Share Magazine - Issue 14

share from one decade to another stewardship issues in global view Inside: news, STORIES, reviews and financial features

the stewardship magazine 14

about us Meet Stewardship: a charity that does not need your money!

Instead we want to help you give generously to others. Why? Because we are Christians who are passionate about generosity.

We are experts who want to serve the church and Christian charities. We are also people who know what life is like in the local church.

We are Stewardship and we believe in the transformational power of generosity.

We have a vision of a thriving UK Church characterised by generous discipleship, a biblical handling of money, excellent governance and abundantly resourcing the Kingdom of God. contact us PO Box 99, Loughton, Essex, IG10 3QJ tel: 020 8502 5600 email: enquiries@stewardship.org.uk

a new deca As we pass into a new decade, issues of good stewardship are at the forefront of public life as perhaps never before. The crisis in banking, MPs expenses scandal, record personal debt being replaced by soaring public debt and growing concerns about the environment all have a similar issue at their root - the issue of sustainability and stewardship.

Godly stewardship is a model of sustainability, whether we are caring for our coffers or His creation. The wisdom of the Bible is in marked contrast to the private and public practices exposed during the last decade. Contrast the cautions of 1 Timothy 6, with the populist search for the ‘winning ticket’ or ‘silver bullet’. Lottery sales are up in the recession, surveys show that more children aspire to be celebrities these days1, while 2.5 million people hope for a windfall so that they can retire yet have made no retirement provision2.

web:

www.stewardship.org.uk You can contact the editor by emailing editor@stewardship.org.uk Editor: Anthony McKernan Assistant Editor: Ruth Leigh Design: www.adeptdesign.co.uk Stewardship is the operating name of Stewardship Services (UKET) Limited, a registered charity in England and Wales no.

234714 and a company limited by guarantee no. 90305

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God’s people view good stewardship from a different perspective - an understanding that we are ‘managers in trust’. Last year, Stewardship supporters gave away £43 million to support the work of God around the world.

We hope this magazine will help more of God’s people to be models of good stewardship, shaping the debate and the answers that the world is currently seeking.

1 Commission by Watch channel and reported by Daily Mail 2 October 2009 2 2008 Survey by Baring Asset Management

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Features...

6-7 A decade of financial extremes.

8-11 The love revolution.

Inconvenience yourself for 15 minutes a day.

12-15 We review the first Stewardship Study Bible.

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23-25 Financial roundup of relevant legal and financial issues.

The magazine is printed on paper from farmed forests: for each tree felled, another is planted.

The paper is ­­­­chlorine-free and environmentally friendly.

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UK survives the millennium computer bug. The Year 2000 problem is the most expensive single problem that has ever faced the human race.

Estimated at £1300 for every working person The Royal Bank of Scotland succeeds in the hostile takeover battle for its larger English rival, NatWest Bank.

11 Feb 2000

A huge increase in government borrowing unveiled

by Chancellor Gordon Brown to cover extra spending on schools and hospitals.

“Borrowing this year will almost double to £20bn, with the government set to borrow a total of more than £100bn in the next five years”

Low interest rates make borrowing cheaper.

Sub-prime mortgage market starts to expand and increased lending sparks a house price bubble

FTSE closes at a record low in the decade as Britain prepares for military involvement in Iraq.

3287 on 12 March 2003 Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit introduced.

6 April 2003

Total UK personal debt passes one trillion pounds in May and grew at £1 million every 4 minutes.

Total UK personal debt increased £121bn an increase of 12.64%

a decade of financial extremes

2004 2003 2002 2001 2000

Protestors block the entrances to oil refinaries in protest against high fuel prices. Panic buying by motorists leads to nationwide petrol shortages, with between 75-90% of all UK petrol stations closing due to low supplies.

September 2000

America attacked and the twin towers of the World Trade Center destroyed.

11 September resulting in the US entering recession

£13.3m

£15.2m

giving in each year

by Stewardship account members

£17.1 m

*

1,600,000

200,000

1,400,000

180,000

1,200,000 1,000,000

6

140,000 120,000 100,000

600,000

80,000 60,000 40,000

200,000

20,000

0

0

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 c9 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 De De De De De De De De De De De 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31

Total debt £m

£35.6m

160,000

800,000

400,000

* I ncludes accounts acquired through a merger

£21.3m

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9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 c9 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 De 1 De 1 De 1 De 1 De 1 De 1 De 1 De 1 De 1 De 0 De 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

House Prices £

*

Announcement was made that London will host the 2012 Olympic Games.

6 July 2005 Four terrorist explosions which killed 52 people, injured 700 and brought chaos to London.

7 July 2005 Population exceeds 60 million for the first time.

Estimated to grow at 1,100 per day over the next decade

House prices peak this decade. £199,612 in August 2007

Securitas depot robbery – around £53 million stolen in the largest cash robbery in British crime history.

22 Feb 2006

Problems with the repayment of subprime mortgages in the US triggered a tidal wave of concern about lending around the world in August 2007. British house prices began falling soon after.

Bear Stearns, a US investment bank, files for bankruptcy on 31 July 2007.

Run on funds at Northern Rock on 13 Sept 2007

A record year for mergers and acquisitions that included the takeovers of P&O, BAA, Body Shop and Pilkington and bids for Corus and the LSE. FTSE leapt 10.71% during the year to close at 6220 YouTube became Google’s largest acquisition.

Google paid $1.65bn for the company

Unemployment highest in 14 years.

2.49 million out of work in October 2009

Commodity prices rose rapidly in 2007 driven by demand from booming China and India, pushing up petrol, food and other basic costs.

This caused inflation to surge.

Inflation (RPI) reaches 5% in July for the first time since July 1991

UK base rate fell to its lowest in 315 years.

Reduced to 0.5% in March 2009

Financial crisis proper began in September with the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

That was followed in early October by a UK bank bailout, including a merger proposal for Lloyds and HBOS. Interest rates slashed around the world.

UK base rate reduced eight times from 5.5%

Retail Price Index (RPI) goes negative for the first time this decade.

-0.4% in March 2009 Citizens’ Advice Bureaux have had a 21% increase in new debt problems.

9,300 new debt problems a day Government debt growing at its fastest ever.

PSND stands at £845bn and growing £4,385 / second (Nov 2009)

2009 2008 2007 2006 2005

Tax rate cut in 2007 Budget.

Income tax rate cut from 22p to 20p together with the abolition of the lower 10p income tax rate

UK entered recession.

UK was still in recession at the end of 2009

Quantitative easing programme begins. £200bn to date

VAT cut.

From 17.5% to 15%

£34.8m

£43.7m

£37.9m

900

2,500,000

800 700 600 500 400 300 200

2,000,000

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 c9 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 De De De De De De De De De De De 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 30

Public Sector Net Debt £bn

*

5 4 3

1,500,000 1,000,000

2 1 0

500,000

100 0

£43.2m

£44.4m

0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 c9 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 g0 De De De De De De De De De De Au 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 31 30

UK Unemployment

-1 -2

31

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 c9 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 c0 p0 De 1 De 1 De 1 De 1 De 1 De 1 De 1 De 1 De 1 De 0 Se 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

RPI %

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l ve the

It’s about taking the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign of our lives

revolution

“Lord inconvenience me today”.’ This is not something we easily pray, personal prayer more often being about easing life’s difficulties. But since September 2009, the Proclaimers Church in Norwich has been turning this idea on its head, inviting their congregation to pray: “I’m available for you to use me today. Go ahead, God, inconvenience me!”

The reason: the church has adopted a new way of thinking called Love 15 which challenges the congregation to embrace a more generous lifestyle. Executive Pastor, Owen Morgan, explains.

“We’re asking people to give up 15 minutes a day to be inconvenienced in order to help someone. It’s up to the individual what they do, but it could be anything from doing someone’s shopping to offering them a lift. We heard about it from Abundant Life Church in Bradford and thought it was a great idea.”

Associate Pastor Phil Temple expands on this: “It’s about 8

taking the ‘Do Not Disturb’ signs off our life. We’re an impatient society, programmed for one-click shopping, but Love 15 is about stopping and choosing to give our time generously.”

Working as a junior doctor, Phil has found many opportunities to inconvenience himself for fifteen minutes. “There’s no rota for tea and coffee making”, he explains. “I often stop what I’m doing and make hot drinks for everyone.

It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s had a powerful effect on my colleagues, especially since they don’t expect a >

We often miss opportunities because we’re not looking for them, or because we think we’re too busy.

snippets of Love 15 #1 Blog I was busy at work and didn’t want to be interrupted. My colleague was having a bad day and wanted to talk. In the spirit of Love 15, I let myself be inconvenienced and talked to him about work, home, feelings and life in general. Remember, this is two blokes talking! After 20 minutes, he was much happier and had fixed the problem which had wound him up originally. Result!

#2

#3

My friend runs the local barber’s shop in town. I was walking past and I saw him standing outside. I remembered Love 15 and turned back to have a chat with him. We talked about our families and spent around 20 minutes solving the world’s problems.

As I was going he asked me about church!

At school I was going to my next lesson when I saw a deaf girl who was lost. I led her to the right place. I had to go all the way to the other side of the school for my next lesson. I got a black mark for being late and missed about ten minutes of Tech, but the moral of the story is that she got to her lesson.

for more, visit www.proclaimers.com

free book:

5 copies of “The 15 Revolution” to give away See over page >

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> doctor to engage in such a menial activity!” The church website records the results of the prayers of inconvenience in its blog.

Owen and Phil cite the story of the Good Samaritan as a core text for the underlying principle of Love 15. “It’s key to the point of the story that the Samaritan was on his way somewhere. He was a busy professional person, but he chose to stop and value the man he helped. We often miss opportunities because we’re not looking for them, or

because we think we’re too busy.”

we are shaped in the image of our generous God.

Love 15 doesn’t always go to plan. Seizing the opportunity to cheer up a gloomy sandwich shop employee, a member of the congregation ended up with cleaning products on his sandwich! However, as Phil points out, it’s not just about the result of your fifteen minutes, but the fact that the time was taken in the first place. Love 15 is about giving time and attention to others.

It’s part of that generosity to which the Gospel calls us as

So we should not be surprised that Owen emphasises the cost involved in giving. “We don’t want people to dip their toe in then withdraw. Love 15 is about making a permanent change in people’s lives. We want it to cost something, whether in time, money or talent.”

Phil has the last word.

“Although we like to think we’re in control, we can’t plan what our fifteen minutes will achieve.

It’s all in God’s hands.”

finding the time It’s easy to claim “I’m too busy” to help others.

However, the Government Time Use Survey shows just how our time is divided up.

The challenge is to leave our comfort zone, spend less time on ourselves and more time following Jesus’ instruction to love others.

Anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers it up Proverbs 12:25

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inconvenience

me!

the time use survey

Other Travel

Stewardship & Proclaimers Church Voluntary Work

Employment/ Study

Sleep

Housework/ Child Care Resting Leisure

Personal care Eating & drinking

Office for National Statistics, Time Use Survey.

start your own

15 revolution 5 free copies to give away

‘How has God led you to be inconvenienced recently? Tell us what God did in your 15 minute moment and we’ll send a free copy of ‘The 15 Revolution’ to the first 5 stories we receive.

Email editor@stewardship.org.uk

An energetic and youthful church, the Norwich-based Proclaimers church turned to Stewardship for advice when they were looking into mortgages. “We found Stewardship’s service very helpful, although in the end we didn’t go down the mortgage route with them”, recalls Owen Morgan.

“We think their website is an excellent resource for accessing clear financial information”. Many of the congregation at Proclaimers already use Stewardship to facilitate their giving and Owen anticipates more links in the future. “As we grow, I’m sure we will be using Stewardship more. As our paid staff numbers are growing, the look of their payroll giving particularly appeals to us. ” The church meet in a hotel in the centre of Norwich, having taken a bold step to leave their old premises on the outskirts of the city in 2004. Coupled with the arresting strap line “church without the boring bits”, this step has seen them grow six fold.

You can visit the Proclaimers website at www.proclaimers.com

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the NIV stewardship Bible We talk to the driving force behind a brand new Bible resource dedicated to stewardship.

In the dimly lit corner of an upstairs coffee shop in Greenwich, the person I have come to meet surreptitiously slips me a book along the faux leather seat. “We got delivery just an hour before leaving the US last week”. It feels like an illicit drugs deal.

The man passing me the lunchbox-sized package is Brett Elder, Executive Director of the Stewardship Council in the United States, and the package contains a brand new Bible, hot off the press.

After four years of development, Brett is clearly pleased with the product, but this isn’t the end product, because his vision was never to simply produce a Bible with a stewardship theme. He wants to see global distribution, and not just through Christian bookshops. He wants to see it in the hands of pastors, teachers and bible college students everywhere.

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This is because the vision was inspired by his international teaching ministry on stewardship in the developing world. “We found a demand for good stewardship resources but we always lacked good material to leave behind”.

I point out that there are a number of good stewardship organisations in the US with material, but because stewardship material is often focused on a single aspect – such as money issues, Brett set his sights higher – a stewardship Bible.

Brett set about visiting many of the thought leaders in the US stewardship community to find out if there were any plans for such a Bible. There weren’t.

What’s more, there was clearly a desire for such a resource and so Brett formed the Stewardship Council, a sort of steering group to work on the project. “We were committed to finance the whole project

whether there was a market or not”. Most of the project was undertaken by the group until the US publisher of the NIV Bible, Zondervan saw the market potential and lent their weight to the project in 2008.

Brett says “We wanted to recognise the holistic nature of biblical stewardship and reclaim what it means to be a ‘stewards of the mysteries of God’ (1 Cor. 4 v 1) – something that goes beyond the stuff of life”. He takes me through the Bible and its wealth of stewardship material (see bottom of pages 14-15).

I ask how the editors decided which bible passages to highlight in the supplementary material. “We started with 1600 passages but had to limit it to about 420 in the end”.

Brett is keen to point out that much of the stewardship insight in the bible isn’t about the ‘what’ – traditional time, talent,

treasure stuff. The significance is in appreciating the ‘who’ and the ‘why’ of stewardship.

The Bible is aimed at any Christian who is wanting to mature in their faith. I ask how evangelical it is. Brett says “the Bible is evangelical in that its desire is to disciple believers to become effective stewards of

what is in their care – which inevitably leads to a missional and outward facing fulfilment of the great commission”. So when will it be available in the UK? The answer to this is a little problematic because us Brits speak and read slightly different English to our friends on the other side of the pond.

The NIV in the UK uses the ‘Queen’s English’ and is in the hands of Hodder & Stoughton (not Zondervan). So, in the spirit of all good journalists, I called Hodder to ask them their intention. They told me that they will be distributing the Bible in the UK.

time to look carefully at the Bible. It is impressive, and its holistic view of stewardship is refreshing. In addition to three different Bible reading plans I can imagine the Biblical index on money and possessions to be a significant resource. Over 2000 verses all logged and categorised. Readers can buy the Bible, priced £29.99 from www.hodderfaith.com and all good Christian bookshops*.

Or seek to get one free from Stewardship (see offer on page 15).

After leaving our meeting in Greenwich, I take some * ISBN: 9781444701357

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seasons of giving

a provoking four week course for small groups on money and giving On a cold winter’s night in a Liverpool church the gloom around money was lifted when a lady said, ‘we do tithe in this church; we give about a tenth of what we should give!’. Laughter, and relief. The elephant in the room had been mentioned: giving.

Seasons of Giving will get people talking easily, openly, personally about giving: why, when, where and how much. Seasons explores our experience of giving and challenges us to grow in the grace of giving. Seasons is a bible study with a difference:

• I t includes bible study but is also creative and visual.

• I t stimulates group discussion but also makes space for personal reflection.

• I t talks about giving but recognises that

giving is influenced by how we manage all our money.

Over four weeks (with an optional fifth, relaxed starter session) four passages from Luke’s gospel are studied from the perspective of the four seasons. In winter we explore what makes it hard to give; in spring we ask what brings giving alive for us; in summer we ask, what does good giving look like; in autumn we reflect on our life changes and the changes we need to make.

Giving is the hallmark of financial discipleship. Giving releases us from the chains of materialism and declares God’s ownership of all we have.

• I t is rooted in the word of God but the

seasons theme is from a powerful modern parable.

www.stewardship.org.uk/money 16

This is a creative and refreshing approach to the subject. A great place to start thinking about giving and a good way to get people thinking about how their relationship with money affects their relationship with God. (Reuben; Lincoln)

Freely available to download now www.stewardship.org.uk/money

the selfish giant The seasons theme is taken from The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde. Not the obvious choice for biblical inspiration perhaps but his story is a beautifully written modern parable with a gospel twist in the tail. Read it alone, it is freely available on line. Best of all run the study in your home group.

outline of a study A seasons session is in three parts: 1 Group bible study, discussion and sharing 2 Personal reflection on the theme of the seasons - before or after the session 3 Easy reading, optional but helpful to get the most from the evening This is a very good course and beautifully presented.

We found that it stimulated conversation and challenged us afresh.

(Lawrie; Poole) 17

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legal & financial roundup signs of recovery – an end to the tough times?

As the nation looks to economic recovery, is the immediate future for charities bright? Not necessarily. Three things will have the potential to dampen charity fortunes: the end of gift aid transitional relief and significant increases in employers’ national insurance contributions – both from April 2011, plus a very possible increase in the standard rate of VAT in a new Parliament.

important new rules for protection of children and vulnerable adults New laws protecting children and vulnerable adults, enacted in the wake of the tragic Soham murders, came into force on 12 October 2009. The new rules apply in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland is in the process of introducing a similar scheme (see page 25).

Both churches and charities need to be aware of these provisions which are much wider than existing child protection rules. Here we provide a very brief overview of the new requirements. More details can be found on our website www.stewardship.org.uk/ share, or from the Independent Safeguarding Authority’s website www.isa-gov.org.uk.

In overview, persons working in working in a regulated activity or in a specified position with organisations that have contact with either children or vulnerable adults will need to be registered To follow progress and put your with the Independent Safeguarding Authority. The ISA will have views forward, visit our blog at power to bar people from working with children or vulnerable www.stewardship.org.uk adults if they pose a threat to those groups. From 12 October:

• I t became illegal to employ or use as a volunteer in a regulated activity, a ‘barred person’.

• I f an employee or volunteer in a regulated activity is dismissed or you cease to use them because you think they have harmed or pose a risk of harm to children or vulnerable adults, you must refer the case to the ISA.

• A nyone barred from regulated activity must not work, or seek to work, in regulated activity.

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water rates – new law to ‘rain in’ excessive charges?

Several water and sewerage companies have moved to ‘site area charging for surface water drainage’ - a levy for the removal and treatment of rain that falls on roofs, car parks and other non-permeable surfaces and drains into public sewers. As a result, churches with large roofs or car parks, as well as other faith and community groups have been hit by huge increases in water charges – some being charged four figure sums where nothing had previously been payable.

A new Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech, the Flood and Water Management Bill, provides for water and sewerage companies in England and Wales to operate concessionary schemes for community premises. On the face of it this is good news, but we still have some concerns. Kevin Russell discusses this further on his blog at www.stewardship.org.uk.

self-employed church elders – HMRC attack?

Has your church received contact from an HMRC office in Salford seeking to review employment records and the employment status of elders or others occupying a leadership role at your church? If so, you are not alone! Please let Kevin Russell or Stephen Mathews at our office know. We are keen to monitor the Revenue’s activity in this area and may be able to offer assistance.

putting faith in good governance The Charity Commission have just published a new Guide to help faith-based charities comply with charity law and equip them to work even better, whilst recognising that maintenance of their faith identity, core aims and mission is key.

Aimed at smaller and newer charities and written in brief rather than overly technical style, the Guide draws together existing guidance from various sources but also usefully includes case studies of how faith-based charities have applied governance principles in their own charity.

“Faith in Good Governance” is available by clicking onto www.charity-commission.gov. uk/Library/tcc/pdfs/faithgov.pdf

public benefit reporting le guide – a simp The Charities Act 2006 requirement on trustees to report on the public benefit that their charity provides has given rise to a fair degree of concern and confusion. We have therefore produced a simple guide to remove fears and help trustees understand the obligations upon them and to react proportionately. A copy can be downloaded from the Resources section of our website.

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...in Scotland protecting vulnerable groups The Scottish Government has announced details of their new Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme for safeguarding. A series of consultations on the required secondary legislation for the Scheme will run until 2 February 2010. It is expected that the Scheme will be introduced before the end of 2010, with implementation being phased in to minimise the administrative burden on individual organisations.

Further detail of the proposed Scheme can be found via our website, www.stewardship.org.uk/share

water charges: small charity exemptions The Scottish Government has announced that registered charities with a small income will continue to be eligible for exemption from water and sewerage charges from 2010 to 2015.

Any charity registered with OSCR that moves premises after 1 April 2010 and continues to meet all other criteria will retain its exemption. Any registered charity that has moved premises since 1 April 2006 and lost its exemption as a result, will from 1 April 2010, be able to reapply for exemption.

The maximum income criteria will be increased from 1 April 2010 from £50,000 to £60,000 and will increase by £1,500 per annum thereafter.

pre-budget report Stewardship has produced an analysis of the Pre-Budget Report delivered by Alistair Darling in December 2009.

The report can be found on the HM Treasury Pre-budget report website.

We examined the truth behind the headlines and identified what we feel churches and charities should know. It seems that whatever the level of employee earnings, employers face a near 8% increase in payroll tax costs from April 2011. There is no clear signal from the Opposition that they will reverse these increases in the short term.

To find out more, visit our website and download our free paper: 2009 Pre-budget Report - Implications for Churches & Charities.

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