The Church is not wealthy. We have a legal obligation to maintain historic buildings and a Christian duty to reach out with the Good News to those who are poorest in our society. The Churches of St James in Slaithwaite and St Bartholomew’s in Marsden give all we can to the Church of England to enable ministry in some of the poorest parts of our country. These are places where they could not possible afford to pay for a parish priest (for example). We also do our best to pay for repairs to the buildings of Shred, St James and St Bartholomew’s, and to our Parish Halls. We try to keep the churchyards in good repair, but there is only so much we can do from the freewill offering of those who go to church on a Sunday.
Many of our Church buildings were built with the money of generous local business people, and given as a gift to the local people so they had somewhere to worship. However we cannot maintain these beautiful buildings without the gracious and ongoing support of today’s wealthy businesses. The buildings were never intended to be a burden on those who needed somewhere to worship, they were always supposed to be a gift. If you would like to, publically or anonymously, give financial support to the maintenance of these awesome places of worship, please contact the Vicar or one of our Treasurers.
Your support helps us maintain these significant buildings: liberating our congregation to give lovingly and sacrificially (from what money we have) to poorer parishes. Through this support, we help enable ministry where it is desperately needed: among the oppressed, the lonely and the vulnerable.
God bless you.
Freely you have received; freely give
Matthew 10:8
For more information on leaving a legacy to your Church, follow this link