He was referring to the financial budgets for 2014 and beyond where he stressed the need to balance the books going forward and avoid the kind of substantial deficits incurred in recent years.

Again in his presentation he pointed out that balancing the Union's books has come at the cost of losing staff at Baptist House, where it now employs 32 full time equivalent staff, compared with 46 previously.

He praised churches for their generous response to the Home Mission Appeal where £4,089,159 - a record figure was raised in 2012 and stressed how important this income is to the Baptist family as it represents 70 per cent of all income received.

Malcolm challenged churches to give an extra £50 this year on top of what they gave in 2012. 'Doing this', he said, 'will achieve the Appeal target at £4.1M for 2013.'

Speaking after the Assembly Malcolm underlined the need for churches to continue to strive to give, 'at least 5 per cent of their General Fund income', to the Home Mission Appeal to ensure we have stability and sustainability for the future. He praised too the churches that gave 'an extra' amount to Home Mission last year in response to the 400th anniversary of the first Baptist church in this country and hoped that wouldn't be diluted in 2013.

But Malcolm shared his real concern that in 2013 the grants budget for churches will reduce slightly and he is very keen that this figure does not reduce further.

He added, 'We want to be able to spend more on mission, both traditional forms and new innovative ways of reaching our communities.' He said that Association funding is also under pressure as they grapple with financial deficits. He stressed the need for the ongoing generosity of churches and individuals, whilst recognising the many challenges and difficulties a number of our churches face at the present time.

By way of encouragement to churches, Malcolm added that at the start of this current tax year, there are positive changes to the Gift Aid scheme, where churches will be able to benefit from new income up to a maximum of £1,250 in respect of loose cash offerings.

At the Assembly, Malcolm explained there are rules to follow and churches were directed to the Union's website and the HMRC website where further details are available.