GREAT VICTORIA STREET BAPTIST CHURCH TRUSTEES, ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDING 31 DECEMBER 2022 The Trustees of Great Victoria Street Baptist Church present their Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022 in accordance with the applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards STRUCTURE, GOVERNAN AND MANAGEMENT The Charity Name The legal name of the charity is Great Victoria Street Baptist Church The Charity's Areas Operation and UK Charitable Registratlon The charity is registered in Northern Ireland with the Charity Commission in Northern Ireland (CCNI) with charity number 107744 Legal Structure of The Charity The charity is constituted as an unincorporated charity, established by a written constitution approved by the members, and endorsed by the Charity Commission in Northern Ireland (CCNI). There are no restrictions in the governing documents on the operation of the Charity or on its investment powers other than those imposed by Charity Law. Trustees in Office on 31 December 2022 Ms Joanne Adair Mr Steve Auld Dr Alistair Ashby Mr Chris Cardwell Mr Jason Cardwell Drjim Davison Mr Simon Farewell Mr Jonathan Graham Mrs Rachel Graham Mr Cameron Grieve Mr Clifford Manley Mr Gareth McKillen Mr Robert Patterson Prinapal Operating Address, Telephone Number. Email and Web Addresses Ms Joanne Adair (Church Secretary), l Hope Street, Belfast, BT12 SEE Website: htt icba tist.com Email: contact tist.com vicba ststement of Trustees, Responsibilities The charity's trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the terms of the Charities (Northern Ireland) Act 2008, as amended and The Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015 Charity law requires the Trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity as at the end of the financial year and of the surplus or deficit of the charity. In preparing those financial statements the Trustees are required to:
to prepare the accounts in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). select suitable accounting policies and apply them consistently. make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent. prepare the financial statements on the going concem basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business. state whether applicable accounting standards and statements of recommended practice have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements. The law requires that the trustees must not approve the accounts unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the surplus or deficit of the charity for the year. The Trustees are also responsible for maintaining adequate accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and which are sufficient to show and explain the charity's transactions and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with regulations made under the Charities (Northem Ireland) Act 2008, as amended. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. The Trustees are also responsible for the contents of the Trustees, report, and the statutory responsibility of the Independent Examiner in relation to the Trustees, report is limited to examining the report and ensuring that, on the face of the report, there are no material inconsistencies with the figures disclosed in the financial statements. STATEMEKf OF PUBLIC BENEFIT The Trustees have had regard to the Charity Commission's guidance on public benefit in managing the activities of the charity. Objects And Artivities ofthe Charity Great Victoria Street Baptist Church acknowledges the headship of Jesus Christ over his Church and exists to glorify the triune God by maintaining and promoting his worship both individually and corporately. Its members devote themselves to the teaching of Scripture, to fellowship, breaking of bread, prayer and evangelism. They commit, with the help of God, to witness to the saving and sustaining power of the Lord Jesus Christ and to work for the extension of his Kingdom. The principal charitable object of the Church is the advancement of the Christian faith according to the teaching of Scripture, the Doctrinal Statement and Baptist principles. Public benefits The direct benefits which flow from the purpose include: Etemal salvation and adoption into the family of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ The spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, bringing reconciliation both between human beings and God and between human beings The gaining of an understanding in Christian beliefs as set out in the Bible and the Doctrinal Statement of the Church leading to spiritual and moral development and personal growth in the Christian faith The provision of regular Christian education, helping people to understand, live out, defend and promote the Christian Gospel of Jesus Christ Practical expressions of Christian beliefs and standards in the local community such as through the care of those in need, assistance and comfort to the sick, elderly and bereaved The development of individual ability and gift through the engagement of willing volunteers in practical and spiritual service The positive impact on society that comes from the living out of the Christian worldview.
The benefits arising from the purpose will be demonstrated through: The number of those attending activities and events and directly benefiting each week from Bible teaching and corporate worship The leaders and helpers mobilised each week through various programmes and the positive contributions of members within the wider community; and the effective pastoral care supporting both families and individuals. This will be evidenced through regular evaluation, annual reports and informal feedback from members and those attending the events, their families and the general public within the community in which the Church operates. The Trustees do not anticipate that any harm will flow from any of the above purposes. The Church's beneficiaries are Church Members, Associate Members and Adherents, and anyone who chooses to attend church services which are open to members of the general public; other individuals that the Church 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 secular organisations. The only private benefits flowing from our purposes are the provision of a stipend for any pastor of the Church who will also assume the role of Trustee and paid employment for the personnel required to manage the work of the Church. Any Trustee appointed by the Church as a member of the Missionary Family will be entitled to financial support from the Church according to the Church Missionary policy. Such stipend, salaries, support and any incurred expenses are incidental to enable the Church to provide the pastoral and administrative support required to fulfil the stated Purpose. Main Activities Undertaken During the Year The Church regularly gathers for public worship, prayer, Bible study, preaching and teaching for all age groups, and provides pastoral care to the Church family through visitation and prayer. We organise meetings and events to proclaim and demonstrate with our lives our belief in Jesus Christ as Lord. The Church condurts evangelistic and outreach mission activities and supports other Christian organisations and charities through volunteering, financial gifts and prayer; and providing pastoral and financial support to our missionary family. Charity Trustees 2022 ReporL 2022 has been an encouraging year for Great Victoria Street Baptist. In our morning services from January to Easter, we completed a series on MarVs gospel entitled, Seeing Jesus to be Shaped by Jesus." This was helpfully complemented by our assistant pastor Simon's evening series through Ecclesiastes entitled, "Being Human., In May and June, we considered the doctrine of the Trinity in a series called, "Enjoying our Triune God. While, in the Summer we worked through Colossians and Philemon in the mornings and studied prayers across Scripture in the evenings. Through the Autumn we completed a series in the book of Daniel in the morning entitled, 'Steadfast Hope in an Unsteady World," and the book of Acts in the evening entitled, Witnesses to the Ends of the Earth." As always it has been encouraging to hear reports of God's living and active Word continuing to touch hearts and to transform lives. There are many reasons why we consider this an encouraging year for us as a fellowship including: Last year we reported that the increase in membership was such that had not been seen in a generation, well we can report that the increase this year was greater than last year with eighteen new members being added to our roll. In March, we welcomed six new deacons into our team of office-bearers. We had been asking the Lord to strengthen our diaconate and the Lord has heard and answered our prayers positively.
We have made real progress in evangelism and cross-cultural missions. Locally our team has been strengthened when a member of our church family came on board as an intern, giving a lead to our evangelistic work. Intemationally, it has been encouraging to send and support one church member as a long-temi missionary to Portugal and another to study a missionary training college in the Netherlands. Fourthly, and finally, planning pemiission was granted for our building project, giving us the green light to press on in this faith-filled vision to redevelop our site. This is a big vision, but we know our God is able to do more than we could ever ask or imagine. We also remember with joy and thanksgiving four of our members went home to be with the Lord. These members served the fellowship in different ways over many years. In September, a new monthly meeting started for older (but young at heart) members and friends called "Fellowship Hour." This is a time to allow these "Senior Saints," in an infomial way to share and enjoy fellowship with eath other over a cup of tea/coffee and a scone. The missionary weekend was held between 15th -16th October where the focus was on the persecuted church. A repre*ntative from Release International shared on Saturday night and Sunday morning. The Sunday evening was a guest speaker sharing about the persecuted church. There were also updates from our missionaries via videos. The children packed the ttems that had been brought to the church for the shoebox appeal. There is a very real sense that God is at work among us at Great Vic and at the close of another year we can say together with thanksgiving, 'The Lord has done good thingsfor us, and we are glad., Signed: ........ Chaimian of Church Charity Trustees Date: ...........