For if you are eager to give, God will accept your gift on the basis on what you have to
give, not on what you don’t have.” Corinthians II 8:12
“You received without cost, give without charge.” Matthew 10:18
Introduction: It is many years since we ran a stewardship campaign and, as with many parishes, we are struggling to cover our costs through the generosity of those who already give. As such we are running a campaign through the last few months of 2024 and the start of 2025.
Our intentions are to openly share the financial pressures on Christ Church and the costs we incur – it costs us £4000 per week to run our parish – we will do this through a variety of channels such as newsletters, pew sheets and the Spire Magazine. We will also endeavour to wrote to everyone on our electoral roll.
The purpose of this activity is, while acknowledging all the generous weekly and monthly giving by many of you, we would like to ask people to consider their giving and whether they would like to join our regular giving programme which we would be very grateful for, or if already giving could they consider giving more.
Our desire is to make sure we can cover our regular outgoings in the years to come through regular giving and we secure the upkeep of this lovely church and all its activities for us and future generations
This page outlines the main areas of costs we incur at Christ Church so everyone can understand what their generous giving is spent on, to hopefully agree the money is well spent in a considered and prayerful way and to reassure we are doing all we can to keep costs down.
Our commitment to Music: Music is a critical part of our worship at Christ Church and has been since the church’s foundation. As a result it is an area where we spend money hence we are covering it as part of our stewardship communication campaign to raise awareness of where our income is spent. There are a number of areas where we need to fund the amazing music we have here not least the salary for our Director of Music, paying for organists as well as funding the robes, music and maintaining the organ itself.
As a result of the money we spend and the amazing work, dedication and ability of all those involved our Choir enjoys a reputation as one of north London’s finest voluntary church choirs. The Choir sings on most Sundays at both the 10am Sung Eucharist and 6.30pm Choral Evensong, as well as on major Feast Days. There are very few churches in the area which maintain such a regular pattern of choral services, and so in supporting and sustaining our Choir we play a significant part in preserving the unique British choral tradition which is treasured all over the world.
The Choir’s music heightens our liturgical experience in our worship each week and is a huge part of the style of Anglican worship we enjoy as a congregation. In addition, the Choir are joined by outstanding local orchestral musicians to present the Patronal Concert each year, which attracts people into the church both to take part and to listen who are not regular members of our congregation, contributing to our outreach objectives and use of the church building to serve the wider community.
The Choir is divided into two sections. The mixed Adult Choir of around 20 singers sings for all the choral services and concerts, and a thriving junior section of 16 choristers sing for two Sunday Eucharists each month, occasional evensongs, and other special services. The junior choir benefits the parish beyond their amazing singing as it contributes to “the church growing younger”, a stated objective of the Diocese of London. Many children who join the church as choristers stay with our choir and our church community through their teenage years and into adulthood, and families of our choristers make wonderful and varied contributions to parish life too including PCC membership, chaperoning, Children’s Corner and other volunteering. We also support choral and organ scholars at the earliest stages of their professional development, investing in the future of the church and of church music.
We have been very fortunate over the past 11 years that our musical output has gone from strength to strength under Richard’s leadership, and we are extremely confident this will only continue under William. Our financial commitment to music enables us to attract people of such calibre to be our Directors of Music and Organists who in turn lead, motivate, and develop the amazing Choir we have enjoyed for so long and continue to enjoy now. In addition to the regular budget allocations we, as a PCC, commit to music at Christ Church, we also benefit from tremendous generosity from members of the congregation who provide specific financial support funding the Choral Scholarships and sponsoring concerts.
Christ Church is home to a fine pipe organ dating back to 1870, built and enlarged to complement the Choir and support our congregational hymn singing! The organ is regularly maintained and tuned. We are fortunate to have a beautiful grand piano, which is extremely useful for the Choir, and hosts excellent pianists to contribute to our worship during choir holidays. It is also a revenue generator for the church as we need it to host ABRSM exams. This needs maintaining too!
Our contribution to the Common Fund: This is used by the Diocese of London to pay towards the costs of the clergy, vicarages, the parish support teams and training the next generation of priests. Each parish is asked to make a contribution, which is assessed annually based on their individual circumstances and paid monthly. The amount asked is a realistic calculation based on the financial needs associated with each parish.
The Diocese is implementing efficiencies and making cuts where possible, but overall church finances have been impacted by the Covid crisis, increased cost-of-living and inflationary pressures. Rising costs mean that our contribution has risen from £91,300 in 2024 to £102,00 in 2025.
The Common Fund is not only a means of paying our way but also an expression of our commitment to supporting other neighbouring churches within the Diocese. We have consistently given the amount requested by the Archdeacon on behalf of the Diocese as the PCC believes that it is the right thing to do, and our aim is to continue to do so if we can afford it.
Our regular running costs: Routine costs associated with the church building include insurance, security and fire alarms, and heat and light. As with our own homes these costs have all increased in recent years; last year they increased by 17% compared to 2022 and they have risen again this year by around 8%.
The size of the church building means that we have been particularly affected by increasing gas and electricity prices which, as we are a business, are not capped like domestic charges. During winter months the average monthly gas bill is currently around £1,500. We check regularly to make sure we remain on a competitive tariff, and do all we can to control costs, so that we can ensure the church building remains a warm, welcoming space for worship.
Our administrative costs: Like all parishes Christ Church spends money on areas that provide the necessary support to enable worship (and all the myriad other activities that take place at Christ Church) to happen. One element of our support costs is administration and office costs, these include the salary for our administrator who provides a welcoming first point of contact to parishioners and others, as well as things like telephone, broadband, stationery and printing costs.
We also pay for professional support for our pay roll, for the management of our rental properties, and for the creation and auditing of our end of year financial accounts which are required to comply with Charity Commission requirements. As with all our expenditure we regularly review all arrangements to ensure that the professional fees charged remain competitive and work hard to minimise.
Interested in supporting? If you feel moved to join our campaign and give regularly to Christ Church, or would like some more information, please speak to any member of the clergy or our stewardship committee, the members being: Kate Carroll, Graham Cook, Mick Meur, Fr Paul Ellerby, and Freya Carroll.