bath & wells: Parish Resources - Resources For Your Mission
how much could I give?
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Paul encouraged Christians to give their money to the work of the
church in a regular and organised way.
But how much? |
'God loves a cheerful giver',
wrote St
Paul . |
|
There are many yardsticks for what makes a generous giver.
| The Old Testament set out the
concept of the 'tithe' - 10% of your wealth to be given back to God. |
Jesus praised the poor widow who gave all that she could
The Church of England's target, set in 1978, is that church
members should give 5% of their take-home pay to fund the work of the church. |
 |
| The actual giving by church members is probably around 3.5% of take-home
pay. |
Check the Bible references here
The average regular weekly gift to the church in the
diocese of Bath and Wells in 2004 was £7.17. The national average weekly gift
was £7.96.
 |
The charts below do not tell you how much you ought to give. That is for
you and your household to decide. But the charts show the effect giving
certain percentages of your income away would have on a weekly gift. |
It can be
useful to check your own giving against such yardsticks. Perhaps you could ask
yourself two questions:
|
? |
Does what I give reflect
the real state of my finances?
|
? |
Does what I give reflect
my understanding of God's goodness to me? |
Note: the charts below deal with 'take-home' pay - i.e. after you have
paid your income tax.
The Cheerful giver chart - monthly paid
| Take-home pay
(per month, after tax) |
 |
your weekly gift would be |
| at 10% |
at 5% |
at 2½% |
| £2,250 |
£52 |
£26 |
£13 |
| £1,500 |
£35 |
£17 |
£9 |
| £1,000 |
£23 |
£12 |
£6 |
| £500 |
£12 |
£6 |
£3 |
The Cheerful Giver chart - weekly paid
| Take-home
pay, (per week, after tax) |
 |
your weekly gift would be |
| at 10% |
at 5% |
at 2½% |
| £500 |
£50 |
£25 |
£12.50 |
| £350 |
£35 |
£17.50 |
£8.75 |
£207
(37.5 hrs at Minimum Wage 2007/8) |
£20.70 |
£10.35 |
£5.18 |
£119.05
(State pension with Pension Credit) |
£11.91 |
£5.95 |
£2.98 |
We're all different
One reason why we cannot lay down a fixed rule for giving is that God has
put us all in very different circumstances. For example, a pensioner who
relies on the State pension alone cannot be as generous as one who receives an
index-linked company pension. There are many other differences within a
congregation:
- Some couples have only one earner, in other homes, both partners go out
to work
- Some families have heavy responsibilities for their children -
especially if they are at university
- Some people carry the costs of caring for a relative
- In some families, the main breadwinner is not a church attender
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It is therefore right that people should consider how much to give in
accordance with their own circumstances. Those who are well-provided for
materially may, in true Christian fashion, be called upon to bear more of the
burden on behalf of their less well-off brothers and sisters, perhaps by
increasing the percentage of their income that they give away. |
| This
proportionate giving is clearly taught by St Paul. Check the Bible references here. |
Make more of your giving
Did you realise you can substantially increase the value of your gift (by
28 pence on top of every pound) at no cost to yourself? Gift Aid is the
government's way of helping charitable organisations. If you are a UK
taxpayer, a simple signature could
make a big difference to your church. Find out more.
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