Armagh Road (Portadown) Congregation of The Presbyterian Church in Ireland
Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statement for the year ended 31st December 2023
Registered Charity in N Ireland NIC104848
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Armagh Road (Portadown) Congregation of The Presbyterian Church in Ireland
Trustees annual report
Trustee’s report, Charity Trustees, Officers, Structure and Management, Description and purpose, Activities and objectives, Achievements, Pastoral Care, Mission and outreach, Organizations, Public benefit statement, financial review.
The Trustees present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023
including a Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at that date.
REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS
Armagh Road (Portadown) Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland
27 CHURCH STREET PORTADOWN CRAIGAVON BT62 3LN
REGISTERED CHARITY IN NORTHERN IRELAND (NIC104848)
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Charity Trustees
The Charity Trustees who served during the year or who were trustees at the time of the report were
Name
Mr James Bamford Mrs Irene Bowman Mr John Bradfield Rev Christina Bradley[♦] Mrs Dawn Conner Mr Nigel Conner Mrs Roberta Dunlop Mr Mervyn Gilmour Mr Mitchell Graham
Mr Noel Greenlee[♦] Mr Arnold Hatch Mr Carlo Hughes Mr Billy Jackson[♦] Mrs Thelma Jackson[♦] Mr John Kilner Dr David Lowry Mrs Rosemary McCall Miss Angela Neilly
Mrs Joyce Neilly Mr Sam Paul Mr Desmond Rainey Mrs Moyra Stirling Ms Ruth Stirling Mrs Carol Swann Mr George Swann Mrs Betty Wilson Mr Michael Wilson
♦Retired
Principal office Bearers
Minister
Clerk of Session
Dr David Lowry
Treasurer
Mr James Bamford
Independent Examiner
David Pepper
Bankers
Ulster Bank
20 High Street Portadown
Craigavon BT62 1HZ
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Solicitors
T D Gibson & Co 17 Church Street Portadown, Craigavon BT62
Trustees Annual Report (cont.)
Structure and Management
The Kirk Session
2023 was an eventful year in the life of Armagh Road Church.
Rev Christina Bradley retired from ministry at the end of March 2023 after serving Armagh Road for 17 years. Her last service was on 26[th] March 2023 following which the congregation held a lunch for 120 members and guests. Tributes were paid for her faithful service to the congregation and she was presented with a cheque and a television for her new home. We wish her well and God’s every blessing as she enters a new chapter in her life in retirement.
The following Sunday Rev Nigel McCullough took the service as Convenor of the vacancy and was made to feel very welcome by the congregation. Rev McCullough is minister of Hill Street in Lurgan and along with ministers both active and retired, and accredited preachers of PCI, leads our worship every Sunday. We have been blessed by their preaching and they in turn appear to enjoy their visits to our congregation.
Rev Brian Hughes who is a retired hospital chaplain has also joined us on a sessional basis to provide pastoral care to those of our congregation in need and we are grateful for his ministry.
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Our Sunday services continue to be enhanced by the choir and our regular organists Stephen Furphy, Jonny Reynolds and Aileen Clarke, along with Rodney Spence and others on an ad hoc basis. To them all our heartful thanks.
The audio-visual team continue to provide weekly discs to the housebound, and to broadcast our services over the internet, and our Congregational Committee works hard to maintain church property, health and safety checks, provide catering and secretarial duties and financial affairs. All are volunteers and deserve our sincerest gratitude.
Sadly we lost eight members during the year and we expressed our heartfelt sympathy to their grieving families as we remembered them in prayer.
On a happier note we baptised two infants and one adult in 2023, and had one wedding.
To all we extended a warm welcome and congratulations.
It is widely acknowledged that there is a shortage of ministers in P C I and there are many vacancies throughout Ireland. Kirk Session continue to be engaged with Rev McCullough in trying to find a way forward to address our vacancy and find approval to call.
Please continue to support your church and pray for Rev Bradley in her retirement and for Rev McCullough and Kirk Session in their deliberations.
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 congregation assigned to it by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Armagh Road (Portadown) congregation of the 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, ministers who have retired from active duty and an elder appointed by the Kirk Session of the congregation
Public Benefit Statement
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland meets the public benefit requirements by providing benefit to its members and the 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)
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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 notice boards, printed material, press advertisement, websites and social media or other ways.
The benefits are demonstrated through regular evaluation of the service 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 because of their holding office or employment. However, this is incidental and necessary 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 congregations’ main sources of income are members’ contributions through the Freewill Weekly Offering (FWO), Property and Mission envelopes. There were (136) contributors during the year, (134) in previous year, 2022, donating a total of £111,539, previous year £111,248.
Total income of the congregation during the year was £127,769 (includes £3367 from organisations), compared to £240534 in the previous year.
Total expenditure was £94,524 (includes£3427) from organisations), compared to £117.638 in the previous year.
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 61(3) of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland )2008 to prepare a receipts and payments account and a statement of assets and liabilities.
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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 (enter date) and signed on its behalf by
Name David Lowry Name Rev Nigel McCullough Date March 2024 Date March 2024
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