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← New Mossley Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

2025-12-31-annual-report

New Mossley Presbyterian Church 2 Ballycraigy Way, New Mossley, BT36 5XJ Charity Number 104226

CCNI Annual Report 2025

New Mossley Presbyterian Church

The Trustees present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2025 including a Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at that date.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

New Mossley Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 2 Ballycraigy Way New Mossley Newtownabbey Co Antrim BT36 SXJ

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC 104226)

CHARITY TRUSTEES

The Charity Trustees who served during the year or who were trustees at the date of this report was:

Name: Howard Keery Name: Donald Marks Name: Mark Welsh Name: Ian Clotworthy Name: Ian McMullan Name: Brian Simpson Name: Rev Gareth Keaveney

PRINCIPAL OFFICE BEARERS

Minister; Rev Gareth Keaveney Clerk of Session; Ian Clotworthy Treasurer; Jean Kelly

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

Roy Eakin Retired Bank Official 18 Farm Lodge Road Greenisland Newtownabbey Co. Antrim BT38 8XH

BANKERS

Danske Bank Ltd Mallusk Newtownabbey Co Antrim

New Mossley Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Trustees Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2025

STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT

The Kirk Session

The charity trustees of the congregation are the members of its Kirk Session. Under the congregation’s governing document, The Code, the book of the constitution and government of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Kirk Session seeks to watch over and promote the spiritual interest of the congregation and of persons not connected with any congregation who are within its bounds. It ensures pastoral care is in place in the congregation and seeks to further the contribution of the Church to Christian witness and service in the local community.

The Kirk Session has delegated to its Congregational Committee the temporal affairs of the congregation including administering all funds and property belonging to the congregation. Members of the Kirk Session are ex-officio members of the Congregational Committee.

The Kirk Session consists of the ordained minister and the ruling elders of the congregation. All members are entitled to propose, speak and exercise equal votes at meetings, except that the Moderator, the minister in active duty in the congregation, has no deliberative but only a casting vote.

Stated meetings of the Kirk Session are held ten times each year or as appropriate. To be chosen for the office of the eldership in the congregation a person must be a voting member and a regular attendant at its ordinances. The selection of those proposed to be called to the office can be either by the congregation or by the Kirk Session. Members are elected if they obtain two-thirds of those who vote.

Presbytery

Under the Presbyterian Church in Ireland form of governance the corporate oversight of a congregation is the responsibility of a Presbytery which superintends generally the spiritual and temporal affairs of the congregations assigned to it by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. New Mossley congregation of the Presbyterian Church has been assigned to the North Belfast Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. The membership of the Presbytery consists mainly of the active ministers of congregations assigned to it by the General Assembly, ministers who have retired from active duty and an elder appointed by the Kirk Session of the congregation.

The General Assembly

The General Assembly is the supreme court of the Church, representing in one body the whole Church and acting as its supreme legislative, administrative and judicial authority, in dealing with all matters brought before it. The General Assembly normally is constituted during the first week in June for worship and to conduct its business. At the end of business it is dissolved. The membership of the General

Assembly consists mainly of the active ministers of each congregation, retired minsters and a representative elder appointed by the Kirk Session of each congregation.

DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE

The charitable purpose of the congregation is the advancement of religion. New Mossley Presbyterian Church is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland, as a Reformed Church within the wider body of Christ is grounded in the Scriptures and exists to love and honour God through faith in His Son and by the power of His Spirit, and to enable her members to play their part in fulfilling God’s mission to our world. The congregation's mission purpose is to share the love of Christ with all in the community by taking an interest in people, playing an active part in community activities and using our resources for the benefit of all. Our desire therefore is to show God's love by building relationships through specific practical activities such as the community cafe and special needs club, by providing help and advice particularly to young people with alcohol and drug abuse problems and generally by providing a haven of love and compassion.

The congregation aims to live out its mission purpose as a family of God's people by:

As a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, we believe that the Bible is the supreme authority over all we do, and that the Westminster Confession of Faith, along with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms set out what we understand the Bible teaches on key matters of Christian faith and practice.

ACTIVITIES AND OBJECTIVES

The congregation meets for worship every Sunday and all are welcome to join. The Sacrament of the Lords Supper is observed on ten occasions during the year and all those who have been baptised and who have made a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are admitted to the Lord's Supper. The congregation holds regular bible study meetings and has a wide range of organisations including

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Worship and prayer

The congregation normally meets for worship each Sunday at 11.00am and 6.30pm. During the week the Bible Study provides an opportunity for members to meet together for fellowship, to study the scriptures and for a time of prayer. Over the year we have concentrated on prayer for both the church family and wider community through prayer texts, special weeks of payer and occasional prayer breakfasts.

At 31 December 2025 there were 66 communicant members and 96 families connected with the congregation. The average weekly attendance at morning worship is an average of 75.

Pastoral care

Under the direction of the Minister, a system of visitations is in place. All members of the congregation, whether suffering from sickness or not, were visited to ensure that there were no underlying issues particularly with increased heating and shopping costs. Financial and practical help was also provided where circumstances dictated.

Mission and outreach

With funding received from the wider Presbyterian Church we continue to employ a Community Worker who is building links at a local level ensuring the work carried out in all of our organisations is an outreach to our local community. We further believe that by practical acts of help, kindness and provision, create a greater awareness of God’s love in the area. We do however have other mission and outreach activities that are supported by the congregation and these include:

We also support the United Appeal for Mission which is a central fund of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. This fund enables congregations to support the wider mission of the denomination and to do mission and outreach on a denominational basis beyond what the congregation could do on its own. The United Appeal Fund provides financial support for mission personnel at home and overseas, assists congregations with the deployment of locally based staff, enables church planting, provides grant support for the upkeep of church premises, assist with the running costs of Union Theological College, the Church's training college for ministry students, and financially supports congregation in the areas of worship, discipleship, global mission, outreach, leadership and pastoral care.

Presbytery

The congregation was represented at the regular meetings of Presbytery by two of the trustees. This provides an important link between the congregations and the wider structures of the church.

General Assembly

The minister along with another trustee attended the meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland held in Assembly Buildings, Belfast, in June and the Special Assembly in December 2025.

Property

General maintenance of both the manse at Dorchester Drive and the church building was ongoing during the year. An annual inspection of the manse was carried out with all necessary remedial work carried out. Both are in good order.

Organisations

The following represents the activities that were undertaken during 2024.

Each Sunday morning a Sunday School and Bible Class takes place during the Sunday morning Service, the purpose of which is to provide the young people with an understanding of Christianity and the difference it can make in their lives and in the community.

Two Sunday evenings per month the Youth Fellowship meets, consisting of at least 12 young people to discuss contemporary issues such as creation, addiction, sectarianism, gender issues etc from a Biblical perspective.

On one Saturday per month a Special Needs Club meets to cater for young people with various disabilities and their parents. Numbers during the year averaged around 40 (including parents/careers). Activities include board games, physical activity, crafts and a specialist woodworking class. The work done is recognised and appreciated by Mencap.

On the 1st Tuesday afternoon of each month the Tuesday Fellowship meets from 2- 3pm and is attended by around 16 women. The programme is wide and varied. The attendees are very engaged in discussing issues that are both personal to them and relevant to the country in general. On occasions special speakers are invited.

Each Tuesday evening the Girls Brigade meets providing young girls with the opportunity to learn practical skills such as sewing, cooking etc, the benefits of physical education and healthy eating. They also learn about civic responsibility through pre agreed bible studies and are developing relationships with Bryans House (a sheltered dwelling facility for the elderly).

During the year we received funding for £4,500.00 for the provision of an outside storage area with two new Fridges and in partnership with Fareshare we started our Community Fridge that operates every Wednesday between 10am and 12 noon. It is time that brings people together to share food, meet up, learn new skills and prevent fresh food from going to waste. They’re open to all in our community and anyone can share or take food. The food is surplus from supermarkets, local food businesses, producers, households and gardens and is collected on a Tuesday evening. Running along side the Community Fridge is The Hub that serves tea, coffee, scones, traybakes and soup.

Each Wednesday evening a Superkidz club is held for children of Primary school age and has a weekly attendance of 30. It not only provides the usual club activities of games, bouncy castle etc but also special trips (based on good behaviour) such as to Airtastic and Fun Works.

Each Wednesday evening at 8pm a Bible study is held with around 18 people in attendance. Overall around 70 people have been regularly attending bible study/fellowship meetings outside Sunday services.

Each Thursday, Junior and Senior Youth Clubs are held providing a wide variety of activities such as table tennis, indoor football, badminton, table tennis, beauty care for around 85 young people. Attracting secondary school age children has been a challenge post Covid, but we have seen a slight increase this year.

Each Friday morning the Tots club meets for young children and parents. A varied and inter active programme is organised each week with refreshments and parenting advice/help provided.

Volunteers

The Trustees wish to acknowledge their deep appreciation of those who give freely of their time by serving on committees and helping with organisations and other church activities.

Training – During the year we have delivered First Aid and Safeguarding training.

Safeguarding – All volunteers were AccessNI checked with an interview carried out by two trustees in 2025

PUBLIC BENEFIT STATEMENT

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland meets the public benefit requirement by providing benefit to its members and the general public by making known the Christian Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ through the advancement of religion.

The direct benefits which flow from the purposes of the Church include the gaining of an understanding in Christian beliefs as set out in the Bible and in the Church’s subordinate standards (the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Shorter and Larger Catechisms) leading to spiritual and moral development and opportunities for response to Bible teaching. In turn, this framework leads to practical expressions of Christian beliefs and standards in the local community such as through the care of those in need (including the sick, disabled and bereaved). Generally, the above benefits are delivered locally by congregations and their members, or are facilitated through presbyteries or are organised and delivered centrally. Local delivery is facilitated by central resources in almost all cases. Public access is made known through the use of notice boards, printed material, press advertisement, websites, and social media or in other ways. The benefits are demonstrated through regular evaluation of the services and informal and ad-hoc feedback from members, their families, and members of the public.

The only private benefit flowing from our purpose is related to Ministers, Missionaries, Deaconesses, Irish Mission workers and Lay Agents who receive benefits as a result of their holding office or employment. This, however, is incidental and necessary in order to further our charitable purpose. There are no other private

benefits. The beneficiaries of this purpose are members, their families, other individuals with whom the Presbyterian Church in Ireland is in direct and indirect contact, the community in which pastoral services are provided and other communities throughout Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and worldwide which benefit from our engagement with, and support for, both Christian and other secular organisations, charities and individual members of the public.

We also completed the National Churches Trust Social Value calculator that measured the net social value provided by the church. The conclusion was that the church does provide a monetary benefit that remains at £933,597.00. The calculator takes the information on the numbers of people attending the church and the organisations and services provided to the community. It then multiplies them by unit values and converts it into a monetary value. The unit values are based on rigorous economic analysis using national survey datasets and a well-based approach endorsed by HM Treasury’s Green Book. Social value looks beyond financial returns to measure how church buildings make life better for people and communities. For further information see https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/thehouseofgood

The Kirk Session has had regard to the Charity Commissions Public benefit requirement statutory guidance.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The congregation’s main source of income is members’ contributions through the Weekly Freewill Offering. During 2025 the total number of contributors were 66, though others did contribute outside the Weekly Freewill Offering regime. For 2025 with the exclusion of gift aid a total Freewill Offering was £45,156.00 compared to £42,218.00 in the previous year.

Total Income of the congregation (including the organisations) during the year was £68,197.00 compared to £67,274.00 compared to in the previous year.

Operational costs continue to rise, total expenditure (excluding Community Worker) increased to £73,391.00 from £65,099.00 in year 2024.

STATEMENT OF TRUSTEE RESPONSIBILITIES

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements of the congregation in accordance with applicable law and generally accepted accounting practice. As the congregation’s total income does not exceed £250,000, the Trustees have elected under Section 64(3) of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 to prepare a receipts and payment account and a statement of assets and liabilities.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the congregation’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time its financial position. They are also responsible for

safeguarding the assets of the congregation and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Approved by the Kirk Session and signed on its behalf by

Mr Ian Clotworthy

Rev Gareth Keaveney

Signed

Signed

Date; 2 March 2026

Date; 2 March 2026