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2022-12-31-annual-report

Knockloughrim Presbyterian Church A congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

Trustees Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2022

The Trustees present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021 a Statement of Assets and Liabilities as at that date.

Reference and Administrative Details

Knockloughrim Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland 57 Ballynacross Road, Knockloughrim, Magherafelt, BT45 8PY

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC105654)

Charity Trustees Rev Gareth Stewart Rev John Martin Mr Wilbur Bownes

Principal Office Bearers

Minister(convenor) Clerk of Session Treasurer

Rev John Mullan Mr Wilbur Bownes Mrs Margaret Rainey

Independent Examiners

McGrath Pattison Ltd, 61D Main Street, Maghera, BT46 5AB

Bankers

Ulster Bank, 13 Main Street, Maghera, BT46 5AA Danaske Bank, 14 Broad Street, Magherafelt, BT45 6EA (Mid -Week only)

Solicitors

James Burnside & Co.., 43 Main Street, Maghera, BT46 5AA

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 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 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 Session 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 Interim Session. 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 as necessary. 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 chosen 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 congregation assigned to it by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. Knockloughrim Congregation of the Presbyterian Church has been assigned to the Tyrone Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. The membership of the Presbytery consists mainly of the

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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.

Description and Purpose – The charitable purpose of the congregation is the advancement of religion. Knockloughrim congregation 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 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 by the grace of God to help people of all ages become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. Our vision is, by the grace of God, to be an inclusive, welcoming community of Christ’s people of all ages, which is increasingly characterised by love for God, and love and concern for others, is committed to the historic Christian gospel as revealed in the Bible and is relevant to people of this time and place. The Congregation aims to, live out its Mission and Vision as a family of God’s people by being a Covenant Community, where our relationships intentionally take the lead to engage with the blessings of God that belong to us in the gospel to become blessings for others beyond the bounds of our community. As a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, we believe that the Bible is the supreme authority over all we do, and that the Westminster Confession of Faith, along with the Larger and Shorter Catechisms set out what we understand the Bible teaches on key matters of Christian faith and practice.

Achievements and Performance

Worship and prayer. The congregation normally meets for worship each Sunday now at 10.40 am with prayer time at the earlier time of 10.00 am. Our mid-week Bible Studies is held in both churches in alternative Thursday evenings, this provides an opportunity for members to meet together for fellowship, to study the scriptures and for prayer. As well as our regular services during the year we gave thanks for faithful service and sought to comfort those who had been bereaved during the year. All are welcome to attend our services. The average week attendance is 50 with the number increasing at our traditional services of celebration. We have been blessed that during our vacancy we have continued to be supported in ministry by Rev Hugh Mullan and Mrs Deidre Mullan with their attendance at our prayer time in advance of our morning services and as they faithfully lead each of our services each Sunday.

Pastoral Care – Rev Mullan has continued to visit faithfully providing pastoral care to all of our members.

Mission and outreach

Helping those in need is a demonstration of our faith. At a local level the congregation’s local mission and outreach has included supporting financially and practically a range of missionaries and agencies. 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, assist congregations with the deployment of locally based staff, enables church planting, provides grant support for the upkeep of church premises, assists 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.

Presbytery – The congregation was represented at the regular meetings of Presbytery by our Convenor. This provides an important link between the congregation and the wider structures of the church.

Activities and Objectivities – The Congregation meets for worship every Sunday and visitors are welcome. The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is observed twice a year and all those who have been baptised and who have made a profession of faith in the Lord Jesu Christ are admitted to the Lord’s Supper. The congregation holds regular bible study meetings and has a wide range of organisations including Sunday School, Bible Class, Children’s Church, Bowling Club, Craft Club, Presbyterian Women’s Group and Youth Club. During this year these activities have returned to normality and updates are detailed below from each of the Organisations.

Congregational Committee Update

This year we have taken the opportunity to continue our maintenance programme within the church with the hall, kitchen and its toilet facilities painted by Stephen Spillane and the windows frames and doors varnished and the car park gates and railings painted by Sam Cahoon We record our thanks and appreciation for this work. A strimmer was bought to help in the upkeep of the graveyard and the fence at the boundary of the car park has been removed to prepare for the planting of a hedge later this year. We would like to record our thanks to Rodney Fullerton for his dedication and service in maintaining the church grounds to such an exceptionally high standard.

We received a generous donation of £1000 from the family of the late Vera Lee which we were very thankful for and we were pleased at the Harvest Evening Service to be able to dedicate items of furniture donated by families over the last few years along with remembering those who had donated monies to our church fund.

At our Christmas Candlelit Service, we welcomed Eden Accordion Group and our Youth Club to support our evening of carols and enjoyed a time of hospitality together in the hall afterwards provided by our wonderful catering team who are always willing to help. Our Cleaning Rota has been introduced again and we would be of course be delighted to see additional names added to this list.

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Our Welcome rota has also been introduced this year again and we are delighted for those who have agreed to help and particularly pleased to see our ladies involved in this service.

Finance

Financially our FWO contribution has increased this year slightly whilst our family numbers has fallen. We did not manage to meet our United Appeal target which is set at £50 per family. A family is defined as a household (those living at the same address). The shortfall was collected from our main account which is normally used to cover our running costs. We have seen a significant increase in our electricity costs but are aware that at the end of last year we received several estimates so the cost is not as high as it would seem and of course our oil heating has also increased significantly.

We have supported our charities this year again raising £1000 for Missions, a Family Appeal with £2000 being gifted and the Moderator’s Appeal of £450. At the Orange Service £406.30 was raised for Action Cancer.

Choir

We are delighted to have our choir back in place for our weekly services and our larger choir for our key events including Easter, Harvest and at Christmas lead by our very talented organist Joanna Moore whose guidance and leadership we always appreciate.

PowerPoint/Online Media

We continue to avail of the PowerPoint to support our services and are very thankful to all who help cover this role, in particular Clifford Robinson and Andrew Moore and know that our online Facebook service are valued by our local community. The services are still made available in the hall and the facility is available to any families who wish to be present in a more informal environment.

Mid-Week Meetings

There’s no greater privilege than praying with Jesus. Our Mid-Week Meetings are held on a Thursday night starting at 8pm alternating every other week with Bellaghy.It is a great time of fellowship lasting an hour in a relaxed atmosphere and we would be so pleased if you would join with us. On average we have, in attendance, a dozen people from both congregations so plenty of room for many more. Everyone is very welcome whether you are a Christian or a non-Christian; we would love it if you would also bring a friend.We welcomed Mrs Freda Kerr from the Mid Ulster Christian Helpline (MUCH) - Tel No. 028 7964 4499 to our meeting in December before finishing for the Christmas break. She told us about the Christian work that the MUCH team do by helping and advising people in strictest confidence, both young and old, with spiritual and practical matters like loneliness, mental health, hardship, etc. connecting them with various organisations, agencies and groups who specialise in their individual needs. This year we have been studying the bible from a farming/rural perspective commencing each meeting with a prayer followed by a praise, the reading of a short article from Good News for the Countryside and a 20-minute video of Angus Buchan’s Grassroots series on the related topic. Over the past few weeks we have looked at (1) Who is He (2) Wait (3) Jesus is God and (4) The Way. There is a time of discussion on the topic followed by a prayer time ending with fellowship over a cuppa.

Trevor & Selina Paul

Holiday Bible Club

The Holiday Bible Club was held this summer again in our sister church Bellaghy’s grounds. Andrew and Carolyn Maybin facilitated the programme and we were pleased that this club was well supported by many members of both churches. The club was well attended by about 25 children who took in a range of activities including bible verses, bible stories, music, games and outdoor games.

Sunday School

Sunday School resumed after the summer break in September,6 and it was lovely to welcome three new children. There are two classes totalling six children. The class for the younger children is taken by me (Cheryl) and the older class is taken by Charlotte and Rosanna Fullerton alternatively. Attendance has been excellent, and we have been blessed by the children’s eagerness to learn about God. The programme followed is from, ‘goteach’ God’s Word to 5-7 and 8–11-year-olds. Below is an outline of the weekly lessons:

God makes the world/God begins his work

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Learning to trust in Jesus/Seeing our need of Jesus

Jesus is born, the Saviour comes

Cheryl Speers

The Back of the Hill Youth Club

The Back of the Hill Youth Club has enjoyed another successful year every other Friday night from October to March. We welcome children of Primary School Age as well as some Year 8 pupils. During 2022, the children had the opportunity to participate in a range of sports and fitness activities, crafts and baking. One of our highlights of our year was the visit from Casey from Tales of the Wild, Portrush. The children enjoyed this hands on experience, getting the opportunity to meet some of God’s more unusual creatures such as a skunk, a pygmy hedgehog, an owl and a snake. Youth Club welcomed our children back in October with our ever popular bouncy night. Numbers had also bounced back to pre-COVID-19 numbers with 35 children registering for BOTH Youth Club. It was lovely to see familiar faces returning and also lots of new ones. Children got the opportunity to learn Makaton under the tutoring of Andrea Linton. Makaton is the UK's leading programme for adults and children with learning or communication difficulties. It is a language programme that combine signs, symbols and speech to give different options for people to communicate. Using signs can help people who do not use speech The children enjoyed learning how to spell their name using the Makaton signs below:

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We also learned to sing and sign ‘Jesus loves Me’ and ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas’ which we prepared for performing at the Candlelit Carol Service in December. The children had also been working on preparing a Christmas Hamper and card for the residents and staff of Mountainview Retreat, Rocktown Road, Knockloughrim. On 18th December some of our children and Leaders visited Mountainview and were welcomed. Hopefully, this experience will help our children realise the importance of giving as noted in Acts 20:35‘In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Donna Park Fullerton/Garry Ewing, Lorraine Steele

Presbyterian Women’s Group

This year we have been unable to start our regular monthly meetings but are thankful that we have been able to maintain our annual PW Service. We were delighted to have the Maybin family with us and to hear at first hand and see the photographs of the valuable work ongoing of their mission within the community and to enjoy their praise. We were delighted that a number of our ladies also participated in the service and we hope this incoming year to organise more activities recognising the benefits when as a church our ladies can meet to together. We would love to see more ladies join with us and hope that our numbers can increase.

Craft Class

Knockloughrim Craft Class has eight members. We visit once weekly in houses as one of our members has had surgery. Currently we are doing our own crocheting.e.g. Baby Blankets /Cardigans etc. and we have just finished our Christmas Projects. New members ae always welcome.

Marie Kelly

Bowling Club

Monday nights at eight o’clock a small group of people meet in the church hall for bowls. We come from various churches and villages. We sometimes play bowling matches with our sister church Bellaghy Presbyterian church . We provide bowls for anyone who have none of their own and we would welcome anyone who would like to join us for a game anytime.

Jacqueline Beattie

Volunteers – We would like to acknowledge our deep appreciation and thanks to all those who have freely given of their time by serving on the committee, those who have led and helped in our various organisations including the Sunday School, Youth Club, PW, Holiday Bible Club, Bowling Club, Craft Class and Mid-Week, our organist and choir for leading our worship and for those who organise and manage our PowerPoint, We also record our thanks and appreciation for those who maintain the graveyard and church grounds and those who have helped carry out maintenance work to the church, its buildings and grounds and our families who have generously supported the church, those who have welcomed visitors in our church throughout the year and those who have been involved in the upkeep, repair and cleaning of our church, hall and grounds and those who have helped in church activities in many other ways.

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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 congregational churches and 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

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC10565)

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 mains source of income is members’ contributions to the General Fund through the Weekly Freewill Offering and Building Fund. Total income of the congregation during the year amounted to £40,479 and expenditure £ 27,667. - The Trustees are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statement of the congregation in accordance with applicable law and generally accounting practice. As the congregation’ s total income does not exceed £259,000 the Trustees have elected under Section64(113) 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 congregations; 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 any other irregularities.

Approved:

Rev John Mullan _

Date 10 March 2023

Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC10565)