Christian stewardship

Christian Stewardship is "what we do after we say we believe". It is a tool to help both individuals and churches grow in depth of discipleship, and in generous response to the love of God.

Christian Stewardship is illustrated by a throwaway comment made by Luke in his gospel. As Jesus and the disciples are teaching in Galilee, they are accompanied by a group of women who "use their own resources to help". Even before there was a church, it seems that the mission of Jesus depended on the resources of his followers. Nothing has changed in two thousand years.

 

Brian works with parishes to help release resources for mission from the time and skills of the congregation to the money needed to resource what is done (including the costs of diocesan mission through the Parish Share).

There are three questions every parish needs to consider:

• What is the right approach for our parish?
  Every parish is different. Brian can offer different ways of working to suit local needs.
• What are we doing right as well as where can we improve?
• How much help will we need?
  Parishes don't have to a complete package. If you are confident about some aspects of Christian stewardship, but need help with others, that's fine.

 

Transitional Gift Aid relief announced in the Budget

The Church of England has welcomed the transitional relief arrangement announced in the Budget for Gift Aid claims by charities over the next three years. In the Budget speech, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, announced a transitional rate of relief of 22 per cent from 2008/09 to 2010/11.  This retains an estimated £8m per year that would otherwise be income lost by Church of England parishes, which for the diocese of Wakefield is equivalent to around £110,000 a year.

Parishes will need to claim at the 20% rate from 6th April this year.  (i.e. 25p per £1 donated) .   Additional relief will then be added by HMRC to make it up to the equivalent of the 22% rate (i.e. 28.2p per £1 donated).

Consequently parishes will need to submit two separate schedules for this year : one for 1st January to 5th April at the 22% rate, the other for 6th April to 31st December at the 20% rate.

Parishes are encouraged to remove any leaflets advertising a reduction in the rate of Gift Aid.  Advice on accessing the transitional relief will follow in due course to PCC Treasurers, and will also be published on the diocesan website, and on www.parishresources.org.uk/giftaid.htm
The Treasury also announced a package of measures designed to smooth the processes used for claiming Gift Aid, and auditing these claims.  These include  a de minimis error level below which charities making smaller claims would not be penalised for errors in record-keeping; and an adjustment to the Gift Aid claims process to allow charities to aggregate donations under £10 in claims up to a total of £500.

 

 

For further information contact Brian Morris
Steward and Resources Officer
Church House, 1 South Parade
Wakefield WF1 1LP
01924 371802

brian.morris@wakefield.anglican.org

www.wakefield.anglican.org/stewardship

 

Useful downloads:

Gift Aid Leaflet - a guide to tax efficient giving to your church (pdf 104kb)

 

Useful links:

Christian Stewardship - resources from the Church of England’s stewardship network and other Christian churches, aiming to help local church leaders, treasurers and fundraisers.

National Consultation on Gift Aid
On 19 June 2007 the Treasury launched a national consultation on Gift Aid. Regional consultations are expected to take place in August- September 2007. To find out more - click here (external link).

A Matter of Life and Debt - an initiative of the Church of England. See also article and comment at its launch (pdf 42kb).