The pandemic has hit parishes hard, particularly financially. Throughout, church teams have continued to be generous with their time, energy, creativity and their own financial giving.
Thank you!
As we begin our recovery from the pandemic, encouraging a culture of generous giving is more vital than ever. However, this kind of culture takes time, support and above all prayer, to grow.
To help, the Diocese is delighted to launch a new package of wraparound support which aims to equip church teams to encourage generous giving in their local context.
This support includes:
- Free access to the Parish Giving Scheme, to make receiving direct debits easier
- A new weekly bite-sized preaching resource on generosity
- Training sessions to build confidence in encouraging others to be generous in their giving
This is all in addition to the ongoing practical support and advice available through our Generous Giving Adviser, Liz Mullins, as well as updated guidance on the Giving pages of the Diocesan website.
The Parish Giving Scheme
The Diocese of Rochester has joined the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS). This is a mechanism for parishes to receive donations via Direct Debit.
The scheme is a registered charity started in the Diocese of Gloucester and is now used by most dioceses in the Church of England.
Benefits include:
- No direct cost to any parish
- Reduced workload for treasurers, as PGS takes on the majority of processing work on the payment and any gift aid
Visit our Parish Giving Scheme page
Preaching Generosity
Launching at Pentecost, Preaching Generosity is a new, bite-sized preaching resource, produced by the Diocese of Rochester in partnership with St Augustine’s College of Theology and the National Giving Team of the Church of England.
Each week, a short sermon idea drawn from one of that week’s Common Worship lectionary readings, will be made available. More details about how to access the resources will be shared in due course.
Or church leaders can sign up to receive them direct to their inbox.
Contributors to the first sixteen weeks are Alison Fulford, Pamela Ive, Trevor Marshall, Simon Stocks, John Pritchard, Clare Masters, Jane Winter and Jeremy Worthen.
We want to help encourage a culture of generosity, and for it to be seen as part of our everyday discipleship. Giving preachers the tools to become comfortable and confident in preaching about generosity is one important way that we can help embed these values in our Church.
Training
We are excited to be hosting two workshops which will explore how we can take a broader approach to giving, understanding it as being more than just about parish finance, but a fundamental part of discipleship.
Although part of the Continuing Ministerial Development programme, these sessions are open to anyone who is interested.
- A theology of generosity - Thursday 19 May at St Benedict Centre, 9.30am for 10am start, finishing at 1pm Click to book
- Preaching generosity - A Biblical perspective - Tuesday 7 June at Christ Church Chislehurst, 9.30am for 10am start, finishing at 1pm Click to book
Liz Mullins, Generous Giving Advisor says:
"Generosity is at the heart of our faith. We believe in a generous God and our own generosity is a testament and hallmark of our faith in action. We hope this package of support will be a gift to our parishes."
Parishes are encouraged to contact Liz Mullin (liz.mullins@rochester.anglican.org), who will be happy to support them with their giving needs