Giving in Grace: an introduction

An expanded version of this text in Word format

Giving in Grace is all about our Christian responsibility in the personal and sometimes sensitive area of money and possessions. It began life as an initiative of both Bishops in the Diocese of Liverpool in 2005. Giving in Grace is not a fundraising exercise, although if carefully and prayerfully planned it will yield significant financial results as indeed it has done for many parishes in the diocese of Liverpool. The aim is not simply to balance the books but a double focus. Firstly Giving in Grace helps Christians make connections between the call to Christian giving and their own personal discipleship and faith. Secondly it makes connections between our giving and the ministry and mission needs of the church. It is a predominantly lay led programme linking faith with giving as an act of worship, thanksgiving and ministry.

The programme is supported by a comprehensive range of resources which can be found at the website www.givingingrace.org. The resources are grouped into the five essential strands or building blocks of the programme:

1. Preaching
2. Leadership
3. Prayer
4. Interaction
5. Communication

Preaching: There are background notes for sermon preparation and also "ready to preach" sample sermons to support a four or five week preaching series. Three preaching tracks are available to suit the tradition and worship patterns of all churches. One track is based on passages from St Matthew's Gospel and a second is based on Paul's extended teaching about giving in 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. The third track is based on the Exodus narrative and has a greater emphasis upon all age worship. It is co-authored with Jane Leadbetter, Children's advisor in the Diocese of Liverpool and CPAS. There are additional materials for Harvest Festival and financial presentation, including interactive all age sermons where the parish plan and budget can be presented to the congregation within the context of worship.

Leadership: The importance of leadership is stressed heavily within the programme. There are discussion papers for the PCC or leadership group in the church. There is advice on setting up the planning group, and the financial analysis needed to produce a case statement to help design the programme appropriate for the parish. In particular the leadership is encouraged to address two specific issues which are fundamental to Giving in Grace.

• Differentiation is the process of “meeting people where they are” in their spiritual journey, and making clear connections between faith and money by speaking in a language the core of the church, the congregation and the fringe will understand. This necessarily involves the planning group in producing a data base for the parish using Electoral roll, planned giving scheme, & attendance.
• The Case Statement is a key document in the process. The PCC work on their strengths and weaknesses and financial analysis, exploring weekly giving, reserves, financial needs including their agreed plans for the following year and concluding with a parish plan and giving in grace programme design for consultation then action.

Prayer resources: Giving in Grace is a programme which should be rooted in prayer. Resources include intercessions, liturgy and ideas for assisting corporate and individual prayer over the subject of giving and money.

Interaction: The resources in this section aim to create space for people to discuss and reflect upon the challenge of Christian giving. The choice as to how this is done depends on what the planning group and PCC or leadership team see as appropriate for the church. Resources include visiting materials, small groups, children and youth materials.

Communication: All communication through the written word is based around the principle of differentiation, offering different literature for the core, congregation, and fringe groupings within the church. There is a wide range of pre-written materials that simply need the parish name and details inserted, and “how to” guides for those parishes producing their own. Careful, sensitive and personal follow up of the responses, and non responses from individuals is of key importance and is well resourced.

Planning for Giving in Grace

To make the most of Giving in Grace you need to get the right people doing the right things in the right way. The web site has the information you need to run the programme itself. However it is important to:

1. Get permission and agreement within the church to go ahead.
2. Choose the right people to lead and champion the initiative in the church.
3. Identify and collect key information.
4. Seek God’s blessing through prayer and biblical reflection.
5. Have an understanding of the needs and aspirations of the church and its people through talking and listening, face to face.

This will take time; do not try to rush the planning and preparation. Better to delay the programme than attempt something half hearted and ill prepared. Like the wise man in Jesus' parable, build on deep and solid foundations.

Timetables

The website has an additional resource alongside the five key strands: Timetables. A detailed and comprehensive range of agendas for the planning group can be found in the drop down menu under the Timetable button. The agendas are complemented by checklists for the four key stages of the programme:

• The Preparation phase involves securing the agreement of the church leadership and pulling together a planning group to plan the programme
• The Planning phase prior to the launch of the programme which is marked by the start of the preaching series. Typically churches should allow for up to six months for the preparation phase.
• The Programme phase is made up the preaching series, typically three to five weeks in length and ended by a Thanksgiving Sunday a couple of weeks after the end of the preaching series.
• The Post Programme phase is concerned with learning lessons and making plans to address ministry and stewardship issues raised by the Giving in Grace programme.

Giving in Grace establishes formative and foundational principles which enable the church to attend to the need for Christian stewardship as a natural and normal part of church and parish life.