Charity number: NIC104849 Ballyclare Congregation of The Presbyterian Church in Ireland Trustees. Report and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 December 2023 Ballyclare Congregation of The Presbyterian Church in Ireland Contents Page Reference and Adminlstrative Details of the Charlty, Its and Advlsers Trustees. Report Independent Examiner's Report Statement of Financial Activitles 10 Balance Sheet 11 Notes lo the Flnanclal Statements 12-22 Ballyclare Congregation of The Presbyterian Church in Ireland Reference and Administrative Details of the Charity, its Tn￿ and Advisers For the year ended 31 December 2023 Trustees Mr William C￿hrane Rev. Jonathan Moxen Mr David Duncan Mr David Gawn Mr Peter Gordon Mr Maurice F¢8her Mrs Kay Fisher Mr Martin Hull Mr Mark Irwn Mrs Deborah Johnston Mr Trevor Johnston (resigned 19 September 2023) Mrs Janet Kennedy (resigned 25 April 2023) Mrs Irene Kilpatrick Dr Stephen Luney (resigned 17 June 2023) Mr Keith Marshall Mrs Jennifer Millar Mr Niall Mcconkey, Clerk of Session Miss Averil McKeown Mr Henry Mcwilliam {deceased 4 August 2023) Mr Thomas Young Mrs Noma Adams (appointed 12 February 2023) Mrs Sheelagh Dalton (appointed 12 Febnjary 2023) Mr Chris Dickey (appointed 12 February 2023) Mr Gareth Harding (appointed 12 February 2023) Mr lain Holmes (appointed 12 February 2023) Mrs Adele Irwn (appointed 12 February 2023> Mts Zoe Lutton (appointed 12 February 2023> Charity registered number NIC104849 Principal off￿e Balyclare Presbytersan Church 2 Foundry Lane Ballyclare County Antrim BT39 9BQ Secretary Mr James Foster Treasurer Mr R J Johnston Accountants ASM (B) Ltd Chartered Accountsnts and Ststutory Auditors 4th Floor Glendinning House 6 mu￿aY Street Belfast BT16DN Page 1 Ballyclare Congregation of The Presbylerian Church in Ireland Reference and Admlnistrative Details of the Charlty, Its Trustees and Advisers {¢ontlnued For the year ended 31 December 2023 Bankers u￿ter Bank 37 High Street Carrickfergus County Antrim BT38 7AN Danske Bank 18 The Square Bafiyclare BT39 98 Solicitors JW McNinch 37 Main Street Ballyclare BT39 9AA Page 2 Ballyclare Congregation of The Presbyterian Church in Ireland Trustees. Report For the year ended 31 December 2023 STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT The Kirk Session The charity trustees of the congregation are the members of the Kirk Session. Under the congregation's governing document, 'The C¢)de. the Book of the ConstitUt￿n and Govemment of the Presb￿erian 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 wthin its bounds. It ensures pastoral care for its members, and it seeks to further the contribution of the Church to Christian witness and service in the communty. The Kirk Session has delegated the temporal affairs of the congregation to its Congregational Committee. including the administration of all funds and property belonging to the Congregation. Members of the Kilk Session are ex officio members of the Congregational Committee. The Kirk Session consists of the ordained minister and ruling elders of the congregation. All members are entitled to propose. speak and exercise equal votes at meeb"ngs, except that the Moderator, the minister in actlve duty. has no deliberative votes but only a casting vote. Stated meetings of the Kirk Session are held at least 8 times each year. To be chosen for the office of the eldership, a person must be a voting member of the cong￿gati1)n and a regular attender on its ordinances. The selection of those proposed to be called as elders can either be by the congregation or by the Kirk Session. Members are elecled rf they obtain two thirds of the votes cast by those who vote. Presbytery Under the Presbyterian Church wi Ireland form of govemance, the corporate oversight of a congregation is the responsibilty of a PreSb￿ery. which superintends the spiritual and temporal affairs of the congregations assigned to rt by the General Assembw of the PresbWerian Church in Ireland. Ballydare Presbyterian Church is part of the Carrickfergus Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. The membership of the Presbytery consists primarily of the active ministers of all its congregations. ministers 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. administrative and judicial authonty. The General Assembly is normally constituted, annual￿, during the first week of June. and meets for worship and business. At the end of business, It Is dissolved. The members of the General Assembly consist primarily of the actwe ministers of each congregation. retired ministers. and a representative elder appointed by the Kirk Session of each congregation. DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE Ballyciare Presbyterian Church is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. a Refomied ChurGh wilhin the wider Church of Jesus Christ. acknowledging the Word of God. as set forth in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments as th8 only infdlible rule of faith and practice. and the supreme slandard of the Church. Ballyclare PreSb￿eri8￿ Church exists to love and honour God through faith in Jesus Christ. in the power of the Holy Spirit, and to enable its members to gr(pw in faith and play their part in advancing God's kingdom in his wodd. The congregation's overall vlslon Is summed up in the phrase, People Matter lo God, and rts lrte and activty is e￿reSSed in temis of Making Disciples, Making an Impact. In all its many aspects, the congregation seeks to be Biblul, serwng all age groups. creative in all its ad¢vities, committed to serving people physically, emolionalty and spiritually, outward looking and welcoming to the whole community, and in all of this being commrtled to our heritage as part of the Presb￿erian Church in Ireland. Page 3 Ballyclare Congregation of The Presbyterian chU￿h in Ireland Trustees, Report (continued) For the year ended 31 December 2023 ACTIVITIES AND OBJECTIVES The congregation meets ft)r ￿￿)rShIp every Sunday. and Msitors are atrNays welcome. On four Sundays during the year. the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is ￿lebrated, and all who have been baptised and have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord are invited to participate. The Sacrament of Baptism is obseNed at Sunday moming servi￿. and we also welcome families and their children in a service of Thanksgiving and Reception. We seek to support and prepare couples for Christs'an Marriage and attach great importance to supporting those who have been bereaved both through the funeral service itself and in ongoing pastoral care. In a more general context, we work to provide pastoral care and support for everyone who is connected to our congregation. arKJ especially to those who are ill, unable to attend church through sickness or age, or who are finding life tough and stressful in all sorts of other ways. We do this through the pastoral care of the ministerial staff team. as well as by the Elders arKI Pastoral Visitors, as well as by members of the congregation. Members of the congregakn'on meet on a regular basis for Bible Study and Prayer in smaller groups. The congregation also offers a very wde rarKJe of organi%ations and acttvihes during the week. including the following.. Shine, our children's progpmme.. Youth Fellowship", Presbyterian Women: Choir and Praise Band,. Youth Club.. Boys. Brigade and Girls, Brigade- Bowling Club.. Friendship Group. Parent and Toddler Group,. Men's Football, and many other ￿$8 structured activitios. In all of these actiwties and organisation. we vffjrk to provide Christian SUPF)Ort and encouragement to the families connected to our congregation, as well as seeing them as opportunitie5 to serve the wider communty. make connections and build relationships with pe¢Jple who have re￿ntlY come to live in our ti)wn. and through all of this to be a positive Christian witness to our communty. We participate in joint activities with other local churches, including Fotyjbank, Christians against Poverty, WAVE (worship for people with learning difficulties} and Greater Ballyclare Youth for Christ. We are pleased that we are able to make our halls accommodation available for us by a wide rarvJe of groups from the community. induding Cttizens Advice Bureau, lo¢al s¢hwls, and charities. The congregation gives priorty to Mission and Outre%h, supporting the United Appeal for Mission. the centr mission fund of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, which enables congregations to play their part in the wider mission and outreach of the denomination, at home and abroad. The United Appeal is vital for the support of missinn personnel working in Ireland and throughout the World. enabling church planting. assisting with the running costs of Union Theological College and training ministy students and pastoral workers, supporting social witness projects and through all of this enabling congregations to play their part in the areas of worship, discipleship, global mission, outreach. Christian seNice and caring. leadership development and many other areas. As a congregation. we are also corrffiitted diredly to a var* of other misston projects and organizations. with which the congregation has developed links, and which it supports through personal links, prayer and financial giving. The congregation is represented by the minister and a Representative Elder at the regular meetings of the Carrickfergus Presbytery, and in the same way at the annual meeting of the General Assembly, thus maintaining the essential link be￿een the congregation and the wider structures. decision making and lrfe of our denomination. The congregation has an up-t￿date suite of buildings and these are maintained under the direction of the church committee. During the past year, there has been ongoing minor maintenance and improvements. It is very important to emphasise that the lrfe and work of our congregation is made possible by many people who express their Christian faith through committed, and often sacrificial, Se￿￿e. The trustees wish to record their deep appreciation to all who give of their tirm and grfts in this way. PaJe 4 Balty¢lare Congregation of The Presbyterian Church in Ireland Trustees, Report (continued For the year ended 31 December 2023 As we started 2023 we vRlcomed our new Assistant Minister Matthew Houston and wrfe Hannah to our congregation to complete his training for the Ministry. His li￿n$ing look place on Sunday 18th June in his home church of Wellington Ballymena. We have been greatty blessed by Matthew's preaching and teaching through preparation of discipleship group material and he has been popular with our cong￿gatIon as he has visited over the year. We count it a privilege to help Assistant Ministers prepare for a life in Ministry and see God's blessing through this in the time they spend with us. Special thanks must go to our Mintster Rev. Jonathan Moxen who has led us through this year wth faithful BibliGal teaching and a desire to see pe¢)ple coine to a perbunal living faith and peopte lo 9r¢Jw in their faith. This was fulfilled through well prepared and challenging teaching in moming and evening services and preparing Bible study notes for our discipleship groups. He has guided Session and Commtttee meetings through this year and we are excited to see what God will do through his ministy in BaI￿lare. We welcomed Aaron Anderson our Children and Youth WOTker to the staff team this year helping to support and build our work with children and young people. With the support of Rev. Tom Pollock and the teamwork from Susan Boyd our Musical Director and Ingrid Orr our offi￿ Administrator we have been greatly blessed by God in Ballyclare. Rev. Tom Pollock decided to fully retire at the end of 2023 as our Pastoral Associate after a number of years of service. faithfully Msrting. supporting and helping many of our senior members in the congregation. He will be greatty missed and fondly remembered by us all. We welcomed Rev. Peter Douglas as our new Pastoral Associate and he continues to visit our members in this important ministry. In this year we had 478 families equating to 1135 individuals belonging to our congregation which includes 364 Communicant members. Sadly 23 of our church famity passed away over this year and our thoughts and prayers are with their families. One of these was tiay Mcwilliam who was our longest serving Elder when he passed away, serving our people not just as an Elder from 1973 but also as a BB Officer leading Junior Section. Youth Fellowship leader and leading wth Vera and others in our church partnership with Dorsten Germany. Many will remember his farf(hfvl work growing up in our congregation and hcw God has blessed us through this work. Session continued to work over this with the 7 new Elders joining the team after their ordination on 12th February. New Elders districts were drawn up and new Session Teams including Committee members and members of the congregation to help oversee the work of the congregation were able to meet and plan following Covid. Janet Kennedy and Trevor Johnston retired from the Eldership and we thank them for their faithful Servi￿ to Session and their distrids and thank God for their WO￿ within our congregation. Please continue to pray for our Elders as they lead and make decisions for our congregation, servrng a gracious and loving God who has given them this responsibilty. A new church Committee YRS eleded in May and there vme 16 new Committ* members to help with this important work in our congregation. All serve on different teams on Committee using thcir gifts and talent¥ and we thank all Committee members for their hard work arKI service in k)oking after the fabric and finances of our church. Our youth organisations were able to run full prc*Jrammes this year bringing a sense of normality for our children and young people. God has truly blessed this work wtth big numbers in GB and BB and growng numbers in Junior youth club. Youth Fellowship and Shine. We give thanks for all our youth leaders who have been so faithful in their organisations, building strong relationships with our children and young people and challenging them with the gospel message. We have seen a number of our young people coming to a personal faith and making the decision to become full cornmunicant members in our Congregation. Our adult groups continued to meet with a number of Discipleship groups, PW, Bowls, Friendship Club. Friday Café with Senior Citizens outing and Christmas Dinner. Thank you to all those who lead and organise these programmes and the help and support that is provxled through thenL Our Sunday services rwmain central to our mission with faithful teaching and challenge from our Ministerial team. A large team of people are involved on a Sunday moming from welcoming, plawng instruments, leading the praise. operating screens, operating sound desk. AV room, tea and coffee, Creche and taking part in the seNi¢e. Thank you everyone for using your gtfts and talents as we worship and praise God together as a Church family. Session took the decision to continue streaming our Sunday morning serwces so those unable to join us can still be a part of the service and new people can experien￿ our worship when l¢)oking for a church family to join. Our DVD ministry continues helping those who cannot join us online to still join in our worship Servi￿$. Page 5 Ballyclare Congregation of The Presbyterian Church in Ireland Trustees, Report (continued) For the year ended 31 December 2023 We thank all those who serve our congregation in any way to be sall arKI light in our Ic¢al ¢ommunty in Ballyclare. We continue to see new families join us and we 8re excited to see how will use us in 2024 to advance His lthngdom in all that we do in Bdlyclare. Publk Benefit Statement The Presbyterian Church in Ireland meets the public benefrt requirement by providing benefit to its members, and the general public, by makin9 known the Christian Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ through thc advanccmcnt of religion. The direct beneffts which flow from the purposes of the Church include the gaining of an understanding in Christs'an beliets as set out in the Bible and in the Church's subordinate standards {the Weslminster Confession of Farf(h and the Shorter and Larger Catechisms) leading to spiritual and moral development and opportunities for response to Bible teaching. In tum, this framework leads to practical expressions of Christian beliets and standards in the local community such as the care of those in need {including the sick. disabled and bereaved). Generally. these benefits are delivered locally by Congregational churches and members or are facilrtated through presbyteries. or are organized and delivered centrally. Local delivery is facilitated by central resources in almost all cases. Public aC￿SS is made known through the use of noticeboards. printed material, press advertisement, websttes, and social media or in other ways. Thè béneffts are demonstrated through regular evaluation of the services and infomal and ad-hoc feedback from members, their families, and members of the public. The purpose does not lead to hanm. The only private benefit flowing from our purpose is related to Ministers. Miss￿na￿eS. Deaconesses. Irish Mission workers and Lay Agents who recetve benefits as a result of their holding office or emplO￿￿ent. 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 mambars, thair familias, other individuals that tha Prasbytarian Church in Iroland is in diract and indirgct contact with, the community in which pastoral seplices are provided and other communities throughout Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and worldwide which benefft from our engagement wf(h and support for both Christian and other secular organizations, charities and indlvidual members of the public. Flnanclal Review The Trustees are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and Financial Statements in accordance wtth applicable law and UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practi￿. They are required to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the affairs of the congregation and the financial adivities of that year. In preparing the financial statements, the I trustees are required to.. - Sèlect SU[tab￿ policiès and apply them ernsisténtty. Make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent. - Prepare the financial statements on the on-going concern basis. unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Funds will continue in operation. The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are SLfficient to show and explain transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the congregation and enable them to ensure that that the financial statements cornply ￿1th the statement of Recommended Practice 'A¢counting and Reporting by Charities (1st January 2015),. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the congregation and hen￿ for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularib'es. The activities of the congregation are dependent on the owing contributions of its members. The Trustees are of the opinion that the congregation has sufficient resources at the date of the approval of these financial statements to meet the commitments which will anse in the year from the signing of this report and subject to the continuing support of members to fund on an ongoing basis the congregation's current activities and financial ommitments. Reserves Pollcy It is the policy of the Trustees to maintsin sufficient reserves to cover three months experKliture. Page 6 Ballyclare Congregation of The Presbyterian Church In Ireland Trustees. Report (continued) For the year ended 31 December 2023 Rlsk Assessment The principal risks are in relation to the likelihood of reputational damage and financial risks associated with the expectation of on-going financial support from members. These risks are mtti'gated by the Trustees and the Congregational Committee. through regular monitoring at stated meetings and by encouraging members in their regular giving. Approved by order of the members of the board of Trustees and signed on their half by. Rev. nathan h4oxen Mr Niall Mcconkey Date: 1 June 2024 Page 7