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Post date: Oct 18, 2009 10:58:22 AM
Stewardship is fundamental to the way Christians view their world and live their lives. It rests upon the simple premise that everything we have, whether it be:
Talents-what God has gifted to us in terms of our personal skills and abilities;
Treasures-what we have in terms of personal possessions; and
Time-an increasingly precious commodity with so many conflicting demands on it;
are all given to us by God. This leaves us all with a responsibility, which is to use our gifts to help bring Gods Kingdom to the world-it's as simple as that! It's for each of us to work out what that means to us individually.
The Church cannot function without money. At St Mary's Mellor we encourage church members to support the church financially through our envelope planned giving scheme. This simply involves committing to give a certain amount each week by way of the Stewardship envelopes. If you don't currently have aset of envelopes and would like to join the scheme, Geoff Peake, our Stewardship Recorder can provide you with a set-one for each Sunday of the year.
Regular planned giving enables the church to plan its business-in similar way to your household budget-when you know what's coming in you can plan accordingly. Another significant advantage is that, if you are a tax payer, we can claim back the tax on the money you donate through the envelope scheme through Gift Aid. Most members of the envelope sceme Gift Aid their giving, which regularly brings in several thousand pounds a year which would otherwise stay with the taxman. Eileen Peake is our Gift Aid Coordinator. Eileen will be happy to advise on any questions you may have.
Most people use the envelope scheme for their giving but a small number make a donation on an annual basis. If you wish to give in this way please speak to Geoff Peake.
As noted above Stewardship is about responsibly using everything God has given us-not just our financial assets. To carry out God's work in the world a whole host of skills are required, and whatever we do for the Church takes time. Paul,put it very succinctly in his letter to the Romans:
'For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,
so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith;
or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching;
he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness'
We have an active Stewardship committee which meets on a regular basis. The current members of the committee are:
Geoff Gill Chairman
Geoff Peake Stewardship Recorder
Eileen Peake Gift Aid Coordinator
Frank Ashton Stewardship Advisor
Hilda Hilton
Graham Tipper
Rita Gorman
Paul Roffe Priest in Charge
Margaret Baldwin Secretary
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