It costs £130,000 a year to keep this church open.
This pays for the upkeep of the building, so that it remains open to the public as a quiet, beautiful and spiritual place to come to pray, to baptise children, to celebrate weddings and to hold memorial services for our loved ones who have died.
It also pays for the ministry of the church to families, to people who have suffered bereavement, to the sick, the hungry, the lonely; all sorts of people who find themselves in difficulty. It pays for our young people to be supported as they grow in faith and for all sorts of teaching and learning to take place. This work is led by a full-time paid vicar but also relies on the work of many volunteers.
Nearly all our income is raised by people who worship here regularly.
Our church is flourishing in many ways. However, in terms of finances, we are only just about able to meet our targets. It would make a huge difference to us if those people who have appreciated our church building as a quiet place to pray or have seen the impact of our ministry on the lives of people they love, donated the kind of amounts of money they would spend in a coffee shop, at the cinema or in a pub. If people got used to making contributions of that nature and magnitude, our financial worries would disappear and we could spend more time reaching and transforming more people’s lives.
In particular, at this moment in time, in addition to our usual running costs, we are faced with the challenge of raising:
- At least £20,000 to buy new boilers to heat the church.
- More than £20,000 for internal redecoration.
- About £20,000 to replace our expensive and outdated lighting.
Please only can you give what you can. If you wish to donate, please make a payment directly into our bank account:
- Sort code: 20-53-77
- Account number: 40696668
- Account name: The Parochial Church Council of St Philip & St James Alderley Edge
Thank you very much for your support.
Rev’d Robin Pye