Credit crunch doesn’t affect churches’ value (From Dorset Echo)

Credit crunch doesn’t affect churches’ value

7:41am Saturday 3rd January 2009 in News

By Yvonne Allison, St Andrew’s Church, Preston

WE HEAR in the news people complaining about the cost of living going up.

From one week to the next, prices vary, and this is very true about the market-place, both globally and locally.

Our society wants, and even demands, value for money to make their hard-earned cash go further.

So how does this situation affect our churches?

I make no apologies if it sounds like preaching to those who do not frequent church, but one thing that we can guarantee, is that our churches provide us from week to week with consistency when it comes to praising God.

Unlike the supermarket shop, we don’t need to look in our purse to see what we can buy with our money before we enter the building.

If we go to church with a penny in our purse, it doesn’t matter.

We will still (for the most of us) get the nourishment we need from the service we attend.

You may think: ‘Well what about the collection plate?’ It would be naïve of me not to mention the fact the church needs to ‘live’ and therefore money does play a part.

Unlike membership of other organisations, such as golf clubs, churches do not demand a set amount of money to be paid.

The churches realise and encourage their congregations to give what they can, when they can.

If it is nothing or something, it does not affect the ‘service’ you receive – how great is that? The other side of the coin (pardon the pun) with regard to money and church is fundraising.

There is always a healthy list of goings-on in the Dorset Echo’s diary dates column.

Fundraisers strive to give good value for money through events and believe the community recognises this.

So, if you see a fundraising event advertised, please come along and take part.

You are sure to have a good time, meet new people and realise that God’s work is all around us, not simply in church, and definitely not affected by the credit crunch.