By Hayley Beckett on 17th September 2026
EBA Trustees with one apology met on Monday 14 September 2026. The trustees were joined by Claire Blatchford (EBA Regional Minister).
Lou Webber (EBA Moderator) welcomed everyone. In opening the meeting Lou read from Philippians 2, that speaks about who Jesus is and why he came into the world with our role to be of service and humility.
Trustees reviewed the AGM which took place in July saying that the event
The AGM in 2027 will take place on 4 July.
Richard Lewis (EBA Treasurer) presented financial information up to the end of August 2026. Our situation looks slightly better than originally budgeted as income from a closed church was received in August. The team will be working on the 2027 budget and will present this at the next meeting.
Due to the income from the closed church and the anticipated sale of the EBA property trustees approved £85,000 for a specific missional ministry over the next 5 years, £20,000 boost for the EBA mission project grants and Ministerial bursary fund and £55,000 for a 5-year CYF networker role. Any additional funds will go into the EBA general fund to alleviate the deficit budget.
David Mayne (RMTL) presented the team report reporting that Chris Duffett concludes his role with EBA this term. The team will be taking Chris out for a farewell meal in November. David also shared that conversations about the introduction of EBA districts have now concluded and during this term the team hope to soft launch one or two before rolling it out further.
Hayley Beckett (EBA Company Secretary) presented the Administration Report which included the introduction of new policies (Cyber Security and External Speaker) plus guidelines for working with AI, trustees have the opportunity to read these before seeking approval later this year.
Claire Blatchford was invited to speak about Project Violet fulfilling a commitment EBA trustees made to keep the recommendations of Project Violet high in priority. Claire shared that Menopause advocate training is expanding, with funding now available to train 11 advocates (one per association) by January. Menopause Policies are coming for both associations and churches to be able to adopt. Claire has also reviewed the recommendations agreed to by council Recommendation 9 – was to ensure ministers’ groups are constructive and inclusive spaces. This is quite timely, especially with the launch of the districts and we can put some work into this is ensure we start well.
Recommendation 42 – is the intentional support in women’s discernment, now that Amy is in post Claire will progress this with Amy. We also have a good cohort of women accessing The Learning Collective.
Recommendation 23 – Resourcing regional justice hubs – this again is a work in progress with possible collaboration between 5 different associations in 2027.
The meeting closed in prayer.
6th July 2026
EBA Council Summary 29 June 2026 EBA Trustees with one apology met on Monday 29 June 2026. The trustees were joined by Claire Blatchford (EBA Regional Minister) and June Love (Moderator of EBA Grants Committee) Lou Webber (EBA Moderator) welcomed everyone. In opening the meeting Lou read from Acts 8…
22nd April 2026
EBA Trustees with two apologies met on Saturday 18 April 2026. The trustees were joined by Claire Blatchford (EBA Regional Minister) and Gillian Jones (EBA Safeguarding Lead). Segun Fatumo a new co-opted trustee, also attended for the first time. Lou Webber (EBA Moderator) welcomed everyone. In opening the meeting Lou…
28th January 2026
EBA Council Summary 26 January 2026 EBA Trustees with no apologies met on Monday 26 January 2026. Lou Webber (EBA Moderator) welcomed everyone. In opening the meeting Lou read from John 4 Jesus heals the official’s son), asking us if we had ever considered what emotions this man may have…
