City Church Bristol is a registered charity, encompassing the three sites of City Church (Bradley Stoke, Cotham and Fishponds). Our financial year runs in line with the academic year; from the beginning of September to the end of August. We have now completed the 2020/21 financial year and set out below a summary of our income and expenditure. Please note that this report is based on our unaudited accounts. A full audited report will be available in 2022 when submitted to The Charity Commission.

SUMMARY

We want to thank you for being such a generous church in the midst of a global pandemic. For the second year in a row, our church life has been affected by COVID-19 and restrictions on our gathering together. As we do not own the venues we meet in on Sundays this has resulted in us not spending as much on venue hire in the last year as we expected to. We’ve also seen the kindness of God in that our income has remained steady.

We are very grateful to God and for the generosity of City Church during this time.

From a financial standpoint, we are entering the new financial year on a strong footing.

We are aware of future uncertainty in our nation as the pandemic continues, so we are glad to be able to build our reserves in faith for the future and to see our vision fulfilled. We are glad to have been able to be generous this year in giving away to others where there has been need.

The chart below gives an overview of our income and expenditure between September 2020 and August 2021 and for the previous two financial years. As we weren’t able to meet at all three of our sites for most of the last two years we have saved on venue hire and associated meeting costs. For the current financial year (from September 2021 to August 2022), we expect our meeting costs to significantly increase as we have been able to resume meeting together and will have our first full year of three sites. Our budget for the financial year 2021/22 has expenditure exceeding income.

WHAT HAVE WE RECEIVED?

We are glad to report a total income of £445,000 this financial year, with an average of just less than £29,000 a month in giving, not including gift aid.

It has been greatly encouraging to see that giving has remained steady throughout the year, despite the circumstances we are all facing.

Spending breakdown

SPENDING SEPTEMBER 2020 TO AUGUST 2021

For each of these areas, below are more details and examples of what has been spent. In a normal year, this chart would have a large portion reflecting expenditure on Sunday venue hire.

Staff Team (inc. salaries): As planned, we have spent £269k (72% of total expenditure) on employing, training and equipping our nine members of staff. Staff costs will always account for the majority of our outgoings, as all we do relates to people, and they are the primary method by which we enable our vision to be fulfilled. We invest in people in order to serve our vision of Helping Bristol Believe.

Sunday Meetings: This year we’ve spent £23k (6% of total expenditure) on venues, supplies & equipment to facilitate our Sunday services where we gather to worship God, pray & hear the gospel preached. The majority of this cost is hiring the venues that we have been able to meet in.

Giving Away: We have been able to support former members of our church working in Mozambique with a £4,000 gift in relocating back to the UK. We have also been able to support Encounter Camp with a gift. We also continue to give regularly to our Commission family of churches.

Mission & Discipleship: During the year we have run four successful Alpha courses hosted online.

Our weekly Encounter meeting continued supporting people remotely and was relaunched when we were able to in-person with a weekly service.

Streetlife continued to serve the vulnerable, despite COVID restrictions, every Saturday night of the year.

Little Elms has continued outreach to families online and hosted three summer gatherings in a local park.

Children’s, Youth & Student Work: In the Spring of 2021 our children’s, youth and students ministries were able to start regathering in-person, after a long period of meeting online. This included outdoor socials for youth, family services on Sundays and Our City (students and young adults) socials.

Although direct spending on mission and discipleship, and children’s and young adult’s ministry is a small slice of overall expenditure, much of our investment is in employing people and equipping the church to reach others with the gospel. This is expressed through the witness of the church, preaching of the gospel on Sundays and through Alpha, plus our numerous social action initiatives and community activities.

Office, Insurance & Governance: During this year we took the decision to relocate to a new office space, which has been a massive boost and investment in our staff team and volunteers. This means we spent 20% more than we planned to on our administrative costs. This also includes communications costs, I.T. and resources that enable us to get the most out of our teams, support our trustees and ensure that all we do is safe and
well-governed.

Again we’d like to thank you for your generosity that enables us to fulfill our mission to Bristol. If you are new to City Church and would call this your church family, but aren't yet giving, please consider how you could play a part. We encourage everyone who calls City Church their home to give financially as part of following Jesus. This isn't so much about the amount that you give but about your heart for God and a desire for other people to come to know him.

To start playing your part by giving to City Church please make use of the standing order and gift aid forms attached. These are also available at citychurch.org.uk/give

If you have any questions about finance or giving, please get in touch with our
finance team: