‘God loves a cheerful giver’

(2 Corinthians 9: 7)

Included here is some information about how to support the work of the Kingdom of God in the Parish of Woolwich. As a Church of England parish we are responsible for raising most of the money that we need to continue our work ourselves. The Diocese of Southwark does provide a parsonage house and a stipend for the Rector, but all other finances must be raised locally. Of course there are many ways in which you can support God’s work other than in purely monetary terms, but if you wish to take your Christian commitment seriously then financial giving is an important part of this. Other ways that you can give are important as well and we very much encourage volunteers as we are totally dependent on volunteers to carry out most aspects of our church’s life.

Giving to the work of the parish is very simple. One way is for you to join our envelope scheme. In this scheme you are given envelopes with your name on for you to put your regular cash donations in. You then put the envelopes in the collection plate during the church service if you wish, or hand them in at the parish office. This method is particularly suitable if you do not have an earned income on which you pay tax. A second alternative is to give by bank standing order. This is the best method if you pay tax on your earned income. Thirdly, you can give by cheque or cash directly into the collection plate at church. If you do give a donation by cheque in this way and you pay tax on your earnings please write your name and address on the reverse of the cheque so that we can reclaim the tax on your donation. If you give a donation by cash please use one of the gift aid envelopes supplied at the back of church to put your donation in, and write your name and address on this and sign it before putting it in the collection plate.

If you do wish to support the work of either St Michael & All Angels Church or St Mary Magdalene Church on a regular basis you can download and complete a Giving Declaration & Gift Aid Form. Click here for the St Mary’s form, or here for the St Michael’s form). You can then give the completed form to the treasurer of either St Michael’s (Mrs Christina Osei-Bonsu) or St Mary’s (Mr Obi Madubuobi) at church, or you can post it to either of the treasurers at the Parish Office (The Parish Office, St Mary Magdalene Church, Greenlaw Street, Woolwich, London, SE18 5AR.). For further information please speak to either of our treasurers.

Jesus’ attitude towards giving

(An edited extract from Redmond Mullin’s, The Wealth of Christians, Paternoster Press)

Jesus did not discourage work or fiscal responsibility, although he lived in a subject nation. The labourer is worthy of his food and hire (Mt. 10: 9, 10; Lk. 10: 7). Caesar should receive his due tribute and a miraculous half-shekel found in a fish’s mouth supplied a tax-demand (Mt. 17: 24-27). When he expelled the moneychangers from the Temple, it was because the house of prayer had been turned into a den of robbers (Mt. 21: 12, 13)…. When he rebuked the Pharisees, it was not because they paid ‘tithes of mint and rue and every garden herb’, but because they neglected justice (Lk. 11: 42).

He also rebuked the Pharisees for scorning so many fellow beings and neglecting charity. In discussing that critical priority in Jewish and Christian teaching, love of neighbour, Jesus describes Priest and Levite as aloof and negligent, preserving themselves uninvolved, presumably allowing themselves only a partial awareness of the man glimpsed naked, battered and inconvenient lying in the sun beside the grill-hot road as they hurried by on the other side….

There is no escaping Jesus’ teaching on care and love for our fellow men. There is no exclusivity for Christians: the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, prisoners, children, poor, crippled, lame, blind, widows, even enemies are his followers’ responsibility and are to be welcomed into the Christian community (Mt. 25: 35-44)….

There would be no escape; the theme, ‘The poor are always with you’ (Mk. 14: 7), had its origin in the Torah [the Jewish Law], and its reality abides today. Benevolence should look for no reward in this life: ‘When you give a dinner or banquet, do not invite your friends, or your brother, or your kinsmen, nor rich neighbours; lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind; and you will be blessed; because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just’ (Lk. 14: 12-14). …

Charity should be ready and open: ‘Give to everyone who asks you’ (Lk. 6: 30). It is not to be measured by size alone: as with [the Jewish story] of the poor woman’s handful of meal, the widow’s mite is valued because ‘she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had’ (Lk. 21: 4). No one should be proud to have acted thus, ‘When you have done all that is commanded you, say: We are unworthy servants; we have only done that what was our duty’ (Lk. 17: 10).

All of these ideas were well known at the time of Jesus and were part of the Jewish tradition. What is particularly special about his teaching, however, is that he claimed that, when we carry out acts of generosity and love, we are at the same time witnessing to his presence in our lives: ‘He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit: for apart from me you can do nothing’ (Jn. 15: 5).