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Stewardship
Campaign letter...
The following
letter has been delivered to all in the community, whether churchgoers
or not. Download
Letter
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The Parish of St
Chad, Pattingham with St Mary, Patshull
26th
October 2014
Dear Parishoner,
St.Chad's Church in Pattingham is not only a landmark but also
a focus for good in the community. Whilst the building’s
future is secure thanks to specific historic bequests, the day-to-day
running expenses are met by the Church members and regular supporters
in the community. We are very grateful for this but find we now
need further help.
At present the Church ’s running expenses are greater than
our income to the tune of about £10,000, per annum and
on Sunday 26th October we launched a Stewardship Campaign to
address this problem.
It used to be said in polite circles that one should avoid discussing
money, politics or
religion. But actually we cannot get very far as a community
– and especially as a
worshipping community – without facing up to the realities
of all three.
It sometimes comes as a surprise to people when they discover
that Jesus talks in the Bible a great deal about money. Mainly
about it not ruling our lives and acting as a barrier between
us and God.
Money used well can enhance and add to our spiritual life. Spreading
it around frees us up to focus on the issues that really matter
– loving our neighbour, caring for the oppressed, and teaching
our children by example that a generous spirit will bring us
more rewards than clinging always to our cash.
We are incredibly fortunate in this parish. Not only do we live
in a delightful community and a beautiful part of the countryside,
but our forebears have provided generously for our building –
meaning that our church is kept in good repair and can be developed
for the needs of succeeding generations – but these funds
cannot be used for general running expenses.
But the Church is so much more than just a building. It is a
living, breathing community of people who need to be resourced
if they are to thrive in their faith. That means they have to
be nourished – physically and spiritually. They need to
be kept warm and have light to see by (as well as being sheltered
by a non-leaky roof!) They need their children educated in the
faith. They need to be available for the whole community –
not just those who worship on a Sunday.They need to provide for
the community ’s major life events – the ‘hatching,matching
and dispatching ’ as we sometimes refer to it – Christenings,
Weddings and Funerals. And those who are fortunate and relatively
comfortable should contribute something towards those parishes
in other places which will never have the resources to meet their
needs.
So the living church should be able to pay for the life of the
Church. But too often we are not keeping pace with what this
costs. Often this is because people do not stop to think that
the cost of living affects the church as much as it does our
households.We do need members of the church community to carefully
consider what they give to the church rather than scrabbling
around for the loose change in their pocket.That is why we have
sub-titled this appeal “Giving what’s right,not
what’s left!”
This letter is being sent to all in the community,whether churchgoers
or not. For those who are churchgoers we hope that they will
participate in the campaign and prayerfully consider the contribution
they make to the church. Those who are not churchgoers may still
wish to contribute to the life and work of the church or simply
keep themselves informed about what is an important part of our
village community.
Everyone in the community is invited to an event on on Friday
7th November at the Pattingham Club or on Saturday
15th November in the Village Hall.
At these events, starting at 7.30 pm, members of the Church
community will be available to talk about their particular interests
whether it is singing in the choir, flower arranging, youth work
or bell ringing. Come along and learn what else people do in
church other than pray.
Enclosed is a brief leaflet showing how we use the money we are
given now.On its own St.Chad's Church is only a landmark –
it is the people who make it a Church. Please help us as much
as you can.Our aim is to balance our budget by 2016, so we need
to increase our income by at least 10%. Please do dig as deep
as you possibly can to help.
With all best wishes
Maureen Hobbs
Vicar of Pattingham with Patshull
David Sampson
Churchwarden
Iain Coleman
Churchwarden
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