GIVING:
Thanks for thinking about giving to the ministry of Malmesbury Abbey.
There is a lot in the Bible about money and giving, go looking, but perhaps the bottom line is provided by King David...
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendour, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honour come from you; you are the ruler of all things. (1 Chronicles 29:11-12)
It's all His. We are not really owners in the true sense of that word, but rather stewards of God's gifts. And as followers of Jesus part of our stewardship is to resource the ministry of our local church.
Obviously effective ministry in a church the size of the Abbey has its costs and our Church Council and Financial Oversight Committee work hard to get the balance right between resourcing our staff and local ministry, maintaining our wonderful building, giving to mission partners overseas and sustaining ministry across the Diocese of Bristol in poorer areas.
Recently we were struck by the attitude displayed in the church in Macedonia in St Paul's letter to the Romans...
I am on my way to Jerusalem in service of the saints there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution to the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it (Romans 15:25-26)
They were pleased! It's a pleasure to give, it's an echo of God's grace to us, and it's also a pretty counter-cultural act in a material world, as King solomon reminds us...
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever love wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them? (Ecclesiastes 5:10-11)
So how can we make your life more meaningful?
GIVING TO THE WORK OF THE ABBEY:
The Church of England recommends that at least 5% of our income goes (joyfully!) to our local church - leaving some room in our budget to give to charities, mission agencies or child sponsorship etc. The Abbey leadership corporately models these guidelines.
WHO SHOULD I CONTACT?
This is all confidential. The Vicar and leadership know nothing of any individuals personal giving. Two people are in the loop and you can contact them directly:
Chris Jager (our Treasurer) at treasurer@malmesburyabbey.com
Jim Druett (our Gift Aid Secretary) at giftaidsecretary@malmesburyabbey.com
They'll give you confidential advice on how to give regularly to the Abbey's ministry.
This link will take you to some simple
Q & As from Jim about gift aid.