Supporting the University Church

Recent months have been challenging for many of us, but I want to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the many gifts offered by so many people to support the life and witness of the University Church. I would especially like to thank you for your commitment and support. It has been heartening in recent months to observe the resilience of our sense of community, in particular our sense of belonging to one another and supporting one another.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank all those who offer financial support to the University Church. We have benefited enormously from income from tourists through our commercial enterprises. However, the pandemic has shown us we cannot always rely on this. Regular voluntary giving is a great way to support St Mary’s. If members of our community give regularly, we are in a much stronger position, not only to meet the basic running costs of the church but also to develop our work in new and exciting ways.

At a recent meeting, the Parochial Church Council decided to join the Parish Giving Scheme run by the Diocese of Oxford. This has a number of advantages. It is easy to join and enables members and supporters to give direct to the church by Direct Debit. The church will receive the donations every month without any deduction whatsoever. The diocese also pays over the applicable Gift Aid, if you are a taxpayer. This makes the administration simpler for our staff.

We all know that costs go up every year because of inflation. We are particularly conscious of this as we emerge from the pandemic. The Parish Giving Scheme offers you the opportunity to give a little more each year to offset inflation. A figure is suggested to you at your annual renewal. However, you can decide not to give the extra amount or you can opt out of such annual adjustments when you join the scheme in the first place. You can also vary or cancel your direct debit at any time simply by contacting the Parish Giving Scheme. The normal banking direct debit guarantees apply to this scheme. You can also give anonymously.

If you have not had an opportunity to review your giving for a while, why not check out the Parish Giving Scheme? If you have an existing Standing Order, you may wish to adjust that, or alternatively, you may wish to make a cash donation when you come to church. In the months ahead, we will also be launching a Friends organisation to appeal for support from a wider audience. It will be important for these donors to know that members of the congregation are active in supporting the life of St Mary’s. Moreover, when you give to St Mary's, you will be supporting our charitable giving to other organisations as well as our support for poorer parishes within the Diocese of Oxford. 

Thank you for your support.