
7th July 2024
By Justin Dyche in Sunday Service on 13 July 2024
Hello everyone,
The General Election has happened and we must all now pray for our new government, whichever way we voted I’m sure we would agree they need our prayers. Please also pray this weekend for the Church of England’s General Synod as they meet in York with important decisions to be made that could have an impact on the future of the Church and therefore on us.
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. The first three points are:
- 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 – because everyone’s circumstances are different it is impossible to say what you should give. One off gifts of £123.45 would help, but even better would be increases in weekly/monthly giving, perhaps 12.345% more! Can I say a huge THANK YOU for all the extra gifts we have received over the past three weeks.
- GIFT AID – because of this the target is less than we thought! In fact 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.
Today I can reveal the fourth point: - 1,2,3,4,5 WAYS TO GIVE – there really are 1,2,3,4,5 ways to give to the church, but some are better for us than others, mostly because of either their regularity (if you give £10 every week we receive £520 in a year, but if you only give £10 three weeks out of four we only receive £390), or because it is not easy to change the amount you give (so you continue giving £10 a week for ten years, but because of inflation, instead of covering £10 of costs it will only cover £7.57).
The five ways to give 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
Please ask for more details of any of these five ways to give.
The final point in our 1,2,3,4,5 point strategy will be revealed next week.
SUNDAY 7th JULY
There are two services at St Columba’s on Sunday:
10.30am ALL AGE WORSHIP with activities for children. This service will also be available as a livestream here:
https://youtube.com/live/xnp-GZttArA?feature=share
6pm HOLY COMMUNION at St Columba’s, a quieter service to which everyone is welcome, and an option for anyone who is not able to join us in the morning. Because of this service there will be no Prayer Meeting this week.
LADIES AFTERNOON TEA
Next Friday, 12th July, we have the next Afternoon Tea for ladies in St Columba’s Church Hall at 3pm. Do come along and join in the conversation and enjoy tea, sandwiches and cakes, and hear the latest episode of Linda’s story of faith.
SUNDAY 14th JULY
We have two services next 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.
In St Leonard’s Rockingham at 3pm we have a FAMILY SERVICE.
There will also be a PRAYER MEETING in St Columba’s at 6pm.
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 email ianpullinger@btinternet.com to say you will be there.
SCaNS
There is a new PRINT edition of SCaNS, no 162 a 28th birthday issue, available in church so please pick one up on Sunday or when you are next in church. It includes the story of the Hebrides Revival which started in 1949 following prayer by some more little old ladies!
Best wishes,
Ian
01536 400225
07903 644609