Money and Giving

UPDATED November 2022

All funds used and received are given voluntarily without obligation and we give thanks to all who contribute. There is no tithing or persuasion tactics used to extract funds from friends, visitors and Methodist members.

During Chapel Worship there is no longer a collection bag passed around. Some regulars choose to make standing orders via bank accounts. There is no embarrassment for those who choose to give much, little or not at all. We appreciate the single donations we receive such as the £200 during the free to enter Christmas festival. We now have most of the regulars donating via bank transfers so the weekly offering collection be discontinued, which will remove the feeling of pushiness caused by “in your face” money collection during the precious time of God’s communal Worship. There is a collection box for discrete donations.

There are fundamental expenses that need to be met and we value and thank you for keeping the church running. We would rather save souls and love people than save money, and we will try all we can to avoid becoming a fund raising type of church, which can distort and distract churches in a very ugly way if left unchecked. God commissions us to care for those in need personally and communally ‘Acts 2: 42-47’.

The money received pays for the Southampton circuit ministry staff, the upkeep of the chapel building, the UK methodist church organisation, our projects and group expenses, and charity giving. The financial accounts are published regularly in the church magazine and compiled according to established Methodist principles, and are audited independently and reviewed at the church AGM, to which anybody is invited.

2020 and 2021 provided us with the confidence to know that much of our expenses are not essential to continue worshipping and to live together in Christ.

Giving money is not enough: our hearts should be open as well as our wallets, so that our enthusiasms become a gift from God. He does not need our actions (the Lord gives to us!), but our practical actions are good evidence of his close presence, and we should all give by doing.

Thankyou for what you give. It will enable God’s work and worship to continue communally in this public place in Hedge End, and provide many people with an essential social access point to other people who love the Lord, and want to learn and care together.