St Augustine's Wembley Park

St Augustine’s Church is losing £6,000 a year. We’re spending £6,000 a year more than we receive. We have been making a loss for several years and we’re about to run out of reserves. So we’re asking our members to review their giving to the church and where appropriate to increase the amount they give.

Many people think the Church, especially the Church of England, receives money from the State. But in reality the Church receives no money at all from the State. Each individual church is totally financially independent. It’s totally up to us to find the money we spend.

The annual cost of running St Augustine’s church is £59,485, that’s the equivalent of £19 a week for the 60 or so adult members of our church.

We are in a very fortunate position, because the majority of the money we need to keep the church open and running comes from renting out the hall and the flat. If we didn’t have this income we’d have to ask each member for £19 a week to keep the church open.

The pie chart below shows exactly where we get our money from. As you can see the majority comes from letting the Hall which provides 52% of our income. Letting the flat provides 12%. The planned giving scheme provides 15% plus the extra 4% we’re able to reclaim in tax. You can also see that our current loss of £6,597 is equivalent to 11% of our income.

On the page opposite you can see a breakdown of where we spend our money. As you can see the largest expense is called ‘Common Fund’ and this is equivalent to 60% of our expenditure. The Common Fund pays for the clergy, pensions, tax and housing and it’s called this because all churches pay into the fund from which the clergy are paid. The standard contribution to the common fund is £40,000 and so because St Augustine’s pays less we effectively receive a £5,000 subsidy from the other churches in our area. In short another Church in our area pays £5,000 more so we can have a full time priest.

The other items of expenditure are fairly self explanatory, and all these figures are presented each year to the Annual Parochial Church meeting after being audited.

The short answer is no. The reason for this is that we spend very little, and any cut backs we make will affect our ability to run the church effectively and preach the gospel. If for example we turn the heating down or off during winter, people will stop coming to church and our income will go down further. If we stop producing the magazine or the weekly sheets, we will fail to communicate with our members effectively. If we don’t take care of the grounds and maintain the building we’ll just build up bigger bills for future years. Because the Common fund is a fixed cost, that means we only have £23,000 of variable costs from which to make £6,597 of savings. That would mean a cut in expenditure of 28%. Whilst that may not sound too bad, that would mean closing the church in September each year and not opening until January. However we will review all our expenditure and make sure we’re getting the best deal and not wasting money.

The short answer is yes. We will be examining all our hall lettings and trying to maximise our income. We have already let extra sessions in the hall. The flat is let for the market rate, but this will be reviewed as appropriate. We are also looking at fund raising activities to help us close the shortfall but these alone will not be enough. The main aim of this Stewardship Campaign is to increase giving from our members.

On average St Augustine’s church members give £4 a week. Details of individual giving are confidential but the overall statistics are available and they are:-

Number of people in our Planned Giving Scheme	47
Number of people giving under £5 a week	32
Number of people giving £5 to £10 a week	11
Number of people giving £10 to £15 a week	3
Number of people giving £15 to 20 a week	1
Number of people giving over £20 a week	0
Total weekly Planned Giving	£176
Average Weekly Planned Giving	£4

Members of the church agree to give a sum of money every year and this is called Planned Giving. There are two methods of planned giving, one is the envelope scheme where members get a small envelope for every week of the year which reminds them to make a weekly contribution. The other method is paying by Standing Order from a bank account, normally on a monthly basis.

Firstly planned giving means the church gets a regular income and can pay its bills on time and plan its expenditure. Secondly if you’re a tax payer we can reclaim the tax you paid. If for example you give £100 over a year, we can get £28 extra from the tax man. Thirdly we all live busy lives and often forget things, but the church can’t forget to pay its bills, so the planned giving scheme, particularly the envelope scheme reminds us to give a regular amount.

We are not asking for a specific amount, because everyone’s financial circumstances are different. What we are asking is that people look carefully at their finances and consider what they can afford. We suggest that you work out your disposable income and give to the church something out of that amount. We believe this follows a Christian principle of putting yourself and your family first in your financial priorities and the payment of any existing financial commitments. So we are asking you to give only out of money that is left over after all your bills and responsibilities are met. No one should give money to the church that they cannot afford.

Yes it is. But 47 people already give via our Planned Giving Scheme and hopefully more will join as a result of this Campaign. There’s a saying that ‘many hands make light work’ and the more people who give the easier it will be to reach the total. To give you an idea:-

Remember that these figures are averages, some people give more, and others give less, according to their circumstances.

So if you already give to the church by the Planned Giving Scheme, please consider reviewing your giving. If you set the amount you give some years ago, remember inflation has decreased the value of your giving. You might like to know that:-

Then join. Even if you’re not a tax payer it really does help the church to pay its bills if we have a regular income. There are the necessary forms with this leaflet to join the scheme, fill them in and send them off.

Absolutely, Yes. Giving by standing order appears on the bank statement and is seen by the treasurer, the planned giving officer and the independent examiner. Only the planned giving officer knows what people put in their weekly envelopes. This follows a Gospel principle that those who give a lot shouldn’t boast and those who give a little shouldn’t be embarrassed. The parable of the widow’s mite teaches us that everyone’s gift, given according to their means is equal in the sight of God. Fr Trevor does not know, and does not want to know, who gives a lot or a little and nobody will be treated any differently on the basis of their giving. All members of St Augustine’s are equal regardless of their financial circumstances.

Yes. If you review your giving and discover that your financial circumstances have changed, for example if you retire, you can alter the amount you give and give less.

Because the financial situation is serious and urgent. Every member has been sent a response form, with a prepaid reply envelope, you must return the form to stop the reminders. There are options on the form to say you don’t wish to join the planned giving scheme, or you’ve reviewed your giving and it remains unchanged. We’re not chasing you to give more money, we’re reminding you to take the time to think about Christian giving seriously and show you’ve done that by returning the response form.

Because it’s an integral part of Christian Faith and church membership. Giving is partly a response to God’s generosity towards us and partly a response to Christ’s command to ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation’ – Mark 16.15. The Bible tells us about Christian giving:-

“Each person should give what he has decided in his heart to give” - 2 Corinthians 9 v7

“Each person should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” - 2 Corinthians 9 v7

“the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have” 2 Corinthians 8.12

“Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up” 1 Corinthians 16.2

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you." - Luke 6.38

Signing a Gift Aid Declaration allows St Augustine’s to claim an extra 28% on your donation