Our Year Ahead Strategy, Finances and Giving 2012-13

The coming yearThe ministry at St Barnabas continues to flourish. In the last year we have started about 10 Missional Communities, focussed on a wide variety of outreach objectives.

The sheer creativity that this has unleashed has been inspiring to watch and yet it feels like we are only just beginning. The coming year is a time to build on what has started and should prove to be no less exciting.

Our visionOur vision statement Transforming Lives, Changing the World remains the incredible challenge that God has laid before us. Though daunted we believe that with God nothing is impossible. In order to make moves towards fulfilling that enormous vision we have articulated mission aims and key strategies (see opposite).

What about our finances?Despite a double dip recession in the UK and many people struggling to make ends meet, St Bs continues to confound the economics of our age with extraordinary generosity. On our Gift Day in July 2012, we exceeded our giving target by an amazing 19%. That of course was for capital projects and we still need to pay for our running costs. There are indeed still great challenges ahead, but we continue to trust God for all His provision.

Henry Kendal

Key Strategies

This year we will all focus on:2012-2013

• Pursuing daring mission in everything

• Developing our culture of welcome and involvement

• Growing our missional communities

• Raising more disciples as volunteers

• Going deeper with God in worship and prayer

• Preparing for the future*

*including striving to obtain a new church building

St Barnabas

God has called us to bea large missional church committed to:

• Love that is outward-focused, creating vibrant community

• Encountering God in intimacy and passion

• Discipleship that transforms and equips in community for mission

• Serving as a lifestyle for all our members

• Sending out people and resources, including planting churches

Mission AimsSt Barnabas

The great commission Jesus gave us remains our highest priority. Everything needs to be orientated towards it. We need to have an almost unreasonable emphasis on mission, if we are really to attain the fullness of God’s purposes for us.

In a large church it is often intimidating to walk in as a newcomer. As a result many people come, but few people stay around and get involved. We want to remove all the potential obstacles and create a clear and straightforward path into full engagement at St Bs.

Over the last year a good number of Missional Communities have been launched. The next challenge is to consolidate these and get them all fully functioning both in mission and as loving discipleship communities.

Church is not a spectator sport and will only fulfil her calling when everyone gets to play.

There feels like a fresh wind of the Spirit around our worship at the moment. We want to plunge deep into that wave.

We believe that God is doing something exciting with St Bs. So we will need to gear up our finances, our structures and our facilities in order to provide for this move of God.

Mission Aims 2011-16

Key Strategies 2012-13

2012– 2013 Budget £840,000Everyone who competes in the games goes into str ict train ing. They do it to get a crown that wi l l not last, but we do it to get a crown that wi l l last forever.

(1 Corinthians 9:25)

Discipleship £41,000

Led by David Brown, here we run our main adult programmes, resource our growing network of Missional Communities, and the Equip programme.

Buildings £61,000

We have a number of very well-used buildings to maintain. The cost of heat, light, maintenance and the salary of our Facilities Coordinator are all in this section.

Support £135,000

The smooth running of every other area of church life is dependent on the efficiency of this operation. This is a low cost judged against comparable organisations. Our office staff are paid out of this budget.

Neighbourhood £82,000

This ministry reaches out to our local community and beyond, with a special focus on Strawberry Vale. Helen Shannon is assisted by several Equip students.

Pastoral £106,000

Out of this budget we pay our Vicars Henry Kendal and Colin Brookes, and contribute to training and other church matters.

Children £36,000

We have wonderful vibrant ministry with hundreds of kids and lots of activity. Staff members, Equip students and many volunteers are all involved.

Youth £44,000

Led by Liz Bewley and team (including Equip students and volunteers), the work amongst young people continues to grow.

£75,000

Oakleigh Community Churchis a church plant of St Bs, based in Whetstone and led by Mike Pavlou. Although fully part of the St Bs family, Oakleigh has its own church building, distinct style and seeks to cover its own costs from giving income received from the committed Oakleigh membership.

2012– 2013 Budget £840,000

Resources £69,000

This budget includes publicity, printing, stationery, computers, office supplies, website etc. We get a lot for our money in this budget!

Church and Worship £106,000

Much of running St Bs church is in this area. This includes our Sunday worship, Christmas and Easter, and the production of all our music.

Key

Oakleigh Community Church

The inside track The undergirding of everything we do

The outside trackOur direct main ministry costs

Mission £160,000

Through Mission Task Force (MTF) we are now supporting 24 long term mission partners across the world as well as a number of short-termers. All of this money goes to projects away from St Bs.

Why do we giveWe give for four principal reasons:

1. Because it is part of our worship: We give because we want to honour God. We give because the Bible tells us to give. We give because worship that costs us nothing is of no value.

2. Because it is good for us: We give because in giving we release our grip on some of our worldly possessions and so grow closer to Jesus. We give because we will receive a blessing from giving, far exceeding any material benefit of hanging on to our own money.

3. Because there is great need: The church needs our money. St Bs has no other resources to pay for the ministry we are undertaking, apart from the voluntary giving of our members.

4. Because we are committed: We give as a mark of our commitment to St Bs. We all spend money on things we are committed to and so financial giving is one of our four marks of being a member of the church.

We counter the unhealthy, almost divine, status that money has in the West by giving lavishly as part of our worship. Ours is a life of faith where we trust God for provision in every area of our lives, including money.

As a mark of your commitment to what we are doing here at St Bs, we invite you to join the committed giving scheme. We encourage people to give generously. (A tithe,10% of income, is the basic benchmark in the Bible, although we are not under law and many can go beyond this.) In turn, St Bs more than double tithes (20%) its income to mission.

Managing our financesMike Vamvadelis, Church Manager

Here at St Bs we have as our vision:

Transforming Lives, Changing the World. It is an unashamedly big vision and a right

response to Jesus’ Great Commission: “Go into all the world...” (Matthew 28:18-20). Your generous giving makes it possible for us to live this out as a church with mission partners in many countries across 5 continents. Again this year, our goal is to discern where God is at work and partner with Him, and invest our people and financial resources there.

Our financial challenge Sarah Restall, Treasurer

This year we are proposing a very

tight budget, which reflects the very difficult financial circumstances in the country, and faced by many of our members. Because of inflation this essentially means a small cut to our

budget, which is a challenge for us in the context of the current growth in the church and in our ministry. Even to meet this modest budget it is so important to us that our members continue to commit to regular giving and we ask you prayerfully to consider how much you can give every month to play your part in contributing financially to the exciting work happening across the ministries of the church.

How can I give?By a regular systematic method:This helps us plan our expenditure as a church through the year and it helps you to be responsible in the way you give. There are a number of ways you can give systematically:

Bank standing orderThis is our preferred method of giving. It helps us keep our administrative costs down, and for you it involves filling in one form, just once. To give in this way, complete the Standing Order form overleaf and return it to The Finance Administrator (contact details below).

If you already give by Standing Order, don’t forget to review the amount you give. If you want to increase it, please do not fill in another form – simply contact your bank yourself. Please let us know, for our records.

EnvelopesThis is for those who prefer to give cash or one-off gifts as resources permit. Simply use the offering envelopes available each Sunday.

Give as you earn Some companies operate a Give as You Earn system through the payroll, to which the Government is giving an additional 10%. However, before you decide on this system, it is essential that you discuss it with your employer.

Leaving a legacy to St Barnabas in your will St Barnabas welcomes gifts in wills, however large or small. We promise to use such gifts to make a difference in the work of the church, and will consult with the executors to identify the sorts of projects the donor would have liked. If you would like more information about how to leave a gift to the church in your will, please contact The Finance Administrator.

Mike VamvadelisChurch ManagerTel: 020 8343 5774

Charity No: 1131412

Gift aidIf you are a UK taxpayer any gift can be treated as gift-aidable, which means that your gift of £10 is worth £12.50 or your gift of £500 is worth £625. If you have not already completed a Gift Aid Declaration, whichever of the methods of giving you use, please sign and return the Gift Aid declaration overleaf

For further information speak to:

All correspondence should be sent to: The Finance AdministratorSt Barnabas Church Holden Road Woodside Park London N12 7DN

Tel: 020 8343 5783

email: finance@stbarnabas.co.uk

BANK STANDING ORDER (our preferred method of giving)

Please send completed forms to The Finance Administrator (contact details overleaf)

St Barnabas Church PCC

Date

To the manager of Bank plc

Of (full address of Bank)

(Please pay to Nat West Bank PLC; 786 High Road, North Finchley, London N12 9QT)

Code 60-15-20 for the credit of St Barnabas Church PCC, Account number 31658091

The sum of

£ (please insert in words and figures)

On and MONTHLY thereafter until

further notice and debit my account accordingly.

Signed

Account No

Account Holder’s Name

Address

Post code

This is a new / replacement / additional mandate. (Please delete as appropriate)

For: St Barnabas Church, Holden Road, London N12 7DN Tel: 020 8343 5783

GIFT AID DECLARATION Inland Revenue Ref. X60915

Name

Address

Post code

I want you to treat this/all donation/s that I have made from

(please insert date from which you wish us to claim tax – this can be up to 4 years ago and you must have been liable to UK tax at the time of any donations made), and all subsequent donations, until I notify you otherwise, as Gift Aid donations. You must pay an amount of income tax and/or capital gains tax at least equal to the tax that the church reclaims on your donations in the tax year (currently 25p for each £1 you give).

Please notify us if you change your name or address.

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