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← Knockloughrim Congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

2025-12-31-annual-report

Knockloughrim Presbyterian Church

A congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland

Trustees Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2025

The Trustees present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2024 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

Principal Office Bearers

Rev Trevor Boyd

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

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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 Interim Kirk Session has delegated to its Congregational Committee the temporal affairs of the congregation including administering all funds and property belonging to the congregation. The Interim Session in the absence of a Minister consists of our Convenor Rev Trevor Boyd supported by Rev Gareth Stewart and Rev John Martin.

Presbytery- Under the Presbyterian Church in Ireland form of governance the corporate oversight of a congregation is the responsibility of a Presbytery which superintends 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 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.

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.

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Achievements and Performance

Worship and prayer. The congregation normally meets for worship each Sunday at 10.40 am. Opportunity for mid-week bible studies in the absence of a minister is provided in Tobermore, Draperstown and Bellaghy as 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 seek to comfort those who had been bereaved during the year. All are welcome to attend our services. The average week attendance is 40/45 with the number increasing at our traditional services of celebration. We have been blessed that during the earlier part of the year during our vacancy we have had the support of Rev McMillan up until April 2025 as he faithfully led our services each Sunday and our alternate mid-week bible studies in Knockloughrim which very much enriched our fellowship. During his time in post, he faithfully visited those who needed pastoral support including a number of families who experienced the loss of loved ones and we know that all within our congregation have been very thankful for his time spent with them. Rev Trevor Boyd has since taken over responsibility for pastoral care and supporting those who have experienced the loss of loved ones and also been very attentive.

The loss of every member of our congregation is always with regret and this year many of our families have experienced this loss. This year we were particularly saddened at the passing of our esteemed elder emeritus Wilbur Bownes originally a member of 1[st] Cookstown Presbyterian. He served as an Officer in Cookstown BB and was secretary of the Mid Ulster Battalion from 1976-1983.He also was a member of the Northern Ireland District Executive Committee for many years. He attended many Battalion camps supported by his late wife Margaret where their faithful work contributed much to the success of each camp. He fondly remembered representing the Boys Brigade at the 1953 Coronation of the late Queen Elizabeth 11 in London. He later moved to Magherafelt and became Captain of Knockloughrim BB. Following his move to our congregation he was a constant and faithful member and served as Congregational Treasurer and Secretary and Clerk of Session for many years. He was well respected, a friend to all and his desire was always even in his latter days to see lives won for Christ.

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

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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 benefits from having a Sunday School, up until June 2025, a Craft Club and Youth Club.

Congregational Committee Update

This year has been a pivotal year for our congregation where on behalf of the congregation the Committee engaged with the Reconfiguration Commission to assist in the determination of our congregation’s future. We met initially with our congregation to gauge understanding of where they felt our future left and the positives and negatives of our congregation. We are very grateful to those who came along and engaged in this consultation. The Committee, Rev Martin and Rev Boyd met with the Commission and had a full discussion on the current status within our congregation. We trust that we represented our congregation adequately. As yet we await the outcome of the way ahead with our future unknown but we approach our future with certainty that nothing is by chance and that God has been preparing the way ahead which will be best for all in the days ahead.

We were also delighted this year to learn of the decision by the Moderator Rev Dr Andrew McMurray to visit our congregation. This was an unique and historical occasion which we will all remember and were delighted to be part of this. James Paul on behalf of the congregation presented Rev McMurray with a picture of Knockloughrim windmill to mark the

occasion. Afterwards we joined with Bellaghy for lunch with our Moderator for a time of fellowship together.

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This year we have enjoyed several evenings together utilising our hall and enjoying some food and craic with Desertmartin Band supporting our March evening and Castledawson Church of Ireland Praise Group supporting our Christmas Dinner event. Our thanks to all who organised both events, those who attended, to Edith Blair for her catering support and the musicians who provided the music.

This year at our Annual Carol Service we were pleased to raise £522 to support Prettynpink a local cancer charity. Our Musical Director directed our choir and all in attendance enjoyed a time of hospitality together in the hall afterwards provided by our wonderful catering team who are always willing to help.

Again, this year we were delighted to provide the use of our facilities to Knockloughrim Primary School Christmas Services and it always is a joy to know that we can support the school in this way.

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Our Cleaning Rota continues in place, and we would of course be delighted to see additional names added to this list but we do appreciate all who give of their service in this way.

Our Welcome rota continues and we are delighted for those who have agreed to help and particularly delighted to see our younger members of our congregation involved in this service.

Finance

Financially our FWO contribution was £27547.15 enhanced by additional gift aid and cash donations which is excellent but unfortunately, we failed to meet our United Appeal target with the shortfall collected from our main account to enable us to meet our target. Families are encouraged to give £60 per family which defined as a household (those living at the same address). We have again supported our charities this year again raising £1025 for Missions, contributing £200 to the joint Holiday Bible Club and a further £200 to the Presbyterian’s Children’s Society and £612 to Prettynpink a local Cancer charity from donations received at our Annual Carol Service. We also received donations from the Crook’s family of £807.60 and the McLean Family £1000 for which we were very thankful. As a congregation we are very much indebted to these families remembering our congregation at a difficult and sad time and very much appreciate their donations to the church.

Choir

Our choir has continued to lead our key events including Easter, Harvest and Christmas led by our incredibly talented pianist Charlotte Fullerton. Both Charlotte and Beth lead our worship faithfully each Sunday and we are very thankful for their willingness to support our congregation in this way.

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 and know that our online Facebook service is 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

Mid-week bible studies are available outside our congregation during the vacancy. Meetings take place in Tobermore Presbyterian Church every Wednesday night at 8pm with the exception of the last Wednesday night of the month being held in Draperstown Presbyterian Church also at 8pm. Meetings also take place in Bellaghy Presbyterian Church every other Thursday night at 8pm.Everyone is welcome to come along and enjoy in the fellowship at all these bible studies. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet together to enjoy fellowship, learn from the Word of God and to pray. If our church is to grow and thrive this is where you should be on a Thursday night.

Trevor & Selina Paul

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Holiday Bible Club

The Holiday Bible Club was held from 4[th] – 8[th] August 2025. The Faith Mission truck arrived at Knockloughrim Primary School on Sunday evening 3[rd] August. The Met Office had issued a yellow warning for strong winds with gusts up to 50 mph to hit Northern Ireland the next day. It was agreed on the Monday morning it was too dangerous to put up the awning of the truck for fear it would blow down and injure someone. A hasty decision was taken, because of health and safety reasons, to use our church hall and that was where we remained for the rest of the HBC.

Despite the very blustery evening 33 children turned up for the start of the HBC and that number of 30+ was sustained every night. There was a packed programme for the week, the theme being “Deep Sea Explorers.” Once again Andrew and Carolyn Maybin from Faith Mission facilitated the programme with the help of their daughter and volunteers from both churches. The children were split into 4 teams and the competitiveness started with all teams vying to come out tops! Following a juice break the children sang choruses, memorised verses, answered questions and took on the team challenges with great gusto.

The score for each team was announced at the end of the night and a prize was awarded for best girl and best boy. The HBC finished on the Friday night with a recap of the memory verses and the overall score for each team during the week was announced with special prizes being awarded to the winning team. A great time of fellowship was had by all who helped in any way along with all the children who participated so willingly during their time at the HBC. Meantime there was a “friendly” football match with members from both churches taking place around in the football pitch in Knockloughrim and I’ll not mention the score!! Parents, grandparents & other family members of the children came together and joined us for a well-earned hotdog (or in some cases maybe two) and ice cream to finish the HBC for 2025.

Selina Paul

Knockloughrim Presbyterian Church Sunday School January – June 2025

Sunday school is held every Sunday at 10am before the church service. Attendance is very good, and the children enjoy the bible activities and

stories. The programme followed is from, ‘goteach’ God’s Word to 5-7 and 8–11-year-olds. Below is a brief outline of some of the weekly lessons studied from January to June 2025:

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King David

The teaching of Jesus

King Solomon

People Jesus met

‘Bring them up in the instruction of the Lord’ Ephesians 6:4

Cheryl Speers

Youth Club

The Back of the Hill Youth Club has enjoyed another successful year. We welcomed on average 15 children each night on a fortnightly basis. Children engaged in a range of sporting activities including football, hockey, team games not to mention use of the muchloved parachute and our bouncy castle night. This year we focused on “giving” our love and time to our families, friends and others. As a Youth Club we donated hampers to Mountview Retreat for residents and staff to enjoy at Christmas.

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Crafts were also a popular activity with members enjoying making cards, grass heads and bracelets. Bun decorating and noodle night allowed the members to enjoy some tasty treats.

Our year culminated in our outing to Tobermore Golf Driving Range where members had the opportunity to brush up on their golfing skills under the tuition of Tony Mulholland Golf Professional Trainer.

We are blessed to have enjoyed such a fun-filled year with our members.

Garry Ewing/Donna Fullerton /Lorraine Steele

Craft Class

The Craft Class continues to meet in a few houses to have a friendship hour and to do some crocheting. It is light-hearted and it lifts our spirits.

Marie Kelly

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, 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. .

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.

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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 Interim 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 £48,301 expenditure £29,147. The Trustees are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statement of the congregation in accordance with applicable law and 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 Trevor Boyd (Convener)

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