Giving is about more than an appeal to your wallet. It is an invitation to respond generously out of all that you have been given by God in creation. Just think of our freedom, our opportunity, the privilege of our free-speech, our astonishing wealth (relative to most of the rest of the world) and the incredible richness of life in this world city. And then ask how much of that you ‘keep’ and how much you ‘give’ back to others?
Christians sometimes use the term ‘stewardship’ as a way of talking about this process of giving back from what we ourselves have been given. It is a principle found in Scripture ,and at St Paul’s we are a community of people who live out of this stewardship principle.
If you are a visitor to our community, you are welcome to make a one off gift if you so wish (and to do so online, see the ‘make a donation’ section of the website) but in principle you are our welcome guest; if, however, you become part of our regular community we will ask you to signal this by making a pledge (whether weekly, monthly or annually) to play your part in maintaining our common life and making possible the outward generosity we maintain as a community.
That’s the way it works. No clever sales pitch. No gimmick. Just an invitation to be a good steward of what God has given you.