St Mary’s, ANYWHERE Stewardship Presentation  

At Mary’s Church Anywhere It’s good to be here this morning. Thank you for inviting me into your service to talk about stewardship. Let’s begin by thinking about what God has given to us He’s given us everything – the world around us, our families, and our friends He has made us all – and made us in his own image, which is a great gift. He has also made each one of us different – each completely unique, with our own special gifts and talents, and that makes each one of us special fundamentally stewardship is about looking after what God has given to us – whether it is the environment, or our church, or nurturing our own gifts to say thank you and to respond to God’s generosity by giving something back. So you see that stewardship is a very broad idea – it does include our financial resources and how we use them for God and the Church, but that is only one part of a much bigger picture.

Mission Possible Youth Queen’s Birthday picnic We are an active church! St Mary’s Café Baptisms Coffee mornings Sunday Services Parents & toddlers Open the Book team Funerals Village meetings Sunday School Social events Weddings Parish magazine Mission Possible Youth Remembrance Services Queen’s Birthday picnic Here we talk about our church – to remind people of everything that goes on here, and how people use their gifts, skills, time and money to contribute to its flourishing.

We often take people, and all the things they do for granted – so thank you! This church wouldn’t be the same without everything which is done by so many people – from cleaning, to music and flowers, pastoral care and much else. Church families are often like our families at home – we care, but don’t notice what others do, and often forget to say thank you.

What about the money? Money isn’t important in itself. However it does support the mission of our Church and the ministry which underpins that mission. Money is important because if a congregation is worrying about how they will pay the gas bill they can’t be focussed on the mission of Christ in this place.

It costs £0,000 each week to run our church A lot of us feel a bit uncomfortable talking about money – especially in the context of church. How many of us try to drop money into the collection without anyone seeing just how much we are putting in? It’s OK to talk about money though – 50% of Jesus teachings talking about money – think of the parable of the talents, or Zaccheus, or the Widow’s Mite – and I guess if it is good enough for Jesus, it’s OK for us to talk about it as well. So – this is how much it is costing at present to run our churches?. This looks like a lot, even though we control our costs tightly. So where does it all go?

Weekly Expenses Parish share £000 Ministry expenses £00 Church running costs £000 Cost of Services £00 Other £00 Total £000 These figures represent our normal housekeeping costs, which will inevitably rise each year. They don’t allow for anything extra – and we may want to be able to fund something special.

Where did it come from? Planned giving £000 Collections £00 Fundraising £000 Donations £0 Fees £00 Total £000 We really should aim at covering our running costs from our own giving – any other income should be used for all the mission activities we want to grow our churches

We have a challenge! To break even we need another £000 each week from everyone in this congregation BUT to cover the full cost of our Vicar and Services provided by the Diocese, we need another £000 each week on top of this! This slide is optional!

In November 2017, the Diocese launched its new Strategy and Vision ‘Called Together’. There are three core themes: ‘Growing Disciples’; ‘Resourcing our Mission and Ministry’; and ‘Enriching our Communities’ and within each of these there are four work streams making 12 in total. We are called together to enhance and steward our resources for the work of God, to enrich with Christian value and character the places where we are, to grow in numbers and spiritual vigour disciples who are both faithful and fruitful. And the Diocese is here to support you!

What do we spend our own money on? Let’s forget about church for a moment and think about how we spend our own money. How does what you give to the Church relate to other things you spend money on – often without even thinking about it? You may not spend money on all of these things – or any of these things. You may do yoga, or another fitness class, for example, and really value it, or enjoy reading, or dinner out or a trip to the cinema. how does that compare to what we give to God through the Church? Because what we spend money on reveals a lot about what is important to us – Billy Graham once described a cheque book as a theological document – it reveals our priorities in black and white. But I’m not here todayy to tell you what you should be giving. I am asking you to think about it though. Let’s think of our giving in terms of three ‘Ps’

We EACH have a journey to make When it comes to offering our time and talents and our money – each of is is challenged. Both me and you are called afresh to consider and then keep reconsidering our lives and God’s call to faithful stewardship.

Priority Equality Biblical Principles When it comes to financial giving, the Bible actually has quite a lot to say on the subject and much of Jesus teaching touched on money. There are four principles we could highlight: The first is making giving a to God’s work a Priority – The Apostle Paul talked about setting aside a planned amount at the start of every – so whether it’s weekly or monthly it is important to set aside a consistent amount The second is Equality – that we give according in proportion to our own wealth The third is Generosity – The Apostle Paul talks about exceling in the grace of giving – and it is about our response to the generosity of God

Joyful ‘Each of us should give what we have decided in our hearts to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver’ 2 Corinthians 9.7 The fourth is Joyful – ‘Each of us should give what we have decided in our hearts to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver’ 2 Corinthians 9.7

PRIORITY So some pointers in what we need to do. The first is make my giving to God a Priority. How important is God in my life? In Him do I live and move and have my being? Or is God something for an hour on Sunday morning, to be forgotten for the rest of the week? If God is important in my life, I will try to make sure that when I’m juggling all the balls in my busy life (and all the things I need to finance) the ball I drop won’t be the God-shaped one.

PLANNED And if God is important in my life I will have thought about it first and Planned what I want to give him. Just as I plan my household budget (if I’m sensible) and know how much the car insurance, rent/mortgage and everything else is, I will have thought about how much I want to give to God, planned it and sorted my giving in the most efficient way I can.

PROPORTION The Bible talks of a tithe of 10% of income The Church of England has long recommended giving 5% of net income to the church and 5% to other mission and charities Then what is the proportion of my income I should give? It’s up to you completely, but here are a couple of things to think about: Many churches preach tithing – that is giving 10% to God. The Church of England recognises that Christians tend to be very generous to all sorts of causes, and since the 1970s has asked Anglicans to consider giving 5% of their income to and through the Church (income after tax, but before anything else) I would suggest that you work our how much of your income you currently give now as a %. Is that right? Do you think you’d like to be a bit closer to the 5%? Perhaps you are giving too much? But working out what % you give now is a good starting point for deciding what is right for you. And while we are thinking about proportion, we might remember the widow, who gave all she had – a gift far more generous than those of people who gave much, much more than her.

What we give is between US and GOD How much? Sustainable – not more than we can afford Regular – every week or month Significant – enough of our income to make a difference What we give is between US and GOD We aren’t telling you what to give here – it’s completely up to you, but we do urge you to pray about it, think about it and talk about it with your family as you review what you give now. No one’s business but yours and God’s.

Now here’s the practical bit.

Review our financial giving Join the planned giving scheme We cannot expect an equal amount from each person We can expect each person to make an equal sacrifice We can expect each person to budget for a sufficiently generous give to indicate that God has priority in their lives Please review what you give now Please join the planned giving scheme, so your church knows what the income will be coming in and can budget accordingly.

Please fill in the response form And return to ……. In the envelope supplied OR ALTERNATIVE SLIDE………………………… Thank you!

Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were an offering far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my life, my soul, my all. So that’s basically it You now know what comes in and what goes out You know how much is needed to break even, and how much would put us on a stable financial footing so we can fulfil our plan for the future No-one is telling you what to give, but we are asking you to think about God’s generosity, and to pray, talk and think about how you should respond to that generosity.