Annual Report

2023

Senior Pastor’s Report

At the point of writing this brief report, it feels like we are in a season of harvest. Of course, in farming communities, the autumn is also described as harvest time, whereas in our city-center context, we sense that we are reaping the many seeds that have been sown in recent years, even over multiple decades! As we look back over the past twelve months both our Sunday attendance and our financial giving of tithes and offerings have reached levels that we haven’t seen before. On average we are welcoming over one hundred more people each Sunday than in previous years, and you will see from our financial report that for the first time, our average monthly giving exceeded £40,000. Wonderfully, this has enabled us to pay off our refurbishment loan in super-quick time, allowing us to celebrate together on Thanksgiving Sunday, the 10th of December. As I write this, my heart is full of gratitude to God for His awesome provision, and to you, for your obedience and generosity in open-hearted, open-handed giving.

You will notice from Jeremy Hobday’s report that we have commenced the process of looking for a new building, a facility where we can be ‘all together in one place’ (Acts 2:1), a ‘storehouse’ for the harvest God is sending to us. I’m sure you will appreciate that this kind of move is a huge task, but one we undertake with anticipation and great faith. Please be prayerful as we seek God’s guidance in this important matter.

As I reflect on the year that has passed there are so many events, gatherings, and groups that I would want to highlight and celebrate. The trouble is, I don’t have enough space to list them, and I’m sure I would forget to mention one of them! And so, instead, I would want to give thanks for our wonderful Staff team, Eldership team, Ministry Team, Management Team, and the army of volunteers who have worked tirelessly to serve our church community, maintaining our vision of being a ‘presence-led people’, prioritising worship, prayer and experiences of encounter in everything that we do together, whether it be serving the youngest child or the oldest adult. You are the best!

On a personal note, I’m excited about the release of two new books. The first you will have seen already; a collaboration with Sope Agbelusi called ‘100 Day Devotional’ which brings together the lockdown evening devotions that many of you watched online during the pandemic, along with Sope’s expertise as an executive coach. And secondly, in mid-February, I’ll be releasing ‘Live Deeply’, written as a call to leave the shallows and to walk deeply with God, which again is being published by Instant Apostle. These books are written as a resource for our church community, enabling you to share with friends and family some of our values and the culture of Coventry Elim.

In addition to my local church responsibilities, I will soon be entering my tenth year of serving on Elim’s National Leadership Team. Being part of this team enables me to have a broad overview of what God is doing in our nation and the nations of the world. It also provides opportunities for me to input into other churches and to teach other leaders, something I really enjoy doing!

And as I look forward to the year ahead, I do so with great anticipation. There are many signs around us of growth, of a harvest that is ready to be reaped. With God’s help, we’ll seek to do just that!

With love,

Pastor Duncan

Pastor Duncan saying hi to kids on Sunday

Pastor Duncan leading the service on a Sunday

Pastor Shirene leading a service on Sunday

Associate Pastor’s Report

One of the joys of writing an AGM report is that it requires us to stop, reflect and give thanks to God for his continued faithfulness towards us as a church. Over the past year, we’ve had so many wonderful celebrations, seen incredible numerical growth, and heard countless testimonies of how God is moving in our church community. 2023 has been yet another year of God showing himself to be powerful, present, and consistently good toward us.

This is the first time I have had the privilege of writing my report as an Ordained Elim Minister and I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Pastor Duncan, the Elders, church staff and my Coventry Elim family for all the encouragement, love and support that my family and I have received. We have been truly blessed and I personally count it both a joy and a privilege to serve God and serve this church.

I love that we are a multi-ethnic and multi-generational church. One of the highlights in the church diary for many of the staff and interns this past year has been ‘Link Up’, our midweek group for those over 50.

This continues to be a space where we experience the presence of God through the Word, worship and fellowship. A special thanks to Joy Stringer who has been faithfully leading worship for us on a Tuesday afternoon.

One of my personal highlights this year has got to be the ROAR women’s conference where over 200 women from churches across our region (and beyond) accepted the invitation to ‘Dwell’ in God’s presence.

We were blown away by the response, it came just 6 months after the previous one, yet we still managed to sell out within just a few weeks of booking being opened. Like many other activities in the church, the size of the building limits the capacity of the conference, but we know it does not limit what God can and will do with the space we currently have.

A huge thank you to the ROAR team and wonderful volunteers who contributed to the success of the conference, including the ministry team who spent hours listening to God, so that 250 prophetic cards could be personally gifted on the day. You are all such a blessing.

I’m excited to let you know that the next conference will be on 16th March 2024, so there are only a few months to wait until the next one.

As I look ahead to 2024 I do so with great excitement and expectation as we wait on the Lord for a new space. This waiting period is not one of passive inaction, but one where we keep in step with the Holy Spirit by listening to his voice and are led by his presence, and I’m so glad we get to do this together.

Blessings,

Pastor Shirene

Executive Pastor’s Report

Looking back on this past year I find my heart is full of gratitude for all the amazing ways we’ve seen God move in our church family. I love the moments we get to gather and worship together and I need to start by thanking our amazing worship and production teams who serve so diligently during these meetings. It’s my joy to serve with them all! I think one of the greatest strengths I see in them is their humility. Some are on stage and some behind the scenes but each of them has the same heart; to worship God through their gifts and see Him glorified in His church. And that’s a wonderful thing to be part of!

Over this past year, I have also had the pleasure of working closely alongside 3 of our fantastic interns. Dan (worship), Lèna (media), and Isaac (production) joined our team in September and it’s been a real joy to see how they have grown in both their gifting and calling as they have served the church for these past 10 months. I’ve been so grateful for the time they have poured into our community and the many ways they have added to our team. I’m also really grateful that each one of them is continuing to be involved! Isaac is taking on more responsibility in our production team, Dan has recently joined our staff and Lèna has plans to move back to the UK in the New Year.

I would also like to thank our Digital Director, Oscar, who continues to do a fantastic job of looking after our online ministry and our production team. Oscar is such a blessing to us and it’s a real joy to work alongside him, he is a man of many talents and contributes so much to the life of our church!

Finally, I am delighted that as a worship team, we have released another original song. ‘You Picked Me Up’ was written by our youth worker, Joe Morris, and was released just a few weeks ago on the 3rd of November. As a team, we are looking forward to releasing more music over the next year so watch this space!

Gaz Hutchinson

Assistant Pastor's Report

The year 2022/23 has been a year of change and transition (to say the least).

The Autumn term began with a continued emphasis within the Students and Young Adults community on meeting together, eating together and seeking Jesus together each week. We developed small discipleship groups that ran throughout the year to allow for people to walk closely with one another.

In term 2, we had our first SYA Weekend Away at The Hayes in Derbyshire which was a very precious time of community and encounter, with teaching that focussed on helping us to walk faithfully with Jesus for the long haul. The academic year ended with the SYA Summer ball which also marked the end of SYA as we have known it for many years. The Young Adults are now looked after in the new SOAR ministry led by Tiana Holgate. The team connect with the YA each week at after church mingles and monthly SOAR Nights.

On a personal note, there was a very exciting transition for me this year as I became Assistant Pastor following my acceptance as a Minister in Training within the Elim Movement. As an MiT I’ll be building a portfolio of my ministry experience and developing my skills which will lead to my ordination in 2026 - God willing!

But now, yet another major transition is currently underway as Becky and I prepare to move on from Coventry Elim as I take up a ministerial position elsewhere within Elim.

It will be so sad to leave the place I’ve called home for nearly a decade and to move on from the incredible church family that is Coventry Elim, but in reality, no amount of distance can stop us from being family. We look forward to visiting you (in a new building??) and catching up on all that God has been doing.

Joe Davis

Operation Director's Report

I would like to thank Pastor Duncan and the leadership for inviting me to take up this role as I came to the end of my teaching career. I have been in the role for some 15 months since September 2022 which has flown by. The role is varied which I have found most enjoyable. Generally, my aim is to facilitate the smooth running of the building throughout the entire week including weekends.

Preparation of the building for the many different meetings is very much a team effort and on Sunday I coordinate a fantastic Host Team that ensures people feel welcome and safe in our community.

I have carried out a lot of repairs and maintenance myself and used contractors when needed. Projects undertaken include: refurbishment of the Disabled Toilet; part of the upstairs kitchen; improvement of the Sensory Room; replacement of one of the boilers and resolution of a damaged kitchen roof. In addition, there has been some outside maintenance regarding the grounds and fencing. Certain issues still exist, including the roof and in particular the lower guttering around the edge of the building.

I have enjoyed exploring my creative side helping Emma with different projects, in particular the holiday club.

I have endeavoured to take a lead with the Move initiative in sourcing information and arranging meetings during this year. We have acquired a Charity Acts Survey, contacted the Council Property Department, and met with a Councillor and Director to discuss our plans. We have engaged the Senior Surveyor from Loveitts to negotiate for us with the Council regarding the Lease we hold with them. This gentleman will also guide us in terms of the disposal of our own site and the acquiring of a new one. We feel more confident about the next steps when God shows us the destination of our Move and have useful contacts and a better understanding of the process that will help us progress when the moment comes. We are awaiting a response from the Council regarding a possible extension of our Lease term which will help us to sell our own site.

I thank God for the time I have spent serving at Coventry Elim, the staff and Leadership have been very gracious in supporting me in this new role, He has once again shown He is Faithful.

May God bless you all,

Jeremy Hobday

Elders' Report

It has been a privilege to serve as a team of Elders this past year; we love the church and all that God is doing amongst us as we continue to practice the presence of God in our gatherings and frontlines.

We are so grateful to serve alongside a committed and anointed team of Pastors; we’re grateful for their faithfulness, their passion, their humility and their love for Jesus and our church family. We also thank God for the staff team, and for the wide array of gifts and passions which allow our church to keep in step with the Spirit.

Earlier this year we were sad to see one of our Elders team, Claire Munialo, move on from Coventry with her family Judah and Josh, to Staffordshire. We’re so grateful for the leadership and love that Claire contributed to our community as an Elder and we continue to pray for them as a family as God calls them into new things.

Reflecting back on the last year, we can’t help noticing it has been jam-packed, much like our Sunday services! Notable Sunday highlights have included reaching capacity in the auditorium and overflow until people are sitting on the floor in the foyer; seeing so many baptized this year; getting lost in High Praise together week after week and hearing so many testimonies of lives transformed.

We also have the privilege of ministering to people each week alongside our wonderful Ministry Team. Not all of the stories can be shared, but every week we see people saved, healed, delivered, called and restored in the mighty name of Jesus. We are in the days of the Greater Things – and full of faith that there is much more to come!'

Beverley Samways

LIMITLESS YOUTH

As this year draws to a close, I can’t help but stand back in amazement at all that the Lord is doing amongst the youth of our church and our city.

We are seeing a stirring like never before, young people are hungry for Jesus and for the things of His Spirit, our primary task as a team this year has been creating environments & facilitating moments where this hunger for the things of God can be expressed, where their gifts can be used and growth can be encouraged.

Limitless Festival

Our annual trip to Limitless Festival will always be a highlight. This year was no exception. 51 of our youth family (41 young people and 10 leaders) traveled to Stafford for a life-changing week. Young people were marked by & filled with the Holy Spirit, set apart, and called into purpose. As we’ve returned we have tried to facilitate every opportunity for them to grow in the gifts that God deposited in them at the festival, including specific training on prophecy and prayer ministry, worship nights with chances for them to pray for each other, and involving young people in hosting, speaking and leading worship at our weekly gatherings.

Midweek Groups

We continue to host midweek groups - these have taken on various forms this year based on the amount of team available to us, we are typically seeing between 40 and 50 young people each week come through our doors to worship, learn about Jesus, study the bible and build on their Christian friendships. Adding this to our Sunday numbers (there is a bit of overlap), we are regularly seeing & serving 60-70 different young people every week.

We are so pleased that God is using our teenagers to lead the whole church in worship, to help with the live streaming of the service, to operate cameras, lights, and visuals and to lead the children in Limitless Kids. We believe that church is a family and that means everyone plays their part and gets to be involved. God is moving amongst us and the young people are right at the heart of His plans to transform our city. Many of our youth are also involved in their school Christian Unions and have played active roles in organising amazing events to bring together Christians on their school grounds to worship! One moment that stands out to me was a worship night at Blue Coat School, organised by young people from across the churches of the city, including Elim. I was invited to speak to their Christian union and they sold 190 tickets!! Many of them are from our church family. God is drawing young people to himself and doing remarkable work amongst them!

2023 will see another 9 of our teenagers being baptised. This is massively encouraging and is an excellent reminder that we are not merely running a club, but are committed to raising up passionate disciples of Jesus!

Finally, the youth of our church are led by the most incredible team of volunteers. Across the Sunday & midweek provision, we are blessed beyond measure to have such gifted, anointed, passionate, selfless, wise, devoted, prayerful, kingdom-building leaders who I believe are positioned and appointed specifically by God in this generation, for such a time as this! I find myself thanking God for them almost on a daily basis, they truly are the spiritual mothers, fathers, brothers & sisters that this generation so deeply needs.

Some numbers for you:

65 - About the average amount of young people attending our different meetings each week.

41 young people + 10 leaders from Coventry Elim travelled to Limitless Festival.

9 - teenagers were baptised.

£1554.90 - The amount of money raised towards our Limitless Festival trip.

21 - The number of youth leaders currently involved regularly.

Joe Morris

“This past year, we have seen an increase of new families coming in, and more children inviting their friends along to midweek groups and even Sundays.”

— Emma Bacon

LIMITLESS KIDS

SUNDAYS

This past year we have seen an increase of new families coming in, and more children inviting their friends along to midweek groups and even Sundays. Because of space in our building, the year 5&6 children have been meeting over at the Ramada Hotel for their session. During our Sunday sessions in all rooms, we have been giving space for our young leaders to lead the programs and also for our children to share devotions with their peers. We were amazed at the depth of what they shared and cannot wait to hear God speak more through them! This year we managed to reach a record number of children on a Sunday morning: 157 children over two services.

BELONG CONFERENCE

We ran the Belong conference again this year, with 140 delegates from different churches across England attending. Including volunteers, this made for 160 people in the building together! The interest in this event was very high, and we had a waiting list of people wanting to attend. It was an amazing day with so many testimonies and highlights! It is so beautiful to journey with people as we work towards making our church inclusive to all.

HOLIDAY CLUB

In April we held our annual holiday club where we saw 150 children come into church, from the community and our church. During this week 42 children gave their lives to Christ for the first time and we saw God move in the hearts of many children. One child expressed how she felt “seen, heard and loved” during that week

LIGHT PARTY

In October we had our first light party at the church, where we saw 130 children attend, again from church and from the community. We also had some people who had gone trick or treating and walked past the church with curiosity about what was going on! It was great to see many of these children come and join us in the building instead of continuing the trick-or-treating outside the building! We will be repeating this again next year!

TBN

In August we had contact from TBN studios asking to use some of our album songs for a new kids’ show they were airing called ‘MegaMix’. We took some leaders down to the studio to record some action videos and in October some of our kids will be going to record some live music for the show also.

We are also in the process of recording a new Coventry Elim Kids single!!!

MIDWEEK KIDS’ GROUPS

For most of this year, we have been alternating Year 1-6 Choir and Year 5&6 life group on a Tuesday. We have loved our Tuesday meetings, they are a lot more intimate than Sunday and give good space to go deeper, build relationships, and have conversations with the children. In choir, we found it was a really great space to learn harmonies and have fun with vocal arrangements. To deepen what we were doing in choir, this September we decided to start a worship series with both Year 1-4 and Year 5&6 children. This is something we will run for the rest of this term to help the children understand why we worship and how we can worship.

Lastly, I want to say a MASSIVE thank you to the team. Limitless Kids could not be run without Team. I want to acknowledge the kids’ teams’ faithful serving and for helping me to carry Limitless Kids this past year. Thank you for stepping up in many different areas - not just to serve our children and church, but also to serve other churches and their children.

Additional Needs - Youth & Kids

This year we started to do a Connect+ family lunch after church once a month for parents who have children or young people with an additional need. We have seen more families join this meeting and therefore join us on Sundays. We have around 28 diagnosed children that we are supporting either on a Sunday or within Connect+ at the moment. That’s around 23 families who have found a home at Elim Coventry.

The upper room cupboard has now been converted into a sensory room, and Jeremy has been great at helping to make that look great!!!

At one of our most recent Connect+ lunches, we were joined by a new mum and her son. At the end of the session, she said “This is the first time I have felt included in a group since having my son”. This one comment highlights how important this ministry is for parents to find community and to know they are not alone.

This term we have also launched a monthly online prayer meeting with the parents. This is run by Olu. We will continue to run both the Connect+ lunch and Zoom prayers, once a month into this next year, as well as provide additional support from our team on a Sunday.