We’re a small parish in the heart of Wimbledon, made up of real people enjoying real life with the real Jesus. We’re a small community on a mission to try and reach young and old, rich and poor, black and white, all kinds of people and we’re finding everyone is interested by Jesus. He’s the one that people want to know. We’re hidden away. We’re not on a main road. But people are finding their way here and we’re loving the fact that some are young men, who have no church background at all but are interested in God in a new way. Others are young families who have met someone at the school gate who want to bring their children, who hear that there is a children’s church as well.
Both our clergy and our senior church members in this parish were growing increasingly concerned with the national direction of travel of the Church of England, particularly on issues of sexuality and marriage, and therefore finding a way for us to express our clear commitment to the orthodox Gospel, even in a changing denominational landscape. It was something we wanted to have the chance to talk honestly about. And so bringing to PCC this proposal to be able to route our giving through the Ephesian Fund was a great way for everyone’s conscience to be put at ease and for a clarity that we want to be part of the diocese, we want to give, we want to contribute, as we’ve had good working relationship as God has renewed his parish. But we couldn’t thoughtlessly just give money into a system which has now sadly become very compromised and divided over what we believe to be a primary issue.
Wonderfully our PCC was deeply united in our foundational convictions about the authority of God’s word and about the goodness of God’s design for marriage and the missional importance of being able to share this with the world when there’s so much confusion around. So, we ‘re united on that. We’re a group of different personalities, with different temperaments, different appetites for reading up on all the debates and what’s going on, which is totally normal, actually very healthy, but we were able to have a good honest discussion about why it was important for us to maintain positive giving relationships with the diocese whilst also safeguarding the consciences of those who are deeply disturbed about what they’re hearing in the national Church. In the Bible, how we use our money is a pretty central aspect of our discipleship for Christ. So wanting to be faithful in the way we steward our money is central to Christian living. The Ephesian Fund gives a way for people with orthodox convictions to steward their finances in a way that they know God will be pleased with because it’s being used further the cause of the gospel.
