PRECEPT MINISTRIES IRELAND LTD TRUSTEES. REPORT {INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 The trustees present their annual report and financial statemenls for Ihe year ended 31 March 2023. The finanu81 statements have been prepad in accordance with the accounting policies set out in note 1 to the financial slalemenls and comply wilh Ihe charity's Memorandum and Articles of Assoicalion, the Companles Act 2006 and "Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable lo charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 1021" leffeclive l January 2019). Objectives and activities Our Mlsslon and Vlslon The mission of Precept Ministries International and Precept Ministries Ireland is. 'Engaging people in relationship with God through knowing His Word" throughout the Island of Ireland. The vision is -Every believer in Christ living out God's Word everyday.. The objects of the company are to advance the Christian religion. This is achieved through.. equipping people with Inductive Bible Study skills to help them to sludy and understand Ihe Bible for themselves. providing various levels of study resources and leader Iraining making training and resources available lo all. The Iruslees have paid due regard lo guidance issued by the Charity Commission in deciding what activities the Charity should undertake. Achlovements and performance Post Covid The year 2022 12023 has seen a retum to more in-person gatherings and the shift away from online classes. Over the year, there was a slow and gradual restart of some study groups meeting in person. However, meeting onlino using Zoom was slill key to the life of the minislry as seek to engage wtth students over the whole island of Ireland. The following inilialives which were commenced in response lo Ihe Covid situation have proved lo be beneficial in unexpected ways and will continue to be a patt of our ministry plan= We wrote and provided free online weekly Bible study resources wth permissions for Ihese to be passed on and downloaded as required. These studies still attract around 200 downloads per month. We will continue lo provide new studies al regular intervals throughout the y8ar. Online Bible sludy groups called "Zoom into the Bible" have attracted people from all over th8 Island of Ireland and have enabled those who do not have local dasses to engage in Precept Bible Studies. The diversity within the groups has added a fresh dynamic to the discussions which is very positive. We developed an intentional social media strategy to increase the reach of our ministry. and this continues to be developed. and monitod for effectiveness and impact. We developed a variety of online workshops to inlrcmluce people lo Inductive Bible Study Skills and, due to low costs in providing these, we were able to offer these free of charge lo attendees. Thrge more workshops have been develOd during the year 202212023, each focusing on a differenl biblical genre.
PRECEPT MINISTRIES IRELAND LTD TRUSTEES, REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 1. Staff During this year staff have returned lo normal pre<ovid pattems of work. There have been no changes in i)ur Staff team although some of their roles and responsibililies have b8en adapled lo th8 changing needs of the ministry. In Oclober 2022 the Nattonal Director indicated she would be stepping down at 31st March 2023. The Board commenced a recruitment process and a new National Director for the ministry has been appointed to mMenCe in post on 1 sl April 2023. 2. Leaders l Trainers During the year 202212023. much of our foc#Js has been to support and encourage leaders. The administration staff in Ihe officg are also trained Bible study leaders and are equipped lo advise and encourage leaders who contact the office. These conversations have played a key role in making aderS feel connected lo the ministry and given them conlidence 8S to where lo find help and support. We have delivered a number of Precepl leaders. events and Lead8r training to encourage those who wish to stsrt ihelr own class. A number of churches were also (y)ntacted and training gNen to their small group Bible study leadèrs. We have also had the privilege of supporting a leader in a misston81 d)urch community in Belfast as they set up some studies with members of the communty. 3. Blble Study Resources The team has conlinued to write short studies that werè offered free of charge as downloadable documents. and these were made available to churches to use during the times when they were unable to meei In the church building. These resources were used widely not only in Ireland. but we had reports of them being used in many countries around the world including England. Scouand. Switzerland, China, Malaysia, New Zealand and America. The number of people that have been reached is unknown, but il is exciting and encA)uraging lo see that, despile the restricllons of this past year. we have been able to reach a much wider audience. We receive much encouragement to continue to produce these studies and one of our adminislralion team has been increasingly involved in producing these studies for reguLqr distribution. Print Nl in Mallusk continue to print many of our resources on demand arKI the remainder of our studies are sent from Precept in the USA. Due to increased printing and carriage charges. we are conlinually reviewing costs on these materials. It has been necessary lo review our prieing and increase the cost of books as well as postage. As the situation in Ukraine deteriorated and refugees started to arrive in Ireland. we were able lo print suitable resources in bolh Ukrainian and Russian. and we have been offering these sludy books free of charge, thanks lo the generous giving of many of our students. This is one of the benefits of being part of a global ministry.
PRECEPT MINISTRIES IRELAND LTD TRUSTEES. REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS, REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 4. Soclal Media Precept Ireland have a presence on Facebwk, Instagram and Twitter wtth an average of 8 posts per week. Over the year engagemenl has increased on all plalfofms. Precept Ireland also has a channel on YouTube. and some leaders have been using the videos posted there to help them as they lead their classes. 5. Tralnlng During Ihis year we have continued lo teach four basic workshops: i. Short taster workshop lasting 3040 minutes based on Psalm 23., ii. Inlroduclion to Inductive Study- 1 hour workshop based on Psalm 1; iii. Bible skills workshop- 2 hour Workshop based on Psalm 95.. Iv. How lo study 40 Minute BitrAe Study sertes. These four workshops have been offered free and through them new contacts have been made throughout Ihis past year. Three new half day workshops have been added lo this list during this past year. They a intended to equip attendees with basic skills lo study a varty of Biblical genre. i. How to study the Psalms. ii. How to study a New Testament ktter. iii. How to study Old Testament PTophecy. We have a team of trainers who are equipped to deliver each of these workshops. This year saw the launch of the Precepl Leader A¢ademy UK. Working in partnership wilh our UK office. we plan to run 6 x 4 day sessions over 3 years. and each session will equip attendees lo use and lead one of our Precept resources. The first 4-day session was in November 2022 and we studied the 40 Minute study series. The nexl seSSn is in Aprll 2023 when we will be training in the use of the children's reSoUs- Discover4Yourself. 6. New Inltlatlves During the past year Precept Ireland has conlinLFed to devebp several new iniliatives as we conkn'nue to fulfil our mission of helping people to engage with God through studying his word. Precept Equip Sludents -11 has been our desire lo equip and train the next generation of leaders (aged 16- 24) and wilh this in mind we launched PES in March 2022. 11 was formatted as a three one day course based on Ihe life of J8SUS, teaching on the theme of disapleship while introducing students lo inductive study skills. We were encouraged to have 12 students sign up for the first seSsn in June 2022, and after the last session. we evaluated the course and are in process ol reviewing the malerials and refomialting them into a weekend course. li. Agency Partnerships Thls year we had the prrvilege of being involved in New Horizon and the Bangor Worldwide Mission convention, as part of their mission agency exhibitions. This offered us many opportunities for making new contacts. as well as renewing oid (x)ntacts from the pasl.
PRECEPT MINISTRIES IRELAND LTD TRUSTEES. REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 The benefit that the charity provides cxn be demonslraled in the following statistics for the 2022- 2023 year: The average number of Bible Study students {Not Incl.JulylAug) 646 Number of Students March 2023 781 The average number of classes 55 Numbor of classes March 2023 55 The number of Biblo study leaders active 94 These statislics demonslrale an increase in th8 average number of students studying with us during this year. 8nd continues lo grow toward pre-pandemic levels. Flnancial revigw The results are set out in detail on pages 7 to 15. The charity relufned nel outgoing resources for Ihe year of £1,14g {2022 net incoming resources= £3.5891 leaving unrestricted funds 01 £32.21712022'. £29.294) and restricted funds of £1.33712022.' £5,409). The unrestricted funds are considered to b8 essential to provide sufficient funds to cover any unforeseon costs which may arise and fulfill legal obltgations of the charity in the event that currenl levels of income are not maintained. The Ministry's principal funding sources are voluntary donations, thè sat8 of Inductive Bible Sludy resources. one off gifts and financial support from Precept Minislries Inlernalional. Costs have been mainlained to a minimum. The charity operates as a debt-freè Ministry. In relation to financial planning the Trustees strive to achieve a goal to provide a cash operaling resetve of not less than 90 days operating funds (excluding deprecialionl at the year end. structure. governance and management The company is registered as a charitable company limiled by guarantee, company number Nl829985. and was set up by a Memorandum of Association. on 13 March 2015. The company is constituted under a Memorandum ofAssociati(In and is a registered charity. thaTity number NIC105799, registered 3 April 2017. The charity is constituted wilh a Board ol Directors and one National Director who oversees the day to day runnlng of the Ministry. The registered office for the Ministry during this reporting period is Unit 9A. 218 York Slreel, Belfast, BT15 1GY. At the beginning of the financial year the Ministry employed four m8mbeTS of staff. the National Director (part lime}, an Office Administrator {part time). an Administrative Assistant (part time), and a full lime Database and Social Media Manager. The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law. and who served during the year and up lo the dale of signature of th8 finanal statements wer&.. Mr N Watts Mr C Green (Chairr$On) Mrs P Jones MT S Broad {Board secretary) Mr D McCIuTg Routine decisions are made by the Nabonal Direclor. Major decisions are decided corporalely by the Board of Directors and the National Diieclor. The Ministry is affiliated to Precept Minislries International based in Chatlanooga, Tennessee, USA. The day to day management has been delegated by the Trustees lo the National Director. None of Ihe trustees has any beneficial inlerest in the company. AJI of the trustees are members of the company and guarantee lo contribute £1 in Ihe evenl of a winding up.
PRECEPT MINISTRIES IRELAND LTD TRUSTEES. REPORT (INCLUDING DIRECTORS. REPORT) (CONTINUED) FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023 The Trustees regulady review the work of the Ministry lo identify Ihe major risks lo which Ihe Ministry is exposed. They then implement procedures dgsigned lo minimise any potential impact on the Ministry. A special risk assessment was put in place for a return lo office working post covid. The Iruslees, report was approved by the Board of TFUStees. Mr C Green (Chairperson) Trustee Dale..