Money For Mission

Feb 2023 (Issue 42)

Monthly E-newsletter from the Finance & Stewardship Teams

Thinking About Generosity.....

Come to the Contactless Giving Clinic

Generosity Week Resources for Easter

PGS Resources & information for PCCs

Urgent! - Energy Bill Contract Renewals

ACAT Basic Treasurer Training

Diocesan Grants' Scheme 2023 - application deadline

Sunday 12 February. 2 Before Lent. Psalm 32

For his steadfast love endures forever

Saying Psalm 136 aloud in a liturgical context brings its own particular challenges. It is easy for the refrain to start feeling a bit - well, repetitive. ‘For his steadfast love endures forever’ we drone, wondering how many more times before this interminable list comes to an end. Yet there is something very powerful about reading this psalm aloud, at a steady pace, and hearing our voices say those words over and over again, declaring that the basis of every response we make is the prior reality of the goodness of God.

Our thanksgiving, our experience of the beauty of the world, our capacity to offer praise and thanks: all these depend on the loving and lavish provision of God. We could extend and continue the Psalm by listing all the ways in which we daily experience God’s generosity and then discover our own hands and hearts, wallets and diaries, opening up in joyful gratitude.

So God’s steadfast love is boring? This psalm gently invites us to move beyond our jaded desire for novelty and to savour the repeated refrain, rather than skip past it in our haste for - what exactly?

The Rev’d Canon Dr Helen Burn is Vicar of St Justus, Rochester, in the Diocese of Rochester

Come to the Contactless Giving Clinic!

The Stewardship team will be hosting a Digital Clinic at Church House, Leeds on Monday 20th February from 10am until until 4pm. You can either attend in person or arrange a Zoom call.

At the Digital clinic you can seek advice on appropriate contactless devices for your church, find out how they work or discuss any issues you are having with your current device. The clinic will run on an appointment only basis so that you can receive 121 support.

To book a slot email the Stewardship Team on the link below or call 07376 525684

Generosity Week Resources

Generosity Week is designed to give us time and space to reflect on God's generosity and to celebrate it within our church's ministry and mission. Although normally held nationally in the last week of September you can run Generosity Week in your church at Easter, Christmas or at any time of the year using the helpful resources prepared by the National Giving Team. The resources include promotional posters, podcasts, service material etc, all of which can be downloaded at the link below.

Contact the Stewardship Team for support in planning your Generosity week event.

Energy Contract Renewal Information

Important Next Steps For Your Church Energy Bills

Ensure you get good value for money by getting into good energy contracts. The Green Journey is a partnership that the diocese run with Green Energy Consulting. Existing church customers (with September 2023 contract end dates) will be contacted soon. Please do not delay in responding – renewals close to the termination date have considerably increased costs.

Not with the Green Journey? Please consider this option for your parish. The 250 churches who use the scheme have been on a 3 year tariff at 2019 prices. Of course energy prices have now risen considerably, but the Green Journey team are specialists in renewable energy procurement and can usually find a good unit price/standing charge to suit your energy use. Switching to renewable energy generation is one of the quickest ways to help get your church to carbon net zero too! Read more on link below

Online training sessions for PCC Treasurers



ACAT, the Association of Church Treasurers & Accountants, is running a series of 3 online training sessions throughout March covering the basics of being a church treasurer. Each session costs £20 and lasts for 2 hours. These courses, covering accounting, Gift Aid, bookkeeping etc are very popular so book early!

We are pleased to be able to subsidise the cost of a limited number of finance-related training sessions with ACAT by 50%. All you need to do is book your place and send your paid invoice with your bank details for remittance to resourcingparishes@leeds.anglican.org. Don't forget, if you wish to become a member of ACAT the Diocese will also pay your joining fee in full.

A reminder of our email addresses so you get the right support and advice:

For stewardship, income generation, parish finance, Parish Share and grant enquiries:

resourcingparishes@leeds.anglican.org or you can email Janet or Jenn directly.

For general finance queries including invoices, clergy fees and payroll:

finance@leeds.anglican.org or you can email Jane, Hayley, Clare or Jenni directly.