Dear Brothers & Sisters!

As Treasurer I encourage you to review your giving.

There are approximately 120 of us giving regularly with signed gift aid declarations. For every £1 extra given each month by 120 people, the church receives another £1,846, including the gift aid!

It may not seem worth changing a standing order, or a regular cheque, for £1, £2 or £3 pounds per month, but clearly, acting together as a body, we do make a big difference.

2008 has been a very good year. We will have a surplus of around £10,000 to add to our general reserves, around ten times more than I could have hoped for at the start of 2008! This includes special large gifts amounting to £5,500.

You may now be wondering why I am seeking a review of your giving! Our budget for the year to December 2009 prepared a couple of months ago shows a surplus of £1,629. We have just lost our best hall hirer, from whom we earned nearly £2,200 in 2008. So you can see we may have a loss for 2009, so I do hope and trust that together we can make this a surplus. I would like to add that we have a special new item in our budget for this year, which follows on from working out God's vision for our church which will inevitably mean digging a little deeper into our pockets to develop our ministry and mission.

From Philippians Chapter 4 verse 18 – 19, in which Paul is thanking the Philippians for their gifts "...They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

Treasurer of St John's PCC