BALLYCASTLE CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYfERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND Trustees Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2022 Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC105313) BALLYCASTLE CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYfERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT The Trustees present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022 including a Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at that date. REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DEfAILS Ballycastle congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland I Castle Street Ballycastle Co. Antrim BT54 6BH Registered Charity in Northern Ireland {NIC105313} CHARITY TRUSTEES The Charity Trustees who served during the year or who were trustees at the date of this report were Mrs Olive Bell Mr David Finlay M iss Patricia Sh irley Mrs Roberta McBride Miss Elizabeth Mccaughan Mr Cecil Redmond Mr Eric Wilson Mr David Loughrey Mrs Valerie Sayers Mr Andrew Todd Mr Paul Hayes PRINCIPAL OFFICE BEARERS Minister Rev John Philip Stanbridge Clerk of Session M iss Patricia Sh irley Treasurer Mrs Kerry Porter INDEPENDENT EXAMINER Olive K Wallace ACMA, CGMA 101 Coolyvenny Road Englishtown Coleraine Co. Londonderry BT513SF BANKERS Danske Bank 24-26 Ann Street Bal lycastle Co. Antrim BT54 6AD SOLICITORS Greer, Hamilton & Galley (Inc. Murphy Carey) 27 High Street Ballymoney Co. Antrim BT53 6A1 BALLYCASTLE CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYfERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont'd) STRucfuRE 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 bi-monthly from September to May or as appropriate. 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 to be called to the office of ruling elder can be proposed either by the congregation or by the Kirk Session. Ruling elders are formally elected if they obtain two-thirds or more 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. Ballycastle congregation of the Presbyterian Church has been assigned to the Route 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 representative elders appointed by the Kirk Session of their respective 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 ministers and a representative elder appointed by the Kirk Session of each congregation. BALLYCASTLE CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYfERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT {cont'd) DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE The charitable purpose of the congregation is the advancement of religion. Ballycastle 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. The congregation's Vision Statement is: To see the congregation being built up again with more young people - while continuing to meet the needs of our many older members. To become more outward looking and community orientated, going beyond a maintenance mentality and radically seeking to obey the commission of Jesus to go out into the world and make disciples, living out our faith in the service of others. We seek to do this by: Honouring God Serving God Making Disciples The congregation's Purpose Statement states its objectives are: •To deepen the faith and commitment of and Christian fellowship among existing and new members. •To spread the Good News to the permanent and transient (holiday) community in Ballycastle. •To spread the Good News to the world at large through support for Christian work in Ireland and overseas. •To be confident enough in our own faith & fellowship to be able to welcome ALL visitors and newcomers to our fellowship whether believers or seekers. BALLYCASTLE CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYfERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont'd) ACTIVITIES AND OBJECTIVES The congregation meets for worship every Sunday and visitors are welcome to join. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper is observed on several occasion5 during the year and all those who have been baptlsed and who have made a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are admitted to the Lord's Supper. The congregation holds regular bible study meetings and has a wide range of organisations, some of whom have suspended their activities or operated under restricted programs: Sunday School & Bible Class Bowing Club Presbyterian Women (PW) Tuesday Morning Coffee Morning Weekly Prayer Meeting Regular Bible Studies As a charitable or8anisation we are only too willing to assist other local charities by providing them with a meeting place to operate from, namely: Coleraine Area Child Contact Centre {Ballycastle Branch); Alcoholics Anonymous AA (NI); Fitness Club. ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE Worship and prayer The congregation regularly meets for morning worship each Sunday at 11.30am. Weekly Prayer Meetings provide an opportunity for members to meet together for fellowship, to study the scriptures and for prayer. As of 31 December 2022, there were 145 communicant members and 117 families connected with the congregation the year: resulting in a total of 197 persons claiming connection with the church. The average weekly attendance at morning worship was forty to sixty persons. BALLYCASTLE CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBITERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont'd) Pastoral Care The minister and elders visit members of the congregation who are unable to attend church due to sickness or age on a regular basis. Mission and Outreach Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, at a local level the congregation provided a monthly Tuesday Morning Coffee Morning, outreach and services provided during the annual Lammas Fair in August. The congregation also hosts the annual SUNI CSSM Bible Club for Primary School children on its premises in the first week of August where approximately 150 children attend throughout the week. The congregation actively supports the work of Ballycastle Church Action (BCA} in partnership with the congregations of St. Patrick's & St Brigid's, Holy Trinity and St James,. The BCA facilitates five annual ecumenical services within the local community each year along with individual one-off event. All of these BCA services ceased throughout 2021, but we are hopeful to renew these services in 2023. The congregation through the BCA sUPPOrt and facilitate the local Good Morning Ballycastle network and the Ballycastle Foodbank; the need of whose services have never been greater due to restricted personal income and unemployment issues during by the Covid-19 pandemic and most recently, the economic crisis. The congregation facilitates other outside agencies and charities that work within our community e.g., Causeway Coast and Glen5 Borough Council's 'Be Safe, week, Inspire Mental Health, Slimming World, a local fitness club, U3A and Causeway Peace Group. 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, Elobal mission, outreach, leadership, pastoral care and social action projects. The congregation also contributes to the denominations annual World Development Appeal, Sunday School project and any other special appeals. BALLYCASTLE CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYfERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont'd) Presbytery Our minister and one of the elders elected by the Kirk Session represented the congregation at the regular meetings of Route Presbytery throughout the year. 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 during the first week of June. Property The Congregational Committee has supervised and conducted a number of maintenance and improvement programmes with regard to property upkeep, namely the reinstatement of the church wall and railing, and its painting. This has greatly improved the aesthetics of the church frontage overall. The hedges in the manse gardens were also addressed by a church work team. The Congregational Committee wish to acknowledge the tremendous work and time commitment of all the volunteers and organisers for these projects. Volunteers The Trustees wish to acknowledge their deep appreciation of those who give freely of their time by serving on committees and volunteering their time with organisations and all other church activities. BALLYCASTLE CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYfERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont'd) 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 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 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. BALLYCASTLE CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYfERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont'd) FINANCIAL REVIEW The congregation's main source of income is members, contributions through the Weekly Freewill Offering. There were 88 contributors during the year (88 in previous year, 2021) donating a total of £54,336 {£48,243 in previous year, 2021). Total income of the congregation during the year was £94,422 compared to £94,859 in the previous year. Total expenditure increased from £78,611 to £110,470. 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 64(3) of the Charities Act (Northern Ireland} 208 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. th Approved by the Kirk Session on 5 September 2023 and signed on its behalf by Rev Dr Andre Alves Areias Miss Patricia Shirley th 5 September 2023 th 5 September 2023