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← Greystone Road Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

2025-12-31-annual-report

GREYSTONE ROAD CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31st December 2025

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC 104869)

The Trustees present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31st December 2025 including a Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at that date.

REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

Greystone Road Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 56 Greystone Road, Antrim, BT41 1HX

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC 104869)

CHARITY TRUSTEES

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

Mr. David Beatty

Mr. Leonard Brereton (Elder Emeritus 17" June) Mr. Samuel Stephen Brown Mr. Roy Browne Mrs. Irene Lutton Mr. Graeme Oliver Lutton Mr. David Lyttle

Mr. David Robert James Magee Mr. David McCabe (resigned 17 June) Mr. Richard Alexander Rutherford Mr. John James Warwick Mr. Mark Wilson Rev. Chris Wilson

PRINCIPAL OFFICE BEARERS

Minister Rev. Chris Wilson Clerk of Session Mr. John James Warwick. Treasurer Mr. Richard Alexander Rutherford.

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GREYSTONE ROAD CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

ELDERS EMERITUS

Mr. John Eccles Mr. John Crawford Mr. Leonard Brereton

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

Mr. Aidan Corrigan, ACA Corrigan CA Ltd 24 Greystone Road Antrim BT41 2Q

BANKERS

Danske Bank. 42, High St. Antrim BT41 4AP

SOLICITORS

Anderson Gillan Barr Ltd 32, Church Street Antrim BT41 4BD

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GREYSTONE ROAD CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

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 minister in active duty in the congregation, has no deliberative but only a casting vote.

Stated meetings of the Kirk session are held every other month.

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 two-thirds of those who vote.

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. Greystone Road congregation of the Presbyterian Church has been assigned to the Templepatrick 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.

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GREYSTONE ROAD CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

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 ministers 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.

Greystone Road 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.

On the 31 December 2025, there were 194 communicant members, 277 families are connected with the congregation and the total attendance at morning and evening worship is approximately 240 plus those who watch online.

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

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GREYSTONE ROAD CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

ACTIVITIES AND OBJECTIVES

The congregation meets for worship every Sunday and visitors are welcome to join with us. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is observed on several occasions during the year and all those who have been baptised and who have madea profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are admitted to the Lord’s Supper. The congregation holds regular bible study and prayer meetings and has a wide range of organisations including:

Child Protection

The Designated Persons for Child protection are Vivien McConnell and Frances Craig. Kirk session appoints the Designated Persons and they are there to provide consultation, advice and support to organisations and to the Kirk Session on matters concerning the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Worship and Prayer

The congregation meets for worship each Sunday at 10:30am and alternate Sunday evenings at 6:30pm. Three Home groups meet for Bible Study and Prayer, two meet on Thursday evenings and the other on Wednesday mornings. We celebrated communion around the Lord’s Table on five occasions during the year.

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GREYSTONE ROAD CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

Mission and outreach

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.

In Greystone Road we support a number of missions through finance and prayer: Tearfund; Asia Link; Middle East Reformed Fellowship; Child Evangelism Fellowship in Romania and Moldova; the Reid family working with the Maasai people in Kenya; MCCP and Destiny Academy church plant Myanmar; Garden of Hope; Antrim Food Bank; Christians against Poverty and SUNI E3 schools’ project.

We have been blessed as a congregation to see many of our young folk actively involved in summer outreach work as well as more long term missionary work at home and overseas.

Volunteers

The Trustees wish to acknowledge their deep appreciation of those who give freely of their time by serving on committees, helping run our organisations, those involved with the live streaming of services together with our music teams who lead our praise and those who look after our church premises internally and externally.

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).

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GREYSTONE ROAD CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

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 notice boards, 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 charitable purpose of the advancement of religion does not lead to harm. The only private benefit flowing from our purpose is related to Ministers, Missionaries, Deaconesses, lrish 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.

Presbytery

The congregation is represented at 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. The representative Elder appointed this year for Greystone Road congregation is Mr. Graeme Lutton.

General Assembly

The minister and one of the elders are nominated to attend the meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland held in Assembly Buildings, Belfast. The representative Elder appointed this year for Greystone Road congregation is Mr. James Warwick.

Property

Our Church buildings and internal furnishings are kept in good condition. This is overseen by our property convener Mr. lan Higgins and his team on the property subcommittee.

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GREYSTONE ROAD CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

Data Protection

To comply with Data Protection policy the Trustees adopted our own Data protection policy which is reviewed each year this ensures that we comply with data protection law and follow good practice. It protects the rights of members and adherents, staff, volunteers and other people we have a relationship with or may need to contact. Mr. Richard Cairns is our Data Protection Officer for Greystone Road Presbyterian Church.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The congregation’s main source of income is members’ contributions through the Weekly Freewill Offering. There were 169 contributors during the year (180 in previous year, 2024) donating a total of £162,592 (£169,985 in previous year, 2024).

The total income of the congregation decreased from £241,257 in 2024 to £228,398 in 2025. As well as the reduction in income from donations and legacies, income from charitable activities also decreased during the year.

Total expenditure decreased from £250,124 to £191,898, mainly due to reduced expenditure from the property fund. The deficit in the property fund has been reduced from £16,820 at the end of 2024 to £1,991 at the end of 2025. It is anticipated that this deficit will be cleared during 2026 provided that no further essential work is required. The Elders meeting wish to have in hand an amount equal to six months regular expenditure as free reserves to meet future shortfalls in income and unexpected expenses. This has been achieved as the balance of free reserves as at 31 December 2025 was £176,140 (£134,295 in previous year 2024) and some of these reserves continue to be used to temporarily offset the deficit in the property fund.

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GREYSTONE ROAD CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT

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 congregations 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 21 April 2026 and signed on its behalf by:-

Rev. Chris Wilson

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ne Ye James Warwick
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