Thank you for your ongoing generosity. In order to sustain our worship and ministry, we rely on the valuable contributions of time, talents and money from all those who are part of the church.
Thank you for what you bring, our Church could not continue to flourish without your stewardship. Stewardship starts with recognising that all we have comes from God, and that we are responsible for using the resources he’s given wisely and prayerfully.
Roger, our treasurer, outlined our financial position at our APCM and I felt challenged to call on all our Church community to consider increasing giving or to offer a one-off gift to help us sustain and develop our ministry this year. Please read this leaflet to find out more. Thank you, Stephen.
Why do we give?
Giving is an act of worship, a response to God’s generosity. When we give to Church, we support St Mary’s mission to Welcome, Connect, Bless, Grow and Steward. As we serve and follow Jesus we want to make him known and to spread God’s love far and wide.
1. We give to honour God ‘Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the first-fruits of all your crops.’ – Proverbs 3.9
2. We give to bless others ‘…we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”’ – Acts 20.35
3. We give to support God’s work ‘the rendering of this ministry not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.’ – 2 Corinthians 9.12
4. We give knowing we can never out-give our God “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse” … says the LORD of hosts; “See if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.” – Malachi 3.10
As well as our day to day running costs, please help us continue to make our Church accessible and meaningful as we look to continue reordering our building. We are also looking at the possibility of employing a children and family worker in order to engage a wider group of people.
We ask you to prayerfully consider reviewing your giving to St Mary’s Church and to look at helping us to balance our books and to plan for our exciting future – knowing God has blessings ready to shower on us.
How do we give?
1 Set up a standing order through your bank or banking app.
2 Give Online – see button on the front page of our website
3 Give in person at Church – either through our collection plate, through yellow gift-aid envelopes or our Donation Station.
4 Give through Gift aid (if you are a taxpayer) – download a form below, using this means that the government turns every £1 you give into £1.25
Of course, there are many other ways that people give to St Mary’s Church – through the giving of time, talents and energy to help us follow the mission Jesus has called us into, giving time to work in the church and across our community.
Your generosity has enabled us to just about match our expenditure with your giving, but we know it will become increasingly difficult as in 2025 our £6000 deficit was covered by some unexpected donations which we can’t rely on every year.
The chart below shows how our regular income and expenses have grown over the last 5 years.
What Next?
As a church we know we have increasing costs to keep running, including out Diocesan share, fuel bills and costs to keep our building from deterioration. We also recognise that many of our members have suffered through the cost of living crisis and so we want to reiterate that what God asks of each us is:
- Not that we give what we don’t have.
- Not that we give what someone else has.
- But that we give what we have, when the Lord asks for it.
Just as the owner allowed his donkey to be untied for Jesus to ride in to Jerusalem.
At a very practical level, our £6000 deficit could be covered by 100 people each giving an extra £1 a week, with gift aid (making total of £6500 across a year) (or one person giving £6000😀).
What can you untie for God to use in this season? Please consider how you might respond and use this anonymous pledge form to mark your own commitment to help us plan accordingly.
Our Payment details are:
Sort Code: 40 52 40 Account No: 00013416
Account Name: PCC of St Marys Lytchett Matravers
More information from our Treasuer
General Fund
The financial assets of the church are split into a General Fund and a Restricted fund. The day-to-day running of our church relies on the General Fund. Over recent years due to increasing costs and a relative decrease in our giving our General Fund has been ‘propped up’ by our wonderful fundraising along with income from the parish magazine. At the same time we have been amazed at the generous giving towards our restricted fund which has enabled us to begin reordering and restoring our church – find out more here.
Our General fund is generated by donations, through Sunday collections, standing order and one-off donations.
If you want to give towards our General fund and towards the day-to-day running of our church then you can do so in a number of ways:
Bank transfer is the easiest for many, our details are:
General Fund: Sort Code is 40 52 40 Account Number 00013416
Restricted Fund: Sort Code is 40 52 40 Account Number 00029991
Standing Order – this is a way of getting your Bank/Building Society to give to the church regularly from your account. This needs to be done through your bank by internet or telephone using the bank details above.
Or use one these forms:
Gift Aid – this is free money from the government if you are a taxpayer (either income or capital gains).
If you give using cash/ cheque, standing order or the envelope scheme, we recommend that you use the Gift Aid Scheme. Once you have completed a Gift Aid Declaration form (attached) your gifts will effectively be increased by 25%. This additional amount is given by the HMRC directly to the church. There is no added cost to you above what you have agreed. All taxpayers are included, regardless of the rate of tax at which they are taxed. Please print out, fill in and return the Gift Aid form to Roger the Treasurer, Stephen the Vicar, or one of the sidespeople at Church.