GIVING IN GRACE The responsibility is ours A Presentation by the Dean on Sunday, 27 September 1 Why do we give part 1 There is an old story of a haunted church. No one could find a way to remove it and year by year it disrupted services and events at the most inappropriate moments. The vicar and PCC had tried everything, including a much publicized visit from the Diocesan Exorcist (yes – every diocese does have one!) At last someone had a very clever idea. After a conversation with the PCC the vicar put the plan into action. He simply walked into church and said in a whisper “Let’s talk about money!” The ghost disappeared immediately and was never seen again. OK a silly story but it illustrates a significant point: we seem to find it difficult to talk about money in church. And that is really surprising when we look at the New Testament. In the teaching of Jesus money features more than any other single subject. He talks about money more than anything else. And Jesus’ teaching about money is highly distinctive, highly original and highly challenging. Jesus is always concerned about the need of the giver to give. We give for a real purpose, certainly, but the first motivation is generosity – we give in response to the generosity of God, the love and compassion we see in Jesus.
So the message of Jesus in the Gospels is absolutely clear: Christians give because they give because they give. Generosity is part of what it means to be a disciple. Jesus gives an extraordinary range of ideas about how much people should give – from the classic tithe of 10% of income to giving away everything you have – but we will come back to that later. The most significant thing I want to be clear about at this point is that the Bible teaches us that financial giving is a basic part of being a Christian, and that we do this in response to the generosity and love of God. 2 Why do we give part 2 But of course we want to give for a purpose. Yes, we give because we give because we give. But our giving is there to make a difference. St Ambrose of Milan, a great Christian leader, always left home with a pocket full of money and would not allow himself to return home until he had given it all away to the poor. He was responding to the generosity of God, and also making a difference to people’s lives. We want our giving to do the same. We do want to give our money for a purpose. We want it to make a difference. 3 How is the Cathedral funded? Let’s look briefly at how cathedrals are funded, and the role of congregational giving. In parish churches it is really clear: if the congregation does not give generously, the church will simply cease to operate. It is worth emphasising this for a moment. Our neighbouring church of All Saints, Springfield has an income from congregational giving of £107,000. It pays a parish share to the diocese for the costs of
ministry of £109,000. That means for all the other costs of running a sizeable church they rely on £48,000 of income from other sources. All Saints has one stipendiary priest so their share is paying for one and a half priests in poorer parishes as well. It is different in a cathedral. The national church pays for a Dean and two canons in every cathedral. We also receive a significant towards lay staff salaries. We receive a large grant because we are the seventh poorest cathedral. But congregational giving is fundamental. In the first place, the Dean and two canons along with a large proportion of our lay staff are paid for by the national church, at no cost to the Cathedral, precisely to carry out our primary ministry as a cathedral for a diocese. That is what we are primarily funded to do. Our total income is £950,000 – and that has risen by £167,000 over the last five years. But congregational giving has remained more or less flat over that same period at £150,000. Without the giving of the congregation we would have no Canon Theologian, no Youth Minister, no music at the 9.30 am, no heating on Sundays, no vergers, and so on. Further, we pay no contribution to the diocese towards the costs of clergy in the diocese and are currently a net receiver from diocesan funds, which is at best embarrassing. Because our congregational giving has remained static, it no longer meets the costs of sustaining our congregational ministry now. That itself is not sustainable and it means already that there are many things we are now not able to do. 4 Mission Priorities This is all part of our role in God’s mission in this place. So what are God’s mission priorities for us, which needs resourcing with our generous giving as a congregation? Here are some areas to think about:
• Our parish population is doubling in size, but we have no capacity to meet the opportunities. Indeed whilst other local congregations have started outreach programmes into the new housing, we have done nothing to date. • We have fantastic volunteers, many of them doing jobs that in every other cathedral and most parish churches are paid posts. This is not sustainable nor fair to what we ask of volunteers. • Most parish congregations our size have further paid posts which we simply cannot afford and that holds back the development of our mission, our ministry, our worship, our music, our fellowship, our learning - indeed everything that makes us a thriving, outward facing community. You will get an idea of what I mean if you visit the website of All Saints Woodford Wells, one of a handful of larger churches in the diocese, which funds over 20 post from congregational giving to enable the church’s mission as a parish church and as a home to thriving congregations. Here at Chelmsford we have 1.5 such posts, and even these are subsidized by other income. 5 What does the Church teach? The need is obvious, so what does the church teach about giving? Different faith communities teach different things about giving. In the Jewish community giving 10% of household income remains the norm. In Islam, every Moslem is obliged to give a minimum of 2.5% to charity. The principle of giving a fixed proportion of what you receive is found across faith traditions, including Christianity. Most Christian churches have avoided making a rule about how much people should give, but they do offer clear advice, and the Church of England’s advice is very clear indeed.
The Church of England suggests that people should aim to give 10% of what they receive. Of this 5% would go to the church and 5% to other charities. That is a big ask, certainly, but it is worth noting that the national average is now nearly 3% of income being given to the church (and assuming that is matched in other giving, a total of 6 %. And although we are talking about proportions and percentages, it might not go amiss to say this in real money. So among the highest givers is Sheffield Diocese at £17.60 per giver per week in 2013 whilst Chelmsford averaged £12.80 per planned giver per week in the same year. So the invitation of GIVING IN GRACE is to think carefully about what proportion of what you receive you are going to give. Perhaps 5%, 2.5%, 1%, perhaps something quite different. The choice - and the responsibility - is yours. That is the most important decision - a proportion, a percentage. Once you have decided that, the easiest thing is to set up a standing order from your bank. If you are a tax payer, make sure that you Gift Aid what you give. This means that the Cathedral will receive an extra 25p for every £1 you give at absolutely no cost to you. If you would like to give (say) 5%, but can only manage (say) 1.5% at the moment, this is not failure. Start where you can, and plan to get where you would like to be over the next few years. 5 Conclusion Please read the contents of this pack and think and pray about your response. There will be a special act of thanksgiving at cathedral services on Sunday, 25 October, the day we remember St Cedd. Please complete and return your response form at one of these services. This is the challenge of GIVING IN GRACE:
- to respond to the generosity of God by being generous in our giving - to be realistic about what it actually costs to fund our congregational life - to make a personal decision about what proportion we are going to give - to discover the joy that comes to every Christian through their generous giving Chelmsford Cathedral is a remarkable place - a beautiful building that is both home to thriving worshipping communities and the spiritual heart of the Diocese of Chelmsford. It is a huge privilege to serve here as Dean, and wonderful to share this ministry with such a gifted clergy team, fantastic lay staff and wonderful volunteers. Funding our congregational life properly is both a challenge and a wonderful opportunity - and the responsibility is ours.
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