Parish Visiting: One Church’s Story

One church in the Diocese of Liverpool ran a giving programme because they were facing a financial shortfall. The planning group numbered around six members who were all members of the 15 strong PCC. The personal commitment of the planning group members to increase their own giving was made during the early planning stages. This meant that they themselves felt more confident about the impact of the programme in the wider church and just as importantly their own capacity to speak about it to church members.

Parish Visiting was agreed to be an element in the programme quite early on in the planning process. The original intention was to visit PCC members in advance of the launch of the programme so that the leadership of the church at least had received a personal visit. However, parish life does not always accommodate our best laid plans; a major festival made this impossible.

The financial analysis undertaken in the planning stages suggested that levels of Gift Aid giving were lower than the deanery average. There were around 30 Gift Aid givers, many of whom were on the PCC so it was realistic to visit all the Gift Aid givers. This was the initial target and it was realistic to achieve. In practice, however, the visitors were able to visit the entire congregation. The parish had prepared the essential literature, a brochure, letter and response form. This material formed the basis of the personal visits.

No training for visitors was undertaken but most visitors came from the planning group and so could communicate a high level of personal investment and commitment to the stewardship initiative. The programme proved successful with a high percentage response rate and significantly increased giving which established the church on a more solid financial footing.