How to give

 

The majority of St John's funding comes from the generous donations of parishioners, supplemented by fundraising events and bequests. Ruth and the PCC would like to thank everyone who has given and continues to give. It costs a little over £10,000 a month to pay all the bills at St John's. Neither the government nor the diocese pay towards the costs of running a church, so it can be hard to balance the books. 

You can give to St John’s in a number of ways:

• Use the “Donate Now” button to the right to make a credit card payment

• Set up a monthly donation: talk to Andy, our Treasurer, if you’d like to do this – see Contact details

• Donate by cash or cheque (payable to St John's Sandiway) at any service 

• Donate by card if you are attending a service of event at the church hall

• Add a legacy to a will

 

If you have any questions, would like more information about the church’s finances, or would like to get involved in helping the finance team, please talk to Andy or one of the wardens: see Contact details.

 

Rev Ruth has recently been talking about increases in our Parish Share payments. Here's a short explanation of what that means:

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Whatever is the Parish Share? (a short guide to our financial contributions to the Diocese - accidentally omitted from June magazine!) Each Anglican church in England is part of a Diocese, and each Diocese is in charge of recruiting, training, housing and paying Clergy, training lay ministers (e.g. Readers) and providing central services such as safeguarding, legal and financial services. There is no subsidy from the Government or the National Church so each Diocese has to raise its own money to cover its costs.

 

So how does the Diocese pay for this?

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The main way the Diocese raises money is by collecting the Parish Share. This is an annual financial contribution paid by each parish to the Diocese. Not every church pays the same amount.

 

How is our Parish Share calculated?

 

In Chester Diocese, the Board of Finance assess the costs of their clergy-related responsibilities across the whole of the Diocese, and split it between the parishes according to a) the number of full-time and/or part-time paid Clergy in each parish, and b) the socio-economic position of the parish area, based on census data. This means that the amount we pay is not directly linked to the amount we cost the Diocese, but rather is a portion of the amount needed to cover the salary, housing, training and support for all clergy in Chester Diocese. Parishes in poorer areas pay less than parishes in more affluent areas such as Sandiway.

 

What is our Parish Share in Sandiway?

 

We only have one paid member of the Clergy – a full-time Vicar. However, following the 2021 Government Census, the banding for St John’s Sandiway has been reassessed and our parish has been placed higher on the socio-economic scale. This means that our Parish Share has increased by about twice the rate of inflation in 2025, and will be £81,300 for this year - with further rises to come next year.