Stewardship and giving

Stewardship is about being responsible with the things God has given us. Our time, skills, gifts and financial resources are entrusted to us, not to hold tightly but to use wisely for the life and mission of God’s church.

Giving is part of our Christian discipleship. As Christians in Northstowe we share both the privilege and responsibility of resourcing God’s work here. We also recognise that people’s circumstances vary, and only you know the balance of time and money that is right for you in this season. We simply invite you to prayerfully consider what is possible.

Churches have often used the language of stewardship to speak about caring for creation too. But, as theologian Ruth Valerio explains, using "stewardship" here can suggest that creation is an object we manage, rather than a living community we belong to. Instead of imagining ourselves as overseers, we choose language that reflects our place within creation — called to care for, honour, protect, and join in God’s ongoing work of renewal. If you’d like to explore how we live this out in practice, you can read more on our Eco page.

 

Why does a church need giving from local members?

As Christians in Northstowe, we have the responsibility as well as the privilege of financing God’s work here. 

We have benefited greatly from initial start-up grants: we thank the Growing Faith Foundation for supporting our church-school-community partnerships since 2023. We are grateful to the Church of England for providing initial funding to cover our start up costs over two years (2018-19), for providing our minister’s housing, and for working with the Benefact Trust to make up the costs of funding our lead minister as we work towards local financial maturity. We also thank the Church Schools of Cambridge for helping us support youthwork in Northstowe since 2022

However, in due course, the local charity is expected to fund the running costs of everything that we do: rent and resources for gatherings;  pay, housing, and expenses of our ministers; the salary and expenses of other potential staff team (e.g. youth worker, administrator, caretaker and cleaner); and the running costs of the church office and any future church building.

Thanks to generous giving from our current members, we currently cover the costs associated with hire of venues, resources, hospitality, and office costs. We are meeting our agreed share of the (currently subsidized) costs of paying for our lead minister, but will be expected to take on the full amount as we grow.

As a partnership bringing together different church traditions, we benefit greatly from their regional and national support. Therefore, part of our financial maturity will be to make appropriate contributions to the wider work of all our partner church bodies. We are working with regional experts from our partner churches (our “Ecumenical Support Cabinet”) to ensure we make the right balance of direct funding versus centralised contributions, appropriate to the various church traditions.

Aware we can’t live out our values of praying, exploring, and sharing alone, we also give on to ministries that align with our mission-values to help them, too, to make a difference. These have included Toilet Twinning, The Children’s Society, Send A Cow, DEC, The Northstowe Youth Hive, and, currently  International Justice Mission and CCHP.


In addition to such normal church activities, we are also about to embark on fundraising for a potential ‘House of Prayer and Hospitality’ in Northstowe. We have been invited to bid to take on responsibility for a piece of land which the developers were legally obliged to set aside for the good of the whole Northstowe community. The developers will provide the winning community group with the land without cost. But, should we win the bid, we will need to fund all build and operating costs. We are grateful for a major financial commitment being offered by the Eastern Synod of the United Reformed Church.  If successful in our bid, we will also be able to approach external grant funders, but they will expect to see significant local fundraising efforts. Read more

Make your gift go further with Gift Aid 

Please remember to Gift Aid your gift  if you are a UK taxpayer and satisfy the required criteria.  Our online giving forms handle gift aid directly. But if you are making a direct donations, please ask us  for a gift aid form. If you pay tax above the basic rate, you can claim the difference between the rate you pay and basic rate on your donation. For more information on how to claim back this tax, please visit the HMRC website. 

What to know more about how we spend the money you donate?
Visit our Governance page and download the latest Annual Report