Annual General Meeting –
A G E N D A
Prayer
and Bible
Thanksgiving:
Annual Report
Approval of Accounts
Leadership
Team:
Update
Worship
and Communion
Looking
Ahead:
Budget 2009
Future Programme and Events
Pastoral Support
Vision
Open
Forum
Prayer
Please bring this
report to the meeting with you.
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Review |
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What a year 2008
turned out to be! We had the
tremendous privilege of seeing the And we persevered with
the day to day business of serving God as part of the Body of Christ in this
community – thank you all for your faithfulness and support during a very
busy year, when we delighted to welcome new folk to our church family and to
see others growing up in God. You will
see from the various reports on the following pages that God has been moving
among us – sometimes quietly and sometimes quite loudly! Barrie and Sandra’s
formal time of ministry with us came to end in March (but it is always a
delight to welcome them back from time to time to share God’s Word with us) –
we appreciate very much their ministry and support and are actively
considering the next stage in providing pastoral support for the fellowship
(you will see from the agenda for the AGM that we will be sharing with you
the latest position on this). Having met together as
Church in All Saints on Wednesday evenings for a number of years, we began
Life Groups in the autumn – you can see from John Higson’s report that these
are proving a real blessing and challenge to those attending. If you are not part of one of the groups –
why not go along? You will find it a
blessing. Our good relationship
with the other churches in the village continues – as well as the regular
meetings of the Church leaders we have enjoyed united events on a number of
occasions. You will see from the
financial report that God has been good to us and we have been blessed with
sufficient resources to do what we believe God has called us to. Thank you for your continuing giving – the
Bible tells us that there are real blessings for those who “sow generously”. We are required to add
a “statement of public benefit” to our report this year because of changes
brought in by the Charities Act 2006 (you can find it on the financial
pages). What a joy to be able to show
that serving God as local church can be a real benefit to all who seek His
face and walk with Him. We thank God for all
of you and look forward to a fruitful year in 2009. Church
Council |
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Worship |
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During 2008 I have continued to sense the Spirit
moving in the church - especially during our times of worship. I believe God has big plans for us and
while we continue to draw near to Him in our worship He will reveal those
plans to us. I have been very grateful for the opportunity to
‘test’ my gifting since the middle of 2008 and feel confident that God is
growing me in this area and guiding me more and more (long may I continue to
listen and be patient!). It is very encouraging to see that all of the
members of the worship group are hoping to attend the Kingsway worship
conference in Eastbourne in November this year, which is a real answer to
prayer as I have felt for a while that we need to go as a group to learn more
of how God wants us to lead the church in worshipping Him (we would be
grateful for your prayers). Thank you to all of you for your support,
encouragement and prayers. Let us keep
our eyes and hearts focussed on Jesus as we move through 2009. God bless Vikki |
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The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and
effective. James 5:-16. |
Tuesday morning Prayer Group |
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First we thank our
Lord Jesus Christ for the privilege of coming into His presence and to pray
for those who asked us to pray for them. We have been able to
meet most Tuesdays since the last AGM, and have been ask to pray for many in
our fellowship, families and friends that have not been well, or other issues
that need prayer. We have heard some prayers have been answered and are
waiting on God for others. If you have
asked for prayer, we would very much appreciate some feedback when your
prayer has been answered, so that we can share with you in your blessing. We have been
particularly blessed in the past few months to be able to meet at Henry's
house and thank him his family and carers for their hospitality. Our numbers continue
to stay about the same, sometimes two or three – but sometimes up to
nine. We would like to see more and
all are welcome. My special thanks go
to my brothers and sisters in Christ, who turn up each Tuesday, thank you for
your faithfulness, prayers and encouragement. We have this year
started a pre-church prayer meeting on Sunday morning and we meet at about
09.30 in the classroom off the entrance foyer. Please feel free to join us as we prepare
ourselves to meet to meet with our Lord in praise, worship and fellowship. May God Bless you all.
John Bailey |
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Sunday School |
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During
the past year we have again been delighted to welcome new children. Sunday School now has an age range of 2 to
12 years old and I am extremely grateful to Helen for taking Sean and Ashley
for their own teaching sessions involving lots of artwork! We continue our desire to be more flexible
with the classes but realise our limits due to lack of regular
volunteers. It is now our intention to
introduce a rota system - thanks to Rosie, Emily, and any others who can
offer help to fulfil this. Highlights of the year
include gifts for Mothering Sunday and Father’s Day, and a sunrise service at
Easter. The children requested
watching the sunrise and we chose Lepe as the location. We arrived in the Rock Solid bus before Christmas again saw
the children as budding stars and a script based through the eyes of the
shepherds. Thank you and well done to
all who helped and those who participated.
We continue to use
Scripture Union material. Topics have
included The Apostles and Early Christians in Acts and more recently,
Prayer. At the end of each topic we watch a DVD –
but we have nearly exhausted our current stock and it’s time to indulge in a
few new ones. Any contributions are very welcome. Our aims for Sunday
School are: ·
learn more about God through His
Word and by developing a personal relationship with Him ·
For confidence to share our faith
and cultivate good relationships with friends both in and out of school. Lyn Bird |
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Footprints |
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Highlights: ·
Number attending has grown
dramatically ·
About 14 are committed to Christ
or are regular church attendees ·
The group are excellent at caring
for or supporting each other ·
Regular Bible and related
activities ·
Many fun evenings out – very
successful ·
Strong and effective relationships
between young people and adult leaders
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Footprints - continued |
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Footprints now has between 25 and 40 attending regularly, a
mix of ages from year 6 (age 11) to year 12 (age 16 – 17); adding in less frequent
attendees the total registered is almost 50. New for 2008 has been the appearance of boys
– about eight regulars to date. Most
attend Mountbatten School with a few at North Baddesley Juniors, Romsey
School plus a few at schools in In January Footprints
received a one-off grant of £5,000 from Hampshire County Council Youth
Service. A proportion of this was used
to subsidise a very successful activity weekend in Meeting every Friday
evening in term time, plus a few holiday weeks, Footprints has continued what seems to be the tried and tested – but
successful – pattern of evenings “in” (60%) mostly alternating with evenings
“out” (40%). Evenings in are usually
at All Saints Hall which we are pleased to be able to hire. Evenings out have included swimming,
Splashdown several times, bowling + quasar several times, ice-skating,
barbecues, beach party, chip shop challenge, a relay meal (thank you to the
many generous hosts) and several scavenger hunts; we have hired the Plans: ·
Consider a further residential
weekend ·
Work more closely with other local
church youth groups / share activities ·
Seek further grant support where
possible This very special
group of young people present a tremendous opportunity to be challenged with
the reality of Jesus Christ and also their parents with whom there is
increasingly effective relationship. There is need to see hearts changed to
follow Him 100% and lives changed to live 100% for Him. Please pray that the Holy Spirit will
strive within them and that the seed sown will be highly fruitful. Prayer requests: ·
Holy Spirit led wisdom, boldness
and character to be effective and inspirational leaders ·
An increase in the number of
inspired adult leaders – younger and female would be ideal! ·
Further maturity in youth / adult
relationships – but keeping the ‘fun’! ·
A raised spiritual temperature Jim |
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Life Groups |
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Life Groups are very well attended, sometimes
having up to 12 people in a group, including people who do not attend The groups meet each week, one starting at We are working through the book “Scenes of life”
by John Robertshaw, which has produced some very good discussions and
provoked a lot of thought, with the full age range of the group taking part. Occasionally ‘social’ evenings are held, when we
have the opportunity to chat, play games and a get to know one another a
little better. If you are not part of one of the Life Groups why
not come and join us – Helen can tell you where we meet. John
Higson |
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Church Websites |
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I was honoured when I was asked to take over the
website in September 2007. Since then
the website has been updated in-line with the church’s new name, and I hope
that it reflects the spirit and personality of the church, as well as
providing practical information about our church. I have been blessed and encouraged to hear that
visitors have come to Sunday Services as a result of a visit to the website, and
also when I hear that people as far as Canada have visited the website! I feel that God is leading me to develop the
website more as a tool to convey the Gospel as well as an information
service, and with the help of members of the church I hope to fulfil this. Please let me know if you have information,
words, or testimonies that you feel relevant for a wider audience (or is the
term CYBER audience?!). On this note, as from October 2008, I have started to
record Sunday sermons, and they are available on the website (but if you
don’t have access to the internet, they are available on CDs). This is proving very successful. Last July Nik Lovell started a new website for
the www.communitylifecentre.uk.com which
provides information about what is happening in the Centre. I would like to
thank Nik for taking responsibility for this site. I feel so privileged to serve the church in this
way and am looking forward to growing the website in the future. Richard Leese |
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Youth and Community Co-ordinator |
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Since I started with the Church full time in
September, my main tasks are to help with the youth and community work: Rock Solid: Monday and Thursday nights youth detached project,
I organise the games, quizzes about everything from drugs and alcohol to the
Ten Commandments and the life and ministry of Jesus. Most conversations are relaxed and we have
more opportunities to share the Gospel when the numbers are down (but the numbers
go up and down in yearly cycles). Community
Outreach: Since I began in
September I have supported and assisted people in crisis and through day to
day issues such as:- ·
Filling in job applications and benefit
forms; for example attendance allowance for caring 24 hours a day for a
gentleman’s wife; supporting gentleman
so he can leave me with his wife one hour or so a week so he gets a well
deserved break. ·
Support for families of teenagers with
behavioural difficulties, I (and the Centre) offer a listening/empathic
service for members of the public going through crisis, for example during
bereavement, mental and physical illness and financial difficulties. ·
Support for a family who were suffering
intimidation and vandalism via a group of youths; this resulted in the
children being unable to go into their own garden to play. I worked in conjunction with the family and
including their children, local police, PCSOs and the local Housing
Association, we were able to make positive changes to the garden to make it
safer for the children. Just being a
listening ear and writing letters for them made them feel more valued and
gave them more “clout” ·
Organised “free” boxing at the Golden Ring
in Millbrook for several young people who are offenders and at risk from
offending - this is in conjunction with the Youth Offending Team. One young
mother said to me “Now at last I have something to be proud of my son for”. ·
Delivered food parcels to a family without
any food over Christmas, helped organise furniture for a young man who had no
sofa, table, chairs or even a cooker (he was very surprised and was grateful
that we could help). This
is not a comprehensive list just a snapshot, I have supported other
individuals and families and I am hoping for this to grow so please pray for
the outreach work. |
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Rock Solid |
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What a privilege! God gives us opportunities to share Him with
the children and young people of the In 2008 Rock Solid saw
between 15 and 40 different children / young people each week, occasionally
more, many coming back on a regular weekly basis. Staffing is from the core of volunteers
from TLC – Andy Blakeman, John Higson, Jim Bird plus There have been some
very effective links developed with a small number of parents. Jim Bird meets with the Local Action Group
(police / housing / youth service / parish council) approximately bi-monthly,
representing the Rock Solid Youth Project. The bus has also been
used by others during the year, including Footprints,
Boys Brigade, Girls Brigade, Romsey Abbey (to transport two Bishops!), Romsey
Baptist youth group, New Life youth group.
The vehicle is borrowed on a regular basis by Romsey Churches each
Wednesday for a similar ‘drop in’ project on the Woodley estate. A small charge is made to users to cover
costs. Please pray for:
Jim |
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The ·
Have an enlarged vision ·
Engage much more with people in
our immediate community, the majority of whom have no significant church
connection ·
Care, support and love people in
our community – our neighbours ·
Show and ‘do’ a Jesus like
approach to the community ·
Offer support to families /
parents with existing tentative links through Rock Solid ·
Demonstrate that Christ is
relevant to all in To summarise the
highlights of developing the Centre, in no particular order: ·
We negotiated with the previous
tenant of ·
Negotiated and entered a rolling
short term agreement with Hampshire County Council’s Sure Start Children’s
Centres who rent a small part of the main room from us ·
Radically upgraded and rebuilt /
refitted the interior of the premises; a proportion was contracted, the
majority skilled volunteer labour from within TLC. The quality of the refurbishment has been
highly praised by visitors. Also
replaced the shop front, cleared and refitted yard, repaired safety railings,
fully rewired whole premises, etc., etc. ·
Installed IT / communications
systems; disabled lavatory; office type furnishings; etc. ·
Received around £37,800 of
grants. These generous funds have been
received from Test Valley Borough Council; HCC Youth Service; North Baddesley
Parish Council; Hampshire Police Authority; Hampshire Constabulary; Smith
Bradbeer Trust; a number of gifts large and small from individuals within TLC ·
Opened the Centre in May with a
very successful ‘official opening’ in July, complete with a number of
official visiting dignitaries, bouncy castle, inflatable slide and ‘sumo
suits’ The ·
Open Monday to Friday ·
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Volunteers have had varying levels
of training, some ‘in house’, other externally ·
Almost 1,000 recorded visitors
from opening to ·
We have regular ‘surgeries’ using
the Centre including: Connexions; Testway Housing; NB Parish Council; local neighbourhood
policing team. Additionally a number
of other small group meetings are hosted ·
Two public internet terminals are
available; use has increased since opening. In November 1:1 IT training
started with increasing take up – this is generously delivered by a local
lady who is a member of ·
Since September, the Centre has
been the base for ·
There are regular volunteer
meetings for support, discussion and planning; also a Centre Advisory Group
comprising representatives from TLC, Centre users, Sure Start, volunteers,
others representing statutory services – recommendations / advice can be made
to TLC Church Council / Trustees ·
Developed website for Centre
(managed by Nik Lovell) ·
Early each Monday morning specific
time is set aside for prayer ·
By the end of the year, 78% of
adults on TLC Fellowship list had actively participated in the preparation of
the Centre or its ongoing activity – an outstanding contribution! Praise God!! ·
First Aid training has been
delivered externally ·
Sure Start Children’s Centre staff
settled ·
Delivered flyers to every house in
What’s next? ·
Continue to seek God’s guidance
for all aspects of the Centre ·
We would like to establish
provision of personal budget coaching (volunteer recently trained) ·
Deliver ‘Money Matters’ (Care) or
similar support for personal finance ·
Seek to develop parenting support ·
Support volunteers with
professional training ·
Explore liaison with Southern Test
Valley Toy Library – using Centre as a ‘satellite site’ (contact is Lyn Bird) ·
Seek further opportunities to
support the community e.g. first aid, adult literacy, questions of faith,
etc., etc. ·
Increase the number of volunteers
whilst maintaining the integrity of the Christ centred nature of the Centre ·
Try to ensure all residents are
aware of the Centre and facilities, further publicity Jim |
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What is “mission”? The dictionary has lots of definitions –
but the one that I like is: “a group of people working in an area to
invigorate its religious life”. I trust you are invigorated by the way that God
has allowed us to support mission locally and further afield. You can see the particular mission
organisations we have given funds to in the Missionary Account in among the
financial statements. It’s great to know well some of the organisations
we support and the people working in them – such as Chris Davis at the Southampton
City Mission and SCRATCH, Rich Hubbard at Links International, David and Mary
Tucker at Words of Life Ministries, June Whittle and Lynda Hulcoop at
Paraclete Christian Network International, Emmanuel and Barrie and Sandra at
Truth and Light Ministries. And then there are those we don’t see very often
but are delighted to support – like Mike and Helen Boot in Pakistan, Eddie
and Muriel McMillan in the English Church in Benidorm, Jonah Masaka in
Zimbabwe and Judith Buchanan in Spain. But then there are the unknown people who,
because the Lord has allowed us to support others in their service for Him,
have come to know Jesus for themselves and had their lives radically changed. With all the other things going on that demand
our attention, we must guard against losing our worldwide vision. Andrew |
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Vision To grow together as one with the aim of achieving
a unity of heart and mind in which the Church can move enthusiastically
forward in obedience to God and be an effective witness locally, nationally
and internationally. |
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Statement of Financial
Activities |
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The financial statements for 2008 appear on the
following pages. They have been
prepared according to Charity Commission guidelines and audited as required
by the Church’s Constitution. The
auditor’s formal certificate appears below and indicates that the accounts
have been kept accurately and there are no matters on which he has to report
to the Trustees or the Commission.
There are separate certificates in respect of the accounts for the The overall position on the General Account is
good – with a very small deficit of less than £600 in 2008 (compared with
£8,800 in 2007). That deficit is after
accounting for a loan of £5,000 to SCRATCH to help them over a difficult
period – we expect that loan to be repaid in 2009 but have taken the prudent
approach of not treating it as a debtor in the accounts. We continue to support financially a number of
missions – see the report on this on page 16. The building fund has been built up over the
years from the tax relief received from Gift Aid and will be used when the
Lord leads us to acquire premises of our own for church services etc. The There are separate accounts this year for the
Centre, Footprints and Rock Solid – mainly because they are required by those
organisations that have given us grants – but also we want to be transparent
about where the money you as church members have given has been used. We thank God for your continuing faithfulness is
giving to the work of God at True Life – it’s great to not have to be over
concerned about resources when we are seeking His will for the future. As part of the changes required by the Charities
Act 2006, charities are required to provide a Reserves Policy and a Statement
of Public Benefit in their Annual Report.
These are set out below: Reserves Policy: The
Church Council believes that the Church should hold sufficient balances on
its general and other accounts to allow it to continue operating even if
there was a significant reduction in the level of giving.
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Statement
of Financial Activities - continued Statement
of Public Benefit: Because we are
legally a “smaller charity” and below the audit
threshold, we must include only a brief summary in our Annual Report of the
main activities undertaken - you can find that in the earlier pages in this
report. As Church Council (the Trustees of the
charity) we confirm that we have had regard to the Charity Commission’s
public benefit guidance, where relevant.
The Objects of the Church – as set out in
its Constitution – are: “The
Church is formed: [1] to advance the Christian religion in
accordance with the doctrinal basis as set out in Clause 3 [of the
Constitution]. [2] to provide such services to the
community that are in keeping with the Christian ethos and exemplified in the
Bible.” We consider that Object [1] above passes
the “public benefit test” because advancing the Christian religion in our
community has a positive impact on the moral and ethical behaviour of those
with whom we come in contact. Two
examples of this are the young people that attend Rock Solid – and the work
with the Footprints youth group. Furthermore, our Christian faith and our
relationship with God – as Father, Son and Holy Spirit - gives meaning to our
lives and encourages us to live in such as way as to benefit the wider
society by being good citizens and following the Bible’s teaching on how we
should conduct ourselves in society. Object [2] was added to our Constitution as
a result of opening the “Public benefit” is also demonstrated that
grants from a number of publicly funded bodies have been received to
establish and further the work of the Centre. |
To the
Trustees True Life Church (the
Church Council) Registered Charity Number: 1053552 Independent
Examiner’s Report on the Accounts for the Year to 1. Respective
Responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner: As the charity’s
trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts; you
consider that the audit requirement of section 43(2) of the Charities Act
1993 does not apply. It is my
responsibility to state, on the basis of the procedures specified in the
General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under section 43 (7)(b)
of the above Act, whether particular matters have come to my attention. 2. Basis of Independent Examiner’s Report: My examination was carried
out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity
Commissioners. An examination includes
a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of
the accounts presented with these records.
It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in
the accounts and seeking explanations from you as Trustees concerning any
such matters. The procedures
undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit
and consequently I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the
accounts. 3. Independent Examiner’s
Statement: In connection with my
examination, no matter has come to my attention: · which gives me reasonable cause to
believe that in any material respect the requirements to keep accounting
records in accordance with section 41 of the above Act; and to prepare
accounts which accord with the accounting records and to comply with the
accounting requirements of the Act have been met; or · to which, in my opinion, attention
should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to
be reached
K R G
Smith FCA MLIA (dip) Kimball
Clarke Limited |
All the notes
relating to the above accounts are on the next page
Notes to
Accounts
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Looking Forward |
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As we come to this AGM we are already almost a
quarter of the way through 2009 – and before we know it the summer will be
upon us – and it will be Christmas again! The children of We, as Christians, have our festivals – Easter,
Pentecost, and Christmas as the main ones – when we can remember how God
stepped into our world to fulfil His promises and to usher into our lives the
eternal. But life is not just festivals and the “high and
holy days” – it’s living for Jesus every day, even when we don’t do very well
or our circumstances seem to be against us, when the facts seem to challenge
our faith, when the way forward is a bit misty and we don’t know what to
do. And He is there, too, when we are
having great days and life is all that it should be – those days when “I have
come that you may have life and have it to the full” seems particularly
relevant. As 2009 unfolds we have been called to persevere
in the ordinary days – like being in church on Sundays, being on the bus,
keeping the Centre open, going along to Life Group, joining in times of
prayer, working with the children in Sunday School and Footprints, getting on with what God has called us to do – so the
life of Jesus in us will be obvious to those we seek to serve and those we come
in contact with. We face the challenge of dealing with “the gap in
the gifting” and following the Lord’s lead in providing appropriate pastoral
support. We are not sure which way He
will take us – but follow we will and be obedient to His voice. It will be a challenge, not only in finding
the right person – but also trusting God for the resources to support that
person. Please pray with us as we
undertake this task in the months to come. L’chaim is a Hebrew word which
means “To Life!” and which conveys a sense of exuberance, a readiness to
enjoy life and all God has created and given to us. For the Jew it means about how to live, not
just what to believe. I trust that we will all be strong in what we
believe – and be exuberant about sharing Jesus whenever and wherever we can –
as well as living in a way that shows Him to our needy community and world. L’chaim! and Shalom! Andrew |
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