Bethany Christian Fellowship
Charity 701769
Overview
Summary
Bethany Christian Fellowship appears to operate as a faith-based local support network whose religious life is closely linked to practical inclusion for older people and people with disabilities. Its role seems less like a conventional congregation serving only those able to attend, and more like a mobile, relationship-based ministry that brings worship, transport and social contact to people at risk of exclusion. Fundraising for Hope for Justice also suggests an outward-facing connection beyond its immediate community.
Operational geography
Coverage: Neighbourhood
Operational areas:
Evidence and reasoning
Supporting evidence
Remaining uncertainties
- There is no current, location-specific evidence confirming where Bethany Christian Fellowship delivers religious services, coffee mornings or support for older and disabled people.
- The Charity Commission registered contact address is a registered contact address, but the available evidence does not establish that it is a service venue or other operational site.
- The charity's recorded activity describes services in residential homes and transport for people unable to use buses, but it does not identify the homes, their wards, or whether these activities continue.
- The most recent financial year in the supplied record ended on 28 February 2018, and the Charity Commission register indicates that reporting is overdue. This substantially limits confidence about current operations.
- Hope for Justice is named as a fundraising beneficiary, but there is no evidence that this relationship extends Bethany Christian Fellowship's own Birmingham service-delivery footprint.
Additional evidence needed
- A current annual return, trustees' report or accounts describing present activities and their locations.
- A current service timetable or official contact confirmation identifying the venue or venues used for fellowship services and coffee mornings.
- Confirmation from any residential homes where the fellowship currently holds services, including enough geographic detail to understand where activity takes place.
- Evidence clarifying whether the registered contact address is an operational venue, a trustee's/home address, or correspondence-only.
Areas of work
- Education/training
- Other Charitable Purposes
- Religious Activities
- The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives
Who they help
- Elderly/old People
- People With Disabilities
How they help
- Other Charitable Activities
- Provides Services
Discoveries involving this organisation
The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving this organisation yet.
Observations
Worship is being used as a route to inclusion
The available evidence suggests that religious services are also a mechanism for reducing isolation among people who may face barriers to community participation, particularly older people and people with disabilities.
Why it matters
This helps distinguish the organisation from a congregation focused only on worship provision: its faith activity appears intertwined with social connection, pastoral care and access.
Show evidence
“We help all in need especially the elderly (physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally & socially).”
Source:Organisation“We also hold services in residential homes.”
Source:Organisation“Elderly/old People, People With Disabilities”
Source:Charity Commission
Transport may be a core part of the operating model
Using its own transport to bring people to services may indicate that the fellowship treats mobility barriers as a practical obstacle to spiritual and social participation, rather than expecting people to overcome them independently.
Why it matters
Transport can make the organisation disproportionately important to people who are isolated or unable to use public buses; it may be an enabling capability rather than a minor logistical detail.
Show evidence
“Our own transport is used to convey people who are unable to travel by bus to the services.”
Source:Organisation“People With Disabilities”
Source:Charity Commission
The fellowship combines local care with an external justice connection
Its fundraising and coffee mornings for Hope for Justice suggest that the organisation links intimate local support with participation in a wider cause, potentially giving members a route to collective action beyond their immediate area.
Why it matters
This indicates that the fellowship's civic role may include connecting a locally rooted, often older community to wider concerns, rather than operating only as a provider of inward-facing care.
Show evidence
“We hold religious services, collect monies for the charity "Hope for justice" and hold coffee mornings for the same.”
Source:Organisation
- The scale, geography and regularity of services, transport and residential-home outreach are unknown.
- It is unclear whether support extends beyond fellowship members or how people are referred or reached.
- There is no evidence about volunteers, partnerships, safeguarding or the outcomes experienced by beneficiaries.
Remaining uncertainties
- Recent annual reports or activity records showing numbers reached, service locations and transport use.
- Information from residential homes, beneficiaries or partners about the fellowship's distinctive contribution and unmet needs.
Additional evidence needed
Charity Commission profile
Activities
We hold religious services, collect monies for the charity "Hope for justice" and hold coffee mornings for the same. We help all in need especially the elderly (physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally & socially). We also hold services in residential homes. Our own transport is used to convey people who are unable to travel by bus to the services.
Charity objects
(1) THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE DOCTRINES SET OUT IN THE FOURTH SCHEDULE HERETO AND THE WORSHIP OF GOD IN THE SAID COUNTY AND ELSEWHERE BY ANY MEANS WHATSOEVER INCLUDING (BUT NOT BY WAY OF LIMITATION) THE PREACHING AND PROCLAMATION OF TE 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 INCLUDING AUDIO AND VISUAL TAPES OBJECTS CONTINED OVERLEAF