OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2022-12-31-annual-report

Richhill Presbyterian Church a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Registered with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland NIC 104808

TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT

The Trustees present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022 including a Balance Sheet as at that date.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Richhill Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 6 Corcreevy Road, Richhill, Co. Armagh,BT619JR

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC104808)

CHARITY TRUSTEES

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

Rev A McNeely Mr D Parr Mr T Ellison Mr D Milligan Mr G Evans Mr M Vallelly,Mr L Brownlee Mr T Graham Mr M McHugh Mr E Hanna Mr R Cregan Mr S Cardwell Mr S Thompson Mr W Diffin.

The following persons were ordained and installed as elders on 27/2/22: Dessie Black,Alastair Graham, Sam Strain and Stephen Todd.

PRINCIPAL OFFICE BEARERS

Minister: Rev A. McNeely Clerk of Session: Mr T Graham Treasurer : Mr S Thompson

AUDITOR

MG Accountants 25-27 Carleton St Portadown BT 623EP

BANKER

Danske Bank 45-48 High St Portadown BT 621LB

SOLICITORS

Thompson Mitchell 12-14 Mandeville St Portadown BT623NZ

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 congregations. 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 at monthly/ six weekly intervals. 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. Richhill Presbyterian Church has been assigned to the Armagh 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 each 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, 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

Richhill 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 AND PURPOSE :

RPC exists to lead people to saving faith in Jesus, to bring them to maturity within the fellowship, and to encourage them to worship God in Spirit and Truth, and with lives of service. This involves our 5 core purposes….

Our Values:

ACTIVITIES AND OBJECTIVES

The congregation met for worship every Sunday, morning and evening, Visitors are made very welcome.

The sacrament of the Lord’s Supper was observed on 5 occasions, when individually sealed communion bread and wine cups were continued to be used as as agreed by Kirk Session.

Regular Bible study meetings are held as well as a wide range of organisations including:

- Sunday School/ Grid ( Bible Class)

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Worship and prayer

We acknowledged God’s gift of new life at 6 Sacraments of infant Baptism. Five adults were also baptised.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 393 communicant members and 128 families connected with the congregation.

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 part time pastoral minister. Rev Wilson Gordon, a member of the congregation, who is our voluntary Pastoral Care minister. . Elders and pastoral Care team members also offer practical support when required. All are supplied with a weekly CD of Sunday Worship.

Mission and outreach

At a local level the congregation and its organisations exist to provide care and Christian love to the local community. Many unchurched families attend the weekly organisations.Annual outreach events are held such as Holiday Bible Club which ran for 4 consecutive mornings in August reaching almost 200 children from nursery to P 7.

Ambassadors hosted a free week of football camp in July with over 200 primary school children in attendance at the local football pitch. These outreaches all hold family friendly services to which many unchurched come.

An Addictions Support Group meets monthly in our church facility to offer help and support to those struggling with a variety of addictions.

A Christianity Explored course is held annually in the village café. 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 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.

Our Mission fund envelope collection enables us to give generously to the work of God ’ s Kingdom at home and worldwide.

RPC continues to support prayerfully and financially our specific missionary partners in Krakow,Sweden and Spain. Small teams have gone out to work alongside our Spanish and Polish partners.

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, 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.

Our Mission fund envelope collection enables us to give generously to the work of God’s Kingdom at home and worldwide.

Presbytery

The monthly Presbytery meetings are attended by the minister and one representative elder. This provides an important link between the congregations and the wider structures of the church.

General Assembly

The General Assembly meeting took place in June 2022 with a session held on the Saturday to facilitate those unable to attend due to work commitments.

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 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 Commission’s public benefit requirement statutory guidance.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The congregation’s main source of income is members’ contributions through the Weekly Freewill Offering. There were 282 contributors during the year donating a total of £252283 (£247195 in previous year, 2021).An increase of 2.05% from the previous year.

The total income of the congregation during the year was £ 549749 compared to £470806 in the previous year. (Increase of 16.76% )

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 congregation 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.