14th July 2024
By Justin Dyche in Sunday Service on 20 July 2024
Good morning everyone,
Sunday promises to be an exciting day…with Baptism Services at St Columba’s in the morning and St Leonard’s in the afternoon, and that is all before the football! Please keep reading for full details of what’s happening over the next couple of weeks, the fifth and final point in our 1,2,3,4,5 Appeal, news about in person Safeguarding training for anyone who needs to update that, the latest Snippets from Tim & Carol Derbyshire and news of the Rockingham Dog Show!
SUNDAY 14th JULY
We have two services on Sunday.
In St Columba’s at 10.30am we have a service with BAPTISM by IMMERSION for Michelle Doran. This will be a good witness to those who are not regularly in church so why not invite someone along. This service will be available as a livestream here:
https://youtube.com/live/BaZowZOdL4w?feature=share
In St Leonard’s Rockingham at 3pm we have a FAMILY SERVICE which also includes a baptism.
In the evening we have the PRAYER MEETING in St Columba’s at 6pm.
1,2,3,4,5 CHURCH FINANCE UPDATE
We continue to address the prediction that our church income looks as if it will be almost £12,345 less than our expenditure with a 1,2,3,4,5 point strategy.
- PRAYER – please can everyone connected with St Columba’s pray about this situation, if possible at 12.34 for 5 minutes. Obviously if you can’t pray at 12.34 please try and find another five minutes in your day to bring this situation to the Lord and to ask what your response might be…
- GIVE WHAT YOU CAN NOW – and can I say a huge THANK YOU for all the extra gifts we have received over the past three weeks, if you have not yet given it is never too late, see point 4 below.
- GIFT AID – if we as a church family give just £9876 AND it is all gift aided, the church will receive £12345 because of the tax refunded by the government, so no cost to you. You do have to pay Income Tax to be able to claim Gift Aid so not everyone will be eligible but if you do pay Income Tax PLEASE make sure that your donations to the church are GIFT AIDED.
- 1,2,3,4,5 WAYS TO GIVE – these are:
(i) Parish Giving Scheme – direct debit based scheme with an option for automatic inflation based increases each year (you don’t have to do this and can opt out). Good because you give if you are in church or not, we receive Gift Aid monthly, and auto increase facility means giving can go up each year.
(ii) Envelopes – these can be used with cash or cheques which are placed in the basket in church. Again they are good because you can put money in the envelope even if you are not in church, but there is obviously no auto-increase so the real value of giving can decline over time.
(iii) Bank Transfer – just ask for church bank details and set up a regular or one-off payment. Good because you can do it anywhere, including when you are not in church, but not so good because you have to remember to do it, as well as to increase from time to time if you are able.
(iv) Card Reader – you choose an amount to give and tap on the machine. One disadvantage is that the technology has sometimes let us down, another is that you have to be in church to give, but you can easily make up for weeks you were not in church by increasing your donation.
(v) Cash or Cheque in the basket – this is how many donations used to be made but with people using less cash and cheques as well as transferring to other giving methods it is in decline. The disadvantages are that you have to be in church to give and it is easier to give £10 than increase to £12.34
Our final point is actually a source of help with any of the above: - INTRODUCING THE FINANCE FIVE
The members of the Finance Committee are available to answer any questions you may have about giving or to help you set up a Direct Debit in the Parish Giving Scheme or to claim Gift Aid. They may ask if you have any questions, so don’t be alarmed if they speak with you after one of our services.
The FINANCE FIVE are: James Ireland, John Lynch, Margaret Smith, Janet Taylor and me. If we don’t know the answer to your question we can ask someone who does (James!).
Thank you once again to everyone who has already responded to this appeal.
SUNDAY 21st JULY – Service and Lunch
This is the date of the CONFIRMATION SERVICE for a number of people from St Columba’s at 10.30am. Please come along and support these members of our church family who are being confirmed. After the service there will be a LUNCH in the Church Hall to celebrate. The food will be provided so do plan to come along and join the Confirmation candidates in celebration. There is a SIGN UP sheet available in church to give an idea of numbers for the lunch, or you can reply to this email to say you will be there.
ROCKINGHAM COMPANION DOG SHOW
Unfortunately this clashes with our Confirmation Lunch but if you are interested it is in Rockingham Village Hall from 1pm next Sunday. There are Pedigree and Novelty classes. Judging commences at 2pm.
SAFEGUARDING TRAINING
Amie Freeman from the Diocesan Safeguarding Team will be delivering six training sessions during August 2024 for Basic Awareness, Foundation and Domestic Abuse, one of each in person and one via Microsoft Teams. This will be the last opportunity for many months to attend in person training so if you need to complete any of these courses and online training is not your thing do make the most of these opportunities. The details are:
Basic Awareness
5th August 2024 2-4pm IN PERSON @ Bouverie Court
5th August 2024 6-8pm Online via Teams
Foundations
12th August 2024 2-4pm IN PERSON @ Bouverie Court
12th August 2024 6-8pm Online via Teams
Domestic Abuse
19th August 2024 2-4pm IN PERSON @ Bouverie Court
19th August 2024 6-8pm Online via Teams
To book a space please visit:
https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/safeguarding-training-2391149?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=creatorshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=odclsxcollection&utm-source=cp&aff=escb
SNIPPETS FROM THE SHIRES
It was good to have Tim and Carol with us last month and they have written another Prayer Letter following their trip to Germany. This is here for you to read and pray.
Don’t forget to pick up a copy of the latest PRINT edition of SCaNS if you were not in church last Sunday.
Best wishes,
Ian
01536 400225
07903 644609