TheYear. Scripture Union s annual review for 2008/09. Investing for the next generation

Transcription

1 TheYear Scripture Union s annual review for 2008/09 Investing for the next generation

2 TheYear An estimated 700 children have fun while learning about God at X:site events in ten locations SU NURSERIES SU NURSERIES 1,500 groups sign up to SchoolsLive, impacting more than 32,000 children and young people SU NURSERIES More than 8,000 groups use LightLive, encouraging over 115,000 children to connect with God. SU NURSERIES WordLive helps 15,500 people transform their experience of the Bible and deepen their relationship with God

3 3 Seeds of growth We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power and the wonders he has done. Psalm 78: 4 We have seen during the economic downturn that nothing in the world of finance and investment is certain. The green shoots of hope commentators referred to during 2008 proved to be short-lived. But our hope is built on Jesus Christ, the solid Rock. And our calling remains: to serve a world in great spiritual need, whatever the economic climate. The seeds of growth we have seen in God s economy through Scripture Union s ministry in the past year are the results of investment in prayer, the commitment of those who serve, and the generosity of his people s gifts. They are signs that we are heading towards our vision to: See every member of God s family deepening their relationship with him through prayer and immersing themselves in his Word. See his family, the church, vibrantly overflowing into their communities, fully equipped to make disciples of children and young people, and a vital witness to their neighbours. Encourage every Christian in every church in every community to grasp the vision that our God is breaking through in power and love to transform people s lives. Let s get excited about what God is doing through Scripture Union s ministry as we review the past year. But let s also be eager in our anticipation of what he will do as we go forward in trust and obedience: Proclaiming Jesus: enabling children and young people to hear and respond to the good news of Jesus. Inspiring leaders: influencing Christian leaders to be committed to Bible engagement, and the evangelism and discipleship of children and young people. Equipping Christians: inspiring and equipping churches and individuals to know and serve God better through using the Bible. Enabling growth: developing an integrated team of supporters, volunteers and staff. Come with us to see the deeds of the Lord, his power and the wonders he will do. And partner with us to tell the next generation. Ian Marsh, Chairman of Trustees

4 TheYear Building for the benefit of future generations Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labour in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. Psalm 127:1 Our annual report demonstrates how we have provided Public Benefit. Scripture Union s mission is to use the Bible to inspire children, young people and adults to know God, and what could be of greater benefit to any member of the public than knowing God? Indeed this report contains many examples of how we have advanced our mission through the development of established programmes and the creation of new ones. We are thankful to God for the creativity, professionalism and commitment of the volunteers and staff who deliver our ministry. Their hard work is responsible for sowing the seed of God s Word, sharing the Gospel with children and young people, commissioning and editing resources - but it is God who brings the growth. Our emphasis remains on ensuring the priority of evangelism, growing discipleship through the Bible and prayer and resourcing churches to make disciples of children and young people. Yet all our labours would be in vain if God were not breathing his Holy Spirit through our ministry. We pray continually that God would use our activities to give the beneficiaries of that ministry the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that they may know him better. It is thrilling to hear stories of how he has been doing just that. In the past year we have made great strides in growing the delivery of ministry through digital media. WordLive, our free on-line Bible reading guide, has continued to expand; LightLive, launched in May as a massive, free, on-line treasure trove of top quality resources is already helping many thousands of church youth and children s leaders; and SchoolsLive, launched in September, now provides similar support for leaders of school Christian groups. Many people are benefiting from these resources but there is scope to grow their number substantially and that is our top priority for the coming year. Development of freely available digital resources increases our dependence on gift income so we are very thankful for the sacrificial giving of all our supporters. We urgently need to see further growth in gift income to ensure our ministry continues for many years to come. Here too we acknowledge our dependence on God s faithfulness to provide in the future as he has in the past. To God be the glory. Keith Civval, Chief Executive Using the Bible to inspire children, young people and adults to know God

5 5 God s goodness more than we could ask or imagine! More children and young people hearing and responding The musicians played, the air filled with children s voices, and eight hundred years of tranquility was broken briefly amid the ruins of medieval Jervaulx Abbey. This was Lifepath, an educational experience hosted by Scripture Union and churches in north Yorkshire. On a carpet of grass, under a ceiling of sky, and amid the remains of walls that once echoed to the chants of Cistercian monks, more than 1,150 pupils from 37 primary schools took a journey back in time to explore their life and faith. For a generation to whom Christianity is one of many faith stories, Lifepath is providing the opportunity to consider the Christian faith in the context of an historic place and character. Children love Lifepath, and so do teachers. Special school assistant head Caroline Byrne said her pupils had been immersed in the experience. Fantastic! she said. One of our girls, who normally says very little, said it was the best day she s ever had. Across the country Lifepath events helped more than 3,700 pupils from 74 schools to explore Christianity. New events at Malvern, Worcestershire, and Havering in Greater London brought the number of events to seven. The aim is to add another three in the coming year and enthuse Christian networks in another 20 areas to consider Lifepath for the following year, helped by a promotional DVD and a four-topic organiser pack. For children aged 7 to 11 who already attend church, X:site provides a great place to have fun, learn about Jesus, and bring their friends. The programme has grown to 10 events, thanks to the addition of new centres at South Wiltshire, Sheffield and Newbury. X:site was also popular with the Bishop of Bradford, the Rt. Rev David James, who visited the Keighley event to license its leader, Scripture Union Associate Steve Grasham, as a missioner to children and young people. The aim in the coming year is to double the number of X:sites around the country. More churches resourced Like the television and the telephone, the internet has become part of life. That s where people go first for information. So what better medium for putting a comprehensive array of resources into the hands of leaders of children s, youth and all-age ministry! LightLive was born in May 2008: a free-ofcharge website to give leaders the best in Biblebased learning material, team planning tools, and a powerful search engine to trawl Scripture Union s unrivalled database of resources. It s great to have this kind of resource available, says children s and youth leader Claire Beach. It s useful to be able to put together the different elements and check timings online. Claire uses the search facility not only for children s church but also for midweek groups. During the year LightLive grew to serve 11,224 regular users, representing more than 8,000 groups, benefiting more than 115,000 children. Reinforcing the desire to serve the church well with children s ministry, Scripture Union became a prime mover in the Will You Make a Difference? campaign, which invited churches to assess their work with children throughout 2009, the 30th anniversary of the UN Year of the Child. As part of a collaborative venture headed by Children Matter! and the Consultative Group on Ministry among Children, we helped to produce a DVD of resources to celebrate and inspire work with children in churches, and stimulate thinking and planning towards fresh vision. By the end of March 45,000 DVDs had been sent to churches. More Christians growing Midnight struck on January 1, and while people around the world celebrated the arrival of 2009, Scripture Union was celebrating the first anniversary of the WordLive website. In its first year more than 10,000 had registered to use the free-of-charge online Bible reading website, or had requested WordLive as a daily , audio podcast, RSS feed, or to be sent to their mobile phone. It s great. Good biblical content with practical straightforward content and it s never woolly! is just one of the many responses the WordLive team receives every week. Another user said: WordLive has really helped me approach my devotional times in a new way. While WordLive is ideal for personal use, with notes, videos, meditative material, and a searchable archive of material, there s also a weekly outline for small groups. The outline, refreshed every Monday, is based on one of the main readings for the week with links to the week s theme or topic. With 2009 only three months old, WordLive had recruited nearly 6,000 more regular users, and the aim in the coming year is to encourage them to tell others how good it is and to get them online! Another group of online friends are those using the SchoolsLive website, launched in September Every week hundreds of school Christian groups download high quality, Bible-based materials designed for school use. Before the launch, Scripture Union had contact with about 120 primary school groups using SUPA Club materials. Within SchoolsLive s first six months, 610 primary school and 601 secondary school groups were using the site, representing more than 32,000 children and young people. One group leader said: I want to thank you for all you re doing to make running Christian Unions so much easier!

6 M res disc and y TheYear In the long-term......we aim to see more children and young people benefit by hearing and responding to the good news of Jesus Christ; more churches benefit through resourcing to disciple children and young people more Christians benefit from growth in discipleship through the Bible and prayer; greater recognition of and support for Scripture Union as a mission movement; so that more communities benefit from a vibrant Christian witness. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. Jeremiah 17: 7, 8 Proclaiming Jesus More children and young people hearing and responding to the good news of Jesus Christ We have a strong reputation for schools work with a growing ministry in England and Wales. We aim to continue growing the scale of our work to make a bigger impact through what we do. Lifepath, our major schools initiative, enables children and young people to explore the Christian faith, and we are seeking opportunities for new events, aiming for 70 across the country by We want to encourage children who attend church to live their faith courageously, and introduce their friends to Jesus. This is the intention of our growing X:site event ministry, which we aim to encourage in 70 centres nationally. We are well known for our holidays and missions, and we plan to continue strengthening these programmes, growing their scale every year. We also aim to explore and pilot new styles of direct evangelism, ready to roll out the first in Straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3: 13b, 14 More Christians growing in discipleship through the Bible and prayer. SU NURSERIES

7 7 Inspiring leaders More churches resourced to make disciples of children and young people We have the trust of leaders who develop their ministry among children and young people using our resources. We will continue increasing the scale annually of our support for church-based discipleship, making a bigger impact through LightLive, the online resource that follows our Light programme and gives children s and youth leaders access to weekly syllabus material free-of-charge. Holiday Bible clubs form the foundation of discipleship and outreach programmes for many thousands of churches, and we aim to develop ways to enable them to turn these clubs into all-year activity. We continue to earn the trust of leaders through consistently communicating the importance of Bible engagement and prayer, and the evangelism and discipleship of children and young people. Equipping Christians More Christians growing in discipleship through the Bible and prayer We are unequivocal in holding to the importance of the Bible and prayer in the lives of Christians. We are equally strong in holding to the importance of evangelism and discipleship among young people and children. We intend to strengthen and develop WordLive, the online resource that allows users a wide range of creative approaches to God s Word, and to promote its use. Our continuing aim is to enhance our ministry to equip children, young people and adults to meet God regularly through the Bible and prayer. Enabling growth A growing recognition of and support for Scripture Union as a mission movement in England and Wales We are engaged in mission, and our plans for growth in every area of our ministry run hand-in-hand with our intention to develop our motivated team of supporters and workers, who are committed to our vision and values, and to support and resource them for the challenges ahead. SU NURSERIES SU NURSERIES More Christians growing in discipleship through the Bible and prayer ore churches ourced to make iples of children oung people. SU NURSERIES Growing recognition of and support for Scripture Union as a mission movement in England and Wales.

8 TheYear Proclaiming Jesus enabling children and young people to hear and respond to the good news of Jesus. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Psalm 96: 2 God right beside me Ollie, with no church background, was invited by his teacher to join the Footlights performing arts holiday for 11 to 13s. There he began his spiritual journey and he came back the following year to get a bit closer to God. Exploring the Bible and seeing its relevance for life drew Ollie closer to God there. It feels fantastic. I can just talk to God wherever I am he s always there talking to me. When he talks to me I feel a powerful kind of meaning in my brain when I have to choose between things I never felt this before coming to Footlights. Ollie started secondary school: a big change, but his newfound faith in God helps. If I have God right beside me and I pray to him in the hard times, it ll be so much easier to go through secondary school. Sometimes it can be rough, and sometimes it can be fun, and I want to pray through all those times. The year in review AIM: ENHANCE THE IMPACT OF CURRENT MODELS OF SCHOOL MINISTRY AND START TO GROW SCALE An enthusiastic welcome was given to the September launch of our SchoolsLive website, and within six months more than 32,000 children and young people were benefiting from this ministry. By March 610 primary groups were using its free-of-charge Biblebased materials, representing 4.8% of primary schools. A total of 601 secondary groups, representing 15.5% of secondary schools, use SchoolsLive. One of its strengths is the provision of materials for every week of the school year. Web link: Into the Bible, the resource enabling teachers to introduce the Bible to Key Stage 2 children, is now in its second year. Bulk class packs, with lesson outlines, along with single copies raised the total distribution in the year to almost 3,500 less than we had hoped. The resource is well-received where it is presented, and has been described as an effective key primary RE text. Web link: AIM: ENHANCE THE MINISTRY OF LIFEPATH AND IDENTIFY POTENTIAL FOR NEW EVENTS Lifepath has grown and local groups held the event in seven locations. More than 3,700 pupils from 74 schools experienced Lifepath, and around 300 volunteers were involved. A Lifepath organisers pack has been produced and work has started on developing packs focusing on four different topics to make it easier for groups to run an event. Web link: AIM: DISCOVER AND PILOT NEW STYLES OF DIRECT EVANGELISM We have started to explore new pioneering activities for possible piloting. Areas for exploration include digital community-building, reaching more young people who live their lives online and who may not have encountered the good news. A group has done some background work on partnership possibilities in sports ministry and ministry with marginalised young people. AIM: ENHANCE THE IMPACT OF X:SITE AND IDENTIFY POTENTIAL FOR NEW CENTRES Growth of X:site, the area-wide multi-media event for 7 to 11s, has taken the number of groups to 10. Much of this growth has come through tapping into existing schools work, and a number of Scripture Union associate bodies use X:site to support their schools work and give children from their school Christian groups the opportunity to meet other children on similar spiritual journeys. X:site is a place for children to have fun, learn about Jesus and bring their friends. The regular events attracted an estimated 700 children. Web link: AIM: ENHANCE THE IMPACT OF SCRIPTURE UNION-LED HOLIDAYS AND MISSIONS, AND INCREASE THEIR SCALE BY 10 PER CENT Growth in the holidays programme has become more challenging owing to difficulty in finding sites to hire, and new leaders. We arranged 98 holidays and catered for 3,255 children and young people a capacity of 85% - with the help of 1,912 volunteers. Web link: A total of 3,786 children and young people registered on 19 summer mission events, made possible with the help of 1,126 volunteers. Sixty eight young people went on our international placements programme. Web link: Leaders on missions and holidays have been equipped to develop the quality of spiritual content at events through training at the annual leaders conferences and with The Explorer s Guide to the Bible, a pack to train mission and holiday teams in Bible use. Special event Bible notes have also been produced for team members. 4

9 X:site grows to 10 locations 9 3,700 children from 74 schools experienced Lifepath It feels fantastic I can just talk to God wherever I am. 3,255 children and young people on SU holidays

10 TheYear Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22: 6 Valuing every person All through her childhood, Holly was one of the chorus. As a keen drama student, she never won a part. So as a group leader on Footlights performing arts holiday, organising a performance of Cinderella, Holly wanted every young person to have a role in which they could shine, because everyone is a valuable member of the group. So she created parts and wrote extra lines for all her cast. It was like that in the small devotional group she led: because every person matters to God. I screwed up a lot of stuff as a teenager, says Holly, so if I can in any way help them in things like relationships, purity, and show how much God values them, then that s good. Romans 8: 28 was a key verse for Holly: in all things God works for good with those who love him. However much you mess up, God will use it for his glory. Inspiring leaders Influencing Christian leaders to be committed to Bible engagement, and the evangelism and discipleship of children and young people The year in review AIM: ENHANCE THE IMPACT OF CHURCH- BASED DISCIPLE-MAKING OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE, AND INCREASE ITS SCALE BY 10 PER CENT EACH YEAR Our disciple-making ministry focuses on helping children and young people to follow Jesus, and to encourage them to model their lives on those who walk with God through life. Our desire to support leaders in this ministry and encourage them to take a fresh look at their children s and young people s work was the impetus for our leading involvement in the Will You Make a Difference? campaign. A DVD programme was produced to stimulate thinking and planning around ministry with children, and 45,000 were distributed to churches. Web link: Helping leaders equip young Christians to share their faith among friends and amid modern peer pressure is the focus of a team that began preliminary thinking on peer evangelism, and this will develop through To ensure we provide high quality written material to support our overall disciple-making ministry, a comprehensive print and digital training programme was launched for existing writers, potential new writers, holidays and missions teams, and Scripture Union staff. Around 85 have received training and a further 80 are expected to undertake training. AIM: LAUNCH, PROMOTE AND DEVELOP LightLive LightLive, the free-of-charge website for those working with children and young people, was launched in May By March 2009 more than 18,000 users had registered, representing around 8,000 groups and benefiting an estimated 115,000 children. LightLive follows the Light syllabus and provides registered users with regular Bible-based session material, planning tools, and a powerful database of resources to support children s youth and all-age ministry. Web link: AIM: DEVELOP AND APPROACH TO TURN ANNUAL HOLIDAY CLUBS INTO YEAR-ROUND ACTIVITY An estimated 160,000 children attend holiday clubs using Scripture Union resources and we have been doing more to promote the connection between these and year-round ministry to children with little or no church connection. A number of churches run after-school clubs, halfterm reunion clubs, and groups during Easter and Christmas breaks. More than 300 churches registered their clubs with our online community and this number is growing. A holiday club blog has been started to share good practice, exchange experiences and discuss new plans. The 2009 resource, Showstoppers, raises the curtain on performing arts to explore the stories of creation, David and Goliath, Daniel in the lions den, Jesus s birth, and his crucifixion and resurrection. Showstoppers sold 2,600 copies in the first three months, and works with its companion midweek club programme, Dress Rehearsal, to help churches develop year-round ministries. Web link: AIM: COMMUNICATE THE IMPORTANCE OF BIBLE ENGAGEMENT AND PRAYER, AND THE EVANGELISM AND DISCIPLESHIP OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE The Survival Skills for Christian Parents training programme, exploring what it means to be a family and the importance of sharing faith with children, has been piloted and received positive feedback. The programme is downloadable from the Scripture Union website with posters and invitations as supporting material. Web link: The network of Scripture Union Bible Enthusiasts continues to thrive, and we regularly supply them with resources and displays to share with their churches the importance of reading the Bible. During the year we signed up 83 new Bible Enthusiasts and sent out promotional resources for around 60 displays. The Partners in Mission initiative, to deepen involvement in Scripture Union ministry of churches, supporters and other organisations, is being developed by regional teams, and one has already planned a training tour.

11 LightLive used by 8,000 groups Estimated 115,000 children benefit from LightLive ,000 children attend holiday clubs using SU resources

12 TheYear These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Deuteronomy 6: 6 On a journey with God The school assembly focused on Paul s voyage to Rome: facing disasters from Acts 27. Scripture Union worker Margaret told stories of two people she met who responded differently to disasters in their own lives, and one became a Christian through it. She told pupils how Paul gave the ship s crew God s message and all were safe. At the end a stream of pupils wanted to talk to Margaret about what she had said. Harrison wanted to know how Paul knew it was God speaking to him, and asked if Margaret had ever heard God speaking to her. He said he sometimes prayed but wanted to know if God could speak to him. Margaret said she d pray for him, but could see Harrison, very moved by the assembly, was now a young boy on a journey with God. Equipping Christians Inspiring and equipping churches and individuals to know and serve God better through using the Bible The year in review AIM: ENHANCE MINISTRY TO EQUIP CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE TO MEET GOD THROUGH THE BIBLE AND PRAYER Everything we do in our work with children and young people, and their leaders, focuses on helping them to encounter God and develop their relationship with him through the Bible and prayer. Indeed, our Bible reading guides Snapshots and SUbmerge give them an excellent way in to explore the Bible for everyday living. We want to maintain best practice in evangelism and Bible use with children and young people, so our senior managers and practitioners have been considering Serving Children, a paper from Scripture Union International. It is intended that the insights and learning from this will be communicated through the movement to maintain our cutting edge. A research team has started to explore ways to develop ministry with boys and young men. Analysis from interviews across a number of organisations working in this area will help the team decide how to move forward during AIM: ENHANCE MINISTRY TO EQUIP ADULTS TO MEET GOD THROUGH THE BIBLE AND PRAYER The Connect with God campaign, to encourage Christians in their relationship with God by reading the Bible regularly, launched in the autumn and generated significant interest among churches. It enabled churches to showcase all our Bible reading guides and the WordLive website, and encourage members to use them to engage with the Bible. We sent out 1,600 campaign packs to churches, which included posters, a presentation guide, free bookmarks and samples. Christian retailers gave strong support to the campaign and we distributed 250 bookshop packs to them. AIM: LAUNCH, PROMOTE AND DEVELOP WordLive WordLive, our free-of-charge online daily Bible reading website, celebrated its first birthday on 1 January 2009 with more than 10,000 registered users. The digital service, available worldwide, and which includes online readings, podcasts, videos, creative prayer tips, meditation and reflection resources, continued to generate usage and by the end of March was being used regularly by 15,500 people: 9,000 taking the daily WordLive , 6,000 using the website, 1,000 taking the news feed, and 1,000 downloading the daily audio podcast. Web link:

13 13 Thank you for all you re doing to make running Christian Unions so much easier. WordLive is great good biblical content. WordLive accessed by 15,500 users

14 TheYear Enabling growth Developing an integrated team of supporters, volunteers and staff Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Matthew 9:38 Part of God s picture Youth worker Keith was one of more than 4,000 volunteers serving on Scripture Union events. He wanted a challenge, and was asked to help a boy with special needs as part of the MAD holiday team. But was that what God wanted him to do? He wasn t sure. While praying God gave him a clear picture of the child he had never met, and knew only by his first name. It s not something that happens to me very often, said Keith. But I felt God saying, It s going to be fine. You re both people whom I love. I want you to do this. On the first day of the holiday, it was fantastic because when he walked through the door, I knew who he was! said Keith. Preparing for the holiday with God s Word, spending time every day with God, and relating to young people who were developing their faith, really brought on Keith s faith. The year in review AIM: CREATE A GROWING AND MOTIVATED TEAM OF SUPPORTERS AND WORKERS DEDICATED TO SCRIPTURE UNION S VISION AND VALUES We are a mission movement of volunteers supported by a staff team. Our volunteers are involved in a wide range of activities: leading and running teams to work with schools; on holidays and missions for children, young people and families; forming teams to run events; acting as Scripture Union representatives to support ministry in churches. Many are trained trainers, passing on knowledge and good practice to aspiring children s and youth workers. We put on a number of conferences and training events for volunteers in various aspects of our ministry, such as the conference in January for holiday and mission leaders, and children s workers. Some staff events, such as our days of prayer, were regionalised and rescheduled to make them more accessible to volunteers, and our regional teams are taking a stronger role in organising these. We have also been working to develop our staff, volunteer and supporter resources with inspirational voluntary ministry content. During the year there were 4,490 opportunities for volunteer involvement the equivalent of 7,780 working weeks, or 173 full time staff. Without this body of volunteers, a vast amount of the movement s ministry simply would not happen, and we pay tribute to their commitment and generosity in giving their time. Of the volunteer opportunities 45 were concerned with governance of the movement (for example, Trustees and Council members) and could not be filled therefore by staff. These contributed an additional estimated 48 working weeks. Web link: AIM: PROVIDE SUPPORT AND RESOURCES FOR SCRIPTURE UNION WORKERS During the year we reviewed a range of policies and procedures including change management, career breaks, sickness, flexible working and home working. These are aimed at enabling staff to be productive within a desirable work-life balance, and support a consultative process of making change to enable growth, ensuring we adhere to regulations while honouring our staff and volunteers. As part of our work review process, a series of focus groups helped us to prepare competency frameworks for roles within the movement. The purpose of these competency frameworks is to equip staff to do their jobs, to enhance understanding of their roles, and give clarity in determining personal and professional development goals. A significant project has reviewed and updated our accounting processes and computer system to increase the quality and timeliness of financial reporting. Similarly, a new contract provides increased availability of IT support. Central to our life as volunteers and staff is prayer and we encourage involvement in movementwide prayer events once a quarter, as well as our weekly focus on corporate and small group prayer.

15 300 volunteers involved in Lifepath SU days of prayer made more accessible to volunteers 15 Central to our life as volunteers and staff is prayer. 4,490 volunteers gave the equivalent of 7,780 working weeks to SU ministry

16 TheYear The plans of the Lord stand firm for ever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Psalm 33: 11 Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. Psalm 145: 3-4 Forging ahead The mission challenge for the year ahead is faith-stretching, yet exciting. Of the 41 million Britons professing to be Christian only 6.3% attend church regularly. Fewer and fewer children and young people are in church on a Sunday. Family life is much less stable now than it was in the 1950s and people s lives have become a lot more complex. Yet there are signs that people are seeking spiritual reality. Helping to meet today s spiritual needs is at the heart of Scripture Union s plans for the coming year. Proclaiming Jesus enabling children and young people to hear and respond to the good news of Jesus Christ Schools ministry Double the number of SchoolsLive voluntary groups in primary and secondary schools. Reach 500 schools with Into the Bible. Develop a schools work training package for use in a variety of settings. Create, pilot and evaluate one local area network of school governors and one local chaplaincy support work. Lifepath Establish ten new Lifepath events in , and initiate 20 further conversations for events in Achieve 90% of all Lifepath events already running to be repeated at least once. Compile a ready-to-go pack for running Lifepath on four stories. Increase sales of each of four Lifepath fiction books through event activities, schools and churches. New evangelism Pilot at least one new evangelistic approach in Evaluate the potential for digital evangelism and sports evangelism and propose strategies for development. X:site Establish X:sites running regularly in at least 20 locations, and initiate 20 further conversations for events in Develop a model of promotional X:site parties and run three events. Review and improve the current system for developing the teaching programme. Holidays and missions Grow the number of children and young people returning on holidays by 5%. Grow the total number of children and young people on holidays by 7%, Conclude the shape of the missions review programme and roll it out to at least 10 missions. Launch an audio-visual training programme in January 2010 for all team members on the core skills of running holidays and missions.

17 17 Inspiring leaders influencing Christian leaders to be committed to Bible engagement, and the evangelism and discipleship of children and young people Church discipleship Identify what peer evangelism currently takes place within Scripture Union, what constitutes best practice, and what our unique contribution in this area might be. Train 100 writers, leaders, editorial, field and marketing staff in writing skills appropriate to their ministry. Determine the number of churches using Light and LightLive, and grow it by 10%. Holiday clubs Develop the holiday club website, with a particular focus on the online community of registered clubs. Use holiday club programmes to introduce people to the idea of year-round ministry. Develop the print and online mid week material to be more flexible for those working with children with little or no church background, and to support year-round ministry. Assess the impact of Activity Days as a new methodology and develop other new ways. Advocacy Grow the number of Bible Enthusiasts to 1,000. Strengthen the Partners in Mission strategy growing activity in every field area. Launch Survival Skills for Christian Parents nationally and stimulate at least three programmes in every field area. Develop a web presence to envision and mobilise users in the mission of the movement. Equipping Christians inspiring and equipping churches and individuals to know and serve God better through using the Bible Bible: children and young people Develop detailed proposals for Bible engagement materials for children aged 5 to 11. Create new products for publication alongside appropriate promotional and advocacy packages. Conduct a survey into gender-specific ministry, develop an evaluation tool which may be applied to all Scripture Union ministries and products, and institute a programme by which to train staff in its use. Bible: adults Prepare detailed proposals for the long term development of digital and print publications on the basis of existing knowledge and research programme. In addition to regular ongoing promotional activity, institute a major promotional campaign to run in October 2009 that will increase WordLive registrations and contribute to reversing the decline of Bible reading guide sales. Initiate a new set of resources in a variety of media to revitalise small group Bible engagement. Enabling growth developing an integrated team of supporters, volunteers and staff Growing team Implement specific actions plans to communicate the nature of Scripture Union as a volunteer mission movement and inspire people to volunteer. Implement a range of measures to increase accessibility for volunteers to engage in all aspects of the mission movement. Implement a Partner Relationship Management approach to communications with supporters, volunteers and donors. Support & resources Identify and implement process improvements that increase ministry effectiveness and operating efficiency. Complete and initiate use of competency profiles for staff roles and assess their relevance for volunteer roles. Prioritise support and resource requests to focus on those that are most able to enable growth through the outworking of the strategic plan.

18 TheYear Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you Matthew 28: 19 The Year in figures We were encouraged by a small increase in gift income up to the end of 2008 but then saw a noticeable reduction in the final three months of the financial year as the global recession appeared to have affected the ability of our supporters to give. The impact of this alongside continued investment in digital ministry and falling publishing sales was a deficit for the year of 549,000. What we received We are reliant on donations as our primary source of funding for ministry. Gift income decreased by 11% to 2.97 million as the global recession started to affect us. Publishing income reduced by 8% to 2.80 million as sales volumes continued to fall. Legacy income, which varies significantly year to year, decreased by 40% to 0.63 million. Holidays and missions income is mainly fees from holiday participants and this remained at a similar level to previous years. What we spent Expenditure on the provision and development of WordLive, LightLive and SchoolsLive digital resources reduced by 6% to 0.9 million. Expenditure on face-to-face ministry increased by 2% to 2.98 million. Expenditure on conventional publishing fell by 11% reflecting reduced sales levels and efficiency savings. International expenditure decreased by 27% to 0.92 million reflecting a lower level of income and grants for Scripture Union ministry overseas. What we plan For the 2009/10 financial year we have budgeted for a deficit of around 850,000. This reflects the continued use of reserves to fund maintenance and growth of the digital products and the impact of recessionary pressures on gift and sales income. This level of deficit is not sustainable and priority has been given to growing gift income as can be seen by the increased cost of generating funds. We are looking to re-shape the Movement to operate more effectively and with lower expenditure levels.

19 19 What we received Legacies Holidays and missions Other (inc. investments) Publishing sales What we received ( 000) ( 000) Publishing sales 2,796 3,027 Donations and gifts 2,972 3,346 [Individuals 72% 77%] [Trusts and others 18% 14%] [Churches 10% 9%] Holidays and missions Legacies 634 1,055 Other (inc investments) TOTAL INCOME 7,598 8,552 Trusts and others Churches Individuals What we spent Donations and gifts What we spent ( 000) ( 000) Face-to-face ministry 2,976 2,913 Conventional publishing 2,754 3,092 Digital publishing International activities 922 1,255 Governance costs Cost of generating funds Other 0 1 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 8,147 8,580 Governance costs International activities Cost of generating funds Face-to-face ministry Net deficit (549) (28) International support 12.5 per cent of unrestricted gift income and ten percent of conventional publishing surplus and unrestricted legacies is set aside to support the work of Scripture Union movements overseas. Digital publishing Conventional publishing This is a summary of Scripture Union s financial activities for the year ended 31 March 2009, extracted from the full Trustees Report and Financial Statement which have been audited. A full statement of our financial activities can be found in our Trustees Report and Financial Statements, a copy of which can be obtained by contacting Scripture Union on

20 Scripture Union s ministry internationally Scripture Union in England and Wales is part of a community of over 130 independent movements working in over 120 countries around the world, whose ministry has the same aims, basis of faith and working principles. Scripture Union International provides the glue between these movements through developing healthy ministry, training and development, and new ministry by opening up fresh geographical areas. We contribute to the Scripture Union international family by providing: practical support to other movements through our Action Abroad and FrontLine volunteer schemes. financial support for ministry across the world, to assist the development of new movements in the Former Soviet Republics and Israel, and to provide support for movements in other parts of the world, notably in Africa and South Asia. We receive restricted gifts from supporters in England and Wales, which we use to make grants to support Scripture Union s ministry in many other countries. Total grants in amounted to 794, Queensway, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK2 2EB T F E info@scriptureunion.org.uk Registered charity no Limited company no Registered in England and Wales