'Helping people connect with God'

GIVING

Why does the Church need money and why should I give?

 

One of the important and necessary factors of parish life is fund raising – this helps to pay for the general running and fabric of the church. As members of the C. of I. we are assessed per registered  man, woman & child at approximately £70. To put it into real terms, if a household has 4 members then the parish has to pay £280 in assessment to the Diocese. At present we are paying £70,000 out in Assessment even before we do anything to the fabric or give to missions. In reality the overall cost of running the parish over the past year cost £130 per registered person.

 

We thank you for your generous giving over the years and we also thank the Fund Raising Committee for all their hard work.

 

The Church is the people of God and what we do gives glory to Him. In essence the church belongs to God and we feel that it is important that we give Him our first fruits ( to use a Bible term ). We find right in the beginning of the Bible in Genesis that the dispute between Cain & Able had to do with the fact that Able gave the first profit as it were. As time developed this became a tenth of a person’s gross income.

We would stress that it is obviously up to each person’s own right/conscience to give as much or little as they feel God is calling them to give. It is important to realise as St. Paul tells us that the Lord loves a cheerful giver – Many people would say that once they give to the Lord on a regular basis rather than being worse off they end up financially better off. It is one of those odd anomalies of the life of faith.

GIVING – What Does the Bible Say?

Giving of ourselves (ref. 2 Cor 8:5), our time, our abilities and our money is all part of our worship to God. When it comes to our finances the Bible gives the following guidelines, encouraging us to give:

 

GENEROUSLY

‘The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously;’ Prov 37:21

‘Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart;…’                     Deut 15:10a

CHEERFULLY

‘Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.’                                          2 Corinthians 9:7

WILLINGLY

^‘I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.’                                      1 Chronicles 29:17

 

Click here for some further Biblical teaching on giving.