Church expenses

There is a big difference between money contributed to Church expenses and gifts of money to the Church or to those in need.  We will think about Church expenses first.  It costs a lot of money to keep the parish church going.  There are all kinds of things to be paid for: lighting, heating, fire insurance, repairs, salaries and wages, organ tuning, bread and wine for the altar, candles, and so on.  And besides the parish expenses, there are also the expenses of the diocese which we also have to contribute to.  When members of the Church help to pay for such things, they are not giving anything to the Church.  They are merely paying for the things which they get from the Church, and then only for some of the things.  For no one could ever pay for the best gifts which the Church offers us – Holy Baptism, Confirmation, Forgiveness, the Blessed Sacrament, and the teaching of the Faith.  These things are priceless.

So money contributed to Church expenses is like the money contributed by members of a family to their housekeeping expenses.  And, of course, if the members of the Church do not support her, no one else will.

Gifts

Besides contributing to the expenses of our own parish and diocese, we should also give our money to help the mission of the Church in this country and overseas, so that many more people are drawn to love and serve God. 

We should also give to those who are less fortunate than ourselves.  One way of doing this is to have the Christingle Service before Christmas and give the collection to the Children’s Society.

And then there are the gifts we make to our own parish church so that it may be as beautiful as possible and more worthy of God whose House it is.

So we should be generous in supporting the Church with our money.  We should give a fixed amount each week, and from time to time see if we cannot give more.  And remember what St Paul tells us, “…God loves a cheerful giver” (NRSV, 2 Corinthians 9:7), for as Jesus has said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (NRSV, Acts 20:35).