Vicar’s letter July 2010	Archive
Have you ever delayed writing a letter because you knew it would be a difficult one to write? It does not happen so often in these days of e mails and phone calls, but even so just occasionally one is faced with a tough letter to write and we hesitate to put pen to paper, or in this case, finger to keyboard! Why, I hear you wonder, would Jayne be finding this one so difficult? Well it is because this is the one I have to write from time to time about the subject of....MONEY! I remember way back a time when I was working for a firm of accountants. This was a temporary (9 month) contract I had between graduation and beginning my ministry training at Durham Theological College. As Junior Clerk I was given a variety of tasks, some of which were very boring, like checking invoices against a cash book, and some of which were more interesting, like counting cars and checking number plates on a stock take at a local garage – that felt remarkably like a childhood activity! But the day came when, for one of the partners and me, our office moved to Lincoln Cathedral and in the lovely atmosphere of choir boys singing in the distance and bells chiming, I was given the task of checking Trust income against huge old ledgers. Those were the days when churches were financed in large part from the gifts of benefactors from decades previously. Regretfully, and to simplify the situation rather drastically, we may no longer rely on such funds and have to be much more self sufficient as a parish church. So these days, and for the future, it is down to us, the family of St Cross and the community in which we are set, to pay our own way. One of the wonderful aspects for me of being Vicar here is to rejoice in the way that so many folk give of their time and skills towards the mission and ministry of our church, part of which involves the general maintenance and upkeep of our beautiful church buildings and the Parish Room. I have also noticed how when people are given a specific project for which we need monetary gifts, folk give very generously e.g. many people have valued the opportunity during this past year to donate a hymn book in loving remembrance. With this in mind, and to explain a bit more about how we use your gifts of money, Gordon Fielding, our treasurer, has compiled a chart showing in some detail the cost of individual items of expenditure.

Vicar’s letter July 2010

Archive

Have you ever delayed writing a letter because you knew it would be a difficult one to write? It does not happen so often in these days of e mails and phone calls, but even so just occasionally one is faced with a tough letter to write and we hesitate to put pen to paper, or in this case, finger to keyboard! Why, I hear you wonder, would Jayne be finding this one so difficult? Well it is because this is the one I have to write from time to time about the subject of....MONEY!

I remember way back a time when I was working for a firm of accountants. This was a temporary (9 month) contract I had between graduation and beginning my ministry training at Durham Theological College. As Junior Clerk I was given a variety of tasks, some of which were very boring, like checking invoices against a cash book, and some of which were more interesting, like counting cars and checking number plates on a stock take at a local garage – that felt remarkably like a childhood activity!
But the day came when, for one of the partners and me, our office moved to Lincoln Cathedral and in the lovely atmosphere of choir boys singing in the distance and bells chiming, I was given the task of checking Trust income against huge old ledgers. Those were the days when churches were financed in large part from the gifts of benefactors from decades previously. Regretfully, and to simplify the situation rather drastically, we may no longer rely on such funds and have to be much more self sufficient as a parish church. So these days, and for the future, it is down to us, the family of St Cross and the community in which we are set, to pay our own way.

One of the wonderful aspects for me of being Vicar here is to rejoice in the way that so many folk give of their time and skills towards the mission and ministry of our church, part of which involves the general maintenance and upkeep of our beautiful church buildings and the Parish Room. I have also noticed how when people are given a specific project for which we need monetary gifts, folk give very generously e.g. many people have valued the opportunity during this past year to donate a hymn book in loving remembrance. With this in mind, and to explain a bit more about how we use your gifts of money, Gordon Fielding, our treasurer, has compiled a chart showing in some detail the cost of individual items of expenditure.