“Encouraging generosity in our parish”

Our focus is on regular giving. Why?

• Regular giving provides the firm financial base for the future of our church to develop and grow as part of the Kingdom of God.  
• The ongoing challenge is to match our expenditure with increased income through planned giving.
• An increase in regular giving will avoid the need for additional appeals each year. 

The Bible states:

“On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.”

1 Corinthians 16.2

Financial position

Were you aware that our annual expense is around £300,000?  

So where does this money go?

• We tithe (give) 10% of income to support charities locally and globally – around £30k.
• We pay our share of the costs of providing clergy and teaching the Gospel across the diocese – this supports both our parish and others. That’s around £150k.
• We carry out the mission of the Church in our community through our events, activities and our children’s and youth ministers.  These cost around £60k.
• We provide worship in many forms in and from our buildings and that costs around £10k.
• We spend another £50k keeping the buildings warm, lit and maintained and administering our parish.

Where does our income come from?   It is from:

• Hiring, fundraising, sales of Parish News, fees and other income account for around £34k.
• Planned giving accounts for £158k with another £38k of tax recovered under Gift Aid scheme.
• This leaves a gap of £70k, which has been filled by appeals and most recently spending our reserves.

The challenge

Like any family, the ongoing challenge is to match our expenditure with our income.

We hardly ever talk about money with our friends or family and it is often the same in church as well. The little money talk that happens in church is usually around giving and that is often only when there is a financial problem.

By contrast the Bible has a great deal to say about money – over 2000 verses in fact! This should not surprise us because money plays an important part in our lives. Jesus talks about money a lot because how we handle it helps us or hinders the abundant life, he longs to give us. But giving does not necessarily come easy to most of us.

We are a worshipping community of around 300, but at least 50 of us do not make any regular financial commitment and it is our regular givers who normally respond to the appeals to fill the shortfall in income.

What can you do to help further?

How you can do this?

• The easiest way to give regularly is through the Parish Giving Scheme. You set up a regular monthly payment that you can see on your bank statement and can adjust it as your circumstances change. You can even opt for inflationary increases each year to maintain your level of giving (www.parishgiving.org.uk).
• If you give by standing order, please get in touch for a form.
• If you give annually, you can use the parish website GIVING tab and give by credit or debit card, CAF account or PayPal.
• Cheques made out to PCC of Chandler’s Ford can be posted in the Parish Office letterbox or left on the collection plate at church.