Supporting Your Church

Why Give?

Saint Mary, like many other churches, operate on an extremely tight budget. Nonetheless, we don’t shy away from our calling as Christians to give sacrificially to the work of His Kingdom.

We have various services, events and activities that cater to the lonely and vulnerable, elderly and young as well as everyone else that live, work or visit our parish. We have community activities such as SMART for toddlers, Meeting Point and Knitting and Colouring for the not so young amongst many others.

We take our work with the community, especially our local schools and uniformed organisations very seriously. This is why we employ a Children and Families’ Worker, in addition to many volunteer helpers.  

Here at Saint Mary’s, we believe giving is part and parcel of our worship and discipleship. It is an important part of showing our love of Christ. It is a vital part of who we are as Christians.

Our efforts are not limited to the boundaries of our parish. We continue to support various charities such as our local Foodbank, Elmbridge Renstart caring for the homeless. We also support The Leprosy Mission working to eradicate this disease all around the world as well as The Bible Society. Every year, we give a part of our income to these charities.

Besides, yearly we collaborate with our local schools through the Shoebox Appeal, sending Christmas gifts to children all around the world. Hosting school events and services. Our halls are used by many in the community often at reduced prices and in some cases at no cost.

All these are in line with our parish vision is ‘Loving, Serving, Growing’. As a church, we want to continue to love, to serve and see our community grow in harmony with each other and our environment.

I hope you will agree with us that this is very important now more than ever.

This laudable ambition is extremely difficult to achieve due to the COVID pandemic which has had a massive impact on us all. It is felt in all aspects of our church life. Our finances have borne the brunt of it. Now more than ever, we need all the help we can get.

We would be grateful if you can help not only by giving of your time and talents, but also financially.

Below are various means through which this can be done. Whatever your response, my prayer for you is the same Saint Paul had for the Ephesians

 

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20

Planned Giving

This is a way of giving regularly to the church. It involves the setting up a Standing Order with your bank and an agreed sum is transferred to the church on a steady basis as you agreed with your bank. The receipt of this regular income helps tremendously in the budgeting process and general financial planning. The amount to be donated is entirely at the discretion of the donor and payments can be made weekly, monthly, quarterly or even annually, to suit your financial arrangements. Once the standing order has been set up, it can be varied, either up or down, should the need arise. If you would like to contribute to St Mary Oatlands in this way, you can download a bank Standing Order form here.

You could also sign the Gift Aid form, if the donor is a UK Taxpayer thereby increasing your donation by 25%, at no cost to yourself. Further information on this can be obtained from the Parish Office. The Gift Aid Declaration Form is available here.

Just Giving

If you would like to make donation to support the work of St Mary Oatlands, one very easy way of doing so is to use this platform. Donations can be made on a regular or one-off basis. You could also use this format to set up specific fundraising initiatives for the church. Please do contact the Parish Office if you would like to do this.

Giving by Text

This is a way of using you telephone to donate to the church. To use this method, text OATLANDS3 to 70085. The text will cost £3, plus your standard network message charge. You will be opting in to hear more about our work and fundraising via telephone or SMS. If you would like to give £3, but do not wish to receive marketing communications, text OATLANDSNOINFO3 to 70085. Please ensure that you obtain the bill payer’s permission.

Legacies

A gift in your will can be an expression of your gratitude and thanksgiving towards God and can help keep Saint Mary alive for generations to come. No matter how large or small, every gift that is left can make a lasting difference. If you would like to discuss this in confidence, please speak to our Vicar on 01932840077 email vicar@oatlandschurch.org.uk.  More information is also available here

One-Off Donations

There are times when you would want to show appreciation to God by donating to His church. We will be glad to receive such donations and they could be made through the details below:

Account name: St Mary Oatlands PCC

Sort Code: 40-52-40 (CAF Bank)

Account No.: 00028803

Online Shopping

If you are shopping online, why not use https://smile.amazon.co.uk/gp/chpf/homepage?orig=%2F ? Every time you make a purchase, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the purchase price to St Mary Oatlands. You could also use https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/ for other online shopping.

Time

Talents

Donations in Memory

As a way of honouring occasions such as birthdays and wedding anniversaries, or in memory of a loved one, you may wish to donate to the work of the church. There are many projects to which such donations could ne allocated. Please speak to our Vicar on 01932840077 or email vicar@oatlandschurch.org.uk.

You could also use the “Light up the Church” scheme. We ask for a minimum donation of £20 (plus Gift Aid if appropriate) and this will sponsor the floodlighting for a week.