We made another technological advance on Monday when we ran a “hybrid” Finance Fabric and Governance SubTeam meeting. Most of the team were in the Quiet Room but Tom appeared on the giant TV screen for an item we needed his advice on. Brains in Thunderbirds had plenty of ideas about the future. He never imagined the church of the 21st century operating like this.
It was good to hear that James, our treasurer, sees our future positively. His good news was that we had had an excellent year as a church financially. He issued a note of caution that we have received some very large individual gifts over the last two years to supplement our ongoing regular income.
We still intend to give 11% of that income to those who spread the good news of Christ within the UK and around the world and, of course, to support the poor. And as far as the Jar of Grace is concerned, James is hoping that we will reach the £2,000 mark this year. Although this is much lower than normal because of Covid, we will have significant extra support from the parents and children of St Francis school.
We also looked at a way of enabling the church to move from one mission partner to another, taking the needs of smaller organisations, with less financial resilience into account. PCC will debate a recommendation at our next meeting.