Getting the right 'G' to spell giving with

We need gratitude not guilt in our giving.
Thankfulness to God, true believing that all we have comes from him, and thankfulness too that we ourselves have been bought with a price by Jesus’ death on the cross. That makes all the difference in the world. How can we give him enough in return? How can we not give with joy?

Dire Straits?

It is a false hope to think that presently unknown trusts ‘out there’ will somehow save a congregation from having to give money for building projects. As one church member said, ’This is really just housekeeping. Of course we expect to pay for it ourselves’

Financial Planning

A case study: St Paul’s & St George’s spent five consecutive Sundays looking at New Testament teaching about money, and Jesus’ attitude towards it. Only one of those weeks was on giving; the others covered biblical principles of stewardship in general. This was a year before the first pledge day. In this way church members had plenty of time to process and put into practice the biblical principles which they had learned.

The Body Builds

The whole church membership, or at least the majority of members, have to want a project to happen or it will not gain the necessary financial backing.

Typically a church will have few if any high earners; more will be in the middle-income group. And then there are the pensioners, young singles and newly-married couples, many with more limited incomes such at those working voluntarily or unemployed.

Giving is a personal matter, serious and for church members to resolve before God with their families or on their own. People should not feel pressured to give.

Weighing Options

{NB Chapter 3 - Gaining Permission is not Easy
Chapter 4 - Children's Work}

Chapter 5 - Looking at the Options

'Whatever the way ahead, the cost must be counted with care. A feasibility study will be needed, presenting the hard data of what things will mean in cash terms.'

Option 1 is always the same - do nothing. But what are the benefits of this? What would the longer-term costs be?

Option 2 is the relatively low-cost way forward (the specifics of which obviously vary from church to church).

Option 3 is the visionary way forward that will involve commitment and cost for all members of the church.

'some initial blind investment is almost always necessary'

No 'One Size' Solutions (2)

Chapter 2: Churches: The Same But Different

Early on in the process, each of the churches formulated its own vision statement to help focus the minds of the church family on the central reasons from the project. Drawing up such a statement helps a whole church family to refocus on what is essential.

Example: St Paul and St George’s
Q.: how do the building plans fit with the vision?
A: our mission is to bring people and got together; our vision is to build a Christ–centred, culturally-relevant, biblical community, worshipping and serving in the centre of Edinburgh; our strategy is to make, mature and mobilise people as disciples of Christ. [the answer then continued with specific reference to the project.]

Getting the right people
Church members themselves will be able to take the project to a certain level, but the church will then have to engage professional architects and an experienced project director [though the project director may be found from within the church family, or move house to become part of the church family].

The wide-ranging role of project director will draw on every transferable skill a person can bring. This role is central to the smooth running of all aspects of the project: liaison with planning authorities and ecclesiastical authorities; interface with the workforces; and flow of communication internally and externally. A critical part of the job is organisational ability.

St Paul’s and St George’s chose Emma Vardy, an event manager, to oversee Project 21.
St Nick's chose Brigadier Ian Dobbie
At St Andrew's, in God’s providence, Steve Watson, an architect from Manchester, had moved into the town and join the church two years before the “vision builders” project was launched. Jack Rimmer, managing director of Marland Builders and Contractors Ltd, a long-standing church member took personal responsibility for the project.

No 'One Size' Solutions (1)

Chapter 2: Churches the same but different

Whether you are in the market town or in a university town, in the farming community or in a multicultural city, your church acts as a beacon for the gospel in that context. Building projects vary enormously in cost, but acting is that beacon is the central theme of each and the unifying theme of all.

Building for the Gospel features the case studies of 5 churches:
St Paul’s and St George’s Episcopal Church, Edinburgh
Holyrood Abbey Church of Scotland, Edinburgh
St Andrew’s Church, Leyland
Reigate Baptist Church
St Nicholas Church, Sevenoaks

The story of St Nicholas forms the backbone of the book, with illustrations added from other churches. God deals differently with different people in different places. There are often no single right answers to questions, as the examples show.

A zero sum game?

Chapter 1: Bricks, mortar and the gospel of Jesus Christ

We are getting much more audacious about building products. 30 years ago it seemed daring to spend a few thousand pounds on carpeting a church and replacing pews with chairs. Now we see a project in Edinburgh costing nearly £6 million. To compare the number of zeros and those sums tells its own story.

While the expenditure has increased, the range of initiatives has also grown. Some churches have been built above shops; other churches meet in converted warehouses; a few have been designed in partnership with the local council or a local school.

But the end is the same in each case: to provide a church building which is fitted to gospel living and proclaiming in the time & place that we live.

(But) we can actually resent the need to spend money on bricks and mortar when the church is really about growing the Lord’s people. Anglican church buildings don’t belong to their members, so improving them can seem a bit like spending money on the house which you don’t own. Isn’t it better stewardship not to waste money like that? Buildings belonging to Free Church congregations may legally be owned by their members, but even so, shouldn’t we give that money to world mission instead?

Building for the Gospel is a book written to people with these kinds of questions