‘The point is this: the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.’
2 Corinthians 9.6-7
Personal Giving
We benefit from great generosity from the members of our congregation, as well as from friends and organisations further afield. Without such giving there would be no parish priest, no vicarage, no services in church and probably not much church itself.
You can now support our work by giving online! The system accepts all major payment methods, and you can Gift Aid your donation automatically.
We encourage planned giving, where you make a commitment to regular giving. This can be either through the online giving system, by the Weekly Envelope Scheme, or by Standing Order. For more information, please speak to either Catherine McArdle, the Treasurer (020 8838 0878) or Elsie Points, the Stewardship Recorder (020 8205 4275).
Outward Giving
For some years we have had a policy of using about 5% of our income to support charities – locally, nationally and internationally. These are the most recent donations we made:
Christian Aid Ebola Crisis Appeal
“With your help, we’ve raised more than £1 million for our Ebola appeal. And through the joint DEC Ebola Crisis Appeal we reached an incredible £34 million. Thanks to your generosity, we’ve been able to actively prevent the spread of Ebola in Sierra Leone. But with 13,000 cases and 4,000 deaths in Sierra Leone, Ebola remains a huge challenge for the country.
We are moving towards the recovery stage, supporting those who have survived the ordeal and managing the risk of complacency as Ebola infection numbers drop.”
Embrace the Middle East – tackling poverty and injustice in the Middle East
“We aim to improve the lives of vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the Middle East. We do this by partnering with local Christians who provide health, education and community development programmes to those in need – regardless of their faith or nationality.”
Embrace the Middle East is a non-governmental, inter-denominational charity.
Miriam Dean – reaching out to the world’s poorest
“We are a small registered charity funding projects for the poorest of the poor. Our work is mostly, at present, in South India, in close partnership with established local groups and charitable organisations. Children are one major focus: orphan children, handicapped children, children at risk, children affected by AIDS”
Open Doors – saving persecuted Christians worldwide
“Open Doors exists to strengthen the church to be the church in the most hostile places. In over 50 countries, Open Doors is supplying Bibles, training church leaders, delivering Bible-based literacy programmes and supporting Christians who suffer for their faith. In the UK and Ireland Open Doors works to raise awareness of global persecution, mobilising prayer, support and action among Christians.”
Action on Addiction – taking action to disarm addiction
“Addiction is the biggest preventable killer in the UK. It destroys lives, breaks up families, harms communities and has a damaging impact on society as a whole. In some way it affects us all. We think it is important to take a dynamic and integrated approach to improving our understanding of addiction and our responses to it. We are the only charity working across the addiction field in research, prevention, treatment, professional education, support for families and children and campaigns. We are working hard to realise our vision of people free from addiction and its effects.”
St Mungo’s.- helping homeless people
“St Mungo’s Broadway helps people recover from the issues that create homelessness. We provide a bed and support to more than 2,500 people a night who are either homeless or at risk, and work to prevent homelessness, helping about 25,000 people a year.”
Not just money
It’s not just about money!
We are always eager to involve people in other ways, volunteering to help us in services and in church life. This includes help with pastoral visiting, maintenance, cleaning, flower arranging, gardening; as well as liturgical duties – reading, leading prayers, assisting at Communion, serving, welcoming…
Please talk to Fr Chris if you would like to be involved in one of these or another way.
St Mary's, Willesden 