SHAREthe stewardship magazine | issue 27

transforming generosity

GOOD BUSINESSMeet the new breed of entrepreneurs and business people using their skills for good

ENTER A SEASON OF GENEROSITY IN YOUR CHURCH OR PERSONAL LIFE WITH SEASONS OF GIVING

Ideal for churches, Christian small groups* or personal reflection, this new study includes two four-week studies on the biblical generosity of our time, talents, money and other giving.

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10ofthose.comSearch ‘seasons of giving’

transforming generosity

contact us PO Box 99, Loughton, Essex, IG10 3QJ

020 8502 5600enquiries@stewardship.org.ukstewardship.org.ukYou can contact the editor by emailing editor@stewardship.org.ukEditor: Craig BorlaseDesign: adeptdesign.co.uk

Stewardship is the operating name of Stewardship Services (UKET) Limited, a registered charity in England and Wales no. 234714 and a company limited by guarantee no. 90305

like what you read? Use your Stewardship account to lend your support

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editorial

I suspect most will be familiar with the account of Zaccheus. He was a tax collector who was short and wealthy. Until recently,

however, it never occurred to me that after his encounter with Jesus he was still a tax collector.

Zaccheus didn’t give up his job, and Jesus didn’t ask him to either!

Unlike the parable of the Rich Young Ruler, Jesus did not ask Zaccheus to leave everything behind and follow Him. Instead, Jesus seemed quite content to let him carry on as a tax collector. Why? Perhaps it was because the community still needed a tax collector - an honest tax collector.

Zaccheus was repentant, generous, open to correction and willing to make amends. Zaccheus was a changed man, a man transformed by encountering and embracing Jesus.

I can only imagine the talk in Jericho in the days and weeks to follow. How many would receive four times what had been extorted by Zaccheus? How many poor would receive assistance? How long before news travelled to Rome? How many would stop to consider the extraordinary reason behind the change?

Zaccheus served the Kingdom by staying exactly where he was and applying the teachings of Jesus to his whole life.

In this issue we look at a few ordinary people doing some extraordinary things. These are Christians whose decision to follow Jesus has opened their eyes to the ways in which God works through business. We hope it inspires you to stay and stand right where you are.

Michael O’Neill, CEO Stewardship

We are Stewardship, a charity that effectively releases resources to support individuals, charities and organisations worldwide. Our mission is to enable you to live and give generously, advancing God’s Kingdom.

We believe that generosity is transformational, for the giver and for the receiver. Our work inspires and supports a generous resourcing community, with transformational results.

We are delighted to partner with you in your journey of generosity.

about us

we’re moving!From May 2014, Stewardship are moving back to London.

Find out more on PG 6

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volunteering for loveThe Christian dating site ChristianMingle has a new initiative “Good Deed Dating”. The idea is that while looking for love, Christian singles volunteer at projects such as food banks and urban community gardens. ChristianMingle hopes that the initiative will encourage both romantic and social passion to blossom.

news in brief

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justice for the homelessChristian homeless charity Housing Justice has warned that some UK churches are so focused on their own concerns that they fail to see the problems suffered by their community and congregation. Chief Executive Alison Gelder said that churches must put their community first. Housing Justice’s church night shelter model is being adopted by many UK churches through the winter months, working alongside Crisis, Shelter, church coalitions and other groups. In Westminster alone, figures for people sleeping rough have risen by 40% in the last year. To find out more, visit: housingjustice.org.uk

6 back to the city

10 life work balance

12 faith in business

14 how to release your inner social entrepreneur

20 the fall and rise of Simon Hawthorne

24 in business for good

26 legal and financial roundup

28 consultancy helpline

The magazine is printed on paper from farmed forests: for each tree felled, another is planted. The paper is chlorine-free and environmentally friendly.

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featuresfacing the debtThe Money Charity’s debt statistics for the beginning of 2014 made grim reading.

The average household debt (including mortgages) for November was

However, CAP’s latest stats show the other side of the coin.

households they saw became debt free in time for Christmas.

people lost their jobs every day between August and October.

A property was repossessed every 18 minutes and 15 seconds.

6,456 new families came to them for advice during 2013, while they continued to work with their 6,644 existing clients.

CAP clients have become Christians.

10,000 people have now attended the CAP Money Course.

£54,197

1,315

1,808

700

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BACK TO THE CITY

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TIMELINE 1950s UKET’s Covenant giving service begins, administered by Stunt & Sons from St Paul’s Churchyard in the City of London

1960 North Staffs Evangelisation Trust (NSET) formed

1960s Macedonian Evangelisation Trust (MET) formed

1906 United Kingdom Evangelisation Trust (UKET) formed

LAMB’S PASSAGE EC1

CITY OF LONDON

In May 2014, exactly a decade after Stewardship was formed through the merger of Sovereign Giving with Stewardship Services, we will be moving to a new office, on the edge of the City of London.

This is something of a homecoming for us as we will be within a stone’s throw of where our organisation began in 1906, when 12 representatives of Brethren assemblies met to form the United Kingdom Evangelization Trust.

A century later we are energised and enthused by a fresh vision and a renewed calling to serve and build the Church, at home and overseas.

We believe our new office will have a strategic role to play in our mission of inspiring greater generosity in the UK Church, making giving easy and strengthening those receiving financial support; charities, churches and those in full-time Christian ministry.

we’re movingOur new office will have a strategic role to play in our mission of inspiring greater generosity in the UK Church, making giving easy and strengthening those receiving financial support.

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1985 Merger of NSET & NEET creates Sovereign Giving

1990s UKET becomes Stewardship Services

2001 Stewardship Services merges with MET

2004 Merger of Stewardship Services & Sovereign Giving creates Stewardship

2008 Stewardship merges with MAXCO

2014 Our story continues…

Why make the move?Michael O’Neill: A variety of reasons; we believe it will allow us to keep recruiting the best, Christian staff; give us additional room to grow; provide a space to connect with and train our ministry partners; and make it easier to be a strong voice to government and our regulators for both Christian givers and charities alike. We’ve thought, prayed and talked long and hard about the move over the last four years, and we believe without hesitation that this is the right step to take.

Why London? Why not move somewhere else that’s cheaper?

Michael O’Neill: As well as the practical benefits above, we also believe we’ve been called to the city, where faith, commerce, culture and government converge. We want to be a positive Christian influence on our new neighbours in the financial district and in Whitehall, and we want to be able to support a vibrant and growing church-planting community in the city.

And with so many Christian ministries having left London, we also want to make working spaces available to them in our new office, when they need to be in the city.

Is hiring good staff really that hard?

Michael O’Neill: A number of Christian organisations are struggling to find qualified staff and we are no different. We have an occupational requirement that every member of the Stewardship team has a living and breathing Christian faith but our desire to maintain it has meant leaving some roles vacant for up to 18 months until a suitable candidate can been found. Our current location in Loughton has not made this task any easier in recent years. Our new office has fantastic transport links and is already allowing us to recruit excellent colleagues from a much wider area, who share our beliefs.

But isn’t it going to be far more expensive to operate from central London than the outskirts?

Michael O’Neill: No. The rent on 1 Lamb’s Passage would have been too much for us to pay, however the landlord, to the amazement of our search agents, offered to sell us the 999-year leasehold on the day we visited. We believe that this is a great use of some of our historic, financial reserves as we have been able to buy the leasehold outright – meaning there has been no need for any loans or other finance. In an economic climate where investment returns are likely to remain flat, this represents a good investment opportunity.

Operationally, some of our costs will increase but others will decrease (for example, our staff travel costs from our current location to central London).

Will you be putting up fees in order to pay for the move?

Michael O’Neill: No. The move will not be a factor in our regular reviews of giving account fees and charges for our church and charity services. There are no plans to change our normal fees.

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From 2nd June, our new contact details will be:

1 Lamb’s Passage, London EC1Y 8AB

To find out more about our move, please visit stewardship.org.uk/lambs

Our new home has been purchased in shell condition, allowing us to configure security, IT, and working areas to our needs. Contractors are on site and working hard, with completion slated for the end of May. The relocation will be with minimum fuss and we will be back to business as usual within one or two working days.

The Building

Ground floor office (6500 sq ft) on a quiet side street nestled between the City and Silicon Roundabout.

About Lamb’s Passage

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Opposite the Cass Business School (home of the country’s only academic centre for philanthropic research)...

10min walk from Liverpool Street, 6min from Moorgate.

Lamb’s Passage: named after Christian philanthropist Thomas Lamb.

5min walk from the new Crossrail Station, scheduled to open in 2018.

… around the corner from The Barbican and a stone’s throw from Wesley’s Chapel and the grave of John Bunyan.

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INSEARCH

OFBALANCE

What makes a successful city worker able to work less but achieve more? Debbie Wright met up with Andi Britt, Executive Management Consultant, IBM

MON TUE WEDS

THURS FRI SAT

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Andi Britt

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“Are you sure that’s a wise career move? How about the financial implications?” These were some of the questions Andi Britt’s family and friends put to him when he announced back in 1991 that he was opting to work part-time for a large corporate.

“I felt strongly then that this was something God was prompting me to do. I wanted to balance my work life with my personal life. In business we use the concept of a ‘balanced business scorecard’ and I wanted to work towards a ‘balanced life card’ which for me meant finding time and space for the things that mattered to me: Firm, Faith, Family and Fitness. So for over 25 years I have worked four days as a Management Consultant and on my fifth day I have been able to give back time to the things outside work that matter to me.

“Early on in my career I was actively running youth work in my church and when the family came along, I was able to take them to/from school every Friday; this was a good discipline for me and drew me into local school life, where I became Chair of Governors. I now chair two church-based charities in Battersea: a foodbank and a youth unemployment programme, called Spear, helping young people into work. As chair, I am responsible for the direction and financing of these community-based projects, which employ four full-time employees; it is the funding that can keep me awake at night sometimes… but then it is also what prompts me to rely on God. Spending time on these community-based ministries has given me passion and an excitement that I can take back into my professional environment.

“Obviously I have needed to be flexible and there have been times when a project or client priority has demanded that I put in

more than my four days each week. Yet over the years I have valued the structured day off each week and have been glad of the time and remit to give something back.”

Part-time working doesn’t appear to have inhibited Andi’s career; if anything it has given him a platform and exposure across the organisation to champion flexible working, and to engage with senior board members. In 2012 he was featured in the Financial Times Top 50 Power Part-Time Executives. Now approximately 10% of his 500 consultants work flexibly, term time only or a few days a week.

Giving out and giving back has not ever felt like a sacrifice. I actually feel my life has been enriched

“My motivation underpinning all this is my faith. Right at the start I felt called by God to explore part-time working and I still consider it to be a real blessing and a gift from God. A verse that resonates with me is 1 Corinthians 15:58. ‘With all this going for us, my dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.’”

“Giving out and giving back has not ever felt like a sacrifice. I actually feel my life has been enriched because my focus, my time and my energies are doing things in the church and community, which educate and refresh me alongside all the things I am doing in my day to day work. I feel very blessed and believe it was one of the best career decisions I ever made.”

To watch Andy’s generosity story, and others, visit stewardship.org.uk/stories

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Ruth Leigh meets a businesswoman on a mission.

FAITH IN BUSINESS

Visit the Silver Fish Company’s website and one of the first things you notice is the bold use of Bible verses on each page. Alongside images of beautiful, handcrafted pieces of jewellery, these verses underpin the strong Christian ethic running through the business like a vein of silver. Owner Norma Murrain took a leap of faith when she started the business, as she recalls.

“I was a part-time college lecturer. I knew nothing about making jewellery, but I found that God doesn’t call the qualified; He qualifies the called. I asked Him to show me my hidden talent, and He led me to silversmithing.” Someone once told me he thought I was a

radical evangelist trying to convert the whole world to Christianity. He didn’t mean it as a compliment, but I took it as one just the same!”

Silver Fish is based in Birmingham’s historic jewellery quarter which gives Norma plenty of opportunities to share her faith. “The other jewellers tell me I’ve got the biggest smile in the jewellery quarter and that I must have supernatural help. I tell them I do and His name’s Jesus. Customers and other businesses often ask me to pray with them. When times are hard, everyone’s hungry for God. As an artist, I feel I’ve got licence to share my faith because that’s my inspiration.”

Norma started her own charity, Treasured, in 2010. “We’re involved with three projects, one in Haiti and two in India. We work with women rescued from human trafficking and also in partnership with Harvest India, with The House of Grace, a safe place where at-risk women can work. Our next project will be in Nigeria, working with AIDS widows and single mums. God told me that those people are his treasure and I want to honour that.” Norma transfers a proportion of the profit from Silver Fish into Treasured, and even if there are no profits, she still puts money in.

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To find out more about the business and Treasured, visit www.silverfishjewellery.co.uk

Norma has always run the Silver Fish Company as a Christian business. I asked her if this had been a challenge. “Certainly it was. We got a grant to build and host our website, but the designer insisted that we couldn’t include Bible verses on there. Reluctantly, I omitted them, but a year later, the web-hosting company went out of business and we started again, this time self-funding. Back went the verses and they’ve been at the heart of the business ever since.”

Opinion on the inclusion of a Bible verse in each packaged piece is divided. “I’ve found that the word of the Lord is a double-edged sword. Some customers email us to say they love the verses while others tell us that they find them disturbing and unnecessary.

When times are hard, everyone’s hungry for God. As an artist, I feel I’ve got licence to share my faith because that’s my inspiration.

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THE FALL

AND

RISE OF

What makes a wealthy, generous-hearted, successful business owner become a less wealthy, generous-hearted, successful charity worker? Simon Hawthorne talks India, recession and what it is to watch a part of yourself die.

Simon with school

children in India

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THE FALL

AND

RISE OF

By the start of 2007 there were plenty of lives being changed. Simon and his wife Julia had funded the creation of four schools across India which between them were offering employment to thirty staff and a great education to one thousand children too poor to afford it for themselves. They were dreaming big, with plans to build a total of fifty schools and orphanages within a few years.

No longer content to generate profits on the back of cut-price goods from Chinese factories, Simon was also developing the country’s first fair trade street fashion brand. “We thought it was a brilliant way to link corporate life with ministry life, so we put a lot of money into it as well as another venture. We had promises of the

Wind the clock back six years and Simon Hawthorne’s life looked very different to the way it appears today. Having enjoyed many years of success in the fashion industry, he had plenty to show for it. There was a garage full of great cars (including an Aston Martin, naturally), a million pound farmhouse and the ability to plough six-figure sums into risky new business ventures.

Yet the material trophies were not his career highlights. “We weren’t hoarding,” says Simon. “We had used the business to build several schools in India. That – not selling baseball caps – was our motivation for getting out of bed in the morning. We loved seeing the businesses change lives.”

SIMON HAWTHORNE

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funding we needed to grow these ventures.” Everything was looking good, until…

“We got to August 2007 and things went wrong with Northern Rock. Nobody was answering the phone. Where risky businesses had previously been getting money chucked at them, it was soon clear that we weren’t going to be able to raise any of the money that we needed. We kept things going as long as we could, but eventually the whole lot collapsed.”

The businesses were closed, the cars driven away and the house put on the market. It was a painful time; the end of a dream. “A part of me had died, and I had to grieve it. But the most difficult thing about it all was how hard it was to hear from God. I felt like CS Lewis must have done following the death of his wife. It was like God was on the other side of a locked and bolted door.”

As is so often the case, that period of darkness and despair was not the end of the story. Instead, it was a time from which something entirely new would emerge.

“We were panicking about how we were going to be able to support the schools in India, then – for the first time – we looked into the idea of child sponsorship. We started asking if anyone else wanted to be a part of it. It felt like a miracle when people said that they did.”

The divine interventions didn’t stop there. Having taken a year out to think about what he might do next, Simon knew that he didn’t want to return to business as usual. “I was disillusioned with fashion and the thought of starting again just didn’t appeal. I didn’t have the desire, the energy or the money to do it. I was on my knees – emotionally, financially and spiritually.”

Simon had long been aware of the suffering of the Dalit people in India. The 166 million members of the lowest Hindu caste – 15 million of whom are in bonded labour – experience oppression on a par with black South Africans under the apartheid regime. Yet it was only after he had seen his business collapse that Simon became captivated by the idea of becoming a voice for change.

“I heard a man preach about the injustice of the Dalits – the untouchables. He held a clay cup as he spoke, and explained that in India Dalits were not allowed to drink from the same metal cups as others for fear of contaminating the water.”

Instantly, Simon was struck by a business idea, and within months Dalit Candles – the trading arm of Life Association Charity – was born. By selling beautifully packaged candles made by Dalits living in Mumbai’s Dharavi slum, the business not only generates revenue that supports the building and running of charity schools, it also educates Westerners about the scale of the social injustice.

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Life Association

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Could Simon imagine himself having taken on such a venture before the recession? “No. I was not brave enough to sell everything I had and make a change like this. But I wouldn’t go back now. Money and the acquisition of things have no appeal whatsoever. God killed all that in the death of the business.”

The last six years have taught Simon so many lessons; about business, about faith, about money, generosity and more. God clearly had a purpose and a plan, one that involved much less disposable income but much more job satisfaction and plenty of insight into the balancing act that is so common today:

“It’s not wrong for people to benefit from the work of their hands, but the big question is how much is enough? Once you know what’s enough, then making money isn’t about continually consuming or continually acquiring. Once you’ve worked it out, you’ve got the key to being in business for the kingdom of God.”

Once you’ve worked it out, you’ve got the key to being in business for the kingdom of God.

read more about Simon’s life change in his book ‘In The Furnace of Clay’

lifeassociation.org.uk

All Photos: Life Association

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THE KINGDOM BUSINESSWhy would a well-paid, UK-based quantity surveyor like Grant Smith set up a charity and two businesses (one agricultural, the other in construction and property development) 4,000 miles away in Kenya?

Share: Let’s start with the basics; how do your businesses work?

Grant Smith: Construction workers are some of the poorest paid and poorest people in Kenya, earning £3 or £4 a day or often not getting paid at all. That leaves them needing charity to support their families, to provide school fees or medical care. The goal of our construction business is to pay them enough in the first place so that they can afford the fees or have access to medical care, bonus schemes and work in a healthy, safe environment.

Share: So how do you turn a profit?

Grant Smith: It’s very simple. I can earn £500 a day in the UK, while a British bricklayer can earn £200. Over in Kenya, I can still earn £500 a day, but the bricklayers get paid just £3 or £4. Generally accepted business practice in Kenya (and elsewhere) is that the professionals and business owners get paid well, whilst the manual workers, the ones that actually generate the wealth, live in tin shacks.

I’m not a communist who believes we should all be paid the same, but I do believe in redistributing the wealth within a commercial company to pay people at the lower end more.

Share: And you can still compete with other businesses?

Grant Smith: We raise all our money commercially, and we don’t have any donor money so we’re competing at the same level as our competitors.

Share: You’re just taking less for yourself.

Grant Smith: Exactly.

Share: Why not just set up a charity?

Grant Smith: If I get a donor to give me £1000 a year for 10 years I can sponsor 10 children throughout their education. At the end of the time I’ve managed £10,000 and the donor has the satisfaction of knowing they’ve helped 10 children through school, but they don’t get a penny back. If you invest £10,000

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investing nothing in their workers.

Share: Do we need a change of attitude on this?

Grant Smith: Too often in churches we’re happy to accept that the pastor is called by God to serve his flock, but the business leader is only wanted because they’ve got a big tithe to give. I think that a business person is every bit as gifted and talented and called by God as the pastor. That means that all of us have a responsibility for how we use our talents and gifts for the kingdom.

Business – handinhandgroup.comCharity – hihand.org

in our company we can achieve the same and more by allowing 10 children of our better paid workers to get a great education, but at the end you will also get your money back plus a return.

Share: Are you saying there’s no need for charity?

Grant Smith: No. I can’t offer a 70-year-old woman work as a bricklayer on a building site. There is a need for charity and that’s why we also have a charity working in Kenya to support such people too, but properly managed business has a significant contribution to make.

Share: Nobody else could do it, could they?

Grant Smith: I don’t think it’s a one-off thing at all; I think this is completely replicable anywhere in the world. All Christians in business have the potential to make their business stand out for the kingdom as opposed to paying people as little as they can and

Hand in Hand

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All Photos: Hand in Hand

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Kevin Russell explores what’s new and noteworthy

legal & financial roundup

Gift Aid declarations – a reminder of the (not so) new wordingWe have found some charities that are not aware of the changed wording for Gift Aid declarations from January 2013. The revised HMRC Model Declaration and Guidance can be found at bit.ly/1fC4Nf6 If your charity missed the change, it does not automatically invalidate your Gift Aid claims, but you should update your declarations to avoid the risk of HMRC having issues later. On this, see Section 8 of our Briefing Note 2013/1 bit.ly/LWbUZ2

Charity Commission Annual Return 2014Charities registered with the Charity Commission in England and Wales should be prepared to give more information on their 2014 Annual Return. Many of the new disclosures will be available to the public. Our Blog outlines the new requirements bit.ly/1lpzZX0

Charity Shops – Retail Gift Aid SchemeIf your charity runs a shop that sells donated goods, you may not be aware that HMRC recently relaxed the procedural rules necessary, if someone donating goods to the shop wishes to gift aid the proceeds of sale to the charity. Their guidance can be found at bit.ly/1fVkr9Y

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Kevin Russell, Technical Director

For the very latest news, subscribe to our free Sharpen email bulletin (formerly known as Legal Eagle) by visiting our website stewardship.org.uk. You can also check our Blog pages for technical updates on law, accounting and tax stewardship.org.uk/blog

Charity Registration in Northern IrelandAll charities in Northern Ireland are now obliged to register with the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland (CCNI). Registration began on 16 December 2013. From 1 April 2014, all registered charities will be required to report on an annual basis. Reporting comprises completion of an annual Monitoring Return and submission of accounts and a Trustees’ Report.

Until CCNI bring forward new Accounting and Reporting Regulations, there will be no set content or format for charity accounts. However, the new Regulations are expected to come into force in January of next year, following a period of consultation during 2014. For more details, visit www.charitycommissionni.org.uk

Pensions – Auto Enrolment If you employ staff, you are reminded that reforms in the Pensions Act 2008 place a legal duty on employers to automatically enrol their employees into a qualifying pension scheme, and for the employer to pay minimum contributions into their Scheme. This legal duty is being implemented over time, depending on the size of the employer, using what is known as ‘staging dates’.

The time for smaller employers to have everything in place is getting very close, now. Those with fewer than 50 employees will have staging dates starting as early as 1 June next year. Staging dates for larger employers are sooner than this, or will have already passed.

You can check the latest implementation date for your charity, by visiting bit.ly/MIgtWE You will need your charity’s PAYE reference number in order to use the online tool.

For more information about the Workplace Pensions Reform, refer to our Briefing Note 2012/2 bit.ly/1ey8QOV, or visit thepensionsregulator.gov.uk

Twitter updatesStewardship’s Technical Director is now on Twitter. Keep up to date with all the Tech Tweets by following Kevin @KevnRussell (no ‘i’ in Kevn!)

ask Steve… Professional advice for churches and charities

Stephen Mathews heads up the Stewardship consultancy helpline team, a specialist service offering expert knowledge to churches and charities.

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Q: We want to set up our small charity as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation. We understand this means registering with the Charity Commission. Is this helpful or just a necessary evil?

A: Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIO) are the newest form of legal structure available for charities. They are designed to bring together the best qualities of the already existing legal structures, including providing limited liability for the trustees, and are proving to be popular. At Stewardship the majority of new charity formations that we are involved with are choosing the CIO structure. See our briefing paper for more about CIOs: bit.ly/1j8hG5A

Unlike the other structures, all CIOs must be registered with the Charity Commission regardless of income. From January 2014, this is the first time that charities with income of less than £5,000 p.a. can register in this way, thereby offering some potential benefits previously available only to larger charities.

Firstly registration provides the public with reassurance that your charity is operating within a regulated environment. Secondly, it means that your annual report will be made available on the Charity Commission website providing you with a vehicle to explain what it is you do. Finally, many grant making bodies will only give grants to charities that are registered. CIOs offer a good corporate structure for many charities and registration with the Charity Commission is certainly no barrier.

charity

Stephen Mathews, Head of Accountancy and Consultancy Services.

If you have a question you would like addressed in a future edition of Share, please write to us at editor@stewardship.org.uk

To subscribe to Stewardship’s consultancy helpline service visit www.stewardship.org.uk/consultancy. Subscriptions for churches and charities start from as little as £50 per year.

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Q: Our church has a pot of money which we use to bless our church family. Is there anything we should be wary of?

A: Indeed there is. In the UK churches are normally structured as a legal charity governed by charity law with a charitable purpose. This can include supporting those in financial need; our briefing paper, ‘Relief of Poverty’ (linked to in the blog below), explains this in more detail. There are times, however, when members of the church will rightly want to bless others in the church family in ways that are more about friendship than for charitable purposes.

Funds used to meet either aim are often known as benevolent funds and in many churches, this distinction between church as a charity and church as a family appears to be a subtle one and is therefore often ignored or not even considered. However, the funds are used for different purposes and have different legal implications.

For example, gifts to a non-charitable fund that supports church as a family wouldn’t normally attract Gift Aid or other tax benefits which means that such funds can’t generally be topped up from a church’s charitable funds. Read our associated blog to learn more and to see how such a fund might operate: bit.ly/1gRkbZ8

Q: Our church is considering opening a shop. What should we think about?

A: Like churches, shops come in all shapes and sizes. Your shop might be a bookshop operating from church premises; it might be a café run in the community; or a commercial trading shop raising funds or furthering the church’s charitable activities.

The list of what to think about grows longer as the size of the shop increases, but the first and most important question is always “why does our church want to run a shop?” A casual glance down most town high streets confirms that many shops fail, so as a church you need to understand why, and also be confident that you have, or can obtain, the necessary skills and experience to make it work.

Operationally there are many aspects to consider. Where is it? When is it open and who staffs it? Is it legally part of the church? How will the accounting be handled? Are there corporation tax or VAT implications? What other laws apply? Whilst this may at first appear daunting, being clear about the “why” and confident that you have the requisite skills means that, everything else can be managed. Read our blog (bit.ly/N6ol4R) for some more expanded thoughts.

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organise all your charitable giving in one online account:

stewardship.org.uk/givingaccount transforming generosity

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