Stewardship

Thank you for your interest and involvement in the life of St Stephen’s Church.  Please read this page to find out how you can help support the church.

At present, we find ourselves in a situation where our expenses exceed our income and this cannot be sustained without increasing income or making substantial cuts to our church life.

The pandemic has not helped with reductions in giving and changes to the pattern of daily life which affects things like how people use cash and how the community uses the church hall.   Our reserves have been used up over the pandemic period and we now need your help.

We are all experiencing rising costs and it is affecting the church too.  We were fortunate to fix our energy costs in the spring but it is still expensive, especially heating the church building.  Continuing to provide regular services may become a thing of the past if we don’t act now. 

What do we spend money on?

Most of our money is spent on mission and ministry costs, both at St Stephen’s and centrally in our Diocese.  We do not receive any financial help from the Church of England or the government apart from grants for specific work or gift aid.

The future of our parish could look very different if we are unable to bring in enough income to remain self-sufficient and independent.  We may have to combine with other parishes to reduce costs overall.

St Stephen’s is here for everyone in our parish and beyond; for those with a faith and for those with questions.  We want this to continue so the church is still there for regular worship, quiet prayer and for times of celebration or grief in our community.

You can help

You can help by joining the planned giving scheme or by reviewing your giving if you are already a member.

We need to increase our income by at least 30%.  This can be achieved by people increasing their giving, by bringing new people into regular giving and by fund-raising to fill any gaps.  For example, If you currently give £10 could you give £13?

You can help by allowing us to claim Gift Aid.  If you are a UK taxpayer with income of more than £12,570 plus the value of your donations, please consider allowing us to claim Gift Aid as this can add up to 25% to the value of your donation to the church.

You can help by organising or contributing to other fundraising activities to support the life of the church.

You can help by giving a one-off gift or leaving a legacy in your Will.

Thank you

Parish Giving Scheme

We will be joining the Parish Giving Scheme to reduce the gift aid administration for us and for the Diocese.

Donations will go to Parish Giving initially, gift aid will be collected and the donation and tax reclaim will be paid to the church.  There are no direct costs to this for the donor or for the church.

If you want us to claim gift aid, you will need to move any standing order to the church that you already have to a direct debit to Parish Giving.

Don’t forget Gift Aid can add 25p in every pound given if you are a UK taxpayer.

The Parish Giving scheme can increase your donation by inflation each year if you choose.  If you opt in, you will be asked to confirm each year whether you wish to go ahead with an increase.