Once again we want to thank you for being such a wonderfully generous church! We’re so grateful that God continues to provide for all that we need. In the last year a total of almost £400,000 (not including gift aid) was given made up of £355,000 regular giving and £43,000 gift day income.
We spent less than anticipated between September 2021 and August 2022, the net result being that we ended the year with a surplus of £50,000. This means that we move forward into the new financial year in a great position, and with confidence to stretch financially towards our vision.
The chart below gives an overview of our income and expenditure between September 2021 and August 2022.
As our sites & ministries have been relaunched in person over the last year we have spent less than budgetted. We also had various staffing changes during the year which have also meant we saved money. Lastly, we have decided to spread out our giving to the Leicester church plant across multiple years, meaning in total we spent £50,000 less than budgeted.
WHAT HAVE WE RECEIVED?
Approximately £400,000 was given this year, which is slightly higher than last year. Alongside £90,000 of gift aid and £10,000 of other income the total received was just over £500,000. It has been greatly encouraging to see that giving has remained steady and on our target of £29,000 a month throughout the year.
WHAT HAVE WE SPENT THIS YEAR?
In total we spent £453,000 in the last financial year. This is significantly higher than the previous two years as we have been able to start meeting together in-person for the whole year, and restart all our ministries and social action projects.
Below we have a breakdown of our expenditure through the year, with some commentary on how the monies were spent.
Staff Team (inc. salaries): As planned, we have spent £259,000 (61% of total expenditure) on employing, training and equipping our staff team. 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.
Sunday Meetings: This year we’ve spent £77,000 (17% of total expenditure) on venues, supplies & equipment to facilitate our Sunday services; and hasn’t it been great to be back together for a whole year? The bulk of these costs have been hiring the venues that we meet in.
Giving Away: We have been able to support the situation in Ukraine with a gift towards the work Newfrontiers churches are doing in that nation. In the UK we have been able to support Encounter Camp, Green Pastures housing, as well as the Bristol Churches Winter Night Shelter. We also continue to give regularly to our Commission family of churches.
Mission & Discipleship: We have spent around £8,000 on direct mission and discipleship costs. 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: We have spent 10% of our costs towards our administrative costs. This includes our multi-purpose office space at Fenton Court, ensuring we resource our teams well, and making sure that all we do is safe and well governed.
Looking Ahead
As we move into the new financial year we are in a challenging moment financially for our nation, with costs rising for households, businesses and the government. We have set a stretching budget to advance our vision of Helping Bristol Believe. All of our sites & ministries have now reopened fully, and we have employed new staff to advance our mission, so we expect our actual costs to be higher than the last year at around £520,000.
In this context we have set our 2022/23 budget based on regular giving of £350,000 for the coming year, which is the same as last year. With gift aid and other income accounted for, we expect to receive almost £100,000 less than we spend in the coming year. This is a stretch we’re able to make due to savings we have made during the pandemic. We want to keep growing our regular giving as new people join the church, so that year on year we can close the gap between our income and expenditure.
Therefore we’re really grateful to God to say that in the first two months of this year we’ve been 10% ahead of our budgeted regular giving!
Play Your Part
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.
You can find out how to give at citychurch.org.uk/give or by coming to the Welcome Desk on a Sunday morning.
If you have any questions about finance, or giving, please get in touch with our finance team:
Sian Morgan
sian.morgan@citychurch.org.uk
Sarah Todd
sarah.todd@citychurch.org.uk
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. Please note that this report is based on our unaudited accounts. A full audited report will be available in 2023 when submitted to the Charity Commission.