The Good News Church

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Congleton church trust that considered closing in January 2025, vacated its premises and holds designated funds of £84,028 and £30,000; its small grants include £500 to the Joseph Storehouse, a Middle East aid project

The Good News Church

Type Other
Founded 1982-04-02 (registered)
Registration ID Registered charity 512488
Headquarters Congleton CW12
Area served Throughout England And Wales, Israel, Kenya, South Africa
Key people Paul Raymond Entwistle (chair)
Website www.gncmacc.org


The Good News Church (working name Good News Community Church) is a charitable trust established by a deed of 17 March 1982 and registered on 2 April 1982; its register address is in Congleton CW12.[1][2] Its aims are to further the Christian faith through Bible teaching and outreach and to take part in the Harvest Alliance network; the 2024/25 report mentions "Supporting children's work in Africa and outreach to a variety of countries including Kenya" (PDF p.3).[2] The report says a trustee from outside the church was appointed in October 2024, two trustees and the financial assistant were retiring and the pastor retired at the end of January 2025; "In January 2025, the Trustees consulted with the Church membership about closing the Trust. Soon after, this decision was reversed on taking advice from Harvest Alliance", and the church vacated its office and community centre to meet at the Hope Centre in Macclesfield (PDF p.4–5).[2] The accounts name the trustees as P Entwistle, I Franklin and J Makinson (both resigned 30 April 2025), A Smith and B Spencer (appointed 25 October 2024); the register lists Paul Raymond Entwistle (chair), Adam John Smith and Brian Robert Spencer (PDF p.7).[2][3] Receipts in the year to 31 March 2025 were £47,912 (2024: £58,931), of which £46,253 was offerings and gifts and £1,659 investment income; payments were £44,451 (2024: £52,277), including direct charitable spending of £34,859, salaries of £19,970 and grants of £7,352 (PDF p.10, 13).[2] Cash at the year end was £199,909, including designated funds of £84,028 ("Building Storehouse") and £30,000 ("Storehouse") (PDF p.11, 14).[2] The accounts were examined by Paul W J Evans of AP Accountancy Ltd, Kidsgrove, on 15 January 2026.[2]

Objects and activities

The charity's registered objects read: "THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DOCTRINES AND THE WORSHIP OF GOD IN THE COUNTY OF CHESTER AND ELSEWHERE BY AND MEANS WHATSOEVER INCLUDING (BUT NOT BY WAY OF LIMITATION) THE PREACHING AND PROCLOMATION OF THE CHRISTIAN GOSPEL AND THE TEACHING OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE AND PRINCIPLES AND THE PASTORAL CARE OF CHRISTIAN PEOPLE AND THE PRINTING AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE BIBLE AND CHRISTIAN LITERATURE. (FOR FURTHER DETAILS SEE THE FIRST SCHEDULE OF THE DECLARATION OF TRUST)."[3]

The register describes its activities as: "Furthering the Christian faith teaching the Bible and its moral doctrines.Outreach to the community.Participation in inter church events, local initiatives and the Harvest Alliance network.Support of missionary work to Kenya, South Africa and Israel"[3]

Register classifications: The Prevention Or Relief Of Poverty, Overseas Aid/famine Relief, Religious Activities, Other Charitable Purposes.[3]

Areas of operation recorded on the register: Throughout England And Wales, Israel, Kenya, South Africa.[3]

Trustees

Current trustees, with other charities on which the same register trustee ID appears:[3]

Trustees of The Good News Church (register, October 2026)
Trustee Appointed Chair Other trusteeships
Paul Raymond Entwistle not recorded Yes —
Adam John Smith 2019-01-15 —
Brian Robert Spencer 2024-10-25 Hawthorne Meadow Trust (1196119); Harvest Alliance UK (1123185); The Hawthorne Meadow Trust (1058375)

Brian Robert Spencer is also a register trustee of Harvest Alliance UK (1123185) and the Hawthorne Meadow Trust (1196119 and 1058375).[3] The UK Government Web Archive full prints returned for this charity number belong to two other charities (organisation numbers 5124889 and 5124882) and are not used.

Finances

Income and expenditure, five most recent reported years
Financial year end Income Expenditure
2021-03-31 £44,061 £38,307
2022-03-31 £49,549 £41,616
2023-03-31 £56,945 £48,520
2024-03-31 £58,931 £52,277
2025-03-31 £47,912 £44,451

Source: register annual-return history.[3]

Archived accounts

Accounts no longer on the live register were found in the UK Government Web Archive:

  • Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2015[4]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2016[5]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2017[6]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2018[7]
  • Accounts for the year ended 31/03/2019[8]

Funding in Israel

  • Year to 31 March 2025: £500 (2024: £350) to the Joseph Storehouse, which the report calls "a charity supporting work amongst the underprivileged of the Middle East" (PDF p.5, 14).[2]

Israeli partners

The Joseph Storehouse is identified by name only with the Vision for Israel project of that name, which Messianic Education Australia described in 2015 as "an international humanitarian aid center operating in the Judean Hills just outside of Jerusalem".[9]

Activity beyond the Green Line and support for the IDF

Findings are graded by confidence. "Partner" findings concern the Israeli recipient organisation, not proven use of UK funds.

Evidence of activity beyond the 1949 armistice line
Finding Confidence
The accounts say only "the Middle East". A 2015 third-party page places the Joseph Storehouse "in the Judean Hills just outside of Jerusalem" without an address; the match is by name only.[2][9] Low (grantee identified by name only; area from a 2015 third-party page)

Support for the IDF: No IDF or military funding is stated.[2]

Controversies and regulatory action

  • No Charity Commission inquiry, Official Warning or Gazette insolvency notice naming this charity was found, and its register entry shows no regulatory alert;[10] it is not among the charities named in the Commission's cheque-cashing class-inquiry announcements (May, September and December 2025) or in the September 2026 statement of results.[11][12][13][14] The charities in the Commission's settlements class inquiry (opened August 2026) have not been named, so it is not known whether this charity is among them.[15]
  • Inconsistent totals. The funds analysis totals £199,872, while the statement of assets shows cash of £199,909; restricted funds brought forward are £113 in one note and £38 in another; and the report gives payments as £44,452 against £44,451 in the receipts and payments account (PDF p.10, 11, 14).[2]
  • Land record. The register says the charity owns or leases land or property, but the 2024/25 report says it vacated its office and community centre, and the receipts and payments accounts list no property (PDF p.4–5, 11).[2][3]

Other registers and records

Scotland and Northern Ireland

No entry was found on the Scottish Charity Register for this charity (register export dated 14 October 2026, searched by name).[16] No entry was found on the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland register (API name searches returned zero results).[17]

The Gazette

Searches of The Gazette notice feeds (all notices, insolvency and company) for the charity's name found no insolvency, winding-up or strike-off notice.[18]

Grants recorded by 360Giving

No grants received or made by this charity are recorded in 360Giving data.[19]

Sanctions screening

The charity's name, its current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, trustees and officers named in the accounts read for this profile and (for charitable companies) its Companies House officers were screened against the UK Sanctions List and the OFSI Consolidated List. No match was found.[20]

Land and property

The register records that the charity owns and/or leases land or property.[3] No title registers were purchased; the HM Land Registry interactive search blocked automated access.[21] Candidate titles and addresses (CCOD dataset and register/accounts data):[22]

  • No property in the accounts; the register says the charity owns or leases land or property, while the report says the charity decided to vacate "both our office and the community centre that we used for services" – Accounts and register (source: [2])

Parliament

Hansard exact-phrase searches for "The Good News Church", "Good News Community Church" returned 0 contributions in total.[23]

Web archive

  • gncmacc.org: 19 yearly captures, first 2006-07-20, last 2026-01-15.[24]

The UK Government Web Archive holds 0 archived Charity Commission register pages used in this profile; none were found for this charity number.

External links

Notes

  1. ↑ Charity Commission, The Good News Church (512488): full print Register of Charities, retrieved 16 October 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Charity Commission, The Good News Church (512488): accounts and annual returns Register of Charities; latest accounts downloaded 16 October 2026 ("PDF p." = page of the PDF file).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 Charity Commission for England and Wales, Register of Charities public extract (tables charity, charity_trustee, charity_annual_return_history, charity_area_of_operation, charity_classification, charity_other_names), extract dated 14 October 2026.
  4. ↑ The Good News Church accounts, year ended 2015-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200103).
  5. ↑ The Good News Church accounts, year ended 2016-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200103).
  6. ↑ The Good News Church accounts, year ended 2017-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200103).
  7. ↑ The Good News Church accounts, year ended 2018-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200103).
  8. ↑ The Good News Church accounts, year ended 2019-03-31 UK Government Web Archive (capture of 20200103).
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Messianic Education Australia, Vision for Israel & The Joseph Storehouse messianiceducationaustralia.com, 17 December 2015, viewed 16 October 2026.
  10. ↑ Charity Commission, Register of Charities, charity overview page (register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search/-/charity-details/ followed by the organisation number) for each of the 25 batch-23 charities, all retrieved on 16 October 2026 and checked for a "Regulatory alerts" notice; none was shown.
  11. ↑ Charity Commission, Serious concerns over use of £22 million triggers investigation by charity regulator GOV.UK, 14 May 2025.
  12. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator opens next phase of investigation into 105 charities connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 1 September 2025.
  13. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator announces next charities to be investigated as part of inquiry connected to company cashing cheques GOV.UK, 4 December 2025.
  14. ↑ Charity Commission, Regulator concludes investigation into 4 charities as class inquiry continues GOV.UK, 9 September 2026, with Statement of the results of a class inquiry (same date).
  15. ↑ Charity Commission, Charity regulator opens inquiry into charities working in illegal Israeli settlements GOV.UK, 5 August 2026 (a fact-finding statutory class inquiry initially involving 8 charities which "are not being publicly named at this time").
  16. ↑ Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator, Scottish Charity Register download OSCR, export dated 14 October 2026; keyword search of the 25 batch-23 charity names found no matching Scottish registration.
  17. ↑ Charity Commission for Northern Ireland, Register of charities search API CCNI, searched 16 October 2026 (keyword searches for each of the 25 batch-23 charity names returned zero results).
  18. ↑ The Gazette: notices matching 'Good News Community Church' The Gazette, searched 16 October 2026.
  19. ↑ 360Giving API: grants received by GB-CHC-512488 360Giving, queried 16 October 2026.
  20. ↑ Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, UK Sanctions List (CSV); Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets (ConList.csv). Batch-23 screening covered 249 name strings: the 25 charity names and their other names, current register trustees, trustees named on archived register pages, trustees, officers and other people named in the accounts and websites read for this batch, and the Companies House officers of the charitable companies; the only hits were generic words (such as "Trust", "Company Limited" in the name of a corporate formation agent, and ".com") and surname-only matches, which were rejected; no person matched. Screened 16 October 2026.
  21. ↑ HM Land Registry, Search for land and property information GOV.UK – the service returned HTTP 403 (bot protection) to automated access in October 2026; no titles were looked up or purchased. Candidate title numbers below come from the free CCOD / OCOD datasets (October 2026 release), not from paid title registers.
  22. ↑ HM Land Registry, UK companies that own property in England and Wales (CCOD) and Overseas companies that own property in England and Wales (OCOD) full extracts, October 2026 release, matched on the company numbers of the charitable companies in this batch and searched for distinctive charity-name keywords; no title registers were purchased.
  23. ↑ UK Parliament, Hansard search API: contributions matching the exact phrase "Good News Community Church" Hansard, queried 16 October 2026 (Spoken and Written endpoints; quoted-phrase search).
  24. ↑ Internet Archive CDX index for gncmacc.org Wayback Machine, queried 16 October 2026.
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