generosity and Jubilee

‘Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.’ (1 Thessalonians 5:18). 

I have been fortunate enough to have grown up in a world where the American festival of Thanksgiving has grown in popularity (in no small part due to the TV sitcom ‘Friends’ and their almost routine annual Thanksgiving catastrophes!).  Thus, for me, thankfulness, Thanksgiving and generosity all become associated with the smell of cinnamon spice, pumpkin pie and the clamour of dozens of people crowding into my house on cold wintery nights.

We use Thanksgiving (the third Thursday in November), to invite the hungry, the hopeless, local students and CEOs to share around a single table all the things that the previous year has brought them – the good, the bad and the ugly (the memories, not the people!).  As we name these things together, the hospitality of the laden table before us helps us to remember that we are called to be people who offer the hospitality and generosity of the heart as well as the home.

As we feast together, we do so having first feasted on the word of God – words that tell us to ‘give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.’ (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  We offer sentences and prayers of thanks to God for all that we have received over the past year, and we begin to dream about the possibilities to be hope-filled and generous throughout the year to come.

What are you thankful for today?  What glimpses of the Kingdom has God given you today?  And how does this help you to become a person of great generosity, offering hospitality of home and of heart?

Hospitality and the Diamond Jubilee

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations provide an ideal opportunity for churches and church members to offer hospitality to neighbours and friends, celebrating the event together.

The Queen has invited the nation to join the Big Jubilee Lunch on Sunday 3 June. Millions of people will eat together with neighbours and friends as part of the official Diamond Jubilee celebrations marking the Queen’s 60 years of service. A specially-written Grace – a prayer of thanks -- starts the lunch. Churches have a key role at the heart of their communities to make this happen.

The 2012 Diamond Jubilee celebrations give churches an opportunity to help build community relationships, plus lots of ways to help people see that that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a party… a banquet… a big family celebration.

Churches at the heart of communities

Register your Big Jubilee Lunch at www.thebiglunch.com and visit www.hopetogether.org.uk for free resources so what you do locally is part of the national picture of churches serving their neighbourhoods, putting faith into action.

It’s not too late to plan a party to remember

Venue: you can hold your event in a back garden or car park, a shopping precinct or school playground. You don’t have to close a street.

Food: your lunch can be a simple bring-your-own picnic or a barbecue, spit-roast or banquet.

Planning: you'll be amazed at how local people will join in if you take the first step.

Help: your church could offer teapots, chairs, microphones, musicians, a wet-weather venue…

HOPE can help you

Visit the HOPE website for:

• a video to download to inspire your church members
• the words of the specially-written Grace
• details of a special Diamond Jubilee souvenir booklet from HOPE and CPO to give away
• drama, assembly plans and ideas to use in schools and children’s clubs
• ideas for celebrations with senior citizens in residential care homes
• service plans and liturgies for church services on the Sunday morning before the Big Jubilee Lunch
• royal quizzes and community-building activities so everyone can join in and have a lasting memory of the day
• a ‘Big Thank You’ sheet to download so everyone can write, or draw a picture, to say thanks to the Queen
• a ‘My Prayer for Queen and Country’ sheet where children can write a prayer for the Queen, for their own family and for the nation

Find out more at www.hopetogether.org.uk

I want to give, but who should I support?

Take a look at our six tips to consider when deciding which charitable cause to support.

1. Pray!

The Bible calls us to present ourselves as “cheerful givers” (2 Corinthians 9:7) but also to be faithful stewards of the resources that God has given to us. While we may understand what the Bible teaches us about giving, putting it into practice isn’t always easy. If you are struggling to decide what, how much, when and where to direct your resources, hand it over to God and ask that he guides your big, booming generous heart.

2. What are your priorities?

Perhaps you feel led to give primarily to your local church? Or perhaps you view giving to the Church as supporting a whole multitude of ministries, at home and abroad? Maybe you care about the environment? Have a heart for a particular country or want to support the work of a Christian mission worker linked to your church? It’s important to choose a cause whose work you value so that, ultimately, you become an advocate for that cause and encourage others to get involved. Make a list of issues or areas that are important to you and go from there.

3. Draw on your own personal experiences

It’s likely that at some point in your life you have personally encountered a charity who has worked with you, a family member or friend.

Perhaps at some point in the past you have been in debt, suffered an illness, or have experienced loss. A charity came alongside you and made a real difference to your circumstances. You may not, at the time, been able to ‘give back’ to the charity financially, but now feel in a position to do so.

4. What sort of work does the charity do?

Many charities operate in order to respond to an immediate need. Soup kitchens, for example, are set-up to care for the day-to-day needs of the homeless.

Other charities often look to prevent and respond to long-term issues. There are many charities, for example, who look at the root problem of homelessness, and work to help individuals off the street altogether. Likewise, there are charities who work to make a difference in both the long-term and short-term, however most charities usually have a particular emphasis to their work.

In your giving, it may be helpful to consider whether you looking to make a different to the needs that exist in peoples lives NOW or are looking to contribute to longer-term change.

5. Do you want to give to a small or large organisation?

Large charitable organisations can often be very well run, forward-looking and efficient with their money. Just because large charities can have bigger overheads, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t consider supporting them. Giving to large organisations can often ensure that your money is being put to good use in targeted areas that have been well-researched as a result of the work that has gone on behind the scenes. That said, you may feel it important to research a charities overheads before you start giving to them.

On the other hand, when giving to a smaller charity or individual Christian worker, your gift may constitute a considerable percentage of their annual budget. It may feel that your money is making a bigger impact to the work that they do. You may also find to easier to interact with a smaller charity set-up and even have the chance to get involved yourself with voluntary work.

This leads us nicely onto...

6. Volunteer

Volunteering for a charity can be a great way to get to know a charity more and understand the day-to-day work that the charity puts in to accomplish its mission. If you don’t have time to regularly volunteer, why not dedicate some holiday time to volunteer either locally or abroad? Some charities even organise teams of volunteers to visit other countries; learn about life in disadvantaged communities and encourage you to provide practical help to particular causes.

how can we share our faith at work?

So it's Monday morning and you've successfully made in to the office without falling asleep. Result!

Then that classic post weekend conversation starter kicks off. You know the one. It sounds a little bit like: "Morning Roger/Betty/Simon [insert name here]. How are you? Good weekend?"

Select your standard response from the options below:

A. Good, yours?

B. Oh yeah, good thanks. Did the usual stuff, bit of this, bit of that... had a nice day on Saturday, went for a jog in the morning, did some shopping... erm... went to church on Sunday... erm... so how was your weekend?

C. I had a great weekend! I had a nice day out on Saturday and then had an awesome time at church on Sunday - there was a great speaker. If you’re ever free on a Sunday you would be SO welcome to pop along!

D. You're unable to answer. Your head has just hit the desk and you've fallen straight to sleep.

Honestly, honestly, HONESTLY, this is an area that I have really struggled with over the years. Sharing faith at work can be extremely challenging in an area of life in which we work hard to build a good reputation.

Now that I work for a Christian organisation, talking about faith in the workplace has, well, got a lot easier, but to say I no longer struggle in this area would not be true. There are still people in my life who I find it hard to talk to about my faith.

There are, however, a few good tips that I've picked up over the years which have genuinely helped me in this area and I would like to share them with you now:

Tip number 1: keep it real

Don't force discussions about faith. Rather find ways to 'be' Jesus in your workplace through the simple things. Offer a listening ear to someone or try to spend time with your colleagues over lunch. Often it’s the little things and a good relationship with your colleagues that can lead to the 'why' questions.

Tip number 2: practice your testimony

There is nothing worse than being asked your ‘story’ and getting into a cold sweat because you don't know where to start. Practise your testimony - remind yourself about how you came to be a Christian and what God has done in your life, and then rehearse it until you can deliver your testimony in less than two minutes.

Tip number 3: serve

No matter what your position is, be willing to serve others. Offer to make the next round of coffee, refill the printer if you've noticed its run out of paper, or simply smile and hold the door open for others.

A common theme about being a positive witness in our workplace is generosity: being generous with our time, resources, and putting others before ourselves.

Could you do with a little more inspiration in this area?

If you work in central London, join us for a special Pentecost breakfast on Tuesday 22 May 2012 from 7.30 -9.00am.

The event will be taking a fresh look at how we can witness in our workplace. It will be hosted by Stewardship and the folks from Pentecost Festival 2012 and located at the Salvation Army Regent Hall along Oxford Street, London.

Sharing their experiences of being a Christian in the workplace are guests speakers, Richard Gough (Chair of Trustees at Stewardship) Gavin Poole (Ex CEO of The Centre for Social Justice) and Social Entrepreneur and former advisor to the government, Lord Nat Wei. You can hear how God has influenced their career decisions, challenged them to put him at the centre of their work and powerfully answered prayers.

We would love for you to join us. For more information or to register for the event please visit http://www.pentecostfestival.co.uk/ai1ec_event/prayer-breakfast/?instance_id=1035.

give it back George!

Stewardship backs campaign demanding that the Government reconsiders controversial plans to cap tax relief on charitable giving.

Stewardship has signed up to the giveitbackgeorge campaign to ask the government to make a U-turn on its proposal to a cap on big charitable donations.

We urge readers to find out about the issues, the threat to charities’ income as a result of the introduction of a cap and to support the campaign, both as individuals and organisations.

What is it all about?

If the recent Budget announcement goes ahead, as of April 2013, relief will be limited to the tax on £50,000 of charitable giving, or a quarter of the donor’s income, whichever is greater.

Under current rules, taxpayers can claim tax relief on the income from which they make charitable donations. For basic rate taxpayers, the relief is claimed by the charity. For higher rate taxpayers, they can personally reclaim the difference between the tax they pay and the basic rate claimed by the charity.

Why does this matter?

Within the church, and the faith sector in general, personal levels of giving are much higher than amongst charities in general. Many donors give quietly and sacrificially and some donors even work out how much they need to live on, and from their very significant income, choose to give the rest away to charity.

In a survey conducted by CAF, nine out of ten top charity executives said that the planned cap would hit donations hard and revealed that Britain’s richest seven per cent were responsible for almost half of their total donations received last year. The latest Sunday Times Giving List also reports that the top 100 donors gave a total of £1.67 billion out of the UK’s £11 billion annual giving total.

Because major donors give very intentionally, a withdrawal of tax relief will mean not only less tax relief to charities, but a reduction in the actual gifts that come to charity.

Our preliminary calculations suggest that this reduction could mean 30% less giving coming into the charity sector, including churches. And that is before any tax relief is given.

This measure is not about tax avoidance, or fraud on charitable gifts, nor is it about charities not operating for the good of society. And it is not really a bid to stop the rich from using charitable donations to cut their tax bills because the Government’s own estimates of the resultant savings are just too small.

Our hope is that this measure was a last minute, ill-conceived addition to a budget designed to demonstrate to the public that the government is prepared to be tough with those it believes should be paying taxes, but are able to use the assortment of tax reliefs available to reduce this obligation to well below the basic rate.

In so doing, tax reliefs available to those giving most generously and sacrificially have been innocently swept up in the process.

Stewardship’s response

In engaging with major donors over the last few weeks, we have been struck by the humble approach of these people; by their compassion and love for their neighbour, and their clear motivation, far from obtaining tax relief, is to personally contribute to making society a better place to live in. But, they are sadly reflecting that the cap will inevitably mean that they will have to reduce their giving from next year.

One donor indicated that they would emigrate, with their family, to enable them to restore their philanthropic objectives. Others may hold back from making larger gifts until more favourable measures are in place, or throttle back their giving during their lifetime and instead leave a larger legacy many years in the future.  If this is repeated by others, the Government will lose more than their support for society; they will lose tax revenues from whole families that would otherwise have continued in the years to come.

Stewardship is keeping the pressure up to see this measure removed. We are engaging with HM Revenue & Customs, with HM Treasury and with Treasury Ministers directly to help represent the voice of Christian giving in the UK, where we know sacrificial giving is most prevalent.

Concluding thoughts

The UK has long been recognised as one of the most generous in the world. However, if George Osborne’s changes take effect in April 2013 it will not be the rich who suffer, but the poorest in society.

Please join us in seeing this proposal defeated before it is too late:

• If you are personally impacted by the proposal, please consider sharing your thoughts with us, on a confidential basis.
• Sign up to the giveitbackgeorge campaign
• Respond to the Government’s Public Consultation, due to be published in the summer. Most consultations have a three month response period.
• Keep checking back to the Stewardship website as we will add more resources and informed comment ahead of the Government’s Public Consultation on the proposal. And please, please respond to the Consultation once it has been published. The Government need to understand the damage that a cap will do to the charity sector.

For more information…

General enquiries, please contact Bethan Walker on 020 8418 8167.

Individuals who are directly affected by this proposal, please contact Kevin Russell, Technical Director via kevin.russell@stewardship.org.uk.

a golden opportunity

Whether you’re excited about the forthcoming London 2012 Olympics or not (and I speak as someone so un-athletic that the mere sight of a running track induces queasiness), there’s no doubt that the Games will be the most talked-about event of the summer.

Up to 800,000 people are expected to travel through London on the busiest day of the Games and with 20 official Olympic sites across the UK, London is just the beginning.  The Olympic torch will pass through the hands of 8,000 people in a thousand communities, covering nearly all of the UK.* Why does this matter? Well, aside from having major traffic implications, it also presents the UK church with a glaring opportunity.

Why?

The Olympics give us all an opportunity to show generosity and hospitality, kindness and community. Traditionally these qualities are already found in church environments; but the Olympics is a golden ticket to take church to the streets. More Than Gold is the initiative founded to mobilise the church throughout the Olympics; to enable them to reach out to the community in areas of Outreach, Service and Hospitality, and show them something of Jesus’ love.

How?

If you’re into the creative arts, you can volunteer your drama, vocal or art skills to a local church outreach event. Use your football and rugby skills to set up a sports holiday club for kids. If hospitality is your gifting, you could consider hosting an Athlete’s family, saving them the astronomical cost of accommodation throughout the Games period. There’s also the opportunity to become a Games Pastor: essentially assisting visitors with practical advice and support at several key transport terminals and Games venues.

If you can hand out free cups of water or point someone in the direction of the nearest toilet, you can represent Jesus in your community this summer. And that's great news for those of us who can't tell our athletics from our elbow. 

Visit the More Than Gold website for resources and application forms.

How are you planning on reaching out in your community during the Games this year? Do you think initiatives like More Than Gold will make a lasting difference in your town? Let us know in the comments.

*Figures and image courtesy of More Than Gold.

40acts - thank you!

“We’ve crossed social divides in the playground, and bought cups of tea for the homeless. We’ve sent thank you notes by the hundreds and prayed for our enemies as well as our friends. We’ve bought fair-trade chocolate from local shops, switched off our TVs, and left our comfort zones for the sake of spontaneous kindness.

Why?

Because we believe that what we do during Lent, and beyond, should reflect the incredible generosity of the Easter message.”

We hope that taking part in 40acts has been a real blessing to your Lent experience this year, but more than that – we hope that it has ignited a spark of God-inspired generosity that will last a life-time.

It doesn’t stop here!

40acts will be back again in 2013, but you can continue to journey with Stewardship throughout the year.

We’ve got three final acts for you:

• Get more of the same - sign up for the Extra Mile, our monthly generosity email.
• Take our super-quick 40acts survey - let us know what you thought of this year’s campaign.
• Find out how you can give generously with a Stewardship giving account

Thank you for taking part in 40acts 2012. We hope it has inspired you to do life generously.

With love,

The 40acts Team

six generous ladies from modern history...

Today is International Women’s Day, an opportunity to remember the achievements of women throughout history and to commit to those women around the world whose rights are not yet protected.

To mark this occasion we take a look at six great ladies from the past who took generosity to the extreme in their devotion to sharing money, skills and time with others, in ways which left an indelible mark on the world.

1. Florence Nightingale 1820 - 1910

Florence Nightingale came to be known as “The Lady with the Lamp” and was instrumental in founding the modern nursing profession. Florence Nightingale is most famous for her contributions to counteract the horrors faced by injured soldiers in the Crimean War. With her dedicated team of nurses, she greatly improved the conditions and substantially reduced the mortality rate. Nightingale's theories, published in 'Notes on Nursing' (1860), were hugely influential with many practices still in existence today.

2. Emmeline Pankhurst 1858 - 1928

Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women’s Franchise League in 1889, followed by the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1905 and fought tirelessly for Women’s Suffrage in Britain. The tactics Pankhurst used for drawing attention to the moment led to imprisonment many times. In 1913, fellow WSPU member Emily Davison was killed when she threw herself under the king's horse at the Derby as a protest at the continued failure to grant women the right to vote. Breakthrough came when, in March 1918, women over the age of 30 were granted the right to vote. It wasn’t until 1928 that women were given the same voting rights as men in the United Kingdom.

3. Helena Rubinstein 1870 - 1965

Helena Rubinstein formed one of the world’s first cosmetic companies in the world. Born in Poland, Rubenstein emigrated to Australia and opened her first beauty salon in 1902 with just $1,500. Her business became extremely successful and in her later years she used her enormous wealth to support charities in the field of education, art and health.

4. Helen Keller 1880 - 1968

At the age of 19 months Helen became deaf and blind but, with the help of her teacher Anne Sullivan, broke through her isolation and went on to become a world-famous speaker and author. She is remembered as campaigning tirelessly for people with disabilities.

5. Mother Teresa 1910 - 1997

Mother Teresa was born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Macedonia and, at the age of eighteen, left home and joined a community of nuns with missions in India. Mother Teresa personally cared for 1000's of sick and dying people in Calcutta. She was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1979 and famously said;“It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving."

6. Rosa Parks 1913 - 2005

On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks became famous for refusing a bus drivers order to give her seat up for a white passenger. Rosa went on to become a civil rights activist and named the “Mother of the Modern-Day Civil Rights Movement” by the U.S. Congress. After her death on October 24, 2005, city officials in Montgomery and Detroit informed that the front seats of their city buses would be reserved with black ribbons to honour the life and death of Rosa Parks.

when the cameras stop rolling...

Image source: National Geographic

This scene from Sindh, Pakistan reveals an unexpected after-effect of the huge floods which hit the area during 2010.

As water levels rose, thousands of spiders took to the trees to escape. Because the flooding had such a devastating effect and has taken so long to drain away, many trees have become cocooned in the spider’s webs. Local inhabitants say that they have never witnessed such a phenomenon before.

It’s fair to say that a lot has happened since this flooding took place in 2010. It can be so easy to forget the hardships faced by those who live through the aftermath of a natural disaster. When the worldwide news teams move on, does our generosity follow them out of the country?

When we feel a personal conviction to respond generously to a particular cause, should we continue encouraging ourselves to remain sincere to that need until we are certain that our personal contribution is no longer required?

And does our personal contribution stop at our finances?

If you can pray, if you can write a blog post or update your Facebook status to raise awareness, if you can hold a garage sale and donate the proceeds, then you can stretch your contribution way beyond that initial donation.

Or, why not go deeper still? Maybe next time you could also search out and follow the progress of some of the charities that are responding, or make your own personal links with a local charity or Christian worker working in the most hard-hit areas.

In that way, you can continue to stand with the cause, even when the cameras stop rolling...

chasing the negative split

Photo by 'through my eyes only'. Used under Creative Commons licence.

If you happen to be one of those serious marathon runners who thinks little of fitting in a quick 10 miler before breakfast, then you’ll probably already know about the negative split. For the rest of us trapped beneath the duvet, an explanation: the negative split means deliberately running the first half of the race slower than the second, giving yourself time to find a pace and then improve on it, planning to have enough in the tank and cross the finish line knowing that you gave everything you had in those final miles. The negative split is the discipline to master if you’re serious about going the distance.

Jesus taught that true generosity is not a matter of who gives most, nor is it a question of easing off once we have given ‘enough’. Generosity plays by a different set of rules. Generosity, it seems, has far more to do with our response to our heavenly Father than the specifics of our finances.

Which brings us back to the idea of the race. If we see generosity as a one-off event only to be engaged when we feel sufficiently guilty, we won’t be fit for purpose. We were made for more than just ‘doing our bit’ or offering ‘the least we could do’. We were created in the image of an overwhelmingly generous God, so is it any wonder that we should feel the urge to give? Forget all you’ve seen of the way the uberwealthy live - with their high gates and privacy glass. What we have should not isolate us from the world around. Instead, it should draw us closer to others.

But what about those negative splits? This innate urge to give needs training. Just as discipline and preparation matter for the serious runner, so it can help us to be deliberate in our acts of generosity. Spontaneous giving is good - just like the quick burst of pace that is called for by unexpected changes in the race - but aren’t the best givers among us the ones who have woven generosity into the fabric of their lives? Don’t we want to be part of a community of generous givers that keeps on going, keeps on giving, keeps on growing?

That’s why 40acts matters so much this Lent. Sign up and you’ll be joining with thousands of others who are choosing to make generosity a priority, not just a passing fad. Each day of Lent the 40acts email will offer a challenge that will bring you closer to your community and your environment, strengthening your generosity for the years to come. Join us, and together we’ll get better at being generous.

the underground world of generosity

For those who regularly travel on the London Underground, tubes can sometimes feel a tad unfriendly. There’s nothing like spending your commute squeezed into someone else’s back to ensure you arrive at your destination a little flustered. 

However, over the past seven months, The London Underground have been displaying a series of posters by the artist Michael Landy, inspired by people’s stories of nice things that have happened to them whilst travelling on the tube as a result of the generosity of others. Here’s just a few of the countless stories Landy has received so far:

“I was made redundant on my birthday. I was feeling pretty deflated and the staff at Pimlico noticed my change in mood. Imagine my joy and surprise when they presented me with a massive chocolate birthday cake! That gesture really gave me back my sense of self worth. I took some back the next day with cans of pop for them at break times. Our tube workers are everyday subterranean heroes. Thank you.”

“I lost my gloves on the Central line. A good three months later I was about to get off the Tube at Mile End and a passenger said, "I think these are yours?". They were mine and they were/are special gloves to me. As I was getting off I only had a second to say, "thank you". I have not seen him since, but he had taken those gloves on to the Tube every day for 3 months hoping to reunite them with me. A true act of kindness that I still say a BIG THANK YOU for.”

 “I was on the way to a party where you had to be smartly dressed when I realised my shoes were dirty. I was frantically trying to brush them clean with my hand and noticed the woman opposite me rummaging in her bag. She whipped out a brand new suede brush and asked "could this be what you need?". It was exactly the thing. I walked off the Tube with clean shoes and a big smile! I wonder what else she had in her Mary Poppins bag!”

“The underground, such a public place to be hit by private grief. I just couldn’t help the tears. I had to get off the tube, onto the platform and aim for a seat. A stranger in the rush asked me “are you ok? Can I help?” She had already.”

“As I leapt through the closing train doors at Finsbury Park, my left foot was caught and one shoe fell off onto the platform. I sat down, one shoe missing as the train pulled away. ‘I’ve just bought these’, said a woman opposite, opening a Russell & Bromley bag. ‘See if they fit’. They were perfect. The woman gave me her address so I could return her brand new shoes. Which of course, I did.”

What is striking about these acts of generosity is their simplistic nature. None required much of the giver, but open eyes and a giving heart.

As we approach the period of Lent, many people will be looking at those things they may want to give up. Here at Stewardship we are challenging people to go one step further this year and to not only give something up, but to give something out to others as well in an act of generosity. 

Over 40 days, we will challenge people to take part in 40 simple acts of generosity. Will you join the 40acts movement? Sign up at www.40acts.org.uk or visit www.facebook.com/40acts for more info.

To read more stories of kindness on the underground, please visit the TfL website here.