An update on finances at Christ Church St Ives

Thank you for your ongoing and generous financial support of the ministry at Christ Church St Ives. We have had a great start to the year studying Revelation and Exodus. Many people have spoken to me about the way this has been challenging but profoundly helpful.  As we all seek to grow as wholehearted disciples of Jesus, I want our church to be a place where we take on the big issues and this year has already been a big one. 

Our Let’s Talk Work series is firing, the youth and kids Winter Camps are about to start, Share Life is coming and we’re only halfway through the year. ESL and our Mandarin Fellowship are growing wonderfully. Our three MTS Trainees are developing well and loving ministry and our five Moore College Student Ministers are getting stuck into various ministries. A new Night Church women preaching and training seminar series is about to begin, all run by this team.  

Overall, it has been a great term in which the Gospel has gone out from our church in a myriad of ways. 

We were overwhelmed with the result of our 2023 SRE Appeal. We sought to raise $100,000 to both continue and grow the work of Scripture in schools but your generosity saw more than $163,000 given to this ministry. Josh Hayward, Pete Oates, Rach Lustig and their teams feel encouraged and supported by your thoughtful interaction with them and your financial support and we are developing plans to best utilise the funding. 

Overall, our 2023 giving is continuing strongly and we are less than 1% (~$5000) behind our giving budget. This is astounding and we praise God for your generosity and partnership in seeing people reached with the Gospel.

We recognise that there are some who are yet to start giving to the work of the Gospel at Christ Church St Ives or have not had a practice of giving regularly.  The Scriptures urge us to be good stewards of the gifts God has given us, including the money we earn, and I encourage you to consider how you can partner in the work of the Gospel in and from our church. For more information you can head to ccsi.church/give. If you would like to talk about how to think about your giving, please speak to a member of staff.

Just getting started with giving is important no matter how much you earn or how old you are. Throughout the Scriptures we read that God’s people faithfully bring their contributions and gifts to support God’s work (see 2 Chronicles 31:12 and Acts 4:32-35). Please be assured of my prayers for you and your financial decisions throughout this year. Thank you for your generous gifts. 

If you have any questions about our finances, current decisions or plans or any other matter regarding our governance, please do not hesitate to contact the Wardens (wardens@christchurch.com.au) or me (nigel@christchurch.com.au). 

Thanks for your partnership in the Gospel as we seek to build wholehearted disciples of Christ so we can reach further into the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.