First Fruits: the Parish Giving Scheme
The Parish Giving Scheme is the best way to give, support our church and help us grow in generous discipleship.
At harvest God’s people offered the first fruits of the land. The gifts supported the priests who had no land and provided for worship (Dt 26:1-11). The giver’s prayer begins with personal thanksgiving. It ends with the shared story of God’s people.
Centuries later, St Paul advises the Christians in Corinth, “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income…” (1 Cor 16:2).
Give our first fruits. Give on the first day. Generosity is a first thought. Not an after-thought. Let’s give well. Read this personal story; a lived experience of trust. And check out our blog: Fruitful Soil.
Giving well
First up, both these bible passages connect our giving and our worship. Money’s a spiritual business. The offertory plate is part of our liturgy. We can give in different ways. We can’t lose the connection with worship.
Second, there’s a big question to ask ourselves. How best to, ‘set a sum of money aside’ in today’s world?
Thirdly, ‘in keeping with your income’ means we give from what we have. That’s Paul teaching in 2 Cor 8:12. Giving that reflects our income. But there’s more to it.
Most of us (not all) still use cash occasionally. Most of us (not all) don’t use cash to manage our money. We’re doing money differently and that’s OK. So doing giving differently is OK too. It happens world over; see this powerful story from India.
Here’s the thing: how we give matters. How we plan our giving should stand up with our other personal financial decisions. Because how we give helps shape how much we give.
What is the Parish Giving Scheme?
It began quietly in the diocese of Gloucester back in 2008 . Today the Parish Giving Scheme (PGS) can be used in every Church of England diocese. It’s a charity and in 2024 the PGS facilitated over £100million in gifts from over 88,000 givers to 5,500 Church of England parishes.
All for free. Free to the giver. Free to the local church. It’s so good for churches the running costs are paid for by the Archbishop’s Council via a grant from the Church Commissioners. Standing orders have been brilliant for churches but the PGS does everything a standing order does; and then some.
The PGS makes automatic Gift Aid claims where eligible. The gift and the Gift Aid land in the church bank account the same month the gift is given It makes a big difference to cash flow.
The PGS saves precious volunteer time. It simplifies financial administration. It saves time and stress counting and banking cash. Did we mention we can also make one off gifts too, even as a guest - at a lower transaction fee than most giving platforms.
There’s also an option to link your giving to inflation each year. Over half of PGS givers choose that option (yes, it’s an option) and the PGS check you still want to do it, every year. If not; say no.
(In Wales you want Rhoi yn Syth (Gift Direct). If not Anglican, Stewardship giving accounts are the place to go.)
What’s not to like!
Well, nothing really! The only requirement is a bank account and 98% of adults have one (98% ). Anyone can use the PGS. It doesn’t depend on age, income, employment or whether we pay tax. (Around 1m adults don’t have a bank account (source) so other ways are needed.) Reflecting the biblical principle of first fruits, gifts are currently made on the first day of each month. Just be aware of that timing. One other thing. Higher rate taxpayers may want to consider payroll giving as a one step route to tax efficient giving.
Joining is easy. The church registers with the PGS (a PCC decision) then anyone can join, name their church and set up their giving in minutes: online, by a short phone call or by snail mail to the Gloucester office.
Giving through the PGS is safe, secure and simple. And remember: you are in control of your giving, always.
Giving and worship
I give electronically so how do connect my worship and my giving? It’s the same question as for standing orders and contactless or online giving.
Many churches don’t pass round an offertory plate but almost every church has one and almost everywhere an offertory prayer is prayed. When we say, ‘all things come from you and of your own do we give you’ we want our giving reflected in the prayer and represented on the plate.
So, let’s be creative and thoughtful in the prayerful words at the offertory. The coins and notes on the plate are not the sum total of our giving. Our offertory prayer should name that rich truth. And we can still connect our giving and our worship using a simple, popular and helpful solution.
Giving cards, the size of business cards, help connect our electronic giving and worship. It doesn’t matter if the plate by the church door or passed around in worship. We simply put our giving cards on the plate. Our giving is reflected in worship and represented on the plate. Most churches leave giving cards at the back of church to be picked up before worship. Some churches provide a pack of 52 cards; just like giving envelopes.
Check out our generic and customisable Canva templates, for home or professional printing.
(Templates ready end of March 2026)
Tell me more
Response forms invite requests for information on ways to give. Again we have a generic PGS leaflet and a customisable Canva template at Preparing for a Response. (Click for a bi-fold Rhoi yn Syth (Gift Direct) brochure).
First Fruits
The first fruits supported the priests who had no land. But the giving of first fruits was not only provision for worship. The bringing of the gifts was itself an act of worship. (Deuteronomy26:1-11)