Christ Church Southchurch

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Christ Church Southchurch
Sunday 24 June 2007 Robin Stevensformer
National Stewardship Officer Mission and Parish
Development Adviser (Barking Area) Reader, All
Saints Springfield
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Christ Church Southchurch
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Funding Gods mission

• It is important to see money as one of the many
  gifts of God and not simply as an unfortunate
  necessity.
• The theology of stewardship is not simply a way
  of getting people to give, but is essential to
  the Churchs teaching about grace and generosity.
• Without a dynamic and positive attitude to money
  the Church will fail to provide enough to make
  proper use of this essential resource.

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Why should I give?

• God owns all that we have
• All things come from you, and of your own have we
  given you 1 Chronicles 2914
• God has given us everything we have
• The earth is the Lords and all that is in
  it Psalm 241
• Gods greatest gift is Jesus Christ
• God so loved the world that he gave his only
  Son John 316
• We are responsible to God
• So then each of us will be accountable to
  God Romans 1412

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Revelation of God
Stewardship is a response to the revelation of
God to which the Bible bears witness

• God is the creator of all things and the Lord of
  history
• in Jesus Christ he has acted to save the world
• through the Holy Spirit he is at work in the
  Church and in the world to fulfil his purposes

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Quote

• For Christians, giving money is about whether we
  mean it. Money is the sacrament of seriousness.
  For the well-heeled or the hard up, the question
  remains, as Dr Rowan Williams once memorably
  posed it, For whom is your money good news?
• The Revd Dr Giles Fraser in the Church Times

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The Archbishop of York

• From his inauguration sermon
• The scandal of the church is that the
  Christ-event is no longer life-changing, it has
  become life-enhancing. Weve lost the power and
  joy that makes real disciples, and weve become
  consumers of religion and not disciples of Jesus
  Christ.

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Our values
In our consumerist world we expect to get what we
pay for Is there an element in our giving to the
Church that we pay for what we feel we get out of
it?
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Kingdom values
The life of discipleship is about doing things
Gods way and adopting the values of his kingdom
Christian giving is about looking at what God has
done for us through the grace of Jesus Christ and
responding in that light
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Relationship and Lifestyle
The loving relationship we have with God, Father,
Son and Holy Spirit.
. will direct our life-style and the way we
conduct ourselves in all the aspects of our lives
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Who made that connection?

• King Davids affirmation 1 Chronicles 291-20
• Mary, as the first disciple of Jesus, was the
  first Christian steward Luke 146-55
• The boy with his loaves and fishes John 61-14
• Zacchaeus Luke 191-10

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Christian Giving
Archbishop George Carey The first question to
ask is not What do I need to give? but How can
my giving reflectsomething of Gods love for me?
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What does our church cost each week?

• 975?
• 1,375?
• 1,775?
• MORE?

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Weekly Costs

• Parish expenses 280
• Church and Services 134
• Fabric Fund 329
• Parish Share 908
• Outside giving 124
• Total 1,775

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Weekly Income

• Giving 917
• Tax recovered through Gift Aid 207
• Other income fund raising 516
• Total 1,640

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The Problem

• Weekly Expenditure 1,775
• Weekly Income 1,640
• SHORTFALL 135

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Church costs

• Buildings heating, lighting, insurance
• Clergy stipend, pension, expenses
• Repairs and maintenance
• Renewals and resources
• Worship and mission
• New clergy selection and training
• Clergy housing and maintenance
• Diocesan support and training
• National Church Synodical structure

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Church costs

• Buildings heating, lighting, insurance
• Clergy stipend, pension, expenses
• Repairs and maintenance
• Renewals and resources
• Worship and mission
• New clergy selection and training
• Clergy housing and maintenance
• Diocesan support and training
• National Church Synodical structure

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Diocesan budget 2007

• The budget for those pooled costs is 18.6m
• Income
• National Church 2.2m
• Investments 1.3m
• Fees etc 1.6m
• Leaving 13.5m
• This amount comes from
• the giving of Church people

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Parish share
This sum is shared out to the deaneries -
largely according to the numbers and affluence of
Church people and the deaneries share it out to
the parishes in the way they feel best Our share
in 2007 is 47,200 The cost of maintaining and
supporting a priest is about 36,200 (much more
than just the stipend)
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Weekly patterns of giving

• Out of 102 households, 71 are in the Planned
  Giving Scheme
• No. Amount Total per week per week

17 Up to 3 31 16 3 to 5 64 17 5 to
10 126 9 10 to 20 112 12 Over 20 436
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Weekly patterns of giving
That totals 769 from 71 households the overall
average is 10.83 a week BUT 50 households
givean average of 4.43 a week AND 12 households
givean average of 36.34 a week
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Our spending

• 5 Litres of petrol 4.80
• Weekly Newspapers 3.50
• TV Licence 2.60
• Bottle of Wine 4.99
• Seat at the Cinema 6.50

• HOW DOES OUR GIVING TO GODS MISSION THROUGH THE
  CHURCH COMPARE?

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How should I give?

• Upon the first day of the week let every one of
  you lay by him in store, as God has prospered
  him. 1 Corinthians 162
• REGULAR Upon the first day of the week
• UNIVERSAL Let every one of you
• PLANNED Lay by him in store
• PROPORTIONATE
• As God has prospered him

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Steps we can take

• Review our Giving
• How much do we give now?
• How much is that in the ?
• How can we move forward?
• Perhaps by 2p in the or 3p in the

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Proportionate Giving
Weekly Take-home Income
Giving Per 1
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Steps we can take

• Review our Giving

• Give Regularly
• Join the Planned Giving Scheme
• Take a set of stewardship envelopes / complete a
  bankers order
• (Remember the church costs the same each week
  whether we are in church or not)

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Steps we can take

• Review our Giving
• Give Regularly

• Give tax-efficiently
• If we pay tax the Inland Revenue will refund the
  tax paid to the Church AT NO EXTRA COST TO
  OURSELVES.Currently this increases the value of
  our giving by 28

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Government Subsidy
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How much should I give?

• Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to
  the way the Lord your God has blessed
  you. Deuteronomy 1617

• What proportion?
• a tithe 10?
• a half tithe to the Church 5?
• the first hours work each week 2½
• 1
• from what I find in my pocket when Im in church

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Seen on the back window of a car
And on another car
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What we give

• What we give is between us and God
• What God expects ..is that each of us will
  shoulder our responsibility as a member of our
  Churchs family to the best of our ability
• Because

The Responsibility Is Ours
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