BEBINGTON PARISH CHURCH - ST ANDREW'S & TOWNFIELD

Giving to support witness and ministry

WHAT WE SPEND

Each year we ask members of the congregation, new and old, to give some thought to their financial support for the witness and ministry at St Andrew's and Townfield.

The Church's expenditure, which is in the region of £230,000 a year, can be divided into three main areas:-

The work of the Church itself :

St Andrew's and Townfield is an extremely busy church and all its activities; Sunday services, children's and youth work, the courses we run, work in schools, outreach activities, pastoral care - all need to be funded.   This is only made possible by expenditure on items such as the maintenance and running costs of our buildings, the employment costs of the youth worker and office staff plus the expenses and housing costs of the clergy and the youth worker.

Contribution to the Diocese

Every parish in the Diocese is required to pay its "Parish Share" which, from 2006, is based on the salary and pension costs of an incumbent, to which a parish related socio-economic factor is applied and, in our case, a further factor is applied for our second minister.  Following many years of steep increases, the new formula means that our Parish Share will not increase until 2008 at the earliest.  Nevertheless, the amount we are required to pay in 2006 is £93,000.

Mission Support

We have guaranteed that at least 10% of our giving will be given each year to work outside the parish.  Over the last five years, the amount given has varied between 11% and 13%, depending on financial conditions at the year of each year.

OUR GIVING

Although we receive some income from fees for funerals and weddings, 92% of our income comes from planned giving, donations and collections.  In 2005, approximately £10,000 related to one-payments made following the Autumn appeal and, without this income plus a lower than expected Parish Share charge, the 2005 surplus £11,500 would have been a deficit.  Faced with significantly higher utilities bills, and without any reserves for emergencies, it was decided to have an annual Gift Day, starting on 25 June 2006, when members of the congregation would be asked to review their giving not only in terms of money, but also in terms of prayer and time.

GIVING TO ST ANDREW'S & TOWNFIELD

So that income is regular, reliable and much simpler administratively, we would urge you to give by making a monthly banker's order arranging for payment to come through your bank.  Nevertheless, if you prefer to use the weekly envelope scheme, we would be pleased to supply you with a set of envelopes which can be put in the collection plate and also allows us to reclaim tax.  Should you be a taxpayer, we can increase the value of your giving by reclaiming tax from the Revenue at a rate of 28p for every £1 given but, to enable us to do this, we need you to complete a Gift Aid Declaration.

Giving forms are available in the church or by clicking on here

Completed forms should be passed to the Church Treasurer via the Church Office.