Living Hope’s general income has reached another record high and its pastors have had another pay rise.

Details are outlined in the latest annual report and accounts for Living Hope Community Church Ltd for the year ending August 31 last year.

The report was filed with the Charities Administration on February 26.

It shows that during the year, the church received unrestricted income from tithes, offerings and donations from church members and other individuals totalling £1,079,846, up from £1,049,021 the previous year.

Total income including tickets sales, grants and rental income was £1,189,494, up from £1,161,202 in 2024).

General expenditure totalled £1,172,846, up from £1,156,414 in 2024, creating a surplus of £16,648, compared to just £4,788 the previous year.

Living Hope’s income first topped £1m in 2023.

Salaries for the three paid directors totalled £190,340, up from £184,160 in 2024. Lead pastor Jonathan Stanfield’s salary increased from £76,514 to £79,181.

The church has eight congregations in the Isle of Man - located in Port St Mary, Peel, Ramsey, Laxey, St John’s and Douglas.

Its new church in Douglas is expected to be completed in the middle of this year.

This project has been dogged by controversy amid concerns that buildings on the Finch Hill site were demolished without planning consent.

The project’s architects said a section of wall had been ‘over-demolished’ because of structural concerns.

Demolition was approved retrospectively and work, which had been halted in August resumed in October when a new application (25/90850/MCH) was permitted under delegated powers.

The annual report makes no mention of walls being ‘over-demolished’ due to structural concerns.

Instead, it states: ‘While initial work was being carried out on the site in early 2025, it became clear that, taking a long-term perspective, it would be better to rebuild the greater part of the building than to retain the buildings as they were and only carry out repairs, improvements and other changes.

‘Naturally this has significantly extended the timelines and budget.’

The accounts show the site was acquired in August 2024 for a total cost of £1,295,415 and development costs incurred during 2025 amounted to £588,391.

It is anticipated the development and fit-out cost will ultimately come to a total of around £1.5m.

The previous year’s accounts showed that gifts totalling an exceptional £403,580 had been received from church members towards the cost of purchasing the Finch Hill site, while a £1m loan facility had been granted by a generous philanthropist.

Gifts received for the building fund totalled £232,999 in the 12 months to the end of August 2025.

This drop from the £403,580 gifted in 2024 meant that total incoming funds, both unrestricted and restricted, fell from £1,608,649 to £1,427,337.

Having drawn down £400,000 from the private loan facility the previous year to help acquire Removals House, the remaining £600,000 was drawn down last year, and repayments began, totalling £80,000 up to the financial year-end.

The latest report notes: ‘The directors have received provisional offers of further loan facilities from private individuals and are also confident of additional gifts being received to enable the project to be completed.’