Christ Church and St John

Christ Church and St John

Finance and Stewardship

SECURING OUR FUTURE TOGETHER: STEWARDSHIP IN THE PARISH OF CHRIST CHUCH AND ST JOHN, CLAPHAM

Please Fill in and return the response form by Sunday 10th February.Download Form

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO RUN THE TWO CHURCHES IN OUR PARISH EACH WEEK?

It costs £1,943 per week to run our parish.

WHAT DO WE SPEND IT ON?

In 2007, our annual costs are:

  • General Upkeep (utilities, cleaning, insurance) £26,110
  • Worship, Mission and Ministry £24,445
  • Repairs and maintenance £18,100
  • Fairer Shares Quota £17,405
  • Parish Administrator and Office £14,985
  • TOTAL £101,045

WHERE DO WE GET OUR MONEY FROM?

Our income comes from:

  • Union Grove Community Nursery £30,000
  • Rental of church and hall buildings £29,040
  • Congregational Giving (Plate and Stewardship) £12,735
  • St John’s CDP £12,000
  • Other (Investments and Fees) £9,500
  • Gift Aid on Congregational Giving £1,100
  • TOTAL £94,375

We have a forecast deficit of £6,670 in 2007.

WHAT IS FAIRER SHARES?

  • The Diocesan Fairer Shares scheme aims to spread the costs that the Diocese has to meet on a fair basis between different parishes. These costs are mainly clergy pay, pensions and housing.
  • We at Christ Church and St John are heavily supported by other parishes in the Diocese to pay for our clergy.
  • In 2007 this was £17,045. In 2008 it might rise by 12% to about £19,500.

WHAT IS OUR CHALLENGE?

  • To give the parish of Christ Church and St John a firm financial future.
  • We need to reduce our risk. If we were to lose some of our income from rental and grants or needed to use our own buildings more, we would struggle to make up the lost income. The only source of this money would be the congregation.
  • We depend too much on money from other sources. Only 13½% of our income from our congregation – we need to increase this %.

WHAT IS OUR TARGET?

  • Our target is to raise congregational giving to 25% of our total income in 2008.
  • This means increasing our giving in 2008 by £11,000.
  • This is equivalent to about £90 per person per year, or an extra £1.75 per person per week – not even the cost of two lottery tickets.
  • We will then look to increase this further each year.
  • Our target is to raise congregational giving to 25% of our total income in 2008.
  • This means increasing our giving in 2008 by £11,000.
  • This is equivalent to about £90 per person per year, or an extra £1.75 per person per week – not even the cost of two lottery tickets or a Big Mac.
  • We will then look to increase this further each year.

PRAYER

Generous God, we remember Christ has no body on earth but ours. No hands but ours. No feet but ours. Ours are the eyes through which He is to look at the world with compassion. Ours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Ours are the hands with which He is to bless others now. May we use all that we are, all that we have to reflect His love for all to all.

WHAT IS STEWARDSHIP?

Stewardship is our planned, regular giving to which we commit each week.

What we give is between us and God, but God expects us each to take our share of responsibility.

The Bible teaches about Proportionate Giving and tithing. This is when we give a % of our income – so many pence for each £ of the money we take home.

This is the fair way to give whether our income is large or small.

The Church of England suggests that we give 5% of our income or 5p for every pound of our take-home pay. This means if our income is £100 per week, we would give £5 to the Church.

REMEMBER

What we give is a matter between us and God. What God expects of us is that we should each shoulder our responsibility as a member of the parish of Christ Church and St John to the best of our ability.

Our parish has a fine past and a great present. It should also have an exciting future.

The future of our parish is in our hands. We should consider carefully and prayerfully the response we should make.

We can secure the future – but we MUST secure it together!

HOW CAN WE GIVE?

Through our Planned Giving Scheme:

By Standing Order Money is transferred out of your bank account every month This can be very easy and convenient for everyone

By Envelopes We provide a series of numbered envelopes – one for each Sunday of the year The envelopes are put into the collection plate each Sunday If we miss a week, we can give that envelope when you’re next in church

NEXT STEPS

Review our giving. Are we able to give any more than we do at the moment?

Join our planned giving scheme so we can all contribute on a regular basis – whether we’re at church or not.

Sign up to Gift Aid. If we pay tax, the Inland Revenue will refund our parish 28p for each £ we give. This is ‘free’ money for the church at NO cost to you!

Please Fill in and return the response form by Sunday 10th February.Download Form