Page 9 - Contact Spring 2021

Monthly contributions to the Building fund
were just £3,000 below the 2019 level, but after
adding in gift aid and the contributions from
the 2 gift days we more than matched our
target of £150,000 for the year. Even though
gift day contributions were slightly lower than
2019, we are still on target to get all the out-

standing Interest Free Loans paid off by
mid-2023.

Contributions to the Missionary fund were
£5,000 up on the 2019 total, and even with the
Covid restrictions during 2020 we were able
to fully support all our Mission Partners.
However, this was in part due to the fact that
the Summer Outreach teams did not take place
in 2020 and therefore did not require funding
this year. Even after adding in gift aid, we are
still slightly below the level of support required,
and over the past couple of years we have

depended on one-off income from bequests to

fulfil our obligations from within the Missionary
Fund income.

We normally have 2 designated Gift Days for
United Appeal at Easter and at Harvest. Due to
lock-down we did not have in-person services
for these occasions this year which inevitably
reduced the Utd Appeal income. Over the years
contributions towards this have had to be
topped up from the General Account to match
our target of honour and this year that top-up
amounted to £9,568.

So overall, we are not reporting the bleak financial position we had feared in the early months of
lock-down. With overall income (including gift aid and gift days along with the normal weekly
contribution) only slightly down even with all the problems and restrictions due to the Covid
pandemic, and expenditure reduced mainly because of many church activities put on hold, we
have ended the year with a slightly healthier bank balance than last year. Thank you all for your
generous support over the year.

Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse…. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see

if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will
not be room enough to store it.” Malachi 3:10

Adrian Pogue
Treasurer