## **THE ARMAGH PRESBYTERY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN IRELAND** **Trustees’ Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023** **Registered Charity in Northern Ireland (NIC 106460)** The Trustees present their Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2023, including a Statement of Assets and Liabilities, as at that date. **Charity Name:** Presbytery of Armagh of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland ## **Charity Number:** 106460 **Address:** Richhill Presbyterian Church, Corcreevy Road, Richhill, Armagh, BT61 9JR ## **Names of Trustees:** The Charity Trustees who served during the year or who were trustees at the date of this report were: - - Rev I Abraham; Rev R Allely; Miss J Allen (appointed 19 June 2023); Mr K Belshaw; Mr S Boyd; Rev C Bradley; Rev R Brown; Rev D Byers; V Rev Professor S Carson; Mr N Cornett; Rev Dr A Davidson; Mr M Elder; Rev S Finlay; Mr A Foster; Rev P Gamble; Rev J Gordon; Rev J Graham; Mr T Graham; Mr L Hadden (resigned 20 September 2023); Mr S Hadden; Mr E Hawthorne; Rev D Henry; Mr W Henry; Dr C Holland; Rev J Hutchinson; Mr C Kennedy; Mr M King; Rev A Marsh; Mr J Mason; Mr J McCavery; Rev P McClelland; Rev Professor M McClenahan; Mr D McCrea; Rev N McCullough; Rev P McKelvey (resigned 27 April 2023); Mr P McMenemy; Rev A McNeely; Mr J McNeill; Mr J MacQueen; Mr A McMullan; Mr J Megaw (died 14 October 2023); Mr A Mitchell; Mr O Milligan; Mr K Moffett; Rev A Moore; Rev G Mullan; Mr R Pogue (resigned 13 June 2023); Mr F Sandford; Mr T Savage; Rev J Smith; Mrs S Somerville; Mrs R Spence; Mrs M Stirling; Rev I Thompson; Rev Dr J Thompson; Rev L Webster. ## **Principal Office Bearers:** Moderator Rev J Smith Clerk Rev PWA McClelland Treasurer Mr WK Belshaw ## **Bankers:** Ulster Bank, 7 Upper English St, Armagh BT61 7BL ## **Governance:** Armagh Presbytery is governed by the Constitution and Government of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, which outlines how the Presbytery is organised and managed. ## **STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT** ## **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. The following congregations of the Presbyterian Church have been assigned to The Armagh Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. |Ahorey|Drumhillery|Moy| |---|---|---| |Armagh - First|Druminnis|Portadown - Armagh Road| |Armagh - Mall|Keady - First|Portadown - First| |Armaghbreague|Keady - Second|Redrock| |Bellville|Knappagh|Richhill| |Benburb|Lislooney|Tartaraghan| |Caledon|Loughgall|Tassagh| |Cladymore*|Lurgan - First|Vinecash| |Clare|Lurgan - Hill Street|Waringstown| |Craigavon|Minterburn|| *While Cladymore was under the oversight of the Armagh Presbytery during 2023, it was assigned to the Newry Presbytery on 23 January 2024. A Presbytery makes arrangements for the election of ministers in congregation, ordains licentiates and installs or inducts and appoints ministers in the congregations assigned to it. They also ordain or install and appoint elders, commission and appoint deaconesses, senior lecturers, auxiliary ministers, lay agents and missionaries who have been called by an authorised body in the Church. A Presbytery has a role in seeing that ministers preach the Word faithfully to their congregations, regularly visit the families under their charge, visit the sick, promote peace and temperance and see that the duties of the eldership are property discharged. Presbyteries oversee the resignation and retirements of ministers and elders. Presbyteries provide advice to Kirk Sessions and Congregational Committees when required and have a role in approving matters in relation to congregational property. They report annually to the General Assembly and have the right to make a nomination for the office of Moderator of the General Assembly. 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 the congregation. This provides an important link between the congregations and the wider structures of the church Stated meetings of Presbytery are held seven times per year on the first Tuesday of the month, except September and May, when they are held on the second Tuesday of the month. All members are entitled to propose, speak and exercise equal votes at meetings, except the Moderator, who has no deliberative but only a casting vote. ## **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, administrative 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 minsters and a representative elder appointed by the Kirk Session of each congregation. ## **DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE** The charitable purpose of the presbytery is the advancement of religion. The Armagh Presbytery is a presbytery 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. ## **ACTIVITIES AND OBJECTIVES** The presbytery meets on the first Tuesday of February, March, October, November and December, on the second Tuesday of September and May, and on other occasions as required. All meetings commence with a time of worship and are opened and closed with prayer. The presbytery carries out the following activities: Supports those applying to be candidates for the Ministry; installs Ordained ministers; provides pastoral support for ministers and their families; holds a number of events such as mission rallies and lectures; PW Link is an initiative of Presbyterian Women intended to improve communications and build relationships between Presbyterian Women. PW Link includes a representative from each congregations and runs events to support the mission and outreach of Presbytery. ## **ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE** The regular series of stated meetings and the meetings of the various Commissions and Committees to which responsibilities were often delegated took place throughout the year, while PW Link also organised events. |As of 31 December, the following|numbers of|personnel were under the care of Presbytery:| |---|---|---| |Ministers in active service:|18 (2022)|16 (2023)| |Retired ministers|9 (2022)|11 (2023)| |Students for the ministry|4 (2022)|3 (2023)| The presbytery encourages the congregations assigned to it 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 congregation in the areas of worship, discipleship, global mission, outreach, leadership and pastoral care. The presbytery also encourages congregations to contribute to the denomination’s annual World Development Appeal, Sunday School project and any other special appeals. ## **General Assembly** Presbyteries are represented on the various Councils of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and report on an annual basis to the General Assembly ## **Volunteers** The Trustees wish to acknowledge their deep appreciation of those who give freely of their time by serving on Presbytery, its commissions and panels. ## **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 charities beneficiaries are its 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 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 presbytery has had regard to the Charity Commissions Public benefit requirement statutory guidance. ## **FINANCIAL REVIEW** The presbytery’s main source of income is an assessment that is levied on the congregations assigned to it and £15,799 was received in the current year (£14,174 in previous year, 2022). As part of the accounts, PW Link received £786 and had expenditure of £796. Total expenditure increased from £13,639 to £14,441. This includes a payment made to the Clerk of Presbytery for the responsibilities of that position. The opening balance was £7,114 and the closing balance was £8,472. Overall, there was a surplus of £1,358. ## **STATEMENT OF TRUSTEE RESPONSIBILITIES** The Trustees are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements of the presbytery in accordance with applicable law and generally accepted accounting practice. As the presbytery’s total income does not exceed £250,000, the Trustees have elected under Section 64(3) 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 presbytery’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time its financial position. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the presbytery and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. Approved by the presbytery at a meeting on 10 September 2024 and signed on its behalf by: Rev J Smith 10 September 2024 Rev PWA McClelland 10 September 2024