Money Matters

An important way in which we can help St. John's is of course by supporting it financially. St. John's receives no financial assistance from outside sources. Everything we need for our running costs has to be provided by the congregation and by those who care about St. John's. The Church Council works hard to keep expenditure to a minimum, but there are essential costs and we have a budget of 31000 Euros this year for our everyday running expenses. This does not include any plans that we have for the necessary restoration of the building to coincide with our 100th anniversary in 2006/7, for example upgrading the heating system!

How do we raise this money?

Well, basically it is by the generosity of the worshipping community, of those who live here full time, and by those who visit regularly each year, and by occasional visitors.

How can we give?

Most people put money into the offering on a Sunday morning, for which we are very thankful, but because of the nature of our chaplaincy with so many people coming and going, it is very hard for the treasurer to make plans and budget effectively, as the amount in the plate fluctuates from week to week. We would like to ask you to seriously think about joining the Planned Giving Scheme.

The Planned Giving Scheme helps in two important ways:

1. It helps the treasurer know how much money he can count on in any one year. It ensures a regular income even if you are away.
2. It helps you give your offering in the most tax efficient way.

If you are a French taxpayer the treasurer will issue a receipt which you can file with your tax return. You will then receive a reduction of 50% of the amount you gave in your tax bill for next year. This means, for example, that if you give the church 20 Euros a week you are effectively only paying 10 Euros.

If you are a British taxpayer you can pay in sterling through Gift Aid and the church can recover the tax paid on that amount. In this case if you promised to give the church £10 a week the church would receive £12.28 with the reclaimed tax.

We would like to ask you to prayerfully consider how much you feel you can give to support St. John's, and then to make a regular commitment by planned giving.

The amount you promise to give is strictly confidential and will be known only by the Planned Giving Secretary.

If you are giving in Euros you can either choose to pay by bankers order, or by putting your offering into the offertory plate in a special envelope that you will be given. If you are giving regularly through the Planned Giving Scheme you need not feel embarrassed at not putting any thing in the plate on other Sundays.

If you would like to join the Planned giving Scheme please click to download the appropriate form.
Please note the form is available only in PDF format, to be printed and completed by hand. If your computer does not have a copy of the Adobe Reader installed, this can be downloaded from the Adobe web site - click the logo button.