Stewardship - the grace of giving
Who pays for the church?
The mission of the Church is not paid for by the Church Commissioners or by Government grants, it is paid for almost entirely by individual members, including those who worship here in Deddington and Hempton.
In the Old Testament, God called on his people to tithe their income - to give 10%, and he invited them to make freewill offerings over and above this. In the New Testament, he does not lay down any rules, nor set any figures, although for many people the ‘tithe’ remains a helpful measure, being 10% of disposable income.
The value and frequency of our giving is something that only we as individuals can decide with God.
As Paul says ‘Each should give what they have decided in their heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.’
Where does my giving go?
In the parish of Deddington the money we give is used:
To carry out OUR mission to minister to our community the vicar needs support and assistance – in the past we have been fortunate in having several retired clergy in the parish who could help when needed. However, this valuable resource has drastically reduced over the last couple of years and the vicar simply cannot be in several places at the same time. There is also much pastoral work to be done in the community. In order to support the vicar the PCC has in principle agreed to recruit a curate.
The curacy would start in summer 2017 and involve some expense in the form of housing the curate. We have funds to do this for the first year of a three-year curacy, but we will need to raise £10,000 a year for the subsequent years.
In addition, we have employed a part time Parish Administrator for the past year who has proved to be a great asset to the parish. To date, the administrator role has been paid for out of the general fund in anticipation of a £5,000 bequest from an ex-parishioner. But again we will need to raise £8,500 for each subsequent year.
The second aim, Outward Giving, has not really been possible in 2016, because we will have a deficit at the end of the year. We have given to charity but nowhere near the 10% of unrestricted income the PCC would like to give.
As far as the Parish Share is concerned we have always managed to pay it in full. This money, £45,257 in 2016, and £47,083 in 2017 goes to the diocese.
There is a leaflet on the porch notice board detailing how the diocese spends it, but the greatest part of it goes to paying clergy stipends, national insurance, pensions and housing. A relatively small amount is spent on administration and a contribution to the national church. The share will rise by 3% a year for the foreseeable future.
If you have not increased it in recent years please seriously consider increasing your giving.
Where our money goes at present
Who pays for the church?
The mission of the Church is not paid for by the Church Commissioners or by Government grants, it is paid for almost entirely by individual members, including those who worship here in Deddington and Hempton.
In the Old Testament, God called on his people to tithe their income - to give 10%, and he invited them to make freewill offerings over and above this. In the New Testament, he does not lay down any rules, nor set any figures, although for many people the ‘tithe’ remains a helpful measure, being 10% of disposable income.
The value and frequency of our giving is something that only we as individuals can decide with God.
As Paul says ‘Each should give what they have decided in their heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver.’
Where does my giving go?
In the parish of Deddington the money we give is used:
- To enable our mission, as we seek to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to our community and to build up others in his love.
- To support organisations and individuals who work elsewhere to promote the love of God in Jesus Christ, both at home and abroad.
- This is our ‘Outward Giving’. The PCC would like to give 10% of our unrestricted income to ‘Outward Giving’.
- To pay our contribution to what is known as the ‘Parish Share’.
To carry out OUR mission to minister to our community the vicar needs support and assistance – in the past we have been fortunate in having several retired clergy in the parish who could help when needed. However, this valuable resource has drastically reduced over the last couple of years and the vicar simply cannot be in several places at the same time. There is also much pastoral work to be done in the community. In order to support the vicar the PCC has in principle agreed to recruit a curate.
The curacy would start in summer 2017 and involve some expense in the form of housing the curate. We have funds to do this for the first year of a three-year curacy, but we will need to raise £10,000 a year for the subsequent years.
In addition, we have employed a part time Parish Administrator for the past year who has proved to be a great asset to the parish. To date, the administrator role has been paid for out of the general fund in anticipation of a £5,000 bequest from an ex-parishioner. But again we will need to raise £8,500 for each subsequent year.
The second aim, Outward Giving, has not really been possible in 2016, because we will have a deficit at the end of the year. We have given to charity but nowhere near the 10% of unrestricted income the PCC would like to give.
As far as the Parish Share is concerned we have always managed to pay it in full. This money, £45,257 in 2016, and £47,083 in 2017 goes to the diocese.
There is a leaflet on the porch notice board detailing how the diocese spends it, but the greatest part of it goes to paying clergy stipends, national insurance, pensions and housing. A relatively small amount is spent on administration and a contribution to the national church. The share will rise by 3% a year for the foreseeable future.
If you have not increased it in recent years please seriously consider increasing your giving.
Where our money goes at present
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Income 2016: £71,760 Expenditure 2016: £81,200 The parish share increases by 3% per annum. |
How should we give?
Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians gives a number of principles to follow, from the example of the Christians living in Macedonia:
- they gave joyfully and generously (8.2)
- they gave freely and sacrificially (8.3)
And as a result:
- they reaped according to the measure they had sowed. (9.6)
- God richly blessed their cheerful willingness (9.7)
- and many others were blessed through their giving. (9.12)
We believe that, as God’s people continue to respond to him in this way, God continues to bless them in this way today.
“Each should give what they have decided in their heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians v.7)
The Scriptures teach us to review our giving prayerfully on a regular basis. There are a number of ways you can give regularly:
- Weekly, with planned giving envelopes which enable you to give regularly even if you are unable to attend church.
- Monthly or Quarterly by Standing Order through your bank which again, enables you to give regularly even if you are unable to attend church.
- Using Gift Aid, so that the church receives an extra 25p for every £1 of taxed money given.
If you would like to contribute, or increase your current giving to God’s work at St Peter & St Paul’s and St John’s Hempton, or discuss any aspect of giving to the church, please talk to Iain Gillespie or contact him on 01869 338367 or e-mail treasurer@deddingtonchurch.org.
At our service on 29 January 2017 we will be giving thanks for “this grace of giving”, that through God’s grace and our prayerful commitment, we will continue to:
- Grow the mission of our church.
- Fulfil our outward giving commitments.
- Pay our parish share in full.
You can download a copy of the Stewardship leaflet by clicking here.