OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

2022-12-31-annual-report

DRUMACHOSECONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND

Trustees Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2022

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland(NIC105618)

DRUMACHOSECONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN 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 DETAILS

Drumachose congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 27 Church Street

Limavady BT 49 0BX

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC105618)

CHARITY TRUSTEES

The Charity Trustees who served during the year, or part of the year, were

Dr Albert McNeill Rev David Brownlow
Mr Richard Gault Mrs Alison Thompson
Mr Richard Pollock Mr James McArthur
Mr Martin Baird Mrs Sylvia Nicholl
Mrs Alexandra (Sandra) Carmichael Mr Sam McGregor (resigned 30thJune 2022)
Mr Richard Gallick Mr John Jameson (resigned 24thMarch 2022)
Mr William (Billy) Wallace (resigned 13thMarch
2022)

PRINCIPAL OFFICE BEARERS

Minister in charge

Rev David Brownlow

Clerk of Session

Dr Albert McNeill assumed the role of Clerk of Session on 21[st] September 2022 and is the author of this report

Treasurer (From 1[st] January 2023 Mrs Hilary Robinson, and Mrs Alison Thompson assumed the posts of treasurer and assistant treasurer respectively and they have compiled the financial data in this report.)

Dr Trevor Witherspoon

INDEPENDENT EXAMINER Mrs Donna McWilliams, FCCA, 47A Drumsaragh Road, Kilrea, BT51 5XW.

BANKERS

Ulster Bank 30-32 Catherine Street Limavady BT49 9DB

SOLICITORS

R G Connell

13 Main Street Limavady BT49 0EP REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS

DRUMACHOSECONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND

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 congregation. 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 on alternate months and additionally if required.

To be chosen for the office of the eldership in the congregation a person must be a voting member and a regular attendant at 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’s 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. Drumachose congregation of the Presbyterian Church has been assigned to the Coleraine & Limavady 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 within the Presbytery.

DRUMACHOSE CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND 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 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.

Drumachose 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 mission purpose is “To welcome and encourage all people to know, love and follow Christ”.

In fulfilling this mission the congregation:

DRUMACHOSECONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN 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 five occasions during the year and all those who have been baptised 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 and prayer meetings and during the Covid pandemic a weekly WhatsApp prayer group meeting was established and this continued throughout 2022.

There is a wide range congregational of organisations including:

DRUMACHOSECONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)

ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE

Worship and prayer

The congregation meets for worship each Sunday at 11.45am and before Covid restrictions met on every third Sunday evening of the month at 7.00pm.

Sunday services are streamed to our members and recorded on CD or DVD for weekly distribution to ten elderly or infirm recipients.

As well as our regular services during the year we gave thanks for the life and sought to comfort the families of 11 members of our congregation who died in 2022, and we held a memorial service for 18 of our members who had died during the Covid pandemic and for whom usual funeral arrangements had not been possible. There were 2 baptisms and 2 marriages in the church in 2022.

At 31 December 2022 there were 498 communicant members and 278 families connected with the congregation. Six people were admitted to communicant membership by profession of faith. Weekly attendance at morning worship in church was severely reduced following COVID-19 restrictions and people’s concerns about mixing with others outside their immediate families, but gradually increased over 2022 with an average weekly attendance of 100 people.

Pastoral care

Visits to members of the congregation who are unable to attend church due to sickness or age were restricted by COVID-19 but resumed with in-person visits by Rev David Brownlow and the church elders.

Mission and outreach

At a local level the congregation is involved in evangelistic mission outreach. As a result of the Covid pandemic the life and rhythm of our church has witnessed extraordinary change, and huge challenges.

The congregation continued to support 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 congregations in the areas of worship, discipleship, global mission, outreach, leadership and pastoral care.

DRUMACHOSECONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)

The congregation also contributed to the World Development Appeal and Moderator’s appeal. At services each Christmas, contributions are taken for the Presbyterian Children’s Society. The Harvest collection was designated to provide support for the Roe Valley Foodbank

DRUMACHOSECONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)

Presbytery

The congregation was represented at the regular meetings of Presbytery by our minister and of one of the elders. This provides an important link between the congregations and the wider structures of the church.

General Assembly

One of our elders was nominated to attend, along with our minister, the meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland held in Assembly Buildings, Belfast, in June.

Property

During 2022 routine maintenance was carried out to the properties.

Organizations

See above.

The Trustees wish to acknowledge their deep appreciation of those who give freely of their time by serving on committees and helping with organizations 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.

DRUMACHOSECONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT (cont’d)

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.

DRUMACHOSE CONGREGATION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN 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 166 contributors from 151 contributing families during the year donating a total of £60,324 (£ 57,477 in previous year, 2021)

Total Income of the congregation during the year was £128,224, compared to £147,997 in the previous year. A generous legacy from the estate of a deceased member inflated the 2021 income figure.

Total expenditure increased from £100,136 in 2021 to £123,855. The increase in expenditure was expected due to a full year’`

s ministers salary assessment by Church House.

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) 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.

Approved by the Kirk Session at a meeting on 12[th] September 2023and signed on its behalf by

Rev David Brownlow

Dr Albert McNeill

11/09/2023 11/09/2023