During a recent away day, the PCC of Holy Trinity, Coventry reflected on generosity and being generous people.
They invited Simon Jones, the Diocesan Stewardship Advisor, to help facilitate their reflections.
Simon helped the team reflect on giving practices and creating a generous culture. He talked about encouraging ‘holy habits’ within the church so that giving becomes second nature. He also highlighted that to encourage people to give, the church needs to explain what will change if they do and what impact it will have. For example, increased giving could allow the church to run a messy church which could have the outcome of a number of children learning about Jesus for the first time.
The Revd Canon Richard Hibbert, Vicar of Holy Trinity Coventry, says:
“Talking about giving so often seems to be about number or percentages. Simon introduced us rather to a world of being generous, which so reflected the intention of our church values: Welcome, Warmth, Worship, Witness, Wealth, Walk. Our desire is to be generous to others and pray for God to stir up generosity within the congregation. Through a mixture of scripture, teaching, discussion and reflective action Simon took the PCC on a positive journey about the power of generosity to make a transforming difference. It was, best of all, really helpful to have all this brought to the PCC by a ‘member of the laity’. We have more to do at our next main PCC meeting.”
Simon Jones says:
“It was a pleasure to join Holy Trinity on their PCC away day at Berkswell Church, facilitating a session on Generosity. Exploring their 'Wealth' value through reflection of giving practices and generous culture, enabling conviction and courage in the generosity of their wealth, and a vision for the future.”