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2025-12-31-annual-report

Kilmakee congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

Annual report of trustees and financial statements for year ended 31[st] December 2025

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland – NIC104263

Kilmakee congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Trustees Annual Report

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

Reference and Administrative details

Kilmakee congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Willow Gardens Dunmurry BT17 9UE

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland – NIC104263

Charity Trustees

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

Adele Spratt Philip Spratt Carol Houston Graham Houston Merrill Morrow Aileen Irvine Heather Smyth John Smyth Carol Curry David Curry Billy Elliott Alastair White: Session Clerk since September 2023 Rec Steve Stockman: Vacancy Convenor - October 2024 and throughout 2025

Principal office bearers (within full year 2025)

Minister Rev Steve Stockman (appointed as Vacancy Convenor in October 2024) Clerk of Session Alastair White (since September 2023) Treasurer John Smyth Secretary Ryan Adams

Independent examiner:

John Griffith – 120 Halftown Toad, Culcavy, Hillsborough, BT27 5RF

Bankers

Ulster Bank, 18 Bow Street, Lisburn, Co. Antrim, BT28 1BN

Solicitors

Jennifer Hamilton of: Keown Solicitors Lynden House, 19 Cregagh Road, Belfast BT6 8PX

Structure and Management

The Kirk Session

The Charity trustees of the congregation are the members of 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 and wellbeing of the Kilmakee congregation and of persons not connected with any congregation who are within its boundary.

The Kirk Session ensures Pastoral Care is in place within 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 Kirk Session are ex-officio members of the Congregational Committee.

The Kirk Session consists of the ordained minister (or a convenor if the congregation is vacant – ie without a permanent minister) and the ruling elders of the congregation. All members are entitled to propose, speak and exercise equal votes at meetings, with the exception of the Moderator (the minister in active duty within the congregation) who has no deliberative vote – but who does have a casting vote.

Stated meetings of Kirk Session are held monthly (with the exception of Summer months) or as appropriate.

To be chosen for the office of Eldership in the congregation a person must be a voting member and a regular attendant at ordinances. The selection of those proposed to be called to the office of Elder can be either by the congregation or 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. The Kilmakee congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland has been assigned to the South 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 a representative elder from each congregation 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 is normally constituted during the first week in June each year for worship and to conduct its business. At the end of business, it is dissolved until the following year (unless a Special General Assembly is deemed necessary before that). The membership of the General Assembly consists mainly of the active ministers of each congregation, retired ministers 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.

The Kilmakee congregation 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, Jesus Christ and by the power of His Spirit and to enable her members to play their part in fulfilling God’s mission to our world.

Throughout the whole of 2025 the congregation remained in a state of vacancy without a permanent minister. While vacancy can be an unsettling period for any congregation we give thanks to our Lord for His faithfulness to us throughout.

During 2024 different avenues for the future ministry and presence of Kilmakee within the Seymour Hill/Conway Estates were explored. Through prayerful discussions and after numerous meetings it became clear that the way forward was as a joint-charge ministry with Dunmurry Presbyterian Church (ie with each congregation retaining autonomous life and witness while sharing one minister 50/50).

Kilmakee’s primary focus through the whole of 2025 was managing the vacancy as well as maintaining (as best possible) the congregations’ spiritual health through pastoral presence and the congregations’ life-and-witness in the local area.

Kimakee’s missional intention through the whole of 2025 sought to continue and, where possible, build on the outreach opportunities and structures established in recent years. Primarily by:

We see ourselves as rooted in God’s love by and through the working of His Holy Spirit to Glorify His Son, Jesus Christ. We live out these ideals as we:

Seek to enrich Worship – by prayerfully exploring avenues that enable people to worship God both personally and corporately. While giving God our praise is an essential element of corporate worship, we recognise that not everyone enjoys singing, or even music; thus, our song and musical selections are typically broad in style and blended in traditional/modern.

Seek to encourage conversation – many people have many questions and although we may not have all the answers, we always encourage engaging with the education of oneself in the Bible and in the Christian life and by encouraging others to do similarly.

Aim to protect the Family – as a church family (made up of families, singles and everything in-between) we strive to support everyone where they are . We try to protect and help; for example, where there may be a struggle for finance, a physical or mental health problem, a breakdown in relationships. Our Pastoral Assistant to the Convenor (Rev Lesley-Ann Wilson throughout 2025) has engaged widely with the congregation via her excellent Pastoral Support in addition to the presence of the Vacancy Convenor and Kirk Session members.

Think Small - Act Big – we are congregationally small in number and few in resources so we cannot be stretched too thinly. Therefore, we aim to recognise what we can do with what we have , knowing that sometimes it is a small thing that can have the greatest impact.

The congregation aims to live out its Mission and Vision as a family of God’s people in Seymour Hill/Conway by being:

Activities and Objectives

The congregation meets for worship every Sunday at 11:00am* and all visitors are welcome to join. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is available to all and is observed on several occasions during the year. All those who have been baptised and have made a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are admitted to the Lord’s Supper.

Regular Bible Study meetings (both in-person and online) are held in which many members of the congregation participate. The congregation also enjoys a wide range of activities through groups and organisations including:

*To facilitate a joint-charge arrangement, Kilmakee’s Sunday morning worship meeting time was changed to 10:00am from October 2025. All following references of 11:00am are only relevant to October.

Worship and prayer

The congregation meets for worship each Sunday at 11.00am and monthly on Sunday evenings from 7.00pm specifically for Praise/Worship. During the week the Bible Study groups (both in-person and online) provide opportunities for members to meet in fellowship, to study the scriptures and for times of prayer.

Kirk Session also meets regularly for prayer quite separately and in addition to business meetings.

As well as our regular services during the year we acknowledged God’s gift of new life by celebrating 5 Sacraments of Infant Baptism and 1 Blessing . We also rejoiced in the reception of 6 new communicants making their public profession of faith

Sadly, 6 members of our congregation died in 2025 and for each we held services of thanksgiving for their lives, demonstrating our love through prayerful, scriptural and pastoral support to those bereaved.

During the Covid years Kilmakee, like many other churches, unfortunately experienced a drop-off in Sunday attendance and a loss of membership. For the purposes of this statistical analysis at end of 2025 (being the third full year post-Covid), the numbers of those claiming membership have been reassessed to approximately 85-90 households (it would not be accurate to refer to all households as families ) with the numbers of associated persons (or family members) at approximately 135 of which 95 are Communicant Members (a rise of 6 from 2024).

An average of 50 persons took Communion at least once in year 2025.

Weekly attendance at end of 2025 averaged 60-70 adults while some special Sundays saw attendance of around 90-100. Sunday School has had 2 new children regularly attending but also records a small decline due to some children moving up into Bible Class (which has increased).

A small increase in overall numbers attending has been noted in 2025 with some new folks joining (and new FWO envelopes being requested). This continues to be a source of encouragement.

Pastoral care

Members of the congregation who are unable to attend worship due to sickness or age/infirmity are visited on a regular basis by their Elders and/or by the Minister in normal circumstances (or Vacancy Convenor) as required. Throughout 2025 Rev Lesley-Ann Wilson has been Kilmakee’s Pastoral Assistant to the Convenor.

Kilmakee also has an anonymous Prayer Chain through which folk can bring their concerns and petitions confidentially so that others may pray for them.

Mission and outreach

Mission throughout the vacancy since April 2022 has been primarily, but not exclusively, through the Children’s and Youth ministry. At a local level the congregation provides for children on Sundays at Sunday School and Bible Class but also through our uniformed organisations (BB and GB) and more flexibly (YF and HBC). We are

also present in the local primary school (Seymour Hill PS) with church members as representatives on the Board of Governors.

The congregation supports 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, assists with the running costs of Union Theological College (the Church’s training college for students of the ministry) and financially supports congregations in areas of worship, discipleship, global mission, outreach, leadership and pastoral care.

The congregation also contributes to the World Development Appeal, Sunday School project and other special appeals that arise occasionally.

Presbytery

The congregation was represented in 2025 at the regular meetings of Presbytery by our Vacancy Convenor (Rev Steve Stockman acting as Minister during our vacancy) and also by Kilmakee’s representative elder, Mr David Curry and Clerk of Session, Mr Alastair White.

General Assembly

Our Vacancy Convenor and representative elder were nominated to attend the meeting of the General Assembly* held in Assembly Buildings, Belfast, in June.

Property

All property - 56 Mosside Road, Dunmurry, Belfast (the Church Manse) and Kilmakee’s worship location in Willow Gardens, Seymour Hill - is maintained with relevant repairs and renovations as and when required. There were no major works in 2025.

Organisations

“attended” Creche in 2025. For Sunday School and Bible Class there is age-appropriate Bible teaching through stories, crafts, activities and praise time. The age-range is 3-11 and 12-16 with approximately 25 children across these two groups on a regular basis. All of Kilmakee’s Youth and Children’s ministry is supported by a Pastoral Group of 3 Kirk Session members.

Bowling Club

of the local community can come in for a tea/toffee and some snacks and simply have a safe, warm place to have a some good conversation in like-minded company. The conversation is always open and no subject is discouraged. A separate quiet room is available if someone wants a private chat or prayer. We have around 12 visitor/members, some who live alone at home, who enjoy the opportunity to get out and just be with others in gentle fellowship.

grow deeper in their prayer life and their faith. Without expectation or pressure on anyone, prayer may be spoken vocally while others may choose to sit contemplatively in quiet, inward reflection. Some songs of Praise or Worship will also feature within this group setting.

Volunteers

The trustees are deeply appreciative of the time and energy of all volunteers in the church’s programme of activities across all organisations and groups who give freely, selflessly and abundantly of their time, energy, skills and talents, finances and practical gifts which they use passionately for those they serve in and through Kilmakee Presbyterian Church.

The trustees wish to acknowledge with sincere thanks all the leaders’ contributions to the work for and the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom within the boundary of our charge and beyond.

Notable dates and moments in 2025

The congregation began 2025 as a single-charge ministry. This status changed in 2025 when Kilmakee became formally linked with Dunmurry Presbyterian Church in a joint-charge arrangement (meaning that one minister would now be shared between Dunmurry and Kilmakee on a 50/50 basis).

In order to achieve this new joint-charge status, both Kilmakee and Dunmurry were required to satisfy many conditions as stipulated by The Linkage Commission (the group responsible for granting and addressing the status of all congregations within PCI). The process to becoming a joint-charge was as follows.

Sunday 14[th] December was the last day of ministry at Kilmakee for Rev Lesley-Ann Wilson, and we note here the importance of the pastoral and de-facto ministerial role she carried out through her 18-month period with Kilmakee. Her input to the life and witness has been felt deeply and appreciated widely – by conducting Baptisms and blessings, bringing new communicants through to their profession of faith, ministering to the sick and those in care, supporting the bereaved and encouraging the congregation in faith through her spiritual ministry.

Public benefit statement

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland meets the public benefit requirement by making known the Christian Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ through the advancement of religion; thus, providing spiritual support to benefit members of the general public.

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 the Church’s subordinate standards (as found in the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Shorter and Larger catechism) lead 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 which includes the sick, those with disabilities and the 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 noticeboards, printed material, press advertisements, websites, social media and in other ways.

The benefits are demonstrated through regular evaluation of the services and informal feedback from members, their families and members of the public.

The purpose does not lead to harm. 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. However, this 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 that the Presbyterian Church in Ireland is in direct and indirect contact with, 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.

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

Financial review

The congregation’s only source of income is members’ contributions through the Weekly Freewill Offering with some additional Gift Aid and occasional modest donations.

As the congregation’s income does not exceed £250,000, the trustees have elected under Section 64(3) of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 208 to prepare a receipt and payment account along with 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 .

This ends the Trustees Report for the congregation of Kilmakee for year ending December 2025.

This Trustees Report was approved by the Kirk Session of Kilmakee Presbyterian Church at a meeting on 12 May 2026 and is signed on its behalf by:

________ Kirk Session member and Trustee

________ signed this day 12 May 2026

________ Clerk of Session since September 2023

________ signed this day 12 May 2026