What keeps St Johns' show on the road?  |  How to help St Johns with regular giving  |  Why bother to give at all?

A family were walking back from church — obviously not St John’s! — discussing the service. “The singing was terrible” said the mother. “The sermon was appalling” said the father “The chairs were uncomfortable” said the little girl. “Still” said the little boy, “it wasn’t bad for the quid we put on the plate ...”

If you go to Church on Sunday - any Church ...or for that matter, any day of the week ... you're probably not there to make a name for yourself, or to kill time.  More likely you're there because you’ve heard God call your name - and being in His presence means something important to you.  Maybe it was a subconscious calling ...an urge you cannot explain, maybe it was as real to you as a friend or relative calling your name.

One reason why St Johns exists is to help you and others like you come closer to God.  It's been doing that for 140 years and we'd like to ensure that St Johns is able to do so for the next 140 years.

So what keeps the show on the road?

Well firstly, the cost of keeping the 'show' going is around £5,500 a month, which covers Church running costs ...the heating, the electricity, the maintenance of our beautiful Grade II building ...and, of course, the cost of keeping our minister in food and lodging etc.  Additionally, we, like most other Churches, try to set aside a proportion of our income to support those less fortunate or well off than ourselves ...and this covers a number of charities in this country and overseas (see HERE for more info on this)

So how do we cover it - well, the truth is that at the moment, we don't ...well, not entirely, but what we do cover comes from a mixture of planned giving (i.e. standing order), legacies, Sunday collections plus fees and income from our Church Hall.  We also organise the odd concert every now and then to raise funds - details of which will normally be published on this website.

How to help St Johns with regular giving

That's an easy one - a Standing Order is the best way to support our work at St Johns because:

To set up a Standing Order, get in touch with Clive Potter via the Contact page.  If you complete the Gift Aid declaration as well (on the same form), it means that if you are a taxpayer, we can claim £2.80 back from the Inland Revenue for every £10 you give.  If everybody on the envelope scheme we run paid by the same amount by standing order we would have £75 a week more!

Why bother to give at all?

Well, it's all about stewardship - the way we use the gifts God has lent to us.  Let’s bear in mind the pattern we have in the gospels:

First there is a response of love to the grace which Christ shows us in forgiving us, in repairing us, in accepting and loving us. Just as the sinful woman came in sorrow, but in love too and made a great sacrifice for Jesus, so we too have the opportunity to show our love, our incredulity, our response to God’s gob-smacking love for us. I know myself reasonably well and I find it difficult to love me ... sometimes I despair; I make terrible mistakes; I am selfish and ungracious ... But consider this: God knows us better than we know ourselves, and STILL LOVES US TO DEATH — the death of his Son. So, like the sinful woman our response to God must be of sorrow for our failures; of love and amazement at his grace and in offering of what we have for him.

And secondly there is a reminder that God chooses to work in partnership with us: we share with God in the work of building his kingdom. God’s work won’t collapse if we don’t come to church, but his work will go forward as we offer ourselves to live and work for him.

Our giving needs to reflect our gratitude — “God loves a cheerful giver” St Paul reminds us. We don’t give because we feel we ought to, or grudgingly- but out of love and thankfulness at all that God has given us. “Count your blessings one by one and you will be amazed at the things God’s done” the old song goes ... We don’t just give to keep a venerable old building on the corner of Pevensey Road; we don’t just give to keep a young, handsome, talented, gifted priest in the building next door — we give to further the work and mission of God in this area.

That work would continue to happen if this building was destroyed — as indeed has happened three times on this site — and that hasn’t halted God’s mission and work. That would happen if I wasn’t here — and indeed St John’s has got through a clutch of priests over the years...

It is a tremendous privilege and excitement to be involved in working in partnership with God — and that is why we give our money, our time and our talents. We know that God has rescued us. And if he can love me, then he can love you and he can love our neighbours too ...

Our giving should reflect our love for God and our gratitude for what he’s given us. Just as the sinful woman gave to Christ something precious, so our response will be to give the best, in the best way we can — and at the moment, and here, giving by standing order offers such an opportunity.

And secondly we need to realise that we are partners together working with Christ to establish and further the kingdom here in this town ... God wants to work with us and through us ... and as we rise to meet that challenge so we need to look again at how we deploy his resources for his glory.

Picture Credits on this page: FreeFoto.com