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2022-12-31-annual-report

MALONE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND

Trustees Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2022

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC104270)

MALONE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

The Trustees present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022 including a Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at that date.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Malone congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 452 Lisburn Road Belfast BT9 6GT

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC104270)

CHARITY TRUSTEES

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

Mary Angus Alan Scott Denis Annett Elizabeth Scott David Dunwoody Nigel Sands Noel McQuitty John Tate Pat Gray Sue Tate Mervyn Morrow Keith Walsh Debbie McDowell Jill Gilpin John Kenny Gillian Brown John McKeown Carolyn McGrath

PRINCIPAL OFFICE BEARERS

Minister Rev K Viner Clerk of Session Mr J Tate Treasurer Mrs L Kenny

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INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

Chris Fleming FCA Allen Fleming Old Bank House 161-163 Upper Lisburn Road Belfast BT10 0LJ

BANKERS

Danske Bank Donegall Square West Belfast BT1 6JS

SOLICITORS

John McKee Solicitors The Linenhall 32-38 Linenhall Street Belfast BT2 8BG

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MALONE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)

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 monthly (except July and August)

To be chosen for the office of the eldership in the congregation a person must be a voting member and a regular attendant on its ordinances. The selection of those proposed to be called to the office can be either by the congregation or by the Kirk Session.

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. Malone Presbyterian Church congregation of the Presbyterian Church 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, minsters who have retired from active duty and an elder appointed by the Kirk Session of the congregation.

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MALONE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)

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, administration and judicial authority, in dealing with all matters brought before it. The General Assembly is normally 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

Malone 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 congregations mission purposes is

Rooted and grounded in love

The setting of Malone offers us a picture to illustrate Paul’s description of being rooted and grounded in God’s love. Our church building is surrounded by mature trees that offer an oasis at a busy city junction. It is our prayer that, like the mature trees at Malone, everyone in the Church Family at Malone are rooted and grounded in God’s love wherever we may be in life, so we can enjoy or at times withstand, the seasons of life.

We recognise that all that we are and all that we do finds its perfection and fullness in God’s love - an extravagant, generous, unconditional, sacrificial and redeeming love. A love that we discover in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. When we are rooted and grounded in God’s love then we are able to demonstrate that love more fully in all we say and do.

Living and growing together

Malone is a congregation of people who are a Church Family and are made up of all ages and from different backgrounds but we have one thing in common - we all want to know

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MALONE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)

God more and become more like Jesus. We know this is not easy, but we are trying to live and grow together in God’s love. We recognise we need the Holy Spirit to give us the power to do this - this is the Spirit of peace and unity.

We live in a busy and sometimes complex culture and society so we also recognise we need Jesus every day. Jesus taught us to love God with all our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves. Even more so Jesus’ command to love our enemies (Luke 6). As we worship and serve God here at the junction of the Lisburn Road, Balmoral Avenue and Stockmans Lane, and in many different places across Belfast, the UK, and indeed the world, and through our professions, family connections and travels, we seek to show others the love of God so they would join us in living and growing together with Jesus.

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

ACTIVITIES AND OBJECTIVES

The congregation meets for worship every Sunday and visitors are welcome to join. The Sacrament of the Lords Supper was observed on 3 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

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MALONE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Worship and prayer

The congregation normally meets for worship each Sunday at 11am.

As well as our regular services during the year we conducted 1 marriage service and gave thanks for faithful services and sought to comfort those who had been bereaved during the year.

At 31 December 2022 there were 235 communicant members and 165 families connected with the congregations.

The average week attendance at morning worship is 135.

Pastoral care

Members of the congregation who are unable to attend church due to sickness or age are visited on a regular basis by the minister, elders or by one of the congregation’s pastoral visitors.

Mission and outreach

At a local level the congregation supports Storehouse, International Meeting Point, The Presbyterian Children’s Society and Presbyterian World Development Appeal. The Presbyterian Women raise money and support the Mission of PCI centrally and the Children’s ministry regularly support the Charity ‘Stand by Me’.

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 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

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MALONE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)

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 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 our minister and / or one of the elders. This provides an important link between the congregations and the wider structures of the church.

General Assembly

The minister and one of our elders were nominated to attend the meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland held in Assembly Buildings, Belfast, in June.

Property

Church property consists of the church sanctuary, halls and manse.

Organisations

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MALONE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)

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.

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 using noticeboards, 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 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

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MALONE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)

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 main source of income is members’ contributions through the Weekly Freewill Offering. There were 103 contributors during the year (144 in previous year, 2021] donating a total of £105,306 (£112,031 in previous year, 2021)

Total Income of the congregation during the year was £180,582 compared to £151,772 in the previous year.

Total expenditure was £177,590 (£157,759 in 2021).

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 at a meeting on 10[th] September 2023 and signed on its behalf by

Rev K Viner

J Tate

10[th] September 2023

10[th] September 2023

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