PCC News

However it is observed, Easter remains the most importantevent of our faith. It reminds us that what God has generously offered us is nothing short of new life through Jesus Christ.

As Christians we give in response to God’s love for us, and just because we are in lockdown this love does not falter. Indeed, our belief is that God is with us we appreciate how important our faith is to us and the fact that we know that God won’t abandon us.

I genuinely believe that a lot of people in lockdown who are not practicing Christians will come to realise that there is something missing in their lives and will turn to God now for his support. Hopefully this will provide us with a great opportunity. When we come out of lockdown we need to stay engaged with these people and grow our churches. To do this we need to ensure that our church is properly funded and that we are in a good position to surge forward with this goal.

The Bible is quite clear about this. In the letter from St Paul to the Ephesians we are told of the need “to equip the saints for the ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” As Christians we need to ensure that we maintain our giving to ensure the growth of the Kingdom. After all, we give in response to God’s love for us and what we give must be a true representation of the value we put on that love.

In these hard times there may be a temptation to think that we don’t have any personal spare funds, but again in the Bible we read in Corinthians of how the Macedonian churches, despite extreme poverty, welled up in extreme generosity. Some of our poorer parishes will fall short during this period and it is the responsibility of us all to help and fund the work across the whole of the diocese to ensure the growth of the Kingdom.

Our financial support is funding the most amazing support network. We have seen the great things that our church communities are doing in caring for each other: everything from helping to feed those in need to providing emotional support via various methods of befriending. Besides all this our clergy have grappled with technology and are providing a plethora of online worship.

So, in summary, our giving is more important than ever. Each and every one of us needs to support the growth of the Kingdom and we have a wonderful opportunity to realise this. Let us as a Church be ready. Are you able to say that what you give is a true value of God’s love for you? A true reflection of the sacrifice that he made for you?