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2023-12-31-annual-report

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

The Trustees present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023 including a Balance Sheet as at that date.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Eglinton congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Ballysillan Road, Belfast BT14

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC104322)

CHARITY TRUSTEES

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

David Cleland Douglas Crowe Lorraine Dalzell Yvonne Dunn Janet Kerr Elizabeth Moore Gary Moore Peter Moore Naomi Morrison

Nicola Morrison James McCalmont Rachael Newburn David Phillips Barbara Thompson Colin Thompson Amanda Willis Kathryn Wonnacott

PRINCIPAL OFFICE BEARERS

Minister Clerk of Session Treasurer

Colin Morrison Douglas Crowe Rosie Phillips

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

Mr Roy Eakin Presbytery Finance Committee Member 18 Farm Lodge Road, Greenisland, BT38 8XH 16th February 2024

BANKERS

Ulster Bank City Office (B) Branch PO Box 232 11-16 Donegall Square East Belfast BT1 5UB

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 Sessions 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 congregations. All members are entitled to propose, speak and exercise equal votes at meetings, except that the Moderator, the ministers in active duty in the congregation, has no deliberative but only a casting vote.

Stated meetings of the Kirk session are normally held in January, February, March, May, June, September, October and November.

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. Members are elected if they obtain twothirds of the votes cast.

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. Eglinton Presbyterian Church has been assigned to the Presbytery of North Belfast 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 each congregation.

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 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.

Eglinton congregation of the 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 purposes are as follows:

Recognising the mission heart of God who so loved the people of this world, that he gave his only Son to die on the Cross that our sin might be forgiven, as followers of Christ and members of Eglinton Presbyterian Church, we commit ourselves afresh to the priority of mission in the local community and further afield

The congregation aims “To know Jesus and make Him known” through

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

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)

ACTIVITIES AND OBJECTIVES

The congregation meets for worship every Sunday and visitors are welcome to join. The Sacrament of the Lords Supper is observed on 8 occasions during the year and 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 upon presenting themselves to Kirk Session following appropriate preparation.

The congregation has regular (mainly fortnightly) small group meetings for bible study and prayer and has a wide range of organisations comprising:

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Worship and prayer

The congregation normally meets for worship each Sunday at 11.00 am and occasionally at 7.00 p.m. During the week Bible Study groups provide an opportunity for members to meet together for fellowship, to study the scriptures and pray.

As well as our regular services during the year we admitted 3 infants to the Sacrament of Baptism and conducted 4 marriage services. 1 person was received into communicant membership.

As at 31 December 2023 there were 143 communicant members and 168 families connected with the congregations .

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. We seek to provide help and comfort at times of bereavement, including use of the church building and the minister normally being available for funerals upon request. Members of the congregation who are in hospital are visited at least weekly, usually by the minister. Those in residential or nursing care are normally visited at least quarterly again usually by the minister.

Mission and outreach

As well as conducting its mission as listed under “activities and objectives” as above, the congregation normally:

Takes opportunities to regularly conduct assemblies in local schools.

In the past year the congregation has contributed to outside mission and charitable work as follows:

The congregation supports the United Appeal for Mission (£8419) 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.

The congregation also contributes to the denominations annual World Development Appeal and other emergency appeals as they arise.

Presbytery

The congregation was represented at the regular meetings of Presbytery by our minister and 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 the elders attended the annual meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland held in Assembly Buildings, Belfast, in June 2023..

Property

Property repairs and maintenance were carried out as necessary. Repairs were also carried out to the Manse, where the minister and his family reside.

Major refurbishment of the Manse commenced in September and is expected to conclude by April 2024.

Organisations (NB All organisations are open to members of the community. Numbers attending regularly are in brackets at the end of each bullet point *)

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.

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)

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 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 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.

TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The Trustees agreed that as the total income of the congregation in the financial year 2022 did not exceed £250,000 that the congregation, in accordance with the provisions in Section 64(3) of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008, prepare a Receipts and Payments Account and a Statement of Assets and Liabilities .

The congregation’s main source of income is members’ contributions through the Weekly Freewill Offering. There were 168 contributors during the year (173 in previous year, 2022) donating a total of £91,911 ( £86,551) in previous year, 2022)

Total Income of the congregation during the year was £213755, compared to £200000in the previous year.

Total Expenditure for 2023 was £153312 compared to £161871 in 2022.

RESPONSIBILITIES IN RESPECT OF THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice.

The Trustees are required to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the congregations and the financial activities for that year. In preparing the financial statements the Trustees are required to:

The Trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the funds transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the congregations and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Statement of Recommended Practice “Accounting and Reporting by Charities (1 January 2015)”. 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.

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND

ANNUAL REPORT

For the year ended 31 December 2021

GOING CONCERN

The activities of the congregation are dependent on ongoing contributions from its members. The Trustees are of the opinion that the congregation has sufficient resources at the date of approval of these financial statements to meet commitments which will arise in the year from the date of signing this report and subject to the continuing support from members to fund on an ongoing basis the congregation’s current activities and other financial commitments.

RESERVES POLICY

The Trustees have considered the level of unrestricted reserves that it is appropriate to hold taking account of current and ongoing commitments. It is the policy of the Trustees, where possible, to hold at least 3 month’s normal expenditure. At the year-end unrestricted reserves were £38,541.

RISK REVIEW

A review of major risks has been undertaken by the Trustees and systems and procedures implemented to manage identified risks. The principal risks are in relation to the likelihood of reputational damage and financial risks associated with the expectation of ongoing financial support from members. These risks are mitigated by the Trustees, and the Congregational Committee, regularly monitoring the various activities of the congregation at stated meetings and by encouraging members in their regular giving.

Approved by the Kirk Session at a meeting on 20[th] February 2024 and signed on its behalf by

Rachael Newburn Naomi Morrison 20[th] February 2024 20th February 2024

Charity Commission Mission Purpose