Pastor Duncan writes: during 2025 we’ve continued to see spiritual, numerical and financial growth within our church community. There is a growing hunger for God in the next generation, and we are witnessing this clearly in our kids, youth and young adult ministries where gatherings for worship, prayer and Bible study are commonplace. We are also seeing the benefit of our Thursday night meetings for Formation Academy, ‘Community Cross Communion’ and Encounter-in-the- Round, as the church gathers together for many special evenings of worship, teaching and fellowship throughout the year. For those who attend our Sunday services you will also be well aware of our numerical growth and the resulting ‘space’ problem that we have. During this last year we’ve had more than one thousand people (adults and children combined) attend our services on fourteen different Sundays. We continue to trust the Lord for a new building to meet in, waiting for ‘His plan to unfold’ (Psalm 106:13). And this year has been a year of financial abundance with the giving of regular tithes and offerings reaching a level not seen before at Coventry Elim. We thank God for His provision and that this has been a year of healthy growth!

During this year our commitment to ministry and mission overseas has also continued to grow. As a church community we now sponsor 213 children through Compassion and it was a delight to hear from Tsehaywota Taddesse, the Country Director for Compassion in Ethiopia, when he visited us last November. It has also been a joy to increase our connection with Elim in Kenya. We were able to fully fund the construction of a brand-new church building in the coastal town of Malindi and then, following the visit of Biship Wilson and his wife Alice, we were able to donate more than £9,000 to the Boda Boda project, supplying motorbikes for pastors in the northern regions of Kenya. We love these developing relationships with great ministries in other nations, and we also love celebrating the many nations that are represented within our own House! There are many highlights throughout the year, but near the top of the list must be our All Nations services where we celebrate thevery special diversity and unity that exists in our community.

Shirene and I remain grateful for the wonderful support we receive from our Eldership team. This year two of our existing Elders, Beverley Samways and Gareth Hutchinson, conclude their current term of office (which is five years), and we’re delighted that they have made themselves available to serve again for another term. Our church partners will have the opportunity to submit their confirmatory vote in support of Bev and Gaz before our Annual General Meeting at the start of December.

Pastor Shirene writes: 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 numerous wonderful celebrations, experienced incredible numerical growth, and heard many testimonies of how God is moving in our church community. 2024 has been yet another year in which God has shown Himself to be powerful, present, and consistently good toward us.

I'm sure many of you have heard reports of the quiet revival taking place across England and Wales, as more and more young people are turning to Jesus and finding their hope in Him. For us here at Coventry Elim, that revival hasn't been so quiet. This year alone, we have baptised over 40 people, the majority from our youth group and young adult community. It's a profound joy to witness what God is doing in the lives of young men and women around us, and to be part of this transformative moment.

While we celebrate what God is doing among our young people, we are equally proud to be a multi-generational church. There is a unique richness that comes when different ages worship, serve, and grow together. Our mid-week Link Up group for those over 50 is thriving, providing a space where seasoned Christians can build deep friendships, share wisdom, and encourage one another in their faith. And while we often gather in our own age groups during the week, Sunday brings us all together, that's when we see Psalm 145:4 come to life: 'One generation commends your works to another'.

In response to growing attendance, we took a step of faith, moving The ROAR Women's conference to Warwick Arts Centre. This year's theme was 'Immeasurably More’ and God did just that. The new venue enabled over 200 more women to attend from across the country and from other denominations. Behind the scenes was an army of volunteers who gave their time and gifts to make it happen, from welcome teams to worship leaders, from tech and production to prayer warriors. Their faithfulness opened doors for hundreds of women to be refreshed, encouraged, and sent back into their communities with renewed vision. It’s a joy to serve alongside such servant-hearted women and men.

We want to express our heartfelt thanks to everyone who gives financially to the work of Coventry Elim. We know that many of you give sacrificially, and we don't take that lightly. Your generosity enables everything we've celebrated this year to be possible. Andrew Varley's full financial report can be found later in this document, but we wanted to pause here to express our gratitude. Your faithful giving is an act of worship and makes a tangible difference in our community and beyond.

After nine wonderful years serving as our children's worker, Emma is embarking on a new adventure. She feels called by God to join YWAM and will be moving to New Zealand in February to undertake their Discipleship Training School. Emma has been a brilliant leader who has poured her heart into our children and families and we are excited to see where God leads her next. We want to say a huge thank you to Emma for her years of faithful service, her creativity, her love for Jesus, and her genuine care for every child who has come through our doors. We send her off with our prayers and our blessings.

As we reflect on this year, we are reminded of what a privilege it is to serve you, the local church. We want to express our deep gratitude to 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'. We are so grateful for the overwhelming support you've shown us as we've stepped into co-leading together, and we're excited about what God has in store for 2026. If this year has taught us anything, it's that our God truly does immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine. We can't wait to see what He does next, and we're honoured to walk into the future alongside all of you.

Love and blessings Pastor Duncan and Pastor Shirene