SSPP Daring Faith

2015-18

Ephesians 3:12

‘Because of our FAITH in him,

we DARE to have boldness, courage and

confidence in coming to God with

freedom and without fear’

‘Without faith it is impossible to please God.’Hebrews 11:6

We have been blessed with significant growth and an exci ng vision to make a real difference in our community and beyond. As our numbers increase and our vision and ministries grow so the demand on our resources increase. As an example our paid staff team has grown from 1 in 2010 to 9 in 2016. Our goal is the same as that of the Apostle Paul: ‘Our hope is that, as your faith con nues to grow, our sphere of ac vity

among you will greatly expand.’ (2 Corinthians 10:15). In this brochure, you’ll learn all the details about how wewill trust God as we give in faith.

Worshipping GodMaking Friends &Changing the World

DARING FAITH BEGINSThere has been a church in Buckingham since Saxon mes. Since those early days churches have been built, collapsed, rebuilt, collapsed and rebuilt and re-ordered several mes. The church has waxed and waned, been persecuted, shrunk and grown. Yet now, despite a na onal decline in church-going trends, we find ourselves experiencing sustained growth.

The vision of those Chris ans who built the first mee ng-house remains unchanged several hundred years later: the church exists for mission and our mission is to make disciples. To do this, we want to be a church ffamily that focuses on three things:

Every year since I arrived I have preached a vision talk and in those talks the following five

themes have been a constant:

Our Church will succeed because:

In the next couple of pages you will see how these daring statements of faith become reality, and

then you’ll see the great challenge that God has given us today. Because we have a purpose,

everything we do in our church family is based on God’s five purposes given in the Great

CCommandment and the Great Commission. So in our campaign, every project lines up with at

least one of these purposes. In a few pages, you’ll see that our five faith goals for Daring Faith

will enable us to:

The opportuni es before us have never been greater, and I have never been more excited about

our future! Now is the me for daring faith! Will you join us on this courageous journey?

YYou haven’t really trusted God un l you’ve a empted to do something you can’t do in your own

strength. I dare you to let God show you how much more he can do in your life when you trust

him!

Rev’d Will Pearson-Gee, Rector

1 . We will dare to dream great dreams for God!

2 . We will dare to expect God to act on our behalf!

3. We will dare to risk failure!

4 . We will dare to offer uncondi onal love!

5 . We will dare to make sacrifices and never give up!

Keep growing stronger through worship

KKeep growing warmer through fellowship

Keep growing deeper through discipleship

Keep growing broader through ministry

Keep growing larger through mission

Now today as we prepare for our new stewardship campaign, we can look back and see what God can accomplish when a group of people have daring faith in him and a willingness to sacrifice to something greater than themselves.

We celebrate our history with deep humility and gra tude, and we believe the best is yet to come! God is calling each of us as individuals, and all of us as a church family, to step up to another level of faith and deeper trust in him. Daring faith will will require some large and sacrificial steps of faith. Just as God has enabled usin the past, he will do so again!

While this has been going on we have grown numerically and so the ministry team has had to grow. The Parochial Church Council (PCC) has made some bold decisions to facilitate our mission. Extra staff have been taken on and those called into full- me Chris an ministry supported financially. We have sought not simply to react to the growth but to plan ahead ready for even more.

TThere is a widely held sense that we are surfing on a move of the Spirit, we’ve been wai ng pa ently trying to discern when the right ‘wave’ is coming and we’ve clambered aboard and are now moving forward in an exci ng and Spirit-driven way. Lives are being transformed and people are coming to faith.

‘May God accept all your offerings and be pleased with all your sacrifices.

He give you what you desire and make all your plans succeed.’

Psalm 20:3-4

F

OUR FIVE GOALS

OF DARING FAITH

Fill God’s house with 600 adults and 150 young people across

all our Sunday services within 3 years.

‘Urge anyone you find to come, so that my house will be full.’

LLuke 14:23‘The father is ac vely seeking people

who will worship him.‘ John 4:23

HOW? By worshipping God whole-heartedly

and inves ng in our service offerings so ththat they are so good people can’t resist

invi ng friends along. Extra staff and many volunteers will be needed and

also extra mee ng space.

Assist 300 people a year in our community with debt advice,

bereavement courses, divorce and separa on recovery

courses and marriage enrichment courses.Serve a total

oof 2500 free meals to the lonely and isolated.

Serve 5000 free cups of tea and coffee to the isolated.

HOW? Open a ‘Rela onship Centre’

in the former Red Cross Centre in in Town and use as a base for

serving the community.

A

I THnterconnect with a new

genera on through new

technologies and social media thereby drawing

in a genera on that isis very disconnected.

WHY?Because Jesus created his church for fellow-

ship.

‘Then you will all be joined together, and

you’ll give glory to God.’ Romans 15:6

I elp take the Good News to the rest

of the World.

HOW?By suppor ng overseas mission through our

oown home-grown mission partners.

Send out 20 people a year on short-term

mission trips.

rain up new leaders.To grow the church we must

train up leaders.

These are not just individuals called into

full- me paid Chris an ministrChris an ministry but

Connect Group leaders, worship leaders,

pastoral workers and of course those wishing

to a end theological college.

HT

A CHURCH WORTHYOF YOUR SUPPORT

Any me you asked to consider giving to an organisa on you should ask three ques ons:

We very much hope that looking back at what the Parish Church has achieved you will see that there has been strong leadership, faithful stewardship and good use has been made of people’s gi s.

Do they have a track record of success and effec veness?

Do I trust the leadership and have they proven to be competent?

Will they make best use of my gi ?

1. WE ARE BUILT ON BIBLICAL PURPOSES

From the beginning we have never wavered from our commitment to Jesus great commandment and great commission:

2. WE HAVE A WISE LEADERSHIP TEAM

We are fortunate to have a wonderful PCC with many long standing members with great experience from a variety of backgrounds, all dedicated to doing their best for your church.

3.3. WE HAVE FINANCIAL INTEGRITY

Our audited accounts give the parish church a blemish-free record of wisely stewarding funds.

4. WE HAVE A HEART TO HELPING PEOPLE WHO ARE HURTING

We have regularly thed 10% of our income in support of external chari es and more recently through focusing on suppor ng a partner charity called the Quicken Trust (Kabbubu). There have been mission trips to visit Kabbubu in Uganda and we currently fund the employment of a community nurse in the village (Nurse Susan). Closer to home we provide free meals for the lonel lonely and isolated, run a food-bank of those in need, we’ve have provided emergency accommoda on for the homeless and helped many others who are in need.

5. WE ARE INVESTING HEAVILY IN THE NEXT GENERATION

The parish church’s commitment to suppor ng families in raising their children is seen in a deep investment in both our children and families ministries. The result is that the numbers of children and families coming to church has rocketed.

6 . WE HAVE DARING FAITH AND BOLD DREAMS

If you want to be a part of the future, this is a church with a big and scary vision with a willingness to take risks in faith.

7. YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN CHANGED HERE

Every week the good news touches people’s hearts and lives changed. Your gi s to daring faith will enable your church family to reach others with the same transforming message of Jesus that has made such a difference in your own life. Pass it on!

SEVEN REASONS TO SUPPORT US

We celebrate God’s presence through worship.

We connect God’s family through friendship.

We demonstrate God’s love through ministry.

We grow God’s people through discipleship.

We communicate God’s word through evangelism.

Dear Church Family,

I have been with you now for 5 ½ years and never does a day go by when I don’t give thanks to God for calling me to Buckingham. SSPP is a warm, welcoming and loving church and it is an immense privilege to be the Rector. I have been humbled by people’s warmth and generosity and by the sacrificial giving that has gone on in thepast to make the church what she is today. I hope everyone understands that I havedone done my utmost to preserve what is best of our tradi on and heritage whilst tryingnew and innova ve ways to reach the lost.

It has been a tricky balancing act and I know not everyone has managed to stay on board. Our tradi onal service offering is now more crea ve it in liturgy and simultaneously we’ve also become more crea ve in our contemporary worship. We’ve grown in depth, width and height in large part through the dedica on of many re red people who have given so much me to help support and nurture the new ini a ves.

I hI have stepped out in faith expec ng more and more of the SSPP family and watched as people have come to faith and growth deeper in their faith. I could not be more proud of you nor want be er travelling companions as we journey forward to take the Gospel out into our precious community.

I am well aware that for some being asked to give yet more will arouse nega ve emo ons. You may already have given very sacrificially and feel you have no more to give. Others may not like the direc on they sense the Church heading in. Some might simply nnot like what was a cosy place filled with friends becoming a noisy, messy place filled with strangers! My prayer is that whatever you may think privately, you understand our biblical impera ve to make the Good News of Jesus Christ known to as many people as possible. In order to make this unchanging message accessible to a new and changing genera on we need to do things differently. This is what we have sought to do and by the Grace of God our growth is evidence of a measure of successin our endeavours: God has, and is blessing us immensely.

IIt would be temp ng to ask the Holy Spirit to take his foot off the accelerator and to coastfor a bit; to take a breather, to sit back and enjoy the view for awhile. The trouble is I don’t see any biblical exhorta on to behave like this. As the classic hymn starts “We have a gospelto proclaim” and people are spiritually dying as they wait to hear the Good News.

We have a bold and scary vision for further growth which will need more staff, moreresources and more effort and we can only move forward with your con nued help and support. There are in par cular some big staff appointments that the PCC wishtto make which will require significant extra funding. I hope and pray you’ll be able to join me in making these things possible.

This is a moment to make an eternal difference with your money … to store up treasures in heaven …to build something that will outlast your life … and to be part of a miracle.

Let’s go for it!

Sacrificial giving happens when I give every possible way I can. David said:

Give a one-off gi

Set-up a regular giving pledge (via Direct Debit or Standing Order)

If you are already giving, make a 3 year Giving Pledge over and above that.

You can give far more when it is spread out over me.

You’d be amazed at the poten al of what a regular small amount can build up into.

MMake SSPP a beneficiary in your Will.

Give of your me by volunteering.

‘I will not offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing’2 Samuel 24:24

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FIVE WAYS TO GIVE

EQUAL SACRIFICE, NOT

EQUAL GIFTS HOW TO MAKE MY GIFT AND COMMITMENT

Included with this brochure is an offering form. A er praying about your daring faith commitment, please complete it and return to the Church office or hand it in during the offering at any service.

MY GIVING POTENTIAL:

EEach of us can give far more than we think by giving it over a three-year period.Here are some examples spread over 3 years:

Forgoing an annual subscrip on to a magazine would allow you to give £100Forgoing 1 pint of beer a week would allow to to give £470Forgoing 1 bo le of wine a week would allow to to give £1100Foregoing a ladies outfit every 3 months would allow you to give £1200Forgoing a meal out for two a month would allow you to give £2000FForgoing an overseas holiday and instead holidaying locally could save £3000-£5000

If just 150 adults/families were to give or increase their giving by for 3 years by £10 per week we would raise £270,000, an amount that would transform

our ministry.

‘Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm founda on for the coming age,

so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.’1 Timothy 6:18-19

This Brochure has been kindly donated by Gee Brothers, London.

Get ready for more miracles