Dromore First Presbyterian Church { Non-subscribing ) Rampart Street DROMORE Co. Down ( CharÉty Numbèr NIC101289) IP) 2023 Trustees Annual Report The church is governed by Trust Deed and acts in accordance with the Constitution and Code of Discipline of the Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland. We, the trustees of the Dromore First Presbyterian Church ( Non- Subscribing ). are pleased to recommend that the details contained in this Trustee Report for 2023 explain 'the main activities undertaken by the charity to further its charitable purposes for the public benefit, and 'the main achievements of the charity during the yearf. Minister's Re ort The 26th October 2023 marked th¢ 6th year anniversary sinc¢ my installation as minister of Dromore. It continues to be a joy and a privilege to serve this congregation. On a personal level, it is significant for me that this is the longest I have ever served in a single congregation, where previously, in a different denomination, I had been moved more regularly. The year 2023 was another full and productive year in the life of our congregation. In temis of Sunday Services preaching topics that were embarked on included the following: Exploring Genesis Exploring Exodus Exploring Numbers Exploring Deuteronomy Wrestling with Joshua Get out your pruning shears! What have you dedicated your life to. The Priceless Gem and Living Water A short history of Mothering Sunday Can you sin before you are born? Can doubt Sometimes be a Good Thing. When last did your heart burn within you? A Story of Cross-community Compassion Waiting and Belonging Thc Wind and Flamc of Divin¢ Lovc A Mountain-Top Experience Where does courage come from? A Life of Joy The Sound of Silence - A reflection on the song lyrics Imagine - a reflection on John Lennon's song Everything I own- a rcfl¢ction on Bread"s Hit Song That s how the light gets in - Reflecting on Leonard Cohen's song Anthem Into my arn]s (Interventionist God) - a reflection on Nick Cave's song. Like a Bridge Over Troubled Water- A reflection on the song lyrics Turn Turn Turn - A Harvest Sunday Reflection One Day at a Time 12 Steps to Sanity Thc Courage to Chang¢ - One Day at a Time Hope for Change - One Day at a Time Making a Decision - One Day at a Time Facing Ourselves - One Day at a Time He Ain t Heavy - Remembrance Sunday Coming Clean- Onc Day at a Time Hope: Reflecting on the Life and Teaching of Victor Frankl In addition there were a number of reflections on "This Day in History,, as we briefly reflected on significant dates and people throughout the year. These included The birthday of Dr Seuss The Birthday of King Henry II The death of Terry Pratchett Abba s Song- Boomerang Iraq War, Supemovas and Psalm 8 Beethoven and Richard Dawkins Hans Christian Anderson and Dr Martin Luther King Sir Isaac Newton Shakespeare. to be or not to be? Sir Tim Bemers-Lee - World Wide Web and Unitarian UniTrersalism The Founding of Volkswagen Tiananmen Squarc, Emily Lord Alfred Tennyson s Religious Views Davison and Churchill's Specch All of these sernions and reflections have been made available on the Church Website, the YouTube Chann¢l shared with th¢ Banbridg¢ Congregation, as well as on thc Church Facebook page. Our Sunday Worship in 2023 also included visits from Rev. Stephen Reain-Adair, Moderator of the Presbytery of Bangor: the Right Rev. Lena Cockcroft, Moderator of the NSPCI, as well as guest preaching by Mr Paul Mccabe, Dr. Tony Moodie and Rev. Colin Campbell. We were also privileged to be able to celebrate the baptisms of: -Holly McNeil on 22nd January -Nina Alice Emily Cowley on 19th February -Pippa Alice Morrison on 19th February Other highlights in temis of Sunday Worship included - -mothering Sunday on the 19th March -Palm Sunday on the 2nd April in which readings from Matthew's Gospel were read and candles extinguished as we r¢count¢d the passion narrative. -East¢r Sunday included a puppet show with B¢any and Shecnie, put on by Brian and Wendy to make the message of Easter accessible to the young and the young at heart. -A Songs of Praise service on th¢ 7th May to celebrate the coronation of King Charles 111. This was followed by tea after the service and the dedication of a plaque for new cupboards installed by the Women s League upstairs in the hall in honour of Martha Dickson. -A Country Gospel Service on Fathers Day on the 18th June in which Brian and Wendy were joined by, Julie Black, Brian s Mom, Margaret and Maurcen Smyth in playing some well- known country gospel songs. -A Children's Service at the end of June featuring Beanie and Sheenie in another puppet show entitled: Shaun the Sheep and the Good Shepherd -Harvest Sunday was as always a wonderful celebration as Jcan McIlroy and her team transfomied the Meeting House with beautiful flower arrangements and decorations. -our two Communion Services on the first Sunday of May and first Sunday of November were again, moving opportunities to remember Chrisl in the breaking of bread and the sharing of the cup. -Remembrance Sunday was another poignant moment to remember with gratitude thc sacrifices of those who had gone before us. Gratitude is expressed to David Dickson for laying the wreath for us. -our December Adventlchristmas services were well attended with members in the congregation helping to do readings at the Carol Service on 17th December, Beany and Sheenie making further appearances on the 24th in a puppet show entitled 'Beany s Cl]ristmas Rap, as th¢y reminded us all of the Christmas Story. A big thank you to Sonya Russell and Norma Shields for coordinating refreshments in the Ervine Memorial Hall after another successful and well attended Carol Service. In the first 6 months of 202) our Sunday attendance was worryingly low. This prompted the Session and Committee to draft a letter to the congregation highlighting our concern at the low attendance and drawing attention to the fact that the future of the Church depended upon m¢mb¢rs participating and att¢nding. Respons¢ to th¢ l¢tt¢r was very encouraging as our Sunday attendance number from June onwards showed a marked improvement beginning to get close to an average attendance of around 50. It is always encouraging to see that we can attract wider family and friends to our special services. And yet all of us in th¢ congregation and the leadership ought to be mindful of the fact that in order to ensure a future for our congregation, we need to attract more people to our services, whether those be from within our existing church families or new-comers. A question that we might all need to consider is what our unique identity and contribution is within the churches of Dromore and how we can use that unique identity and contribution to attract those who cannot find a home in any of th¢ other churches in the town. Boosting our profile on social media, particularly on Facebook: may be one of the most effective ways of advertising ourselves in the tO￿Tr. A very big thank you to all who. in visible and invisible ways have contributed to and helped to enrich and make our Sunday Worship Services special. whether this is opening up and closing, helping to decorate the church for special occasions, proTriding flowers, assisting with readings, singing solos or simply being a wann. friendly and welcoming presence for rcgulars and visitors who come through our doors. Other special events that took place in the life of our church community in 202J include: - Line dancing which started up again on the 7th March- organised by Lynn McCorn]ick - Ceili Dance Saturday 22nd April - organised again by Lynn Mccorniick - A Quiz Night on Friday 24th March with Tom Fairley hosting the quiz and Donna sourcing prizes and coordinating refrcshmcnts on the night. -Th¢ annual graveyard clean-up took place on Saturday 23rd September from 9.30 am to I pm and was thankfully well supported -coffee Morning held on Saturday 2nd December 10am-Ipm organised and coordinated by Donna McDonald. -carol singing in Supervalu on Friday 22nd Dec from 5-6pm. It is also with great sadness that w¢ r¢fl¢ct on the lives of those in the congregation who passed away during the course of 2023 and the funerals that were conducted to remember, honour and celebrate their lives= NOrn￿n Henry Lindsay 25 July 19J2 - J l Jan 2023 Buried 2 February 2023 William Cecil Truesdalc 21 July 1941- 23 May 2023 Buried 27 May 2023 Francis McKee (Frank) Scott 14 Oct 19J6- 1 O Junc 2023 Buried 13 June 2023 Tanya Russell 25 Jan 1977- 26 June 2023 Buried 29 June 2023 Helen Sarah Scott 03 April 1966- 27 Sept 2023 Buried 30 September 2023 David (Davy) Mcconaghy l O May 1939 - 29 Sept 2023 Buried 2 October 2023 John Presha 18Fcb 1946-7Dcc2023 Buried 9 Decembcr 2023 Willow Jennett (nee Greer) 18 Mar 1946- 19 Dec 2023 Buried 23 December 2023 Apart from those who have assisted in various ways. both visible and invisible, I wish most especially to thank our Elders and all in our Committee who have provided me with great care and support and help with the smooth running of the Church. I feel honoured to scrve with each of them. Rev. Brian Moodi¢ 2210212024 Finance Re ort 2023 Our consolidated bank account figure for 2023 was £399.102.38 compared to £409.765.02 in 2022; leaving a loss of £10,662.64. To sustain a level in the future where we are able to operate and pay bills: which have rose significantly in 2023. if we as a congregation could, if possible, increase our FWO even by a small amount: this would make a big difference overall. In 2023 Church attendance was do￿￿ quite significantly compared to previous years. General Church Account Income- £38,876.31 FWO envelopes fell by 16.7% in 2023. £29.060.78 compared to 2022; £34,900.09 Harvest receipts increased by £90.00 in 2023; £2,270.00 and in 2022. £2,180.00 Rebates were received from Power Nl for electricity accounts for the Ervine Memorial Hall; £600.00 and the Church; £600.00 The Bridge Club continue to use the Ervine Memorial Hall on a Monday evening and have provided a total income of £2.640.00 Line Dancing totalled £165.00 Ceilidh Dance totalled £140.00 Generous donations were received in respect of- the late Helen Kinghan. the late Roy Clarke and the late Sadie Flanagan Just Giving. anonymous donations totalled £i21.J8 The Quiz Night raised £3 70.00 for the Turkey/Syria Earthquake Appeal The Sunday School bank account was closed (bank fees were too high), and the money transferred to the No l alc. This amount was £419.39 Bank Interest which was credited to the main bank account amounted to £1,435.43 in 2023, compared to £493.83 in 2022. This was due to the increase in interest rates No Gift Aid was receiN'ed from HMRC in 202J Expenditure - £352,878.93 (£300,000 of this amount was transferred io Hew investment accounts) Rev. Brian rcc¢iv¢d a salary incrcase of 5 %. This was agr¢¢d by th¢ committ¢¢ The committee made a decision to refund Rev. Brian one visa application which totalled £2,404.00 The annual Joint Incidental and Mod¢ratorial Fund f¢¢s were £720, denominational fees, £610 for Sustentation Fund, £114 for Sunday School fees and £1 O to the Trustee Company. The Denominational Charity contributions are Ben¢vol¢nt Fund (for those in th¢ denomination who find themselves in need) £150. Christian Minister"s Fund (for training ministers) £150, Bodel-McKenzie and Porter Funds (£1 O and £50 respectively), the Orphan Society £200 and th¢ Minister's Widow Fund £150. Comparisons of main expenditure from year 2022 to 2023: Nest Pension rose by 5 % HMRC national insurance rose by 2.8 % Organist Supplies increased by £60 Pulpit Supplies decreased by £155.00, this was due to Tony Moodie and Paul Mccabe very kindly volunteering to preach in the absence of Rev. Brian Bank Charges were much the same; 202J £276.22 against 2022: £287.57 Nl water costs ros¢ by 30 % SM Vint Accountancy fees were up by l O % EJ Landscapes, grass cutting was down by £540.00 Nichol Oil for heating the Ervine Mcmorial Hall and the Church increased by £913.12 in 2023 Arthur J Gallagher, Church and Hall Insurance rose by 15 % Power NI expenditure rose by £540.00 in 2023 TH Jordan; printing of Church FWO envclopcs incrused by £20.00 in 2023 As a Church we are very generous in supporting our nominated charities throughout the year. The 3 Christmas charities; Nl Air Ambulance. Reach Mentoring Ltd and Shelter box reached a total of £88J.16. These charities will be paid an amount of £300.00 each, as agreed by the committee, in 2024. Carol singing at Supervalu raised £221.30 for Action Cancer. This amount was scnt on directly by Supervalu. We thank everyone who sang and to Au(trey Anderson who played the keyboard. New Investments were opened lo lielp our Cliurch money grow due lo interest rates beginning to rise in 2023. The inveslments ore.. £ 100,000.00 invested in March 202J for l year at 3.7 % interest in Ulster Bank Money Desk Account 2 x £IOO,000.00 2 year bonds invested in April and May 2023, each at 4.05 % interest They were both invested in the Progressive Building Society. one with an existing account and the second a new account Buildin Fund Account Expenditure - £6,946.02 CCTV was installed after the Church break in. This amounted to £1,476.00 All Fire expenses totalled £4.512.00 New lift ladder for the Church roof spac¢ was £440.00 New keys and locks totalled £125.00 Income- £4,442.07 Building Fund envelopes fell by l 0.7 % in 2023- £2743.50 compared to 2022; £3071.50 Kind donations of £120.00 were received after the Church break in Interest received from the bank was £390.57 Burial fees totalled £840.00 A donation was given to the building fund by Maureen Smyth in memory of her late mother, Dora McIlwrath Fee for erecting a headstone was £ l 00.00 Bank Details are below to make BACS payments or to set up a Standing Order, if so desired: FWO Receipts account Ulstcr Bank Sort code: 98 05 60 Account Number: 12440355 Building Fund Receipts aeeount Ulster Bank Sort code: 98 05 60 Account Number 12440439 I would like to sincerely thank Marie Holmes for co-ordinating the very talented organists, Lorna Beggs and Ann Mills for recording and banking all Church donations and also, to Joe Martin for guiding me as treasurer. There are so many more people to thank who give freely of their time and work so hard to make our Church operate and keep it relevant. My sincere thanks to Rev. Brian and Wendy for their dedication to our Church and for the love and thoughtfulness they give to our congregation. Please let us all support Rev. Brian during Sunday worship as he explores our faith through meaningful and inspirational sernlons. Sonya Greenfield Pro er ort- Janua 2023 to December 2023 January David Wilson changed two cxtemal lights February The heating system has not been working in the session room. The pump was air-locked but this has been fixed. l Boiler in the kitchen has not been working. Ivor and David swapped the boiler from upstairs in to the kitchen. Both boilers are now working in the kitchen. Tom Fairley got a quote for new lighting in the hall. Victor Shields has 2 guys organised to fix the damp in church. March New LED lighting was installed in the church hall. April Certificate for Entertainments was received. The fire extinguishers need to be checked in the next few months. Signs of anti-social behaviour were witnessed around the church. May The holly tree has been cut down. There was a bill for £1,074.00 from fwe defence. Yew tree in th¢ corncr of th¢ church trimmed by David and Ivor The plaque for Martha Dickson has bccn installcd. Joe sourced all the parts to fix the photocopier. Countyfile were promoting 'no mow May. The committee have agreed to leave cutting the ￿asS for a month for the sake of the insects. Thc church experienc￿ a break in via the side door (scssion room side door). This was reported to the police. Thanks to Davy Dickson for logging it with the police in the morning. David Wilson bought new locks and Tom's son David fitted them. Tom's son David fixed the session room door lock. Thank you to David: Tom and David. August A CCTV system was installed on the church property. Sept¢mb¢r Thc Church Watch sign was b¢¢n stolen. Tom reportcd this to the police. Our church is part of this watch. It was launched in the Elim Church and Tom attended. Picture donated by Nornwi Lindsay was put up in the church hall. Many thanks to David Fairley for this. Margaret Moodi¢ replaced a washer on a running toilet in the ladies bathroom. Gravcyard clean-up was a great success. Well don¢ to all involved. November Thanks was expressed to Joc Martin for rcpairing th¢ photocopier. Most of all I would like to thank David and Ivor who both worked tirelessly throughout the year with numerous duties that mainly go unnoticed. Also thanks to Victor for all his help over the year. Tom Fairley Sunda School Re ort: March 2024 Sunday School recommenced in the middle of September. As numbers were quite small, we decided to have just one class this year with ages ranging from approximately 4 to l O years. Sharon, Sonya, Ivor and myself tak¢ th¢ class on a four week rota. This ycar we are very ably assisted by Kaitlyn and very much appreciate this extra help and support. James, mum, Emma, has also volunteered to help out at Sunday School when she can and we look forward to her joining us as soon as Access Ni has been granted. Each Sunday, we follow a scheme called Bibletime in which all age groups study the same story but complete different follow-up activitics dcpending on their agc. This works well and the children seem to enjoy the various puzzles etc while being introduced to a new Bible Story each week. Oncc again the Rcv Brian and Wendy organiscd and p¢rforni¢d a very memorabl¢ Children's Nativity Puppet Service. Some of the children also took part in Bible Readings and musical items. Thank you to all who made this Service so meaningful and enjoyable. Thanks also to Santa who took time to pay a visit and the Church for providing selection packs for all of the childr¢n who were prcsent. A huge thanks oncc again to the Poole Family from Supervalu who gave all of the children and teachers a large selection pack. We very much appreciate this very generous gesture. All of our Sunday Schools, sadly. are suffering from declining numbers and there have been no activities or events organised by the Denomination so far this year. Philip, once again, has very kindly offered to provide the eggs for the children's Easter Egg Hunt on Easter Sunday. The children really enjoyed this last year and will be excited to know that it is also happening again this year. Wc arc also indebtcd onc¢ again to the Poole Family for their very generous donation of Easter Eggs to the children and teachers of our Sunday School. As we head towards Summer: we hope to be part of a bigger Church Outing before our Chil(Iren's Day Service at the end of June. I would just like to conclude this report by thanking all of the Sunday School teachers and the Rev Brian and Wendy for their support and commitment again this year. Thanks also to the Church Committee and th¢ entire congregation for their support. We so lucky to hav¢ a very committed and talented group of children and teachers in our Sunday School and I would like to conclude by thanking them for their dedication and loyalty throughout the course of another year. Women's Lea ue Annual Re ort 13th March 2024. Last Spring the Women's League was supported by the Rev. Moodie in making the decision that monthly meetings were no longer practical. The Secretary now notifies League's members of forthcoming cN'¢nts on the What's App Group or by t¢l¢phon¢. The Lcaguc continues to assist with Church cvents and Funerals as necessary. We also aim to support suport events held by other Churches in the town and to attend Regional League Meetings. Our first outing in April was to a Visitors Evening at Killinchy. Mr. Colin Robinson, gave a "Braid Scots Danda" into our Ulst¢r-Scots h¢ritag¢. A most informative and entertaining evening. It was special to see so many of Martha Dickson's family at the service on 7th May. After this scrvicc the new storage cupboards in thc Hall: funded by Martha's Memorial Donations: w¢r¢ dedicated in her memory. Martha was a loyal. hard working: long term member of our League. In the Autumn members attended a Visitors, Praise Night at Banbridge Road Church and a Missionary Fund Raising.. Fashion Show at the Cathedral Hall. On 28th November we were delighted after four years to reinstate our Ladies's Christmas Dinner. As an cxp¢rim¢nt the Riverside Staff kindly cat¢r¢d for us here in the Hall rather than at their Tea Room. This proved popular with a record number of 32 attendees including some very welcome visitors. We concluded our usual festive entertainment with Carol Singing, once again greatly enhanced by Audrey Anderson on keyboard. On Friday I st March, World Day of Prayer was celebrated in Dromore for the first time since Covid. St. Colman's hosted the Service which. significantly this year, had been prepared some time ago by the Christian Women of Palestine. Wendy Moodie and Sonya Russell took part in the Service and it was encouraging to see how well our Church was represented in the congregation. A sincere thank you to the ladies who support the League also to Linda Dickson, Treasurer, Nonna Shields, Secretary, and last, but not least to Meena Poole who ensures that all members start each day with an uplifting mcssag¢ on their phoncs. This concludes the Annual Report for 2023 - 2024. Signcd: Sonya C. Russell Chairpcrson.