Greetings from a poolside location in Ithica.
Just a reminder that Ruby will be celebrating her 100th birthday on Friday 5th October. As this is such a special time we are going to present Ruby with a card and some flowers on Sunday 30th September at the 10.30 am mass. If you haven’t already, can you please sign the birthday card, it’s on the table at the back of church. It would be great to see as many of you as possible on Sunday 30th September at 10.30 am. It’s not often we get the opportunity to celebrate a parishioner’s 100th birthday!
Simon
Dear Friends
This Sunday we begin our Planned Giving Campaign which will take place over the next three Sundays and will culminate on Harvest Sunday (October 7th) when we will gather in all the gifts and give thanks to God for His abundant generosity to us all.
Some of you will have received a letter from Father Simon this week, giving you an analysis of our current financial position. If you have not received this, there are lots of packs available at the back of church – please do take one! There is more information, and access to a standing order form, further down this email bulletin.
We are encouraging members of our congregation to join our Planned Giving scheme for several reasons:
Many of you already give generously in the Sunday collection – but on those Sundays when you are elsewhere we are still gathering as a worship community and need to pay our bills.
The Parochial Church Council has responsibility for the finances and budgets of our church and it is very difficult to do this if we have no idea of our income. If we know what has already been pledged this makes our task easier.
You do not need to feel uncomfortable if you choose to join Planned Giving and donate via standing order. We are introducing a scheme so that when you pick up your service sheet and hymn book from our sidespeople you can also pick up a token to put into the collection plate. This says simply ‘I give to St Nicholas via Planned Giving’ so you don’t need to feel embarrassed about not putting cash into the plate.
Having said all of this, giving as a Christian discipline is not primarily about the needs of the Church, however vital they may be. It’s more about our attitude towards money, rather than God’s need for it. We give because we want to, out of gratitude for what God has done for us, and because giving changes our attitude towards money. To quote Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury: ‘my bank statement is the document that most reveals my theology’.
I invite you to reflect prayerfully on your giving this coming week.
With every blessing
Mother Eileen