Giving and Finance
The link between money and faith is one we would all prefer not to have to discuss – something, I guess to do with being British! But in fact it is something we need to be better at speaking about. Two facts are important. First, we are a church community committed to becoming more generous in what we give away to the wider church and good causes. Second, we are a community dependent upon the generosity of our members. The first statement has obvious implications for the second!
Those who visit for the first few times do so as our guests –you are welcome among us. Those who begin to come more regularly are invited to make a considered financial contribution to our common life. Guests and some regulars prefer to do this through the collection plate at the main services - but increasingly we are inviting our committed members to give in a planned way by setting up a standing order to St Paul’s. In this way we can be guaranteed regular income which is vital to our (tight) cashflow. Our annual budget is currently something in the region of ¼ of a million pounds.
How much should you give? Well, the ‘tithe’ (a biblical measure used by many Christians as a guide) suggests 10% of income. But if this seems too challenging a prospect, at least begin by thinking what you spend on other things: shopping, leisure pursuits, holidays etc, and then ask yourself how important the ‘spiritual’ dimension of your life is. One of the signs of the sickness of our society is that we invest so much money in our homes, our cars, our leisure time and eating out, our clothes and appearance – and so little in our spiritual health. The good news is that in 2006 our ‘giving away’ increased significantly; our challenge for 2007 is to see a similar increase in giving – so that we can expand our activities and be more generous still.
Our PCC Treasurer is Philip Davies. He will be happy to provide you with the information you need to set up a Standing Order – and will be able to advise you about the Gift Aid Scheme which allows us to maximise the value of your giving by claiming back from the Government tax you have already paid – all with no further effort by you.
And as part of our long-term strategy for resourcing and maintaining our building, our tradition and our life together, we have established the St Paul’s Knightsbridge Foundation (registered charity number 1097712). To find out more about the Foundation, please follow the link.
Please contact us if you would like to make a donation.
