Why donate?
It costs over £550 a day to support our ministry, parish life and two ancient church buildings and we are grateful for anything you might be able to give to help us in our Christian work together.
Thank you for walking with us in our shared journey of faith. Now you are here, and where you are able, you might wish to consider partnering with us in growing the kingdom of God through regular giving which is a really important part of every Christian’s discipleship.
We are grateful for each gift no matter what the amount or how the gift is made. However if you’re part of the family at St Martin and St Paul, and in a position to give financially, we would love for you to consider setting up a regular, monthly gift. Regular giving is crucial for us as it enables us to plan impactful, long-term projects and reach as many people as possible.
Why is generous giving important in the Christian faith and how does it help?
It can always be hard to talk about money, especially in the church. Our Parish does not receive any direct funds from the Church of England and relies on the generosity of our donors to enable our work. There are lots of references to money in the bible, but to keep things simple below are three key things we hope you will find helpful when considering supporting our work financially.
1. Jesus said, ‘where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’ (Matthew 6:21). In other words, we give money to the things we love and we love the things we give money to.
2. Generous and joyful giving is an appropriate and telling response to the love of God in our life. One place the Bible talks about this is in 2 Corinthians 8:1-15.
3. As a church our mission is to grow the kingdom of God in people’s lives. All our ministries point towards this single aim. Every ministry in our church needs money to run, which means we rely on our members’ generosity for everything we do.
Regular Giving by PGS
There are various ways to give regularly every month or every week and more information about other methods can be found below. However, the preferred method of giving is regular giving via the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) as this helps us plan our projects and cover our reuglar bills.
What is PGS?
PGS is a nationwide giving scheme which operates a secure and effective service to manage Direct Debit and one-off gifts from individuals to their churches and reduces the administration for member churches. It doesn’t cost you or us anything, we get 100% of your donation.
PGS enables you to:
- Give monthly, quarterly or annually by Direct Debit
- Sign up to inflation linked giving annually, if you choose
- Enhance your gift to the parish by having Gift Aid at 25% added to your giving
- Give anonymously, if you prefer
- Give securely
There are three ways in which you can set up a Direct Debit to give regularly to your church or parish:
- Sign up online HERE
- Via their dedicated telephone service
- By post – forms available in church
Anyone wishing to join the PGS scheme by Phone can call the dedicated telephone number on 0333 002 1260.
Our PGS name is: CANTERBURY ST MARTIN & ST PAUL and our unique PGS Parish Code is: 060606049.
One Off Giving by Debit / Credit Card
Supporting the Ministry and Churches in the Parish of St Martin & St Paul
Regular Giving via Envelopes
After PGS which is the simplest way of giving, if you prefer to give regularly by cash or Cheque on a Sunday – we can provide you with planned giving envelopes which have your own giving number written on them. This unique number is only known by the treasurer to identify you, but if helps us claim your Gift Aid if you complete a Gift Aid declaration form. All you need to do then is to place the envelope in the offering plate or donations box when you are in church each week.
If you wish to give regularly via the envelope scheme please contact the treasurer via the Parish Office here.
Legacy Gift in your will
Finally, you can leave a legacy to the church in your Will which will help the ongoing mission of the church.