Stewardship Campaign Letter from PCC – October 2018

Stewardship Campaign

Letter from PCC

 

Thank you for all that you do to make St Mary’s and St John’s such a wonderful church family. We offer a vibrant, active and vital ministry serving the people of Walton-on-Thames. The way that people like you generously give your time, energy, support and prayers is a real encouragement to us and the community that we are all a part of.

It’s because we have so many activities – to enhance the life of our community and reach out to people in need – that we currently do not cover our costs every month. But more than that… we’d love to do so much more! That’s why we need your help.

We are a self-supporting church, which means that we rely on active members, like you, to help pay for the work we do with children, families, older people and work in the community in Walton-on-Thames. We do not receive any funding from the Church of England for this vital work.

It costs us £23,000 a month to run our two churches. At the moment the church is running at a deficit budget of £3,500 per month.

For example, the work done with children and youth costs us approximately £4,000 per month.

While it’s great that we have fundraising events like the successful church abseil on Heritage Day, one-off gifts and donations make it difficult to plan and pay for regular expenses. It’s a bit like the difference between birthday money and a monthly wage. It’s great when someone gives you a gift for your birthday, but we all need to know what’s regularly coming in, to plan and budget.

The sad reality is that if we don’t get more regular support we will be forced to cut back on some of our essential activities.

A snapshot of what your support currently provides, and will continue to provide includes:

  • Children’s activities on Sunday mornings where children discover more about the love of Jesus, and events during the week where parents and children are welcomed into God’s family (such as Toddler’s Praise, Messy Church and Club Rock)
  • Activities for people in the community such as the Alpha Course where dozens of people in Walton have learnt more about the Christian faith and many have taken their first steps in their walk with Jesus. Then there’s Walton Connections – a lifeline to older people in the community who often suffer from loneliness and isolation.
  • As a church, we give regularly to local, national and overseas charities who help people in greatest need, such as Walton Food Bank, and Tearfund, the Christian overseas development charity. Please find enclosed with this letter a booklet providing more detail on all the charities we help support through giving.

These activities need staff and volunteers to run them, materials and refreshments for visitors and regular financial commitments from the church. All our costs are overseen by the trustees, also referred to as the Parochial Church Council (PCC) – made up of volunteers from within the church – who make sure we are being good stewards of the resources entrusted to us. A list of our current PCC members can be found in the ‘about’ section.

However, beyond paying for our current activities, we have a vision to be a more welcoming church and do more in our community. We’d love to put that vision into action by expanding the activities we can offer those in the church and community, and in time adapting and improving our facilities to make us a more community-focused place of worship. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

We believe we have a generous loving Father in Heaven who will provide for our Kingdom work in the community. We also know that one of the ways that God provides is by moving in people’s hearts so that they give financially to the work of the church.

So, if you benefit from the life of St Mary’s and St John’s, and you see how it also benefits the wider community, we encourage you – as part of your Christian walk – to give regularly through the Parish Giving Scheme or by Standing Order. We are aware that a number of you already regularly give and this is very much appreciated, but if there is scope for you to increase your regular giving then this would also make a real difference.

However, we do recognise that some people are in a better position to give than others. So please don’t feel under pressure to give more than you can afford or more than God is calling you to give.
But every little helps, and if everyone gave what they could every month, or increased their giving a little, it would release us to do so much more. So, I hope that you don’t mind us contacting you in this way, as we know you would prefer us to be open about the position we are in. We’ve enclosed details of how you can give regularly through either our Parish Giving Scheme or by Standing Order. Every penny you give through this scheme will go direct to St Mary’s and St John’s.

We have produced some helpful information outlining WHY are we fundraising? WHAT is Stewardship? and HOW can I give? and Biblical Reasons To Give  which can be found by clicking on the links or you can pick up hard copies in church or from the office.

In Romans 12:3-8 we are called to be members of a united family. As members of this Church family we are all challenged to be generous and to contribute to its running, whether that be with our time, service, gifts or resources.

Thank you again – please do pray and seek God’s guidance as to how you can respond.

Yours in Christ,

Parochial Church Council (PCC)

P.S. Feel free to speak to one of the Clergy or a PCC Member about the benefits of regular giving.

 

Listen to Jonny’s sermon from Sunday 21st October here.