What is Gift Day?
In 2018, 2019 and 2021, St Michael's and All Angels Church held Gift Days. We were blessed with a remarkable response through these as we collectively focused on our personal giving. Combining individual donations, Gift Aid and donations from our sister church in Southam and our neighbouring Parish of Gotherington, Woolstone and Oxenton, the overall effect was to increase the church's income by over £70,000 across the three years.

Due to us being in the middle of significant changes as we brought services back and Malc was retiring, there was no Gift Day in 2022, and the impact of this, alongside reduced weekly giving, has had a significant effect on the church's income and the Mission we deliver.

Why are we doing this?

Our church Mission is to transform lives through Christ's love. We achieve this by dedicating our personal time and collective resources. Many things can be achieved with time and effort, but sometimes they need to be underpinned by robust, sustainable funding. The Children and Families Ministry had a considerable role in supporting families on the edge before and especially during the pandemic and was primarily supported by the funds coming in from the Gift Days. This note explains in more depth the thinking behind this year's Gift Day.

Financial stability

Financials is rarely a popular topic of conversation; however, being realistic, much of what we want to achieve in our community through St Michael's requires money. The pandemic and the associated lockdown and closures significantly impacted our church's funds, although we appreciate that we have all been affected by this somehow. Due to the national and local situation, we could not hold a Gift Day in 2020 or 2022, which significantly impacted our Mission income.

One misunderstanding we became aware of during 2020 was that people believed our church was funded by the Church of England and the Government. This is not the case; our church needs to be self-funding, and the funds we raise support the wider Diocese and Church of England. That means everything we do to support our local community is homegrown and locally funded by our Parish.

This past year has had an impact with a deficit of around £24,000 between what is coming in and what we are spending. By reviewing every penny, changing the way we were spending on some items and stopping several activities altogether, we have reduced the previous levels of expenditure, and due to staff changes, we have saved money on their wages as we were running under agreed levels in the office and the Children's and Families Minister role. However, we still find ourselves in deficit with a projected in-year deficit of around £24,000; that is how much we need to make ends meet to recruit a new Children's and Families Minister. Now we have a Treasurer in place; we are working to stabilise our financial controls and provide more information to the PCC to help us make the appropriate choices.

Children and Families Ministry (Charity No. 1135929)

Our Children and Families Ministry was formally established in 2018; through a grant and fundraising, we employed Children and Families Ministers. Through this vital ministry, our offering to families in the community has been transformed through regular Sunday and mid-week groups, baptism and Alpha courses, Life Groups and more.

What has been happening with Children and Families Ministry during 2022/23?

Baby and Toddler Groups: Praise and Play is running twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays, now being staffed purely by volunteers. They can have contact at each session with 14–21 families.

Oasis Parents Group: This informal mid-week gathering for busy parents meets each Thursday. This group has been vital to many parents as an opportunity to talk openly and freely about their challenges and share experiences with others in similar circumstances.

Lego Bible Club: An after-school club held every Thursday in the church is the highlight for many children, primarily from families not currently associated with any church. Hearing Bible stories and building them using Lego captures the children's attention and imagination in a way that works well.

JAFFA: JAFFA (Jesus a friend for life) is a dinner-time club held in Bishop's Cleeve Primary School with many regular attendees across the ages.

Youth Alpha: Several youth Alphas have been run to introduce some of the older and mature children to facts about Christianity and to help them understand more about faith in a modern world.

Sunday Groups – ranging from our Nightlights for toddlers, Sparklers for our Junior school children and Blaze for 11+, we have tried to keep these groups going across our current service pattern.

What's next? 

At St Michael's, there is a definite need to see our Children and Family's Ministry sustained and restored – and we need to re-imagine a pattern of services that will enable us all to thrive.

So, in all the churches across the benefice in June, we have been thinking about how God may be calling us to give, yes, financially, but also in terms of our time, energy and gifts. As we do this together, please prayerfully consider how you could help.

Indeed, that includes praying whether you can join the Parish Giving Scheme for the first time, boost your regular giving, or make a one-off gift. But it also consists of all of us prayerfully considering how we can offer help in all sorts of ways that will revitalise our churches.

You can give regularly (you have complete control over this) – or make a one-off gift:

For St Michael’s and Southam here: Bishop’s Cleeve - Parish Giving Scheme

For WGO here: Woolstone with Gotherington & Oxenton - Parish Giving Scheme

You can offer practical help by responding here: https://forms.office.com/e/AbN9HRZPHP

Could you help, for example, in any of these areas once a month? (Or anything else God might suggest!)

• The children's and young people's work
• Stewarding support as we try to add back both our contemporary and traditional services
• Helping maintain the churchyards
• Helping on the audiovisual team

We held a Gift Day on Sunday, 2 July, but there is still time for people to make a gift, and I have already challenged myself and the PCC regarding what we could offer.

I appreciate that this is indeed a 'big ask' when many people feel tired and are worried about the cost of living when they are on fixed incomes. However, I genuinely believe that God has richly provided for us across the whole benefice in terms of dedicated, gifted and talented congregations. We will see God's Kingdom advance as we pool our gifts and resources.

Once we understand our financial position after this Gift Day, the PCC shall review and agree on how much we look to pass on and support our three valued Mission partners: the North Cotswold Food Bank, Mission Macedonia, and GrassRoots Rwanda. This will be communicated to the congregation after the PCC agrees.

Thank you for your consideration and your prayers over these next few weeks.

With love,

Tim