turning ten...

vicar's letter september 2010

As birthdays go, Ten carries its own significance as a marker post on the road
towards adulthood. Looking back there are still-distinct memories of childhood.
Looking forward there's an increasing sense of the adult to come. And in the present,
Turning Ten perhaps carries a growing up challenge to anticipate adulthood by
taking more responsibility.

And so it is for us as we celebrate the 10th birthday of All Souls'

new start. Looking back we remember God's faithfulness through
all the challenges. Looking forward we anticipate what the next
ten years might hold.

But before we get to our "2020 Vision" or to the birthday cake

and candles (yes, we'll have those too!), there's a Turning Ten
responsibility we simply can't avoid addressing together:
We have to find a way of paying our own way.

childhood provision
Alongside the committed generosity of many church members, All Souls has been
provided for remarkably over the years by others. It started with St Stephen's
tremendous gift and the legacy we inherited with the building. Since then we've had
interest-free loans from the Diocese and received yearly subsidy from other churches
on the cost of having a clergy team...

Having to rely so very substantially on others is all part of being a new congregation,
being in our childhood if you like. But we know we're not new anymore and Turning
Ten means learning to stand on our own feet - to the extent where we can
increasingly support others in turn.

standing on our own feet

It's not simply the case of feeling we ought to pay our own way, but that we
increasingly (and urgently) must. The gift from St Stephen's is long gone; the last of
that buildings legacy helped us finish The Link; Diocesan loans have been spent on
maintenance and bills and the subsidy from other churches is reducing each year.

That's easier said than done of course! Ask our Finance Team and they'll tell you, on
the one hand, of the remarkable provision of God month-by-month over the years,
but on the other, that our regular giving from members of All Souls hasn't kept pace
with the numerical growth (and therefore expenditure) of the church.

That means that there isn't enough coming in each month to "float the boat". We
daily hear the keel scraping the bottom - and now isn't the time to get stuck, just as
we are about to launch off into our next ten years!

doing church costs

I suspect that one of the reasons we've struggled to raise our regular giving is that
people are surprised to find what the basics of church life actually cost. Add together
basic bills, staff salaries, ministry resources and the most rudimentary of
maintenance on our buildings, and you find it takes around £14,000 each month of
the year to simply stand still!

We work very hard to keep expenditure low and our income from the site high.
However "doing church" costs real money and we're not paying our way.
september 2010 We can't simply ask others to go on subsidising our ministry here. Yet, here are a few
of the things we know we cannot do if nothing changes in our current giving income:

We can't run The Alpha Course - because we can't cover weekly food costs.
We won't have a curate from next Summer - we can’t afford to keep the house.
We won't be able to recruit a replacement for Ali in the church office.
We won't do basic maintenance on the church and main hall.
We can't even dream of recruiting a youth worker (even part time) in 2011.
We won't fulfil all our commitments to individuals and organisations abroad.

the next ten years

It's not just about the next few months. The plan had been to use our birthday
weekend to formally launch a project first trailled last year (and to which some
households have already given) - which would result in the establishment of the 2020
Fund, enabling the redevelopment of our site over the next ten years as a hub for this
local community. As of today, all of that is on hold. Until we can provide properly for
our daily ministry, we can't even plan for tomorrow, let alone the next decade.

a worthwhile investment?
Simply keeping an organisation going isn't, of course, a good enough reason to give
- especially when most of us are feeling the pinch economically. It's a worthwhile
investment only if our experience of God at work here is one we value and if the vision
for our future is one we want to be part of. We've often said that we want to be:
...nurturing what God has given us here to be an increasingly effective
centre for our community, giving people of every age the opportunity
to experience the love of God in Jesus through the Spirit for themselves.
That's not a vision about money, but money is part of what it costs to make it reality.

making the difference

The figures involved aren't huge. A £2000 increase in our monthly income (an average
£20 extra per household each month) would fulfill our current commitments and start
to replenish necessary reserves. A £4000 increase would transform what we can plan
for into 2011 - being able to say 'Yes' to a curate to follow Charles, dynamically support
the work on the Ivybridge and even look at a part-time youth post.

Could I ask you, please, to set aside time before September 19th to consider:
If you don't currently give - would you start, even in a small way?
If you already give - would you consider (even a small) increase?

Whatever you can afford to give - whether the equivalent of a coffee a week, or a
percentage of your income - on a monthly, regular, pattern to the everyday life and
work of All Souls will make a specific and immediate difference

I'm not a great one for talking about money, as you know - and I'm looking forward
to taking the time to look back in celebration over these first ten years and I'm already
looking forward in anticipation to the next ten. But I know that right now this is a
responsibility we can't duck. Can you help us take it on?

As ever

Vicar

P.S. I'll be emailing a link to an online response page - or you can simply contact Sue in the
church office (020 8891 6820 or by mail) to let us know what you'd like to do. Thankyou!