Apsley Hall Assembly

Public benefits

A. Direct benefits A.1 The main purpose of the Trust is to advance the Christian faith. Direct benefits that flow from this purpose include the infinite spiritual and eternal benefits that derive from developing a relationship of trust with God. By their very nature these cannot be proven by scientific research but are received by faith based on

the historical evidence of the Christian faith. This purpose is not harmful. A.2 As part of advancing the Christian faith the Trust advances education in general. The Trust helps teach the English language to those who speak it as a second language. The Trust promotes the careful analysis of ancient literature. The Trust also advances religious and creative education to children using memorization, writing, reading and other learning activities. This purpose is not harmful. A.3 The Trust’s promotion of the Christian faith has the direct benefit of advancing citizenship and community development. The Christian faith brings a range of temporal benefits evidenced by improved levels of physical and mental health and by positive attitudes to work, citizenship, moral and social behaviour. These would be reflected in statistics such as those collected by NISRA & PSNI. The Trust aims to promote the adoption of a moral framework that encourages people to be upright citizens, good parents and neighbours and honest, hard-working employees and employers. Hence this has a direct benefit of advancing citizenship and promoting business, family and social life. This purpose is not harmful. A 4. The Trust’s promotion of the Christian faith has the direct benefit of advancing conflict resolution and reconciliation. The Trust aims to teach everyone to treat others as they would be treated including those of different religions, beliefs and practices. The Christian faith forbids retaliation and promotes repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation. This does not mean the Trust agrees with all other systems of belief, thought and practice. On the contrary, it strongly disagrees with some, but it believes in the human right to hold different opinions and teaches all members to treat those who differ with toleration and respect. This purpose is not harmful. A 5. As part of advancing the Christian faith the Trust promotes the sacrificial giving of money by our members to other charitable organisations some of whose direct benefits are in education, medical aid, disaster aid or the relief of poverty. The Trust itself regularly gives financial support and maintains contact with other public benefit workers. The public benefit of many of the people and organisations supported by the Trust are obvious. Some are schools, hospitals and disaster relief organisations. Many of those supported also have the same or similar direct charitable purposes as the Trust. This purpose is not harmful. B. Indirect benefits B 1. As an effect of promoting the sacrificial giving of money by our members, the Trust is able to support other people and charitable works. These people and organisations bring a range of benefits such as those outlined above, the relief of poverty, the relief of those in need by reason of youth, age, ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage and the advancement of health or the saving of lives. Some of these benefits are not something the Trust addresses directly so in this sense are indirect benefits. This purpose is not harmful. It is the Trust's general policy not to charge for its services. Where the Trustees deem it necessary to make a charge provision is always made to assist those with insufficient financial resources to avail of those services.

What your organisation does

We conduct public church services for worship, and meetings for prayer and Bible instruction. We hold a children's club, a service in a nearby housing scheme, and English language classes.