Southwater Parish Church depends upon the support of its members and the community in which it is for its financial income.  The church receives no government funding, and is not subsidised centrally by the Church of England.

To help us better understand how we can help support our local church financially, we have looked at some material drawn from the Bible, called Giving in Grace. 

Giving in Grace is based on a theology of giving in response to God’s love and his overwhelming generosity. It is based on the premise that giving is an act of worship, thanksgiving and discipleship and that giving in this way enables us to share in God’s action in his church, his world and in us, as we are transformed by the grace of giving.

If you would like to know more about the theology of Giving in Grace, please click here.

If you were not able to hear the sermons on giving, the sermon outlines are available for you to download and read.  1) Overflow of Grace.  2a) Fair Shares.   2b) Administration of Grace.  3) Boasting and sharing.  4) Sowing and reaping.  Many people have also found it helpful to do a money autobiography.  It asks questions to help you understand what you think about money, and how you are with it.

Probably the best way to really get to grips with this issue is to read and understand for yourself what the Bible has to say.  A really good place to start is 2 Corinthians chapter 8.  If you do not have a Bible at home you can download one free of charge here.  I would recommend the CEV version.

Here are some notes that will be helpful for you to have as you read through the passages.  They have questions for group discussion, but you can work through them on your own if you prefer.

Introduction to 2 Corinthians 8 & 9,  Study one,  study two,  study three, study four.

If you would like to help Southwater Parish Church financially, the best way to do so is by planned giving. Follow this link to find out how you can do this in a number of easy ways. If you would like to find out more about the church's activities, its income and expenditure, these can be found in the Annual Report and Accounts and in the report of the Churchwardens delivered at the Annual Meeting in April 2016.

Christian Stewardship

For Christians, it is important that we reflect our thanks to God for all that he has done for us, by giving of our time, energy and finance back to him. 

We encourage everyone who comes to our church to be involed in the same way by giving of their finance and time.

We as a church do this by supporting partners in mission and giving time to local community projects.