The directors have pleasure in presenting their report together with the audited financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025. The directors have adopted the provisions of the Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) “Accounting and Reporting by Charities” (FRS 102) in preparing the annual report and financial statements of the charity.
The following directors have held office since 1 January 2025:
Christian Fellowship Church is a Christ centred community dedicated to impacting Belfast, Ireland and the nations with the love of God in the power of the Holy Spirit.
CFC is a group of people from all backgrounds who are walking in God's grace and are on a journey of transformation with Him.
We believe that God has called us to impact our city, our country and the nations with the love of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the foundation for everything we do.
We are passionate about seeing people growing in their relationship with God and to do this we meet together every Sunday to worship God and to experience a relevant and powerful message, which teaches truths from the Bible and also midweek to further develop and explore God's truth for us and our world.
These gatherings, alongside courses such as Alpha and the Marriage Course, continue to provide opportunities for individuals to grow in their faith.
In setting our objectives and planning our activities for the year the directors have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland's guidance on public benefit to ensure that the activities have helped to achieve the charity's purposes and provide a benefit to the beneficiaries.
The Christian Fellowship Church uses members of the Church community to provide some of the services above. Any private benefit received by the members is purely incidental to the purposes of our work.
CFC's missions statement is "to be a Christ centred community dedicated to impacting Belfast, Ireland and the nations with the love of God in the power of the Holy Spirit."
We believe that bringing people into a relationship with God will allow them to live the way they were meant to and that this in turn has an impact on our society, children, relationships, economy etc.
In each of our sites we want to 'be a community', providing a place where people can belong and become who God intended them to be, and to 'bless a community', by contributing to the spiritual, social, economic and physical need of our city, nation and beyond.
To do this we run a variety of programmes and activities that include children's and youth work, community outreach, a food bank, a professionally accredited counselling service, support for parents and marriages, community space for meetings and overseas development work.
We believe that God has called us to impact our city, our country and the nations with the love of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the foundation for everything we do.
2025 was a year that saw the continued growth of our CFC sites, and the strengthening of partnerships with like-minded churches across Northern Ireland. As well as people coming to faith at each of our sites, we also had an increase in the number of weddings performed and babies being dedicated. At our Exploring Membership evening in June 2025, around 65 people came to find out more about church membership (with more than 50 people then joining) and we held baptism services at all our CFC locations during the year. Andrew Gibson, as Senior Pastor, spent time at each of our CFC sites, getting to know the different people who together make up the CFC church family. As well as our wonderful Easter and Christmas events, a highlight in 2025 was seeing so many people from CFC head to the NUA Conference together, for a fantastic weekend of fellowship and teaching with other Christians. It was also a year when we began the preparations for planting a new CFC site in Comber in early 2026.
One of our main focuses in 2025, across all our CFC communities, was investing into Connect Groups. With dedicated Connect Co-ordinators, committed Connect Leaders, great resources and central support provided, the Connect groups flourished and grew during the year, and the number of people attending them also increased.
In 2025, CFC continued to sow into oversees mission partners and strengthen its connections in India, Thailand, and Asia. They did this through providing financial and prayer support and sending out volunteer teams. At a local level CFC worked with CAP, Alpha, The Larder, Food Banks, Life House, Home Plus, Starling Collective, East Belfast Mission, and a local school to name but a few, as part of our call to help people find and follow Jesus. The 2025 Compassion Appeal saw our congregations donate more than £100,000 in the Compassion Appeal to bless individuals and families in need, and we were able to support a youth pastor, working in Ireland.
CFC East continued to be the largest of our church communities, hosting 4 services on Sundays, as well as SLC gatherings, and broadcasting the main service live each week. In addition, many midweek ministries continued to meet and flourish, such as Open Door, Solo and Tots, to name but a few. Both youth and kids’ numbers increased substantially during the year, with many coming from the local neighbourhood to the weekly events. Our established Sunday night services at CFC East officially came to an end in December 2025, to allow us to have a space for gathering all our sites to worship together, hold monthly outreach events and to run a discipleship programme.
In CFC Antrim, after many years of faithful service, Ruth and Alister Wallace retired as the site pastors in 2025, and Rachel Sheppard stepped into the role. The Directors would like to thank Alister and Ruth Wallace for all they have done to advance the Kingdom of God in Antrim, and support and pray for Rachel Sheppard as she steps forward into the role of Antrim Site Pastor. The congregation continued to experience steady growth in all areas under her leadership, particularly in the areas of Connect, Youth and Worship teams. The church building itself also was kept busy. It was used during weekdays by local groups and charities and provided a space for a Counselling service and a community advisor, to help people on benefits. Relationships were strengthened with other churches in the local area too during the year.
CFC Holywood also continued to thrive in 2025, with more Connect groups and new people coming along to the gatherings. A family worship time was introduced on Sunday mornings prior to the main service, which enabled adults and kids to worship together. This proved to be a really special time for all involved and provided much needed extra space during the service. Holywood ran regular discipleship groups over the year, as well as joined in with seasonal events along with other local churches. A particular significant event was the gathering together with other churches for the 24/7 Day of Prayer. The close relationship with Holywood Family Trust continued.
CFC Inner East settled well into their new space in the Templemore Baths in 2025. They continued to host community and one-off evangelism events, many of which involved food, to reach people in the area with the gospel message. The church stayed closely involved with the local community projects such as Summer Schemes and remained dedicated to serving those in need. They also hosted Connect groups, bible studies and men’s gatherings for their members to grow in their faith and continue their discipleship journey.
2025 was Rachel Tweedie’s first full year as site Pastor at CFC South. The church experienced both numerical and spiritual growth, with members getting more involved in both Connects and serving opportunities, and new people joining in. They saw a greater freedom in worship, a greater response for prayer ministry, and a greater hunger for the things of God. Another exciting development over the year was the deepening of the partnerships with other local churches in the South Belfast area, specifically with City Church Belfast and Home Church (formerly South Belfast Elim).
The Sign Language Congregation (SLC) continued to meet at East and at various other CFC sites throughout the year, under the leadership of Daniel Voss. They also gathered for a number of special events throughout 2025, such as the Christmas party, where they could bring family and friends and enjoy fellowship together.
The figures contained in these accounts once again reflect the faithfulness of God and the incredible ongoing generosity of the CFC members. This generosity, combined with careful and prayerful stewardship, has resulted in an increase in donations to the church and a surplus of funds for the year.
The directors have a risk management strategy that is implemented by the Operations staff and escalated to the directors as appropriate, this comprises:
- a regular review of the risks the company may face;
- the establishment of systems and procedures to manage those risks identified in the plan; and
- the implementation of procedures designed to minimise any potential impact on the company should those risks materialise.
The results are set out on pages 11 to 25. Christian Fellowship Church generated a net unrestricted surplus for the year of £224,833 from which £83,585 was transferred to Missional funds and £25,975 to Building fund (2024: net unrestricted surplus of £153,571). The level of free reserves at 31 December 2025 was a surplus of £223,610 (2024: surplus of £162,294).
Under the Memorandum and Articles of Association, the charity has the power to invest its unrestricted funds in any way the Directors consider appropriate. The Directors have operated a policy of ensuring that any reserve funds are held in an interest bearing account.
The Directors continue to review and monitor the reserves of the Company. This encompasses the nature of income and expenditure streams, the need to match variable income with fixed commitments and the nature of the reserves. To enable the efficient and effective management of the charity the directors have determined that free reserves at a level in excess of three months operating costs should be held. At the year end free reserves amounted to £223,610 which equates to over 2 months operating costs. This was slightly lower than our desired level as we invested in repairs and building costs at a number of our sites during 2025. Annual budgets are prepared and monitored on an ongoing basis to ensure free reserves are managed in line with this reserve policy.
Our new site in Comber opened in January 2026 under the leadership of Zara Miskimmin. After an amazing launch, it has continued to flourish, with local people of all ages gathering weekly to pray and worship together. The focus for CFC in 2026 is to continue to bring people together within all of our congregations and build up godly relationships within our church family. We continue to gather in person each week, at all of our sites, serving in different ministries and encouraging one another to grow in our faith.
We will continue to invest in our online Sunday services, as we endeavour to stay connected to all the people who watch regularly, and we will also partner with local people, communities, charities and groups in our neighbourhoods and overseas.
The Elders, as always, continue to monitor the church finances to ensure the best use of our resources.
The directors are responsible for preparing the Directors' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.
Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the directors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law the directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure of the company for that period.
In preparing these financial statements, the directors are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP 2019 (FRS 102);
- make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
- state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements;
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in operation.
The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and the group and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
During the year the company paid over £168,371 (2024: £147,054) for mission support and the company made donations for missions gifts of £95,282 (2024: £84,064) and honoraria amounting to £24,680 (2024: £20,015) and no political contributions.
On behalf of the board
Opinion
We have audited the financial statements of Christian Fellowship Church (the ‘charity’) for the year ended 31 December 2025 which comprise the statement of financial activities, the balance sheet, the statement of cash flows and the notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
In our opinion, the financial statements:
Basis for opinion
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the charity in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directors’ use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the charity's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
The directors are responsible for the other information. The other information comprises the information included in the annual report, other than the financial statements and our auditor’s report thereon. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.
In connection with our audit of the financial statements, our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the audit or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether there is a material misstatement in the financial statements or a material misstatement of the other information. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.
We have nothing to report in this regard.
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:
the information given in the directors' report, which includes the strategic report prepared for the purposes of company law, for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the directors’ report included within the Strategic report has been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the Strategic Report and the Directors' Report.
We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters where the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:
-adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received; or
-the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or
-certain disclosures of directors' remuneration specified by law are not made; or
-we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
As explained more fully in the statement of directors' responsibilities, the directors, who are also the trustees of the charity for the purpose of company law, are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.
In preparing the financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the charity’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the charitable company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor’s report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud is detailed below:
the nature of the industry and sector, control environment and performance;
results of our enquiries of management about their own identification and assessment of the risks of irregularities;
any matters we identified having obtained and reviewed the charitable company's documentation of their policies and procedures relating to:
- identifying, evaluating and complying with laws and regulations and whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance;
- detecting and responding to the risks of fraud and whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud;
– the internal controls established to mitigate risks of fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations;
the matters discussed among the audit engagement team and relevant internal specialists where necessary regarding how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements and any potential indicators of fraud.
As a result of these procedures, we considered the opportunities and incentives that may exist within the organisation for fraud. In common with all audits under ISAs (UK), we are also required to perform specific procedures to respond to the risk of management override.
We also obtained an understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks that the charitable company operates in, focusing on provisions of those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on the determination of material amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. The key laws and regulations we considered in this context included the Companies Act 2006, the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008 and Taxation Legislation.
In addition, we considered provisions of other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which may be fundamental to the charitable company's ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty.
As a result of performing the above our procedures to respond to risks identified included the following:
reviewing the financial statement disclosures and testing to supporting documentation to assess compliance with provisions of relevant laws and regulations described as having a direct effect on the financial statements;
enquiring of management concerning actual and potential litigation and claims
performing analytical procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships that may indicate risks of material misstatement due to fraud;
reading minutes of meetings of those charged with governance and reviewing correspondence with HMRC;and
in addressing the risk of fraud through management override of controls, testing the appropriateness of journal entries and other adjustments; assessing whether the judgements made in making accounting estimates are indicative of a potential bias; and evaluating the business rationale of any significant transactions that are unusual or outside the normal course of business.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.
This report is made solely to the charity members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the charity members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the charity and the charity members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
Investments
Raising funds
Christian Fellowship Church is a private company limited by guarantee incorporated in Northern Ireland. The registered office and principal office is 10 Belmont Road, Belfast, Co Down, BT4 2AN. The nature of the charity's operations and principal activities are given in the directors' report on page 3 of these financial statements.
The charity constitutes a public benefit entity as defined by FRS 102. The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (second edition - October 2019), the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102), the Charities Act (Northern Ireland) 2008, the Companies Act 2006 and UK Generally Accepted Practice as it applies from 1 January 2019.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.
The significant accounting policies applied in the preparation of these financial statements are set out below. These policies have been consistently applied to all years presented unless otherwise stated.
Income is recognised when the charity is legally entitled to it after any performance conditions have been met, the amounts can be measured reliably, and it is probable that income will be received.
All expenditure is accounted for on an accruals basis and has been classified under headings that aggregate all costs related to the category. The majority of costs are directly attributable to charitable activities. Where costs cannot be directly attributed to particular headings they have been allocated to charitable activities on a basis consistent with use of the resources. Staff costs and overhead expenses are allocated to activities on the basis of staff time spent on those activities.
Support costs are those functions that assist the work of the charity but do not directly represent charitable activities. Support costs include back office costs, finance, human resources, payroll and governance costs which support the charity's activities. These costs have been allocated against the expenditure on charitable activities.
The charity has different types of funds for which it is responsible, and which require separate disclosure. These are as follows:
(a) Restricted funds - Funding received which can only be used for a specific purpose as determined by the funder. Such purposes are within the overall aims of the organisation and are set out in the notes to the financial statements.
(b) Unrestricted funds - Funds which are expendable at the discretion of the directors in the furtherance of the objectives of the charity. In addition the funds may be held in order to finance capital investment and working capital.
Tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less depreciation. Depreciation is provided at rates calculated to write off the cost less estimated residual value of each asset over its expected useful life, as follows:
Investment property, which is property held to earn rentals and/or for capital appreciation, is initially recognised at cost, which includes the purchase cost and any directly attributable expenditure. Subsequently it is measured at fair value at the reporting end date. The surplus or deficit on revaluation is recognised in profit or loss.
The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors and bank loans are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of operations from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
The company operates a defined contribution pension scheme. Pension contributions in respect of the scheme for employees are charged to the profit and loss account as they become payable in accordance with the rules of the scheme. The assets are held separately from those of the company in an independently administered fund. Differences between the amounts charged in the income and expenditure account and payments made to pension funds are treated as assets or liabilities.
The company is a registered charity and is not liable to tax on funds generated from activities within the scope of the charitable exemptions.
Insurance income is monies received from insurance company in relation to a claim for property damage.
Grant income relates to monies due in the period from funding bodies.
The average monthly number of full time equivalent employees during the year was:
No directors received any remuneration or were reimbursed expenditure from the charity during the year in their capacity as directors.
Investment property comprises solely of buildings. The fair value of the investment properties is not deemed to be materially different than the net book value.
The transfer to building fund from unrestricted funds relates to property loan repayments made from rent received and an amount of fund property additions.
The directors transferred £109,560 from general funds to support the missional activities of the church and building fund.
Incoming resources
Resources expended
Transfers
Buildings
Acts42Day
Missional
The company had no capital commitments as at 31 December 2025 and at 31 December 2024.
The company had no financial commitments as at 31 December 2025 and at 31 December 2024.