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← J F Egner And Manse Fund

2024-12-31-accounts

J F Egner and Manse Fund - German Church of Liverpool Trustees’ Annual Report

for the Period of 01/01/2024 - 31/12/2024

Administrative Information

Charity Details: Registered Charity: Registered Address:

J F Egner and Manse Fund (German Church of Liverpool) No 700605 German Church of Liverpool, 73 Parkgate Road, Neston CH64 6QF The Church itself is situated in Bedford South, Liverpool L7 7BX

Names of the Charity Trustees

who Manage the Charity:

Ms Christine Barry, safeguarding officer Ms Joy Buchanan Dr Sebastian Dembski Mr Rainer Goertz Dr Brigitte Jurack, health and safety officer Dr Dorothea Muecke-Herzberg, treasurer Dr Ulrich Pfeiffer Dr Ivo Siekmann, secretary Rev Christa Hunzinger

Structure, Governance & Management

Type of Governing Document: How the Charity is Constituted: Trustee Selection Methods:

Constitution adopted 25th March 1990, Scheme 19th January 1988 Charity managed by trustees

The trustees of the charity are the members of the Church Council (CC). The Church Council consists of the pastors (with one vote) and up to 12 council members, these being elected by the church members for a three-year term of office at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

How New Trustees are Inducted and Trained: An information pack (CC3, PB1, PB2, PB3, advancement of religion for the

public benefit) is given to new trustees

The charity’s organisational structure and any

wider network with which the charity works: The Church Council met 5 times this year and is responsible for

The Church Council has the right to maintain bank accounts and invest money.

The German Church of Liverpool is part of the Pfarramtsbereich (PAB, engl. pastoral region) North England and East-Midlands, consisting of German speaking congregations in Liverpool, Manchester, Bradford/Leeds/Sheffield, Nottingham/Derby/Lincoln. The PAB shares one full-time pastor. The German Church of Liverpool is also a member of the Synod of German speaking lutheran, reformed and united congregations in Great Britain.

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Aim and Purposes

The German Church of Liverpool is the central meeting place for the members of the German-speaking Lutheran Church and aims for the maintenance and fostering of the Lutheran and Protestant Tradition, the German Language and Culture. The members of the Church Council (CC) of the German Church of Liverpool who are also the trustees of the J F Egner and Manse Fund are responsible together with the pastor, Christa Hunzinger (from May 2024), for the advancement of Christian Faith consonant with the doctrines in paragraphs 2-4 of the constitution of the German Church of Liverpool, and in particular the provision and maintenance of a church in Liverpool for the public worship and furtherance of other charitable work in connection therewith.

Objectives and Activities

Today’s Church Work focuses on German speaking seniors, families and children in the wider Merseyside area and beyond by providing a welcoming place where all are invited to learn and practise faith and parish community life in an open, diverse and ecumenical context, and to provide a cultural home from home.

The trustees declare that they have complied with their duty to have due regard to the guidance on public benefit, in particular the specific guidance on charities for the advancement of religion published by the Charity Commission, in exercising their powers or duties and taken it into account for planning activities and events in the year. In this context German Church of Liverpool

For this purpose, it is vital that we maintain the church building and integrated community hall.

Achievements and Performance

Place of Worship

The building of the German Church of Liverpool provides a place of worship for our own congregation as well as several other congregations.

Apart from fortnightly services and regular events that we organise in and around the church, the PAB has established additional virtual meetings which include regular online services, bible study sessions, brief evening meditations during Lent as well as our living Advent calendar. These events have increased the interaction between members of the different congregations and have instilled a greater sense of community.

Our church also provides room for two other congregations as well as some local groups such as a choir and the Russian-speaking society, and the German honorary consul’s surgeries.

Worship, Prayer and Study

Normally, there are two services held per month which are led by our pastor in accordance with her travel rota in the PAB. Once a month the Church offers a children’s service. This arrangement allows the more senior members of the congregation a more quiet and reflective environment for worship, while still providing lively surroundings for children that encourage their participation. We mark special holidays throughout the year with specific family services in order to offer families the possibility to worship together. This service format helps to attract families without strong bonds to the Church and offers an

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opportunity to take part. This year, for the first time, our church celebrated a special service on the occasion of Pride Month - to prepare this our pastor got in touch with churches from the Open Doors network.

In addition to the services, a seniors’ group meets once a month with the pastor for discussion and Bible study and the pastors teach confirmation classes as well as adult baptism candidates.

Our services are open to all, irrespective of denomination. Currently we have 86 registered (77 paid up fully) members in 48 households, of which 21 are 18 years or younger. This is a net increase of 4 members compared to last year.

Pastoral Care

In a Church as widely-spread as the German Church, the most important meeting point between Pastor and members, CC and members is the Sunday service in Church and the ‘social’. The Pastor keeps in touch via email, letters and telephone and personal meetings in between. Home visits as well as visits in hospital and care homes are part of pastoral care and counselling.

The ‘social’: We hold a church coffee and cake before or after the Sunday services. These get-togethers offer the elderly members especially an occasion to socialise with other German speakers. Considering that the members of the German Church are scattered across the Merseyside, Wirral and North Wales area, these are valuable encounters.

Retreats

The German Church of Liverpool regularly organises weekend retreats with three other German Churches in Manchester, Yorkshire and East Midlands: a family retreat in the Summer and a singing retreat and a church retreat in Autumn. Our family retreat in Thornthwaite is well-attended by families from all PAB congregations.

Mission and Outreach

We demonstrate our faith by helping those in need. As per decision by the AGM we raised 10% of the advent bazaar receipts for the Family Refugee Support Project project and donated the Christmas Eve collection to Christian Aid.

Our PAB-wide magazine is distributed quarterly to all members of the congregation (by email or in paper) and is also available in the church. The magazine keeps our parishioners informed of the important matters affecting our Church and articles that help develop our knowledge and trust in Jesus.

We support one German-speaking children and family group which normally meets monthly in our hall or garden. In addition we provide a focal point for the wider German-speaking community in Merseyside and beyond with a German summer party and our German Christmas fair and irregular German cultural events, like talks, concerts or walking tours. Our St. Martin Lantern parade has been especially popular and well-attended in the last year. Our Christmas fair which is celebrated with an advent cafe is the largest event in our event calendar. In recent years we have established a cultural event series after our afternoon Sunday services (“Kultursonntage”) for a wider audience than regular visitors to our church. In the past year, highlights were the presentation by Dr Richard Millington (University of Chester) on the uprising of the 17th June 1953 in East Germany which was also offered as a contribution to the Liverpool European Festival and a reading by local author Emma Venables from her debut novel Fragments of a Woman. Via events like these, the German church also gives German-speaking people who move to the Liverpool region opportunities for getting in touch with the German community.

We rent out our building to community and neighbourhood groups, two churches and a choir on a regular or irregular basis and therefore provide a place to meet for the neighbourhood and wider community.

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PAB and Synod

The German Church of Liverpool is part of the PAB (pastoral region) North England and East-Midlands which is the overarching administrative entity for sharing common resources, e.g. the pastor’s work and salary. The treasurer and another trustee represented the German Church of Liverpool at the annual PAB council meeting in February 2025.

The German Church Liverpool is a member of the German-speaking Synod of Lutheran, reformed and united congregations in Great-Britain. Brigitte Jurack represented the German Church of Liverpool as elected synod representative at the annual Synod meeting which took place in High Leigh Christian Conference centre. . She also serves as Trustee on the Synod Council. We have therefore good links between our congregation and the wider structure of the church.

Ecumenical Relationships

The German Church of Liverpool itself welcomes people of all denominations in all parts of worship and parish life. We also have a longstanding relationship with the Nordic Church and the Anglican Cathedral. This year, before the arrival of Rev Christa Hunzinger, Rev Maris Sants, the pastor of the Nordic Church led our services on the first Sunday of each month and the organist of the Nordic Church, Philip Benzie, played the organ in absence of our organist Olga Novoselova. We invited the Nordic church to celebrate the Reformation Day service and our church contributed to the Remembrance Sunday service in the Anglican cathedral. Openness to ecumenical and interreligious affairs and exchange belongs to the core principle of the German Church and is reflected in letting our Church as a place of worship to two other congregations.

In addition we are a member church of Churches Together in Merseyside which supports and encourages churches from a wide range of traditions to work together in unity.

Volunteers

Many members of our church actively contribute to our social activities, a large group of volunteers prepares home-made cakes for our church cafe and provides cake donations for our social events like the Christmas bazaar. Fundraising events such as the Christmas bazaar rely heavily on volunteers’ time and work before and during these events.

Volunteers also actively help with the maintenance of our church - volunteers take over building caretaker duties and gardening duties. A group of volunteers met several times this year for garden maintenance and tree trimming.

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Financial Review

(note, rounded figures are given here, exact figures are given in the financial report)

State of the Charity’s Finances

The end-of-year result shows a surplus of £3,880, or £4,738 when including investment value increases. This was greatly aided by another year of healthy rental income, boosted by film crews renting the church building again, reduced synod fees due to the delayed starting date of the incoming pastor, and higher interest rates and investment valuations.

We successfully applied to the Schroder 1905 Trust (the renamed Kaiser Wilhelm II fund) for extra funding for German cultural and language projects and for the support of the social work of the German Church of Liverpool and we received £2,301.96, a 90% increase compared to last year. We are very grateful for their support.

Our receipts through membership subscription increased slightly to £5,339.00.

Collections and donations incl. GASDS decreased by 10% to £3,517, with a healthy increase in collections which can be attributed to Liverpool hosting several larger services. Online shopping giving (Easyfundraising, Amazon Smile, DONR) increased by about 60% to £296. The Gift Aid claim stayed almost the same as last year’s with £1,655 as the sum of subscriptions, collections and donations roughly stayed the same in the previous tax year, which is different to our financial year.

Rental income also stayed almost the same with £11,447. Film crews hiring the hall has become an irregular, but noticeable income stream. Fundraising receipts were slightly lower than last year by 9% and came to £3,385.

Receipts through interest rose again last year and amount to £2,241. This is due to higher interest rates in general. Our investments ended the year with a positive re-evaluation of £1,096. This is spread across the restricted COIF sinking fund and our long term growth COIF fund.

We had receipts of £106 in total of various kinds which came from genealogy searches and small sales.

The outgoing costs of the German Church of Liverpool decreased by 6% compared to last year with £26,409. The main cause for this is last year’s one-off payments for the refurbishment of the Manse.

With the arrival of our new minister in May the synod fee was 24% higher than last year with £11,040. In addition, we had again higher energy costs of £4,449, due to increases to the standing rate (including the water bill). In September we were able to sign a new fixed rate contract at considerable lower unit rates, although, as before, the standing rate remains variable.

Building and garden related costs excluding utilities (insurance, services, repairs and cleaning) amount to another large expense with £5,137 in total, an amount comparable to last year. Building and liability Insurance was £1,935 which is only up by 2%. This year we had to carry out the 5-yearly full electrical service including remedial works which amounted to £1,254. In addition, much needed tree pruning, £1,250 was undertaken to maintain the large trees around the church. For this work we received dedicated donations of £750.

Acquisitions amounted to £2,002. The majority of the expenditure was for the new hall cupboards for which we used £1,785 of dedicated funds.

This brings the year end result to a total of £103,406 of which £90,019 is outside of restricted funds. £27,628 are held in current accounts, £1832 are held in the PAB current account, £5,820 are held in the savings account, £500 are held in NS&I

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income bonds, £20,000 are held in a 95d notice account and £25,000 are held in a 1 year bond, £18,237 are held in the COIF long term growth fund. The restricted COIF sinking fund amounts to £4,417.

We note that the offering from the first service led by the new minister has been misplaced. The treasurer was not present, and the trustees in attendance, as well as the minister, had not previously been involved in handling the offering. The treasurer replaced the missing offering with an amount of £83.80, which represents an average sum for a service of this size. As a consequence, the financial policy has been revised to include a clear procedure for instances when the treasurer is absent.

Restricted Funds

The COIF sinking fund of £4,417 is restricted as laid out in the Scheme of 1988.

Designated Funds

The following designated funds were allocated for particular purposes: building preservation £30,000, refurbishment and landscaping £6,061 left at the end of the year, building maintenance £3,000, pastors’ salary reserve fund of £16,200 (the Liverpool share of £60000 pastors’ salary reserves), the Liverpool share of the pastors’ 2024 salary of £18,000, pastor’s car fund of £3,000, and the Liverpool share of PAB account of £1,832. In addition to this £500 were allocated to tenants’ rent and key deposits. The sum of all designated funds is £78,593.

Reserves policy

It is the goal of the trustees to hold between 3 and 6 months of core costs in reserve. This equates to £8000-£16,000. The amount of designated funds and restricted funds is £83,010. This results in a reserve of £20,425 at the end of the year and falls above this aim.

Transfers

There was only the transfer of Liverpool’s share of the PAB budget of £2,400 to the PAB account.

It has not been our policy to capitalise our fixed assets:

  1. Our church building (including hall) is insured for the sum of £826,824

  2. Contents are insured for £34,964.

  3. All risks (silver ware) are insured for £20,511.

  4. 60% share of the manse and the land upon which it stands in Manchester.

Attachments

Please find attached

Gratitude is due to Dorothea Ross-Simpson for examining the accounts this year.

Declaration

The Trustees declare that they have approved the above report at the meeting of 10/3/25 and authorised that it be signed on their behalf.

Signed: Dr. Brigitte Jurack

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Financial Report for Period 01.01.2024 to 31.12.2024 GERMAN CHURCH OF LIVERPOOL

DEUTSCHE KIRCHE LIVERPOOL

(Registered Charity No 700605)

Statement of Assets and Liabilities as of 31.12.2024

2023 2024

Assets Total:

Assets Total: (£ 98,698.23)(£ 103,436.49 £ 103,436.49
Current Accounts (Lloyds & Coop) £25,771.94 £27,628.08
PAB(24%) 237.04 1,832.43
Sav. Accounts (Skipton) 5,630.58 5,820.67
NS&I Income Bond (NSIB) 500.00 500.00
Redwood 95d notice account 20,000.00 20,000.00
United Trust 1yr Bonds 25,000.00 25,000.00
COIF growth fund (market value) 17,355.06 18,237.88
COIF sinking fund rstrctd (market value) 4,203.61 4,417.43
Liabilities: Nil Nil
Restricted Funds: 4,203.61 4,417.43
COIF sinking fund 4,203.61 4,417.43
Designated Funds: (£ 72,743.04)(£ 78,593.43 £ 78,593.43)
Building preservation 30,000.00 30,000.00
Building maintenance 3,000.00 3,000.00
Hall window replacement 1,996.00 1,996.00 *
Hall cupboards
Hall painting		 3,500.00
350.00		 1,715.00
350.00		 *
***
Landscaping 2,000.00 2,000.00
Pastors' salary reserve (1yr bond) 16,200.00 16,200.00
Synod/Pastors' salary
Pastors' car		 11,960.00
3,000.00		 18,000.00
3,000.00
PAB (24%) 237.04 1,832.43
Rent deposit IBN 200.00 200.00
Key deposit Door Church 100.00 100.00
Key deposit M O'Toole 50.00 50.00
Key & Rent dep. Indigo Vibes 150.00 150.00

*** re-designated into single refurbishment fund of**

£4,061.00

Fixed Assets:

Reserves: £21,751.58 £20,425.63

Difference to previous year £4,738.27

Note: It has not been our policy to capitalise our fixed assets 1. Our building is insured for the sum of £826,824. 2. Contents are insured for £34,964. 3. All risks (silver ware) are insured for £20,511. 4. 60% share of manse and land upon which it stands.

Examiner:

Dorothea Ross-Simpson

Signed: _______

Date: 17. March 2025

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GERMAN CHURCH OF LIVERPOOL

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|||||| |---|---|---|---|---| |Receipts and Payments Account for the Year Ending 31st December 2024| |2023|2024| |%inc|Total Receipts|£ 33,802.90|£ 30,290.27| |#DIV/0!|2.0 PAB Income (Liverpool share)|2,405.64|0.00|*| |5.58%|1.11 Subscriptions|5,057.00|5,339.00| |30.58%|1.12 Collects|1,600.83|2,090.34| |-39.30%|1.13 Donations incl GASDS|2,350.47|1,426.80| |59.32%|1.13 Easyfundraising/Smile/Text2Give|186.05|296.41| |-1.31%|1.14 GiftAid|1,676.91|1,655.00| |#DIV/0!|1.15 Parochial Fees|0.00|0.00| |-8.87%|1.21/5.31 Events/Fundraising|3,714.80|3,385.39| |-37.04%|1.32 Grants|3,656.50|2,301.96| |1.96%|5.11 Rent|11,227.00|11,447.00| |26.83%|5.51 Interest|1,767.70|2,241.97| |-33.50%|6.13 Refunds/Other|160.00|106.40| |not counting towards receipts and payments accounts:| |6.31 Re-evaluation of Funds|2,576.67|1,096.64| |Forwarding Donations to Charities|415.60|310.37| |Total Increases (incl frw.don & re-eval funds))|£36,795.17|£31,697.28|

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|||||| |---|---|---|---|---| |2023|2024| |%inc|Total Payments|£ 28,225.27|£ 26,409.88| |860.74%|4.2-4.5/6.33 PAB Expenditure (Liv shr|6,925.00|804.54|| |23.81%|4.11 Synod Fee|8,916.77|11,040.00| |0.00%|3.51 Membership Fees|83.00|83.00| |-6.53%|3.13 Organ|543.60|508.10| |2.02%|3.23 Insurance|1,897.21|1,935.46| |21.25%|3.25 Utilities|3,669.94|4,449.75| |-10.30%|3.24 Building/Maintenance/Cleaning|3,569.79|3,201.93| |537.78%|3.26 Acquisitions|313.90|2,002.00| |#DIV/0!|3.35 Office/Travel Expenses|0.00|111.60| |17.93%|3.42 Parish Work|794.57|937.01| |#DIV/0!|3.43 Youth Work|0.00|0.00| |-11.58%|5.41 Events/Fundraising|1,511.49|1,336.49| |#DIV/0!|6.23 Other|0.00|0.00| |not counting towards receipts and payments accounts:| |6.31 Re-evaluation of Funds|0.00|0.00| |Forwarding Donations to Charities|479.43|549.07| |-6.08%|Total Reductions (incl forw. don & re-eval)|£28,704.70|£26,958.95| | see PAB finance report for details, here only end result| |Deficit/Surplus:|£5,577.63|£3,880.39| |Deficit/Surplus: (incl. frw.don & re-eval)|£8,090.47|£4,738.33| |2/4|

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Receipts Particulars:

Payments Particulars:

1.13 Donations Donations 1,562.74 3.24 Building Repairs/Maintenance 3,201.93
donor ( 46.00) _cleaning _ ( 465.00)
Gemeinde Krefeld-Viersen 200.00 Fireextinguisher service 162.30
donor 250.00 Locksmith 70.00
donor ( 500.00) _electrics services remedial work _ ( 1,254.63)
donor ( 100.00) _tree cutting _ ( 1,250.00)
EasyFundraising ( 296.41)
donor 45.33
donor ( 125.00)
5.11 Rent ( 11,447.00) 5.41 Events/Activities 1,336.49
City of Liverpool ( 100.00) Sommerfest 780.17
Door Church ( 5,580.00) Kultursonntag 12.00
Honorarkonsulin ( 1,200.00) Laternenfest 171.05
IBN Liverpool ( 2,712.00) Basar 373.27
Indigo Vibes ( 875.00)
Just Barbara Productions ( 300.00) 3.42 Parish Work 937.01
Kudos ( 500.00) Maris Sants 440
Liverpool Renaissance Singers ( 50.00) Feste 179.14
RussSoc ( 60.00) Parking Permits 120
Spielgruppe ( 70.00) Tannenbaum, Geschenke, Karten 197.87
1.32 Grants 3.43 Youth Work 0
KW2 2301.96
1.21/5.13 Events/Activites 3,385.39 3.26 Acquisitions 2,002.00
Schrankwand 1244
LilStanneySingers ( 20.00) Schrankwand 541
Filmtreff ( 28.50) Kabeltrommel 46
Kultursonntag ( 39.00) Rasenmäher 171
Sommerfest ( 858.79)
Lanternparade ( 233.85) 3.35 Office/Travel 111.60
Basar Takings ( 2,205.25) CLC meeting London 111.60
6.13 Other 0.00
PAA PAA
Forwarding Donations (Charities) 310.37 Forwarding Donations (Charities) 549.07
Christmas Eve collect 310.37 collect 2024 Christian Aid 310.37
GiftAid 2023 Christian Aid 48.60
Basar 190.10
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GERMAN CHURCH OF LIVERPOOL

Budget 2025

Receipts 2024 2024 actual 2025
1.11 Subscriptions 5500 5,339.00 5500
1.12 Collects 1600 2,090.34 2000
1.13 Donations incl GASDS 2000 1,426.80 1400
1.13 Easyfundraising/Smile/Text2Give 135 100.00 100
1.14 GiftAid 1700 1,655.00 1600
1.15 Parochial Fees 0 0.00 0
1.21/5.31 Events/Fundraising 3500 3,385.39 3400
1.32 Grants 2000 2,301.96 2000
5.11 Rent 11000 11,447.00 10600
5.51 Interest 2000 2,241.97 2000
6.13 Refunds/Other 600 106.40 0
2.0 PAB Income (Liverpool share) 2000 0.00 285
TOTAL £32,035 £30,094 £28,885
6.31 Re-evaluation of Funds 0 1,096.64 0
Forwarding Donations to Charities 200 310.37 300
£32,235 £31,501 £29,185
Payments 2024 2024 actual 2025
4.2-4.5/6.33 PAB Expenditure (Liv shre) 2500 804.54 3600
4.11 Synod Fee ^ 15000 11,040.00 15600 ^24% of £65,000
3.51 Membership Fees 85 83.00 85
3.13 Organ 500 508.10 500
3.23 Insurance 1950 1,935.46 2000
3.25 Utilities 3200 4,449.75 2500
3.24 Building/Maintenance/Cleaning 1000 3,201.93 1500
3.26 Acquisitions * 500 217.00 500 *2024 minus hall cupboards
3.35 Office/Travel Expenses 100 111.60 100
3.42 Parish Work 500 937.01 1000
3.43 Youth Work 200 0.00 500
5.41 Events/Fundraising 1000 1,336.49 1000
6.23 Other 0 0.00 0
Refurbishment (existing desg. fund) 3500 1785 4061
Landscaping (existing desg. fund) 2000 0 2000
TOTAL £32,035 £26,410 £34,946
TOTAL excl designated fund expenditure £26,535 £24,625 £28,885
6.31 Re-evaluation of Funds 0 0 0
forwarding Donations to Charities 405 549 500
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Independent examiner's report on the accounts

~~eee~~ Section A Independent Examiner’s Report

Report to the trustees/ Charity Name members of J F Egner and Manse Fund - German Church of Liverpool On accounts for the year 31 December 2024 Charity no 700605 ended (if any) Set out on pages 1-2

11-2(remember to include the page numbers of additional sheets) I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/12/2024.

Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation of basis of report the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”).

I report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.

I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.

Date: 08/03/2025 Signed: Name: Dorothea Ross-Simpson Relevant professional n/a qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: 97 Millstone Lane, Nantwich, CW55PH

Section B Disclosure

1

October 2018

IER

Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts: directions and guidance for examiners).

Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose .

not applicable, none to highlight.

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October 2018

IER