Gift Day Update

I'd normally wait until Sunday to announce the Gift Day total, but for reasons you'll see in a minute I've decided to do it via a blog.

If you remember we raised around £100,000 in our April gift days. In June we wanted to raise a further £250,000 to allow us to do all of the planned reception changes in August. The actual June gift day total including giving, pledges and gift aid is just over £75,000. That means we've raised more than £175,000 over and above our regular giving so far this year, which is quite remarkable and I'm so grateful to everyone who has given so generously. However, we are still well short of what we need.

So what are we going to do? Well if you heard my sermon on Sunday you'll have heard me talk about five steps to living a life of meaning and purpose (if you missed it you can listen to it here). The steps were:

1. Start with a God sized, God glorifying vision (£250,000 seemed fairly God sized!)
2. Come up with a God inspired plan to fulfil the vision
3. Empower people to get involved
4. Sacrificially own the vision
5. When you've done all you can do, pray and ask God to do what only He can do

We still want to do all of the reception changes in August, so we're in the process of talking to our bank about getting a short term loan to allow us to go ahead with it all, which we'll look to pay off as quickly as possible. But I really want to lead us now into taking prayer, step 5, to another level, believing that in prayer we can see God do a financial miracle for us, as He has done in the past.

So here's what we're going to do. If you remember at the start of the year I spoke about re-digging old wells, and God calling us to return to some of the things we've done in the past (see Genesis 26). Those of you around when we built the Kerith Centre will remember us having a weekly early morning prayer meeting to ask God for money (there were seasons when it was daily, but I'm not sure we need to re-dig that well quite yet!). So from this Thursday morning (30th June) we're going to have a weekly prayer meeting from 6-7am in the Kerith Centre reception to pray for money, and for life changing God encounters for all of the thousands of people who will come through the new reception area. I'll lead it when I'm around - Ben Davies and others will lead it when I'm not here. We'll keep doing it until all of the £750,000 we've set out to raise this year has come in.

I hope that all makes sense. If not then please ask questions via the blog, or catch me or one of the other elders on Sunday. We want to be totally transparent in the process, so please ask your questions or raise any concerns.

Again a huge thank you to everyone who has already given. I want to lead you in continuing to give sacrificially and continuing to ask God for big things. Hope to see you on Thursday morning!

Simon.