Many of you will have received a letter from the church outlining plans for our pledge day on 7th March. It is an exciting time in the life of the church as we approach independence from Kings Church Catford, to whom we are extremely grateful for their support, and assume control of our finances. We will soon become a charity in our own right and will need to increase our giving to support the ongoing and future activities of the church.

In line with this we are asking those committed to the church to prayerfully consider what they might give this coming year and communicate that by way of a pledge. We will also take up an offering on that day that will contribute to our financial reserves and greatly aid future cash flow.

Regardless of your current financial situation, this is a great opportunity to flex the faith muscles and make a significant difference to Emmanuel’s capacity to impact and influence Greenwich and beyond.

Thank you again to those who already give sacrificially to the advancement of God’s purposes through us as a church.

If you have not received a letter or would like to know more, you can contact the office on info.emmanuelchurchlondon.org and we’ll reply asap.

We recently received a letter of thanks from the Besom project who we were able to give around £450 to back in November 2009. Here is a short extract that is really encouraging:

 ’When you called to tell us about the money back in November we were in the middle of a core team meeting. It was very exciting to hear of your donation and we were able to begin praying about how to use it immediately! We often hear of needs but are rarely able to respond by buying new things’

So far some of the money has been spent on beds for a family escaping domestic violence in Charlton and the rest will be used soon!

On Sunday I mentioned that we would provide a link for people who were able to give to help the disaster relief in Haiti.  The organisation I mentioned, Tearfund, works with local churches and on the ground organisations, allowing them to respond quickly and effectively to the point of need.

If you have the facilities to give online, you can find information and an online giving form here.

If you would like to give cash, please contact us in the church office.

Following our December offering, we were able to give the Jericho Rd Project (see previous posts) over £500 towards their excellent work with the homeless and under-privledged.

We will be taking up our next offering during the Christmas service on Sunday 6th December. This month, our money will go to ‘The Jericho Road Project’. The Project started in 2001, aiming to provide care for rough sleepers, homeless and disadvantaged people.

Also, if you were planning on buying a real Christmas tree this year, you may want to consider ordering one from ‘Caring Christmas Trees‘ , the proceeds of which also go to ‘The Jericho Road Project’

In the last 2 months we have taken a monthly offering towards worthy causes both locally and internationally and have been able to send the following amounts:

October – £8800 to the New Frontiers ‘Kenya Crisis Fund’

November – £454 to the Besom project in Greenwich

Thank you for your continued generosity

November’s offering will go towards the work of the Besom project in Greenwich.

‘The Besom helps people make a difference. It provides a bridge between those who want to give money, time, skills or things, and those who are in need. It ensures that what is given is used effectively. The service it provides is free.’

For more information on the Besom project you can take a look at their website.

On the first Sunday of each month we take an offering to give away to those in need.  This Sunday we will be taking a special offering to give to the newfrontiers churches in Kenya who are in the middle of a severe famine.  Several church members have died as a result of the famine and hundreds and thousands more are in danger and difficulty.  This is an opportunity to show compassion to those in need and demonstrate the reality of our faith.

For more information on the famine you can watch a short video from the New York Times website.

For more information on the newfrontiers churches in Kenya take a look at their website.

Over the last couple of months we have been taking offerings for various ministries including the Street Pastors project in Greenwich and COAT (Chinese Orphans Assistance Team).  The result of those offerings is that we can give £251 to Street Pastors and £1850 to COAT.  These are 2 great causes to invest our money in and I know that those involved would want to thank everyone who gave.

Over the last few months we have taken several offerings for churches in Zimbabwe that are working in the middle of real challenge to bring mercy and justice to their communities.  We raised £1585 to send off to them.  Some of that money was used to help advertise a national campaign about farming God’s way, the rest went into a general fund to support the work they are doing.  Many other newfrontiers churches also took offerings and in total well over £300,000 was given.  More information on the newfrontiers website.  The leaders of the work in Zimbabwe would want you to know how grateful they are for everything that has been given.