You only want my money!

We have heard this old chestnut many times.  I cannot speak for every church or charitable organisation, but please take my word that CHURCH@Claremont, and most other churches, are not in it for the money!

Unfortunately some organisations which call themselves churches do get carried away with money and possessions.  You may have heard of church leaders with exotic lifestyles, cars and even their own aircraft.  You might have seen TV evangelists talk about investing in God's work so as to be 'sure' of an even bigger return.  Most of those are not based in the United Kingdom and most real churches do not appreciate their excesses.  We believe that there is much more satisfaction in serving God and trusting Him for everything that we need - including finance.  He can be trusted, as many Christians have discovered.  God doesn't need our money - what He really wants is our whole lives, dedicated back to Him! 

It is true, of course, that maintaining a building and paying our very limited staff incurs a cost.  It is also true that we encourage free-will giving by the congregation, because we know that God blesses those who give back to Him.  But we never pressure anyone to give and we are always quick to support genuinely good causes and needy cases.  We will never judge you on how much or how little you give, or even if you never trouble our offering boxes.  The only information that we collect is when someone makes a donation, we ask for very limited details so that we can claim 'Gift Aid' back from the Inland Revenue - but we never insist.

There is a scriptural and practical principal of giving back to God a portion of what He has given to us.  If we show our gratitude to God in that way, many people experience that He does tend to be generous back to us - but that isn't the gospel that we preach.  God started this 'giving thing' by giving His own Son (Jesus Christ) - freely - to make a way back to Him for mankind, who had lost their way.  Many of the congregation are so grateful to God that they choose to give freely and generously of both time and money to the church and to its ministry of bringing hope to people.

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.  (John 3:16-17 NLT)

Our primary goal is to serve God and the people around us.  For this reason, most of our events are either free or very good value.  Our Tea and Toast is free to all who come into our building.  Our refreshments following every Sunday meeting are free.  Even our charity concerts, for example, are usually priced at only £10 per ticket - and we will give free tickets to those who find even that sum a challenge.  Where else could you get an evening of quality entertainment for £10?  

Most of the people that you will meet in the church are giving their time voluntarily.  If you want to show your gratitude to God, ask us and we will find ways for you to serve Him... and, Yes, if you want to contribute financially to the church, we will accept that gratefully too.

It's just that we love God and we want to serve Him at every opportunity.