As the summer holidays give way to preparing for winter we recall God’s goodness to us in his provision.  We are so fortunate here to have our basic needs satisfied on a general basis so it is fitting to celebrate with Harvest.  6th October is the day for the Sunday services – 11am Mattins and 4pm Praise@4.  Opportunities to bring gifts are made available at these services as well as the school service on Thursday 3rd October and Rub-a-dub on the 4th October.  Please do try to come to the auction too after the Sunday services which will be in aid of the work of Doorway – a Chippenham charity for the homeless.

As we look back it is also a time for reviewing our own giving to the life of the church.  Last month I wrote quite a bit about the finances of the church and the cost to maintain a church in this beautiful parish.  £42,000 was the amount to be able to break even.  This amount is required to pay the parish share – the cost of having a minister for our spiritual needs plus the running costs of heating and lighting, insurance, books and stationary, servicing of equipment and so on.  This does not include a budget for any special developments for the mission of the church or to improve what we can offer in ministry.  Nor does it include an amount for general renewal of equipment that is worn out due to wear and tear.

£42,000 is a minimum operating cost.  Funds that have been given for special purposes such as the churchyard, the organ, and the improvements to the fabric of the church are ring fenced for that purpose and cannot be used to pay the parish share or other operating costs.

So, how is the £25,000 request by the Diocese for parish share calculated?  Basically for five consecutive weeks after Easter the names of individuals who regularly attend church are counted, along with visitors.  Added to the number who regularly attend church are those who can no longer attend the church but continue to support it and belong to it.  This total number of ‘members’ is calculated and sent to the Diocese.  In the case of Christ Church the membership is 75.  This number is added to that of other churches in the Diocese and the total number of members divided into the cost that cannot be met by any other income to the Diocese.  This amount per person is multiplied by the number of members in each parish.

This year it was £350 times 75.  Sadly, there are many members who feel unable to contribute as much as this each year to the church so there is a shortfall.  Unless this church can keep up with its payments to the Diocese the Diocese will be short on its budget.  This has been known to have the knock-on effect of cutting down the amount of time a parish can expect from a minister as more duties to cover a larger area are given to the incumbent as the Diocesan budget is cut when there is underpayment by a parish!

There are a number of ways to maximise giving, one of which is to Gift Aid your donation – this increases the donation by 25% if you are a Tax Payer.  If this is the case £350 could be achieved by gift aiding £24 per month.

The more members for a church, the smaller the contribution per member overall so it is important to grow our congregations to reduce the burden upon the few!

If you feel able to contribute regularly, or could increase your giving then do get in touch with Richard Aylen who is the church’s Stewardship Officer.  The PCC would be very grateful!

Best wishes
Ann