated in its Articles of Association: 'The advancement of the Christian religion by bearing united witness before the World to the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the power of God for salvation.'

In meeting this objective, the Council supports chaplaincy to young people and empowers its member churches through grant giving and material support by providing office space, administrative assistance, expertise over policy development and regulatory compliance. The Council also creates outreach activities with our member churches to establish a shared sense of Lutheran identity in our churches and works together with its ecumenical partners to raise awareness about Lutherans in the UK. This increases the stability of our member churches and Lutheranism in the UK in general. Thus, CLC is engaged in serving the wider community underpinned by its Christian values and seeking to strengthen the witness to Christ’s Gospel of salvation.

CLC is increasingly active in the global Lutheran communion, especially with the Central/West European Region of the Lutheran World Federation.

We regularly review the uptake of grants and participation in our student chaplaincy and outreach activities.

Background

For 2024, it has been a combination of ensuring the stability of ongoing work, whilst undergoing changes in personnel at the CLC. The established arrangements with member churches, international and ecumenical partners have continued and developed further. We are actively involved in ecumenical work, especially in Churches Together in England (CTE), where CLC is a member on behalf of our member churches and had the privilege to appoint the President for the 4[th] Presidency Group until 2026. We managed to become more involved in Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI), chiefly by appointing a representative to its national committee for the World Day of Prayer, which has been vacant since early 2023. The CLC is also involved in local ecumenism through the South Bank Churches group in London by participating in regular meetings and joint initiatives.

Lutheran communities in the UK live in the post Brexit reality, which directly affects the member churches and the CLC. There are less people coming from European countries to the UK, and many of them were traditionally Lutherans (for example people from Nordic and Baltic countries, and Germany), the number of Lutheran students is therefore lower, too. At the same time Lutheranism is growing in the world and the Council is open to welcoming new communities to become members. For example, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania established in 2024 an overseas diaspora ministry in the UK, and the responsible Bishop Dr Msafiri Mbilu visited the CLC office. To clarify the rules on accepting new member churches and to draft an application, a Membership Task Force was established, which concluded its work at the end of 2024.

Most of the Lutheran communities in the UK operate in a diaspora setting, where their mother churches are based far away, and they are not dual members of a local British Lutheran church. Therefore, the CLC plays a vital role in linking pastors and communities, providing necessary support, and strengthening their congregations. At the same time, the Lutheran Church in Great Britain is the indigenous British Lutheran church and an important partner in ministry, with a nationwide network of congregations and a church structure led by a bishop residing in the UK. To strengthen the relationship with CLC member churches, we have established the role of Head of Chaplaincy and Development, as well as a more focused

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Communications Manager post.

Investment and Investment Income

At the start of 2024 we had around £17.8 million in investments. A further £1.5 million was added towards the end of the year, when the residential property at 4, Sandwich Street was sold. Due to this addition and the investment gains made in the year, at the end of 2024, we had investments of £19.7 million.

The Council’s long term investment objective is an average total return of 3.5% + inflation, so that the portfolio maintains its value over the longer term and provides a sufficient return to fund operations. In 2024 we exceeded the target, with a return of 6.5% compared to the target of 5.6% (3.5% + inflation). We have exceeded the target for four out the last five years. However, due to the investment losses and high inflation in 2022, cumulatively we are slightly behind the target. But it is anticipated, as the investments are held for the longer term, that we will meet our target.

The investments were managed by two different Investment Managers and spread over a substantial number of different investment funds and individual shares and bonds diversified over different industries and countries with the majority denominated in sterling.

Organisation and staff

In July 2024 our previous General Secretary, Dr Anna Krauss, took a new role in the Lutheran World Federation’s centre in Wittenberg, which led the organisation to search for a new manager. Her departure also left a gap in some external positions that were filled by her, including within CTE, where she was the President of the 4[th] Presidency Group, as well as a Committee Member of the Society of Ecumenical Studies, a Trustee of the Bethphage charity organisation, and member of the Joint Liturgical Group of Great Britain. However, because of the early notice, there was enough time to announce the vacancy, and appoint a new General Secretary, Rev Meelis Süld, previously CLC’s Outreach Coordinator, who took over the management role. The vacant positions in partner organisations were also filled by new Lutheran represen -Trotman became a President of the CTE; other roles were filled by the new General Secretary – involvement in Bethphage, Society of Ecumenical Studies and the Joint Liturgical Group.

There were also changes within the Board: The Chair of the Trustees, Rt Rev Tor B. Jørgensen completed his ministry in the UK and the General Meeting in June elected a new Chaiman, Mr Per A. Jonsson, who was already a member of the Board and Finance Committee and is the Chairman of the Swedish Church in London. In 2024 the CLC elected a new Vice-Chair, Rev Silke Halfmann, who is the Senior Pastor of the Synod of GermanSpeaking Lutheran, Reformed and United Congregations in Great Britain.

In autumn 2024 the Student Chaplain, Rev. Rebecca Daniel was given the opportunity to increase her responsibilities in the CLC by becoming the Head of Chaplaincy and Development. By the end of year, the CLC had also hired a new Communications Manager (previously Outreach Coordinator), Rev Dr Wendy Sherer.

Committees

All committees are meeting regularly and report back to the board. The Grants Committee continues to oversee major agreements with two of our member churches. There are vacancies in some committees, and negotiations are ongoing.

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Property

The sale of the residential property on Sandwich Street was finalised at auction in 2024.

We are delighted with our office at Trident House and are very happy to see that the running costs are reasonable. In addition to our activities, there are several church groups using it regularly for their meetings (Latvian Congregation in London, St Anne’s Lutheran Church), as well as some ecumenical groups. In winter 2024 we also hosted a bible study group for homeless people as London City Mission’s rooms were being renovated.

In 2024, the CLC was made aware of the sale of St George’s German Lutheran Church in London, the oldest surviving Lutheran church building in this country, by the Historic Chapels Trust. The board has considered the purchase and submitted an offer that was accepted. The building has the potential to become a Lutheran worship and cultural centre, especially as some of our member churches do not have their own building.

Grant Giving and Donations

In 2024 we gave £118,000 (2023: £123,000) in grants and gifts in kind to our member churches and a further £85,000 (2023: £14,000) in grants and donations to others not affiliated with the Lutheran Council. Most of the grants were to support operational costs, but a few grants were for one-off events that engaged with a wider community.

Included in the grants is the third-year funding of the three-year grant agreements that we have in place for two of our churches. These agreements were established to support the respective churches find a sustainable long-term strategy and are in place until 2025. The Sanctuary Scholarship, which was set up for Mansfield College, Oxford, was renewed and the three-year term grant restarted in September 2024.

As an expression of gratitude for the funds which the Council received in its early years and for the establishment of the International Lutheran Student Centre (ILSC), the board decided to set aside £100,000 and donate this amount over a 10-year period towards charitable purposes at the discretion of the trustees. This means a donation of £10,000 in total will be made each year. Exceptionally, Trustees decided to give two donations of £10,000 in 2024, both through the Lutheran World Federation World Service projects: 1) The Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem; 2) Help in the humanitarian crisis related to the war in Ukraine.

Student Chaplaincy

Continuing and expanding with the work begun in 2022, the student chaplain offered devotional and social activities for students and maintained a network of Lutheran student chaplains across the country. The Council continues to collaborate with St Mary’s German church and is connecting both students and student chaplains from other Lutheran churches to join services and activities.

The student chaplaincy remains involved in the network of chaplains in higher education and champions diversity and integration of students of all faiths and none, as well as inclusion of people from LGBTQ+ and ethnic minority backgrounds. While the international student population in the UK remains high, chaplaincy work dedicated specifically to this group remains an important yet underrepresented niche within many chaplaincies. The student chaplaincy primarily supports postgraduate students from the Global South, helping them navigate their transition into working life. Moreover, the CLC Student Hardship Fund has been a vital source of support for those facing financial difficulties during this period.

The student chaplain has formed strong links with the Indian YMCA and has become the

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Lutheran chaplain at SOAS University of London, thus extending the outreach of CLC’s chaplaincy work to other organisations with a large international student body.

The student chaplain is also a leading figure in CLC worship services such as the World Day of Prayer and Reformation Day. In autumn 2024 the Student Chaplain’s post was reorganised and named the Head of Chaplaincy and Development as full-time job, giving 60% time to Student Chaplaincy and 40% for CLC development.

Outreach

The Council’s regular outreach activities included both communication through social media, newsletter and website, as well as strengthening the contact with our member churches and partners.

We have kept our office doors open on Tuesdays for midday prayer or Eucharist service, often livestreamed on Facebook. Our number of followers on Facebook has gradually increased and has reached 950. We also started our Instagram in 2024, which has 150 followers so far. Our YouTube channel had a restart in January 2024, when the LCiGB Bishop consecration video was watched 21,000 times, and the channel started to gain followers (150). The monthly newsletter reaches 140 recipients. The “Lutherans in the UK – Living Grace” podcast continues to be produced and is available on all major podcast platforms.

Our staff members continue to strengthen the links with our member churches and ecumenical partners by visiting member churches, organising joint events, and through participation in ecumenical organisations and initiative.

One of the outreach activities is the LGBTQ+ support and interest group “Lutherans Inclusive” that gathers monthly, providing safe space and pastoral care for LGBTQ+ Lutherans, but it’s open to allies as well. The group prepares the CLC’s participation in London Pride parade and organised together with St Anne’s Lutheran congregation at St Mary-at-Hill Church in June a Pride Service and in December Queer Carols.

In Autumn a new initiative was launched to bring together pastors from the CLC member churches for a breakfast to support each other and to help to share needs and resources. Further breakfasts have been scheduled and a joint retreat planned for 2025.

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FUTURE PLANS AND STRATEGY

While we saw a positive return on investments, we are aware of the challenging global situation and need to maintain a strong financial position.

The relationship with our member churches is a priority and identifying the needs where the CLC is able to assist, support, coordinate: though sharing information with each other, promoting things through our communication channels, providing necessary briefings and training, bringing people together, organising joint worship services, offering activities that are more reasonable to do together than each member church separately, communicating our member churches needs to our ecumenical partners etc.

Our office on Webber Street offers a modern meeting space with multiple meeting rooms, equipped with hybrid meeting capacity, we have a small theological library and a podcast studio. We want to promote the use of the space within our member churches, and give a chance for other organisations, especially other Christian organisations and charities to rent the space. This all benefits for our own publicity and networking with others, as well as may help to create some income.

We proceed with the acquiring of the St George’s German Lutheran Church building in London, and if it will be completed, the historic Lutheran church can become our public centre where Lutheran faith, history, culture and art meet. A home for congregations without sanctuary, a venue for lectures and concerts, a sanctuary for our midday prayer and eucharist service, a new outreach activity, considering the vibrant neighbourhood and offices around.

We also need to consider our priorities in grant giving as there were more applications in 2024, and the needs are expected to grow.

The Council has taken an open attitude towards new members, by starting to invite back members that once were part of the organisation, for example the Synod of German-Speaking Lutheran, Reformed and United Congregations in Great Britain as a whole (currently we have two German congregations as our members). We are thinking about Lutheran groups that are not yet organised in the UK – could we support them by linking with other Lutherans and offering membership in the CLC either directly or via another member church.

CLC prioritises continuous partnership with ecumenical friends, especially in Porvoo setting with Anglicans, but also in the CTE and CTBI, and keeping contact with the Lutheran World Federation where we are a recognised council – this will help to link Lutheran UK community closely with our siblings within the country and globally. We monitor if there is any benefit of joining any other national or international body if this helps to support the vision and mission of the CLC.

For our communications in 2025 we are planning to relaunch our website to present our network of Lutheran churches better and provide all necessary information for guests and for ourselves in one place.

Going Concern

The Council is confident that it will continue to be a going concern. The Council has a very strong balance sheet and resources that will see it through the foreseeable future. The Council’s strategy is to ensure that it is sustainable over the longer-term and the annual budget is set accordingly ensuring that both short-term and long-term goals can be met.

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FINANCIAL REVIEW

Review of financial position

Incoming and outgoing resources for the year are detailed in the Statement of Financial Activities (SoFA), together with the net gains and losses on investments and fixed assets. These are shown separately for the Council’s unrestricted funds, which may be used at discretion of the Board of Trustees and the Council’s restricted funds which must be spent in accordance with the donors’ wishes.

Overview of 2024

We continue to be in a healthy financial position, and during the year have been able to increase our expenditure on operations. Our staff resource for both Outreach and Chaplaincy was increased. We also increased our overall grant and donation expenditure, in particular the 3-year refugee scholarship at Mansfeld college was renewed.

In 2023 the Trustees decided to sell the residential property at 4, Sandwich Street, and it was sold in 2024. The sale proceeds were £1.5 million, and after the disposal of the fixed asset of £1.1 million there was a gain on disposal of £0.4 million.

The investments had another positive year and the investment return was 6.5%. Net income after investment gains for the year amounted to £0.9 million (2023: £0.7 million).

Total funds carried forward at 31 December amounted to £22.3 million (2023 £21.4 million). This comprised £19.8 million (2023: £17.8 million) in unrestricted funds, and £2.5 million (2023: £3.4 million) in designated funds. There were no restricted funds (2023: £nil).

Income

Total income was £0.9 million (2023: £0.4 million). This majority of the income was for investments, but it also included £0.4 million gain on disposal for 4, Sandwich Street.

Expenditure

Total resources expended was £0.8 million in the year (2023: £0.7 million).

Investment Gains

There was a net gain on investments of £0.8 million (2023: net gain £1.0 million). Following the growth in 2023, the investment markets have continued to grow in 2024, due to economic stability and falling inflation, with the US market performing particularly well.

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The Balance Sheet

Tangible Fixed Assets

The Council holds various tangible fixed assets to support its activities.

The Council owns the leasehold for the ground floor of Trident House, 46-48 Webber Street, which is used to provide office and meeting spaces.

The Council had owned 4, Sandwich Street, which comprises four self-contained flats. Due to the cost of upkeep and the limited occupancy, it was sold in 2024. The net sale proceeds were £1.4 million and the gain on disposal was £0.4 million. The proceeds were added to the investment portfolio.

Investment policy

The performance of the financial investments is measured on a total return basis (combining income and capital growth). The total return was a gain of 6.5%. This was ahead of our target return of 3.5% + CPI = 5.6%, although not as good that the benchmark of comparable funds which had a gain of 8.2%.

Investments are made according to ethical principles; investments are only made in companies that have sustainable business practices and manage their environmental, social and governance responsibilities well. Both fund managers have mechanisms in place to ensure our investments meet these criteria.

Reserves Policy

The policy states the minimum level of working capital that is to be held in the General Fund to ensure the Council can meet its operational and grant giving activities and maintain sufficient capital to be sustainable over the medium to longer term. The level is subject to annual review. The Board of Trustees has determined that the minimum level of the General Fund should be £17.6 million and a target level of £19.5 million. At the end of 2024 the General Fund was £19.8 million, which was at the minimum level.

Designated Funds

The Council has three active designated funds.

Further details are given in note 16 to the financial statements.

Restricted Funds

The Council has no restricted funds.

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Risk Management

The Trustees have reviewed the major risks, financial and non-financial, to which the Council is exposed in the course of its current activities. The Finance Committee reviews risks at its meetings, ensures that the risk register is current and reports regularly to the Trustees in order to ensure that the risk management is kept up to date. Trustees have assessed these risks and have ensured that appropriate systems and controls exist to minimise internal risks and that effective response mechanisms exist to respond to and minimise the impact of external risks. The Council’s principal risks and mitigation strategies includes risks to safeguarding in its member churches, reputation, health and safety, governance and finance.

After mitigation and considering the impact and likelihood, the Council’s top risks and the Council’s strategy for mitigating them at year end were as follows:

Risk Mitigation
Poor investment performance,
impacting ability to give grants and
deliver outreach programme.		 Investment committee with
investment expertise to guide
decision making; funds invested
with two investment managers;
regular reports from managers to
monitor performance.
Reputational risk arising from a
safeguarding incident		 Provide safeguarding training and
support to member churches
Loss of IT systems or breach of
security due to malware or virus
attack		 IT security including virus software
and passwords; backups stored off-
site; cyber crime awareness training
for staff.

PUBLIC BENEFIT

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the duty in section 4 of the Charities Act 2006 and have taken due regard of the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit and are satisfied that the various activities of the Council provide a public benefit. All Trustees give their time voluntarily and receive no private benefit from the Council.

The Council has not performed any direct fundraising activities during the current or prior year., No complaints have been referred to the Fundraising Regulator during this period.

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PRINCIPAL ADVISERS

Auditors Knox Cropper LLP, 65-68 Leadenhall Street, London EC3A 2AD

Solicitors

Broadfield Law LLP, 1 Bartholomew Close, London EC1A 7BL

Investment Managers and Advisers

Cazenove Capital Management, 1 London Wall Place, London, EC2Y 5AU

Rothschild & Co Wealth Management UK Limited New Court, St Swithin's Lane London EC4N 8AL United Kingdom

Bankers

CAF Bank Ltd, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4JQ

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STATEMENT OF TRUSTEES' RESPONSIBILITIES

The Trustees (who are also directors of The Lutheran Council of Great Britain for the purposes of company law) are responsible for preparing the Trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the directors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law the directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charitable company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the directors are required to:

  1. select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

  2. observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP FRS102 (2019);

  3. make judgments and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

  4. state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;

  5. prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charitable company will continue in operation.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the charitable company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charitable company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charitable company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

The Trustees are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the charitable company’s website. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

Auditors

The Council's auditors, Knox Cropper LLP, a limited liability partnership, were appointed at the June 2024 GM. The Trustees (as directors for company purposes) who held office at the date of approval of the Annual Report and Accounts confirm that, so far as they are aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the company's auditors are unaware, and each Trustee has taken all the steps that he or she ought to have taken as a Director to make himself or herself aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the company's auditors are aware of that information. This report has been prepared taking advantage of the small companies’ exemption of section 415A of the Companies Act 2006.

SIGNED ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Per Jonsson Silke Halfmann Chair Deputy Chair

Date: 7[th] May 2025

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INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT

Opinion

We have audited the financial statements of The Lutheran Council of Great Britain (the ‘charitable company’) for the year ended 31 December 2024 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activities (including the Income and Expenditure Account), the Balance Sheet, statement of cash flows and the notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice), including Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’.

In our opinion the financial statements:

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charitable company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the trustees’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the trustees with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the Trustees’ Report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. The trustees are responsible for the other information.

Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

18

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements, or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact. We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinion on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of the audit:

Matters on which we are Required to Report by Exception

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the charitable company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Trustees’ Report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

Responsibilities of Trustees

As explained more fully in the Statement of Trustees’ Responsibilities, the trustees (who are also the directors of the charitable company for the purposes of company law) are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the trustees determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.

In preparing the financial statements, the trustees are responsible for assessing the charitable company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the trustees either intend to liquidate the charity or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

19

Auditor’s responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:

A further description of our responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements is located at the Financial Reporting Council’s (“FRC’s”) website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor’s report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the charitable company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charitable company’s trustees those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charitable company and the charitable company’s trustees as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Richard Billinghurst (Senior Statutory Auditor) For and on behalf of Knox Cropper LLP (Statutory Auditor) 65 Leadenhall Street London EC3A 2AD Date: 09/05/2025

20

STATEMENTOF FINANCL4LACTIWTllE5 Totsl UntB51tKtsd Totsl 2Q23 d& ¥J24 IncomE Oonalons and lÈgaclès Crart5. andconlnLwb0Th5 Incomo Irom char￿￿￿1•aCtI¥1lSoÉ ft￿ta ande¥￿tin0)me Incomo Irom Investmonts Otherinc¢Tne GaiThon disposa offix￿d3￿$￿l sundryin￿me Y.T15 475.518 9.715 475.51• SD 435.667 435,667 420.031 61 420.031 Totsl incom 9D7.325 437.717 437.717 expendtture Ex￿nditUT• on r•Ming 101J68 1111J68 95.337 95.337 Exppnditure on chariiablE actritsps o￿tr￿ach l Ecumgnica relauons SludEnl thÈpLtyn(y Extemal Gr￿￿LS￿d Donal1￿S Grth)lsd￿her SurwtftyoKvrJS AcCDmTh)lati￿3t4 SI 190.W I90.￿2 165,655 79,0S6 165.655 79.056 151.047 151.Q47 1$$. 68.442 I￿,279 595.184 68442 106.Z79 595.164 113.LlS1 7D7.915 707.945 TotsleApenditure 109.213 109.213 S￿).521 6W.521 Net Ih)ssesygai)Sty) In5e$b)￿s 13 7fj5.Y 1.01$,￿9 Netitxppnditurtll in¢ome E6i070 eHD70 762,785 762.765 NetmO¥ementinfufWJS 070 IH070 762,785 762.765 Funds￿ l J￿UÈry 21￿￿071 21A35.071 ZQ.672.286 20.672286 Fundsa131 DeCem￿r 22W9.141 22,299.141 21.435.071 21.435.071

SHEÉT at31 De¢ember2024 24 2023 FIXED ASSET$ Ta)gibie4SSdS Inves&Yents 12 13 2,476,943 19.743A¥)e 3.606.604 17,753,859 2121>P51 21.36U.463 CVRRENT ASSETS 14 27.419 IlJ3.999 9.$19 108,701 Caso ￿ tyaik and hhar 11B.220 CREDITORS Amaunlsfakng wr 15 143,5851 NETCURReNT AsseTS 7¥.77¥ 74.&35 Pens￿￿ lia￿￿ty 15 1589Tr 127) NEfASSETS 22299.141 21,W,071 FUNDS Restrittsd funds Unrnstrfctedfund Desioned funds Gengraltunds 16 2,531. 19.780292 3.6Bi.809 17,753,562 TOTAL FUNDS 17 22JYY,141 21.435.071 2W6. were EPWQVEd bythEth[KiI￿ 7th May2025atwjEtEsvJn￿j￿M ts by per JortSSprt Imay 7, 202$. 12fj2￿) perJ￿$S0￿ Ch è Hammann (May 7. %)25. Rev. &*e Hatrwi 22

2024 Net ieipendrtUlelK4icome DwecLalion ch￿S LtsssewiGÈinsi LI)f￿￿#S5 L￿SeY(GainS) ￿ knvesbwniassets Inves1Tr￿rt B64,OTO 91.368 1420.0311 tT65,9581 1475.$181 117.9ty)1 8,055 94.5 11.01$.￿Tr IW,6671 Tradeaid otherpayatr4es ￿ea$w(￿•￿ease)￿ (¥ethlors (Decrease) n ￿￿K]n {2J.7281 Net￿¥h (used In) OPEra￿￿￿ti¥ 1715.352 1620,0541 cash lIts￿ from Sn¥@s￿ng act￿1￿0 Purchase D[r￿ed a55Ets Ptt¢eeas on s ￿TrAel assets Purthase of inveslm8nls Fr(￿eedS Dll disposa InVestrr￿ts Ne1￿￿ mvementm Thestm•)ts {3A981 1.481￿21 11A96.8091 1.12J.623 11.4491 11,290.4591 .676 483.977 435.667 475.518 Netcash gqneratsd frarn aclibTtr 710.$9) 591,412 In¢r•auJlD•cr•awl In¢a$hlThth•perfod 147021 128,6421 Cash and cash •qu￿a￿Thts at1 January cash and ¢ash •qufvahnts a131 twnb•r 1tsS.7M 1D3,9Y9 137,345 1(.701 N•t D•bt 2024 Anaty8￿ otcharw In noid' Cash and cash equwaknts at l J&Kwy2024 Cash 10J.7O1 14.702) 103.¥99 Cash 4￿ceSh ¢quWdknts #sat Ji December2D24 23

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Wed, 7th May 2025 17'.04.'54 BST Document emailed to richard.billinghursl@knoxcropper.com {3.9.16.1511 Wed, 7th May 2025 17'.55.'28 BST Thu, 8th May 2025 11".34".05 BST Richard Billinghurst opened the document email.1104.28.40.1421 Document emailed to richard.billinghursl@knoxcropper.com 118.133.227.196) Thu, 8th May 2025 11:37.'30 BST Thu, 8th May 2025 14".09."22 BST Rev. Silke Hawmann opened the document email.181.147.75.2331 Richar(l Billinghurst opened the document email.1104.28.86.1011 Thu, 8th May 2025 19'.05.'34 BST Richard Billinghurst opened the document email.1104.28.40.1471 Fri. 9th May 2025 1105 36 BST Fri, 9th May 2025 11.'06.'00 BST Richard Billinghurst viewed the envelope {81.178.99.981 Richard Billinghurst wewed the envelope {172.167.202.1151 Fri, 9th May 2025 11.'14.'37 BST Fri. 9th May 2025 11.14 37 BST Richard BillinghuTSt signed the envelope181.178.99.981 Sent the envelope to Judith Edwards lJ"udith.e(Iward@lutheran.org.ukl for signing181.178.99.98) Fri, 9th May 2025 11.'14.'38 BST Sent the envelope to Olivia BU[￿11 lolivia.burrell@knoxcropper.coml for signing181.178.99.981 Fri, 9th May 2025 11.'14.'38 BST This envelope has been signed by all parbes181.178.99.981 Fri. 9th May 2025 11."14."38 BST Fri, 9th May 2025 11."14.'38 BST Document emailed to judith.edward@lutheran.org.uk135.179.96.2381 Document emailed to oliwa.burrell@knoxcropper.com135.178.62.2111