Money For Mission

October 2023 (Issue 50)

Monthly E-newsletter from the Finance & Stewardship Teams

Thinking About Generosity.....

Local Authority Support for Church Buildings

Encourage Legacies for your Church - Online 12th October

Get Digital Giving Ready this Christmas - Online 3rd November

Search for Grants Using Open4Community - Online 17th October

£5000 Tesco Pledge - Easy Fundraising

Parish Share report update

Return of Parish Finance Deadline Help

Diocesan Grants Scheme 2023 - Application Deadline

Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund

Beyond Funding: New Podcast Series

Sunday 8 October 2023. Trinity 18. Matthew 21.33-end.

Tenants are stewards.

Having lived in our own house for many years, three years ago we moved into a rented property. We became stewards of our landlord’s house, and noticed a conflict between the aspirations we had for the place in which we were living, and what the owner might want for it. If the house was ours, we might have knocked a wall down, or changed the garden around.

Stewards care for that which is entrusted to them – doing the best they can for the ultimate owner. Being a good steward will lead us to suppress our own desires and wants, to focus on another’s agenda. The church is a steward of God’s mission to the world – he generously entrusts the worldwide church with it. As tenants in God’s world, and entrusted with his mission, are we imposing our aspirations for the church, or seeking to fulfil God’s calling?

John Preston is one-time National Stewardship Advisor for the Church of England, and latterly Diocesan Secretary for the Diocese of Worcester.

Parish & Town Council Support for Church Buildings

Legislation clarifying that parish and town councils can provide support to churches for repairs and improvements cleared its final stages in the House of Lords. This amendment to the law means that local authorities could now award grants to local church buildings to enable them to serve their communities better. Read the full article on the CofE website at the link below.

Webinar - October 12th @ 12 noon.

Encourage Legacies for your Church

Gifts in Wills are a powerful way for our faith to live on and create lasting change in our communities, both locally and across the world.

For the first time Christian Aid is working alongside the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, and the Quakers to launch" Faith Will" which aims to encourage people of faith to remember their own church, and Christian Aid, in their Will.

Join Kathy Childress, from Christian Aid, on this webinar to find out more regarding the Faith Will initiative and how to encourage legacy giving in your church. To register for this webinar click the link below.

Tesco and easyfundraising have come together to give a helping hand to good cases like churches. They will donate £1000 funding pots to 5 community organisations this October- and your church could be one of them! To find out how to get signed up to Easy Fundraising watch a recording of our recent webinar by clicking the link below.

Parish Share Update



The 2024 Parish Share requests are currently being prepared and will be circulated to PCC treasurers by email later this month.

For those who may have missed it, the August Share Report can be found here. Watch out for the September report landing on our website early October. August's receipts, totalling £1,026k were 4%/£42k behind 2022 and 13% /£129k below the pre-pandemic average. Year-to-date receipts continue to be 3% (£194k) behind 2022 and 16% behind pre-pandemic average.

GRANTS' NEWS

Beyond Funding: Benefact's New Podcast Series!

The Beyond Funding podcast is the first in a new series of podcasts from the Benefact Group. This one sets out to offer tips and advice to churches, Christian charities, and those looking for funding, as well as opening-up conversations about major social issues with expert guests. To listen to the podcast on Youtube click on the link below

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, Beth or Jenni directly.

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

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