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Jesus came that we might have life, and life in all its fullness.
John 10:10

Introduction

Our vision as a church is to become a vibrant community that is learning to live the life, wherever God has placed us. Therefore our primary focus is on prayerfully supporting and practically equipping one another to be authentic Christ-followers in the whole of our lives.

The vision of life that is seen in Jesus is of a person who is:

  • Breathing in God’s love through word and prayer
  • Breathing out God’s love through worship and action

Our recently re-ordered Parish Church and Youth Hub, along with our Parish Halls help us to live out this vision, but it’s our leadership team and church members who bring this vision to life as we engage with people of all ages and backgrounds: Our youth and children’s teams focus on the younger generations. We offer a wide variety of groups and activities on Sundays and throughout the week and continue to see growth and fruitfulness in these areas.

We actively engage with local schools including Downend School, and Christ Church Juniors and Infants. Our desire is to make contact with increasing numbers of families and young people in the area, sharing the love of Christ with them in word and action.

Our Discipleship for All Ages Ministry helps equip people to live out their faith where God has placed them day by day. Life groups, prayer triplets and other small groups provide environments where faith can flourish and honest wrestling can take place. We try to look out for one another as members of God’s Family and share God’s love through home visiting and home communions; hospital visiting; bereavement support; welcoming newcomers and keeping in touch with people on the fringes.

We are responding in various ways to some of the needs of the local community. We seek to help people on their spiritual journeys through the Alpha course and similar groups; we provide support and help to those in serious debt through our branch of Christians Against Poverty (CAP); and our chaplaincy team are proactive in engaging with residents in local care homes.

The global outreach of Christ Church encompasses support for many deprived areas of the world. We have developed partnerships with an orphanage in India, a young family working with disabled artisans in Tanzania, a church plant in Ursoaia, Moldova, projects in Uganda and Christians suffering persecution in various parts of the world.

Without the generous giving of so many in our church we would not be in a position to carry out these activities, and provide the current level of investment in the work of our mission partners. In order to ensure that we can sustain and grow what we believe God has called us to do now as well as develop future initiatives we want to encourage every church member to prayerfully commit to investing in God’s mission through Christ Church as they are able.

There are many ways in which you are able to offer financial support from one off donations to regular weekly or monthly giving:

Regular giving

It is possible to simply place cash in the offering during the service, but we would encourage you to consider joining us in thoughtful, planned regular giving. Our preferred means of giving is through the Parish Giving Scheme, which enables you to give directly from your bank account by direct debit on a monthly or quarterly basis. 100% of your donation comes back to the Parish and the scheme enables us to claim gift aid efficiently and reduces admin costs, whilst giving you the flexibility to change your level of giving as and when you need to. You can opt to have an inflationary increase automatically applied to your regular gifts each year. It’s very simple to join the scheme – an information pack is available from the welcome desk or the Parish Office or you can simply call PGS on 0333 002 1271 to set up a direct debit. You’ll need our Parish Code which is 050605085 .

One off gifts

There may be times when you find yourself in a position to make a one off gift to Christ Church. This can be done in a number of ways:

  • Direct from your bank account via our website
  • Via bank transfer: Our bank details are as follows:
    • The PCC of Christ Church, Downend
    • Sort Code: 30-98-06
    • Account Number: 07307109
  • By contactless giving using the card reader by the reception desk at Christ Church.
  • By cheque – please ensure cheques are made payable to: The PCC of Christ Church Downend

Cheques or cash can be placed in an envelope, marked with the giver’s name and its purpose, and simply put in the collection or sent to the Parish Office. If you are a tax payer, please complete a gift aid form to maximise your gift and its potential impact.

Legacy gifts

Legacy giving provides you with a way of supporting the ministry and mission of Christ Church even after your death.

Any legacy however large or small is gratefully received and we promise to use your gift to help serve God’s purposes in the Parish. Since needs change over the years, we encourage you to leave a gift in your will for the general purposes of the parish rather than for a restricted purpose. We will discuss possible uses of your gift with your executors when the time comes, bearing in mind your known areas of interest in the church (e.g. music, buildings, children and youth, overseas mission or aid) and the church’s priorities at the time.

For a confidential discussion about legacy giving please contact Sally Bartram on legacies@christchurchdownend.com

Gift aid

The government allows churches (and other charities) to recover the tax you may have paid on the money you give to us. If you are a taxpayer this means that we can currently claim back an extra £1 on every £4 you give. This is not money the government gives the church; it is your money which you have paid in tax on the gift you are giving us and which is returned to us by the government. When you sign up for the Parish Giving Scheme, you are asked to sign a gift aid declaration to enable PGS to reclaim gift aid on our behalf, but if you give in other ways and are a tax payer you will need to sign our gift aid declaration to enable us to recover such tax for the work of the church. Please contact the Planned Giving Secretary for more information.

Further information

The Planned Giving Secretary is Adrian Harding and he will be happy to help you with any aspects of planned giving. Please email: giving@christchurchdownend.com.

To read more on the Biblical principles of giving click here.

The information on this page can be downloaded in leaflet format here.