share
the stewardship magazine 18
generosity V austerity:
an interview with Lord Michael Hastings
Egypt helping children give hope in action and much more transforming generosity SS5369 share 18 V5 REPRO.indd 1
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about us
We are Stewardship, a charity that effectively releases resources to support individuals, charities and organisations worldwide. Our mission is to enable you to live and give generously, advancing God’s Kingdom. We believe that generosity is transformational, for the giver and for the receiver. Our work inspires and supports a generous resourcing community, with transformational results. We are delighted to partner with you in your journey of generosity. contact us PO Box 99, Loughton, Essex, IG10 3QJ 020 8502 5600 enquiries@stewardship.org.uk www.stewardship.org.uk
editorial I often find myself slightly confused about the Big Society. Clearly, I am not alone. Perhaps the difficulty in understanding Big Society is actually symbolic of the problem. We struggle to comprehend it because we’re accustomed to being directed – told how to think, to live and to respond. Is the Big Society uncomfortable because it requires us to think for ourselves?
Most of all, though, Big Society is nothing new. One need only look back to the great Victorian social reformers to be reminded of that. Or at local churches and charities today: just as they have been the bedrock of community for generations past, so they continue to transform lives in the present. And it was Jesus who intentionally sought out society’s outcasts, telling us to clothe the naked and feed the hungry. Across these pages you will see examples of how the spirit of the Big Society is alive and well, in spite of what you read in the news. It can be found in the crossbench peer and the pupil who was once at risk of exclusion. It is part of our past and our future, to be nurtured in our children and be celebrated as local churches meet the needs of those around them.
Editor: Craig Borlase Design: www.adeptdesign.co.uk
Michael O’Neill, Chief Executive Correction
Stewardship is the operating name of Stewardship Services (UKET) Limited, a registered charity in England and Wales no. 234714 and a company limited by guarantee no. 90305
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hope in action
I believe Big Society is an invitation. It asks us to take ownership (and dare I say, responsibility) for our own lives, our own society and the current and future direction of our own country. An invitation that opens the door for individuals and groups to influence local, regional and national agendas, not simply by directing politicians, but rather by choosing to change things through our own actions and those of our fellow community members.
In this issue of Share we focus on the place of generosity in an age of austerity. I hope you will find wisdom, insight and encouragement as you read this magazine, and that when you put it down you do so with a renewed sense of optimism in the transforming power of true generosity.
You can contact the editor by emailing editor@stewardship.org.uk
Features...
In the previous issue of Share we printed some information about Church Mission Society which was inaccurate. We apologise for the error and offer the following clarification: Their expenditure budget for this financial year is £7.5 million and CMS people in mission work in 37 countries. They have 167 mission partners, 54 co-mission partners, 9 short-termers and 105 other people in mission, making a total of 335 workers/partners.
14-17 Lord Michael Hastings
Is the Big Society uncomfortable because it requires us to think for ourselves?
18-20 Egypt: crisis and opportunity
22-23 small acorns: encouraging giving in children
The magazine is printed on paper from farmed forests: for each tree felled, another is planted. The paper is chlorine-free and environmentally friendly.
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Round here, one church shuts down every two years - we’re bucking the trend
hope in action With Manchester to the east and Liverpool to the west, the Borough of Halton runs the risk of being overshadowed. The area, like its bigger neighbours, has experienced job losses, crime and disaffection. Yet Stewardship has helped one local church bring transformation to the area. “Round here, one church shuts down every two years,” explains Mark Finch, Senior Minister at Hope Corner Community Church. “So we’re bucking the trend. We wanted to plant a new church where we saw the greatest need. It’s growing slowly but steadily.” On a percentage basis, Halton has the highest number of under-18s in the UK. Of those, some are living in long-term poverty, vulnerable situations or have experienced one or 6
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The school allocated Hope Corner its own dedicated area where students could go – if needed – during lessons and Having decided to focus on the at break and lunchtime. Mark needs of this vulnerable group, explains that “the idea was to Hope Corner offered to help keep the kids who had left the out in local secondary schools. classrooms during lessons out Mark remembers an early of the corridors and help them response: “We phoned and they focus on something positive, practically bit our hands off! but pretty soon they were We’d hardly got the words out not only staying in class, but before they were asking when behaving better too.” we could come down and start Within two years the church helping them.” was working in three senior more forms of exclusion. Hope Corner did not have to look far to see the need.
schools, eventually being invited by the local education authority to become part of a specialist group of providers launching a new school. “We work with the most vulnerable young people who are on the point of going to prison, truanting regularly, or experiencing a chaotic home life,” says Mark. “We’re also an examination centre, working to try to change negative attitudes to life, education and even Christianity!” The church’s bold vision for the future is to open a school in their own right, with places for any 14 to 19-year-old pupils who need them. By any standards, buying land and
building a new church centre and school is a big leap of faith. Enter Kevin Russell, Stewardship’s Technical Director who has helped Hope Corner get started. “Kevin was wonderful,” enthuses Mark. Kevin was happy to help, saying that “Hope Corner is an innovative church that has literally taken the church to the streets. It is neither a church nor a school but both, uniquely wrapped into one and the same thing. Stewardship was so pleased to be able to help them realise their dream by providing mortgage finance that has helped unlock further funding.”
The results are remarkable. Young people who would have left school at 16 and drifted into long-term unemployment or crime now find work, go to college or, in two cases, to university. Many are also coming to faith, to Mark’s delight. “We wait for them to ask us questions about what we believe – and they all do.” As is often the case, Hope Corner found that a Stewardship mortgage allowed staff and volunteers to continue bringing their vision into reality. We love working in this way, supporting local churches as they live out the good news of the gospel.
For the full story of Hope Corner and to see how we could help your next project, visit www.stewardship.org.uk/mortgages 7
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for all the tea in China
Go deeper: NE
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Did you know that some Christian workers still get sent used teabags from their home churches? Myles Wilson draws inspiration from the New Testament and suggests a better style of support. If you want to know what it means to be a good missionary supporter one of the best places to look is the New Testament. Paul uses his letter to the Philippians as an opportunity to thank them for their gift and reflect on the ways they supported him.
Funding the Family Business – Revised Edition OUT NOW.
Partnership (1:4-5) Paul told the Philippians they were partners in the gospel. As Paul said to the church in Rome, how can they preach unless they are sent? (Romans 10:15). It is senders like you who make it possible for missionaries to go. You are not just someone who provides the money, you are part of the team.
A blessing for hundreds of missionaries around the world, Myles Wilson’s popular book, updated and revised, is now more useful than ever for anyone living, like Paul, from the financial support of others.
Prayers (1:19) Paul knew the Philippians’ prayers made a difference. It is easy to tell a missionary ‘we’ll pray for you’, but it isn’t always as easy to follow through on that promise. If you struggle to get a routine of praying for your missionary, here’s a creative suggestion I saw recently: pray on whatever date of the month your birthday is on, emailing them in advance to ask what you can pray for.
Joy (1:26)
Concern (4:10)
Having his supporters share his emotions was important to Paul. Your missionary probably lives in a very different context to you, and they are often put on a pedestal, expected to cope with life’s struggles and successes with a stoic detachedness. They need you to ask the real questions and not be satisfied with the pat answers. Try to get into their minds and identify with situations you might not really understand. Weep when they weep and laugh when they laugh.
Paul described the financial support from the Philippians as ‘concern’. Their financial support was not based on his performance, it was an act of grace strongly bound up in their relationship with him. Try to encourage your missionary by the way you give. Regular monthly support makes it easier for them to plan, and the odd special gift in addition is such an encouragement. And remember, you are partners in the process, equals but with different roles to play. While you can advise them as a concerned partner, you can’t hold them accountable about how they use your support. You are accountable to God about how you give; they are accountable to God about how they use the money.
Messenger (2:25) The Philippians didn’t just send money, they sent a person (called Epaphroditus). They had no option, given that there wasn’t any other way of getting their gift to Paul. But Epaphroditus didn’t just bring the money. He was a great help to Paul while he was there. A visit to your missionary could be amazing for both of you, but if you can’t visit them then the odd skype call, text message, email, birthday card or phone call will be hugely appreciated. God answers prayers. The missionary answers emails! 8
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cS maller format – easier to pack in a suitcase or read on a train! cN ew chapters – facing giants and learning how ‘not’ to ask. cR evised exercises and new downloadable content.
Order your new copy now by visiting www.ftfb.org.uk
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shine your light Ruth Leigh found out how one local project has impacted two different lives.
Leah is a TLG student : What’s the best thing about The Lighthouse Group (TLG)?
Louise: We can add years to young people’s lives by changing habits that will affect their entire future. I love that they find family and a sense of belonging here.
Leah: I was really badly behaved at school. I used to swear and shout at teachers and run out of classes. I got kicked out of school and went to a PRU (Pupil Referral Unit) – then I came to TLG.
: How did you get involved?
Louise: When I was young, I’d tell God ‘I’ll go anywhere, I’ll do anything’, hoping for a few years abroad. Instead, he took me at my word and brought me to the toughest, most heartbreaking – but most amazing – time of my life at TLG in Bradford!
Leah: I don’t really at the moment. I’d like to but I’m a bit scared of doing it and what people might think of me.
: How do you communicate your faith with others?
Louise: TLG is the biggest expression of my faith. We have to be careful with work/ life balance but here we live out a life of forgiveness, compassion and love every day.
Leah: There’s a group of us going on a trip to Africa to see what life is like for the kids there and to help teach them. I’m going to take out some clothes with me to leave for the kids because they’ve not got anything.
: Tell us your favourite TLG story.
Louise: One lad brought a knife into TLG, but admitted to it and had it confiscated. He began to be a lot more open with the team. We found out that he’d been creeping into the church fellowship meetings and sitting at the back! He would work his way around all the evening church meetings and loved the sense of belonging he got from them.
Leah: Try and talk about your problems. The more you keep it in, the more it will get to you and affect your life. So tell people about it – places like TLG can help you.
: What advice would you give to young people who’ve given up hope?
Louise: I’d let them know that there are people who care. All our staff care, and believe in our young people. Without hope, a lot of young people from such extreme situations won’t survive, but with hope they’ll find their reason for living.
Leah: Being able to talk about personal stuff, knowing staff will listen and support me.
Leah: I’m going to college to study Health and Social Care. Then I plan to go to university one day and become a midwife.
The Lighthouse Group (TLG) is a Christian charity that works with young people who have been excluded from school, at risk of exclusion or are at crisis point in their education. 10
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Louise Chenery is TLG’s Supporter Development Coordinator
: What next?
Louise: TLG are looking to partner with more churches, with the aim of a centre in every city. We have just launched Early Intervention, which sees TLG enable church volunteers to go into local schools to mentor children who are struggling.
TLG was registered by Stewardship’s charity formation team and now regularly receives support from our giving account holders. For more information visit www.tlg.org.uk 11
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announcing... This course has been a life-saver, thank you so much on behalf of our entire family.
Developed in partnership with Alpha and Credit Action, The Money Course blends biblical principles with tried and tested, practical teaching to help people take control of their personal or household finances. Over four sessions, this exciting new course will help you to: cB uild, step by step, a personal or household budget in order to take control of your money cT hink through wider issues of financial capability, the importance of financial planning, regular saving, the wise use of credit and the importance of generous giving cE xplore the foothills of a biblical perspective on managing money cF ind personal help and one to one support through a personal budget coach and referral to specialist debt advice if appropriate The course includes tips and strategies on controlling and balancing personal finances, and highly effective practical methods of managing spending day by day.
The Money Course meets a real need. Our attitude towards money and how we handle it are not subjects most of us find easy to talk about, yet we see all around us the problems in relation to money. The Money Course aims to apply biblical wisdom in a very practical way – we are thrilled to partner with Stewardship and Credit Action to develop this new resource. Nicky Gumbel, Vicar, Holy Trinity Brompton and pioneer of the Alpha Course The Money Course has been a resounding success‌ and the take-up on the course was beyond expectation. We believe that this course is of value to everyone, whatever their financial situation, and whatever their faith situation. City Church Aberdeen intends to make The Money Course a foundational part of our toolkit in equipping our congregation and reaching out to our community.
recently ly n o e r as We a money h d n a , d een marrie sue betw lly is ig b a ea been rse has r y u o c is h n us. T dress ma h d a s u d suc helpe as been h d n a s r issue fit to ou e n e b e g a hu . marriage
A big, big t - we wer hank you e bad plac in such a e course b before the ut much hap are so pier now .
Simon Glazier, Money Course leader, City Church, Aberdeen
Be one of the first churches to run this new Alpha course in 2011; visit:
www.themoneycourse.org
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a society worth fighting for Is the age of austerity too fierce an opponent for generosity? Or should philanthropists shout louder than ever? And what about those bankers; what’s the right way to respond? Lord Michael Hastings – a senior director at a major global professional services organization – untangled the wires as he spoke with Craig Borlase.
‘No, I definitely wouldn’t say that.’ The words themselves may not be that surprising, but the conviction with which they are delivered ensures the speaker is heard. The Rt. Hon. The Lord Hastings of Scarisbrick CBE (‘but just call me Michael’) could not be clearer on this: the current troubles experienced by those promoting the Big Society are not an indication that people would rather look after themselves than their neighbour. Not at all. ‘What we’re witnessing is an extremely expected media storm around the perceptions of the Big Society. I think that the inner thread and heart of this concept is that society is genuinely a collection of relational, embracing, 14
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committed, enthusiastic, otherfocused individuals who need to put their individual strength together to achieve something bigger than themselves. And actually that has nothing to do with government, nothing to do with local authorities, in many ways nothing to do with charities. All of those are intervening institutions which enable this big thread to come through and have focus to it.’ Yet that’s not quite the way many journalists see it. Set against a backdrop of cuts and service reductions, all this talk about citizens re-engaging with the needs of their local communities sounds like a distraction, little more than smoke and mirrors. ‘That’s the starting point for these hard-nosed criticisms,’ says Michael. ‘That unless
government drives social engagement, unless government drives social commitment, unless government drives social cohesion it doesn’t happen. Well that is entirely wrong. Societies have existed for millennia without the functions and roles of government, and they are entirely based on the strength of human connectedness, and the values that allow people to embrace each other with a mixture of both purpose and emotion and do things together which are transformative.’ ‘We have to... re-engage our inner optimism, our inner hope, our inner sense of our own purpose. We have to be prepared to be entrepreneurial about how things should change around us, and not wait until we’re given permission.’
society is genuinely a collection of relational, embracing, committed, enthusiastic, other-focused individuals who need to put their individual strength together to achieve something bigger than themselves.
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Ah. Permission. These are interesting times for Christians in the UK. Previous assumptions about the way the law and Christianity interact no longer seem to hold true. No wonder some of us are tempted to feel fearful. ‘We’ve become too accustomed to the permission culture, we’ve become very frightened by the restraints and restrictions of health and safety regulation, very concerned about child protection – a whole vast array of things that cause us to feel locked in – and unless we’re given permission we worry “Can I actually do this or not?” When actually the imperative ought to be “Wow! There’s a chance – I’m going to step forward.”’ Michael tells a story of Tom Benyon, a friend and colleague who – in his late 60s – decided to walk from Edinburgh to London to raise money for Zane, the charity he runs that works with black and white communities in Zimbabwe. His fundraising target was £250,000, but the final tally raised was over £400,000. And behind that headline is an even greater – perhaps more relevant – story: in order to maximise funds and minimise costs, Tom sent out word that he was looking for places to stay and for people to feed him throughout his six-week trek. The result? Everything he 16
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needed was provided for free by individuals, business and groups who were just happy to be involved. ‘All of that came together because of this intense sense of what is just, right, opportunistic and responsible and entrepreneurial. What was the role of the government? Zero. What was the role of the local authorities? Zero. What was the role of an intervening agency? Zero. All of this was because people chose to stand up for the marginalised in Zimbabwe. I think that’s the
Finance is an enabler. It is not an idol in its own right spirit of the Big Society. It’s going for things that are not necessarily in front of our face, that are not necessarily easy to grasp or deal with, that are long-term issues but saying that I care enough about this to ensure that I am part of the picture.’ The conversation turns away from the potential of the individual to meet society’s problems, takes a slight detour to discuss the Church of England and sandwiches, and lands here, where the rubber hits the road: if we need to ‘re-engage our inner optimism’ and ‘make a difference’, what
about that other breed of individual making headlines today? What about the bankers, what questions do they have to face? Michael begins with a little context: ‘Let me put a little spin on it before I answer the question. In the same way that the Big Society has become demonised by those who readily misunderstand it and choose then to turn it into what it was never described as... I also feel very strongly that bankers have come in for an uncomfortable and unnecessary bashing. ‘It is fundamentally necessary that banks do really well: we need them to trade, we need them to profit, we need them to succeed. We need that flow of cash that allows us to buy our houses, to start our businesses, to invest in new ideas and design, to get our markets flourishing, to create jobs that release people from poverty. We don’t need to be harassing banks aggressively for the actions that some have taken. We’ve all seen nasty train crashes when people have lost their lives, and there have been aspects of carelessness in the way in which maintenance has been done. Do we then spend a generation berating the train companies or do we get on them because they are a fundamental utility to enable the functioning of a society
that gives us those freedoms? We have to open our eyes wide and help the banks and commercial organisations to come back to the roots of why they came into existence in the first place – to undergird opportunity and work. Finance is an enabler. It is not an idol in its own right, it is an enabler of social values.’ And what of us – the high street consumers – is there a plank in our own eye? ‘Banks lend and people want to be lent to. There are two players in this game, and we make choices to use our cards to access the things we want. We make choices to borrow over and above our capacity to sustain the debt, we make choices which are stimulated and encouraged sometimes by financial institutions, but this is a game of two sides. These are truths which are too infrequently told, and the balance between what we spend and what we give is at the heart of the Gospels. Finding that balance may not be easy, but as Michael reminds us, it is a goal worth pursuing:
‘We need the effective presence of generosity, philanthropy, charity foundations, not-for-profitorganisations and causes. And we also need the strength of individual engagement and the
power of individual enthusiasm and the intensity of hope that things must and can be changed. If we can put those factors together then we’ve got a society worth fighting for.’
Lord Michael
Hastings big society supporter
V the AGE OF
austerity opponent of generosity
n of society is genuinely a collectio uals ivid ind d committed, other-focuse ual who need to put their individ strength together to achieve es. something bigger than themselv
Lord Hastings is an Independent Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords and last year chaired the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Westminster hosted by the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lord Speaker of the House of Lords. He holds many Board positions
including with the Vodafone Foundation and Millennium Promise – an organisation focused on ending extreme poverty in the developing world, and is Chairman of the Council of Reference for Zane (Zimbabwe A National Emergency).
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them that helps to complete the picture. Rows of men, heads uncovered, kneeling and bowing forwards as street lights signal either the start or the end of another day.
There were tales of Christian and Muslim marching side by side, of protestors sharing gas masks, of crowds organising themselves into informal first-aid groups
Beneath the image the photographer has written the following description: ‘A pic I took yesterday of Christians protecting Muslims during their prayers #Jan25’
Photo: Kodak Agfa
Photo: NevineZaki
Photo: Sarah Carr
living generously while revolutions rage
As protests and revolutions have so rapidly transformed the Middle East, the presence of radical, self-sacrificial generosity has caught some observers by surprise. But should we really be so stunned?
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It is not much of a photo really. In the foreground a young Egyptian man stares out of the frame, his brow furrowed, his eyes alert. But for what? For trouble? For a friend? To his left, on the right of the shot, we see another man: taller, looking in the same direction, but this time smiling. The two men are holding hands, but it is what we see behind
This was not the only time that Christians formed a protective cordon around their Muslim neighbours during early days of the recent revolution in Egypt. Nor was their kindness unreciprocated: there were many cases of Muslims standing guard outside churches while Christians gathered inside. But January 25th was the day on which the revolution began, and these acts of sacrifice that united Christian and Muslim were symptomatic of the strength of the forces of change at work. And this act of generous kindness went to the heart of the matter. 2011 started with an event the type of which has become wearily familiar over recent years. At 00:20hrs on 1.1.11 an explosive device containing nails and ballbearings detonated in front of the Coptic Orthodox church of Saint Mark and Pope Peter in Alexandria. Among the crowd of several thousand, 23 Coptic Christians lost their lives in an
instant, and almost 100 were injured. In the clashes between Christians and police that followed, many Western media outlets assumed that the story was to be filed along with so many other examples of tension between Christianity and Islam. And yet, less than two months later, a thoroughly different story had been written. There were tales of Christian and Muslim marching side by side, of protestors sharing gas masks, of crowds organising themselves into informal firstaid groups - providing vinegar and fizzy drinks to help cancel out the effects of tear gas. As more than one eyewitness in Egypt commented, the fall of Hosni Mubarak and the role of the military in shepherding a new civilian government into existence was every bit as significant as the fall of the Berlin wall or the sudden demise of Communism. Nobody was predicting that kind of revolution as New Year’s Day dawned. According to Nevine Zaki, the photographer who captured the image of the Christian shield around Muslim worshippers, few could have seen it coming: ‘Before January 25th, if you had taken a walk down any street in Cairo, you would have seen herds of people with the same expression, 19
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disappointment, manifested in many forms. From the angry faces of the two cab drivers fighting, to the mother yelling at her child to not let go of her hand, each had the same body posture, they walked with their heads down, shoulders dropped and everyone looked like they had just lost a battle. How could you motivate all of these people that have been drenched in disinterest their whole lives to go down and march for their freedom?’ Yet something did motivate them. The tired old script of defeat or hatred or apathy was torn up and thrown out. Individuals realised afresh their collective power and self-sacrifice and generosity tore down the walls that had previously held a nation captive. Perhaps Zaki’s words hold the key: ‘By the time I took that picture and I shared it on Twitter, I thought I was simply sharing a nice sight, as this was perhaps the tenth time Egyptians had seen Christians and Muslims protecting each other during their prayers. I never expected it to be such a worldwide sensation as it was communicating a gesture that we were all used to seeing here. Funnily enough, my Egyptian friends on Facebook didn’t share it because they never felt it was newsworthy.’
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The will to offer oneself as protection for another, to literally ‘stand in the gap’ and give what little you have for the benefit of another - no matter what the risk - is the purest, and simplest form of generosity. And it is profoundly powerful. Nothing is ever truly black and white, and even though momentous events have taken place, the hard work is far from over. Speaking from Egypt, Ramez Atallah, Director of the Bible Society of Egypt, gave his assessment of the issues lying in wait:
The tired old script of defeat or hatred or apathy was torn up and thrown out. “People will be very free to express themselves against the government. People will be free to make their opinions... We are going to go to a kind of situation where trade unions are asking for the rights of their people and people expect the sky. They expect a government will double their salaries, give them what they want so we will face a period of social unrest as people adjust to freedom.” “My concern is that outsiders or mission leaders or others
would be naïve to think that Egypt is now a free country in terms of religious choice. I think that [there is] much more freedom for Christians to worship within their churches or build places of worship… but it will not necessarily get easier to share the Gospel with people who are not Christians and certainly not get easier for Muslims to decide to follow Christ.” Will they cope? Will the revolution fulfil its potential? If the same spirit that led Christian and Muslim to protect each other while at prayer can be allowed room to thrive, then the country will continue its remarkable transformation. While we - rightly - are worried about recession, cuts and the implications for us all of the coming age of austerity, there are lessons that we in the West can learn from Egypt. We may be tempted to feel defeated, we may even be tempted to blame traditional enemies for the struggles we now face, but if we keep our heads down and our focus solely on ourselves, what chance do we have of bringing hope to our neighbours? If we can learn to unshackle the natural instinct for generosity and reach across invisible divides to offer our help to others, then surely the oppression of painful cuts and increased financial struggles will be lessened?
I
t is 1611 – the United Kingdom is far from united, civil unrest bubbles under the surface, the economy sits on a knife-edge and poverty threatens families up and down the land. That same year Robert Barker, the King’s Printer, runs out the first copies of the Authorised Version of the Bible (the King James). The first publication of the Bible, in English, available to all.
400 years later the effects of this first edition are plain to see. And this year Biblefresh is uniting the church to celebrate this special anniversary, supported by a wealth of resources, tools and events to encourage people to take a fresh look at the Bible. But this year is also about giving; specifically, to provide two more languages with the gift of God’s word. Eddie Arthur, Director of Wycliffe Bible Translators, explains: “None of us can remember a time when the Bible wasn’t available to us in English, but the same can’t be said for the people of Burkina Faso, where most of the languages do not have a Bible available to them. God has blessed the Englishspeaking people with his word in their language for four hundred years. Shouldn’t we share this blessing with others?” Biblefresh is partnering with churches in Burkina Faso, Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Bible Society to help bring the Bible to the Bissa peoples of Burkina.
God has blessed the Englishspeaking people with his word in their language for four hundred years. Shouldn’t we share this blessing with others
To find out more, or to contribute to the translation appeal fund administered by Stewardship, visit: www.biblefresh.com 21
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legal & financial roundup Kevin Russell opens up the world of charity finance
Briefing Papers: Gift Aid ‘carry back’
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Budget 2011
Compulsory Workplace Pensions The financial press is increasingly reporting that employers will, by law, have to provide pensions to all of their staff from next year. This will inevitably mean increased costs for many charities, especially small ones, and put further pressure on already stretched budgets. The correct position is that for most charities, the rules will not apply until somewhere between 2014 and 2016. Charities do, however, need to plan appropriately for the change.
The Chancellor delivered his 2011 Budget Speech on 23 March. To find out how the announcements will affect your church or charity, refer to our ever-popular Budget Briefing Paper at www.stewardship.org.uk/ budget
For an overview of the requirements and to find out when they will apply to your charity, please refer to our Briefing Note 2011/2: Pensions Reform: Workplace Pensions, available from www.stewardship.org.uk/briefing
Vetting and Barring Scheme The Vetting and Barring Scheme (‘VBS’) is relevant to all churches and charities working with young people or vulnerable adults. The Scheme, which is not yet fully in force, will govern the requirements for Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks and registration of people working with children and vulnerable adults. The Coalition Government has just completed a first stage review of the Scheme which it regards as unduly onerous and bureaucratic. As a result, the Government proposes to bring simplifications to reduce the number of CRB checks required and to merge the
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Criminal Records Bureau with the Independent Safeguarding Authority. To find out more about the proposed changes and what the current rules require, please refer to our Briefing Note 2011/1: Review of the Vetting and Barring Scheme available from www.stewardship.org.uk/briefing
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Did you know that you can ask HMRC to treat some or all of your gift aid donations as if they were made in the previous tax year? Does it matter? Well, yes. There are a number of situations where it would be tax advantageous to make such a claim, including where a donor unfortunately loses their job part way through a tax year. Another example is where a higher rate of tax is paid in an earlier year. To find out about these and other examples of how the relief works, please refer to our new Briefing Paper: Gift aid carry back - treating your donation as if made in the previous tax year, available from http://bit.ly/giftaidCB
Other Briefing Papers At the same time, why not review the full list of over seventy free Briefing Papers that we provide by visiting www.stewardship.org.uk/ briefing These Papers are specially written by our professional team with churches and Christian charities in mind – tailored to your needs and presented in an easy, accessible style.
Substantial donors We were delighted that the Government recently published draft legislation to repeal the ill-fated Substantial Donor legislation and replace it with new ‘Tainted Charity Donations’ rules. Since publication, Stewardship has worked closely with HMRC to remove any unintended consequences for charities, and we are now happy to support this new law. At the time of writing, we are expecting a revised draft to be included in Finance Bill 2011 for which we will produce an explanatory Briefing Paper.
Consultancy Helpline As the Charity Commission prepares to make significant cutbacks, especially in relation to their advice service for charities, we are increasingly concerned that you have all of the information and tools to enable you to ‘get it right’. We work closely with the Commission and other relevant agencies such as HMRC and provide a low cost, professional telephone and email consultancy service. Starting at just £40 + VAT for a year’s subscription, the Helpline covers charity law, tax, accounts, property, insurance, HR and more. To discover just how much you can benefit from joining, visit www.stewardship.org.uk/consultancy
Kevin Russell Technical Director
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If there’s one quote from Jesus that Christians are tempted to turn into a consumer slogan, it’s this: life to the full. Didn’t Jesus say, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10)? The connection with the consumer dream is obvious. You want to maximize your life? Jesus came to make it happen! Alarm bells should start ringing, though, when Jesus and the advertisers say the same thing. Actually, Jesus saying “Maximize your life” would have been as likely as him ordering a ham and pineapple pizza for the Last Supper. But because we’re so conditioned to maximize our lives, we naturally hear Jesus’ words that way. We easily imagine a bigger bubble of possessions, a greater collection of experiences. We confuse ‘life to the full’ with a full life.
If there’s one quote from Jesus that Christians are tempted to turn into a consumer slogan, it’s this: life to the full
But that’s not what life to the full means. Jesus isn’t offering a course in self-advancement or a cure for baldness. The life Jesus talks about in John’s gospel is to know God, to escape the tragic consequences of sin, and to be raised to a new existence after death (if that doesn’t sound like life to the full, we’ve got the consumer bug worse than we think!).
I’m not suggesting that by life Jesus meant some kind of distant dream. Right now, the life he offers really is LIFE, a new way of living (and dying). But it has nothing to do with collecting more and more stuff. Quite the opposite. The Greek word in John 10:10, often translated ‘to the full’, is perissos. It means ‘abundantly’, but also ‘more than enough’ or ‘with some to spare’. In the Bible, perissos describes the money we have left over to give to charity. Perissos is the food we don’t need because we’ve had plenty. It’s the name for the baskets of spare crumbs gathered up after the hungry have been fed (Mark 12:44; Luke 15:17; Matthew 14:20).
It means life to the overflow. Life to the overflow is about having above and beyond what we need so that we can share. It’s about living with less so that others might be blessed. It’s not about having, it’s about giving. Life to the overflow isn’t an ever-increasing bubble of possessions; it’s more like a cup which, when it is filled up, spills over into the lives of others. That’s very different from maximizing your life.
Words in the perissos family are sometimes translated as ‘overflow’. Paul uses them to explain how God’s gift to us in Jesus Christ overflows to many people in need of grace. He also uses them to describe the way poor Christians in Macedonia let sacrificial giving overflow through them, even though they basically had nothing left (Romans 5:15; 2 Corinthians 8:1-3). In other words, this is not about the consumer dream. When perissos applies to possessions in the Bible, it doesn’t mean life to the full.
Consumer Detox: Less Stuff, More Life is published by Zondervan, priced £9.99 22 26
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