2022-12-31-annual-report - Ballynure Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

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Ballynure 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 NIC104933

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

Ballynure congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Main Street Ballynure

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC104933)

CHARITY TRUSTEES

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

Rev James Rogers

Mr Robert Allen

Mr Alastair Black

Mrs Anne Boyd

Mr Jim Browne

Mr George Clarke

Mr Aubrey Crowe

Mr Gareth Gilchrist

Ms Heather Kennedy

Mr James Logan

Mr Andrew Murray

Mr Irvine Richardson

Mr David Robinson

Mr Mark Shields

Mr Richard Wallace

PRINCIPAL OFFICE BEARERS

Minister Clerk of Session Treasurer

Rev J W D Rogers Mr George Clarke Mr Aubrey Crowe

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER

Neill Walker ACA 23 Toberdowney Valley Ballynure Ballyclare Co Antrim BT39 9TW

BANKERS Danske Bank & AIB

SOLICITORS J W McNinch & Son Larne

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 held monthly with the exception of July and August.

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. Ballynure Presbyterian Church has been assigned to the Carrickfergus 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.

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 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

Ballynure 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 purpose is to be a heart for Jesus in the heart of the community.

The year under report (2022) was a year in which Church activities began to return to a more normal routine in line with practice prior to the Covid 19 Global pandemic. The congregation and associated organisations met in line with the extant Covid restrictions which varied and reduced over the year leading to more or less ‘normal’ activities by the end of 2022.

Despite the challenges of the pandemic during the year we conducted 4 baptisms and gave thanks for faithful service and sought to comfort those who had been bereaved during the year. We were blessed with 8 new full members joining the congregation.

At 31 December 2022 there were approximately 281 families connected with the congregation.

During the year we were able to run a number of discipling events such as The Bible Course and Discipleship Explored as well as a Week of Prayer.

Our annual Holiday Bible Club was attended by over 90 local children most of whom were not members of Ballynure Presbyterian.

Miss Heather Kennedy became an Elder Emeritus after 20 years of service to our congregation. As a church family we acknowledged the selfless service of our BB Captain, Mr Irvine Richardson, who stood down after nearly 30 years. Later in the year celebrated the 60[th] Anniversary of our GB section, a milestone also reached by our BB. We were able to celebrate the Jubilee of Her Majesty the Queen; subsequently and sadly we also commemorated Her Majesty’s death later in the year. We also ran other fellowship events such as walks, fun nights and Barbecues.

We continued to support our local community as we were able and in particular continued to show Christ’s love in practical action by continuing to collect for our local foodbank. As part of the Global Church we also supported Christian Aid and Tear Fund and held an Eco Fair to raise awareness of environmental issues. We also registered as a ‘Safe Church’ with reference to domestic abuse.

By seeking to constantly understand the needs of our Church family and local community and to respond to these needs in a safe and meaningful manner we have sought throughout to show Christ’s love for people and to be a heart for Him in our community.

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 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.

Presbytery

The congregation was represented at such meetings of 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.

General Assembly

The minister and one of our elders were nominated to attend the meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland held in Assembly Buildings, Belfast, in June 2022.

Property

The congregation has begun to plan for a major refurbishment of our buildings. However this has not yet proceeded beyond very initial stages.

Organisations

Our congregation has a range of organisations connected with the life of the Church. These include Boys and Girls Brigade, Sunday School, Youth Fellowship, Noah’s Ark (Mums and Tots group), and Bowling.

We also make our premises available to a range of non church groups who are community based; these include Ballynure and District Community Association; Ballynure and District Friendship Club (which has around 50 members).

The impact of the pandemic was such that these groups were unable to meet in person for large parts of the year, however contact was maintained within the memberships by telephone, emails, virtual meetings and any safe events that could be conducted.

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 Commissions public benefit requirement statutory guidance.

FINANCIAL REVIEW

The congregation’s main source of income is members’ contributions through the Weekly Freewill Offering. Giving in this regard was a total of £89461.00, (£85758.00 in previous year, 2021)

Total Income of the congregation during the year was £162490.00., compared to £143929.00 in the previous year, 2021

Total like for like expenditure decreased to £176120.00 from the 2021 total of £181191.00.

Trustees had no concerns at year end 2022 as our expenditure decreased. All in all the Church finished with a healthy balance which was no mean achievement.

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:

select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent

prepare the financial statements on the 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 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 2022

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

It is the Policy of Trustees to hold at least 3 month’s normal expenditure.

The Trustees consider the level of Unrestricted reserves @ £22539.00 (held in cash) as potentially adequate in the event of need.

RISK REVIEW

Systems and procedures have been implemented by the Kirk Session 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 19[th] September 2023 and signed on its behalf by

George Clarke (Clerk of Session)

Aubrey Crowe (Treasurer)