|
Perhaps
the following line sums up where we need to be. "Give to God what is right, not what is left"
In considering the money side of our giving to the Church we need to
look back at St. Paul's words — Our giving should be:
Regular: Every Sunday
Individual: each of us
Planned: must put aside
Proportional: in proportion to what has been
earned.
There is no membership fee to belong to the Church of England, so each
of us must decide for ourselves how much to give. As Christians we can
make that decision through prayer and understanding our special
relationship with God.
Giving to your Church is part of Christian Stewardship which includes
giving time, talent and money for the caring management of resources, to
enable the mission and ministry of the Church within God's creation.
Each of us can afford to give away some of our money. It may be the
widow's mite, or a millionaire's trust fund. St. Paul in his letter to the
Corinthians said:
Every Sunday, each of you must put aside some money in proportion to
what has been earned.
Many people try to give away 1/10th of their take-home pay in
accordance with the biblical tithe. For over 15 years the General Synod
has asked all members of the Church of England to aim at giving a minimum
of 5p in the £(1/2Oth) of their disposable income "to and through
the church". Much of the historic funds that have sustained the
Church for many years came from Bequests and Trusts set up by people in
their Will. The practice of making a bequest to the Church has regretfully
fallen into disuse in recent years. If you are thinking about setting up a
Will (its never too early to do this) or making a change to an existing
Will please do consider the Parish and the wider Church.
|
