## **KILLICOMAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH.** ## **Trustees Annual Report for the year ending 5[th] April 2023.** The Trustees present their Annual Report of the charity for the year ending 5[th] April 2023. ## **Purpose.** The principal objective of Killicomaine Evangelical Church is to advance the Christian Faith in accordance with its Statement of Belief among people of all backgrounds. ## **Achievements and Performance.** The Trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland’s guidance on provision of public benefit and are confident that the Church has fully satisfied this requirement through its activities throughout the year from 6 April 2022 to 5 April 2023. The Church continued to provide opportunities for people to meet to worship God and learn about the Christian Faith by conducting morning and evening services every Sunday with attendances of approximately 80 to 90 in the morning and 50 to 60 in the evening. A weekly Bible Study and Prayer meeting was also held on a Thursday evening from September through June, which is open to all. Activities aimed at teaching young people about the Christian Faith continue to take place throughout the year. These include a Sunday School and Bible Classes with 25 pupils enrolled, Children’s and Youth Meeting held each Friday evening with, on average, 25 to 30 attending. In July a Holiday Bible Club was held for younger children with an average daily attendance of 30. The Mid-week Fellowship meets on a Wednesday afternoon. These meetings have been a great means of support and help to all who attend, providing worship, bible study and in particular fellowship, for those who for whatever reason find it difficult to attend, or attend regularly, on a Sunday or Thursday evening. The average attendance between 10 and 16. The Church contributes to the life of the wider community through involvement with the Killicomaine Residents Group and in partnership with them, supports various community events. The major events were the Annual Fun Day in July, for which the church premises were made available, and an outdoor community Carol Service in December, both of which were well attended. In collaboration with another local church, we are involved in the running of a Men’s Club, which meets each Friday morning and provides social interaction for the men of the local community. The membership has grown steadily, been very consistent in attendance and the activities and fellowship has been a great means of support and encouragement to all. Pastoral support is provided by the Church and, where necessary, counselling for members, those who regularly attend and any others who may request it. A full-time Pastor was employed by the Church to organise and help with the above services until 30 September 2022, on which date he retired. Active recruitment commenced early 2022 for a replacement. The pastoral responsibilities have been taken up by the other members of the Eldership Team. The Church has given assistance to other Churches engaged in furthering its purposes overseas, in Lima, Peru, Markayankottai, India and Batticaloa and Killinochi, Sri Lanka. We also continue to partly support two families, one working amongst international refugees in Germany and one providing support services at the New Tribes Mission base in Lincolnshire, England. All of the Church’s activities are published on the Killicomaine Evangelical Church website, www.killicomaine.org Until his retirement the website was managed by the Pastor and was taken over by a church member in October. It is currently being updated. Following the Coronavirus pandemic, the Church has gone back to ‘in person’ meetings but also continues to make the Sunday Services and some Bible Studies available online.