This is an exciting time in the Parish of Fleet.  We have now completed the Fleet Parish Community Centre, and added the new facilities at Ss Philip & James Church.  But now we have done all that, there is very little money left. 

·           We are very privileged to presently have the capital to build a new infrastructure for the future of the Parish.

·           It now becomes our responsibility to make that infrastructure work, as well as securing a stable financial future for the parish.

·           We have built the Fleet Parish Community Centre and finished the P&J enhancements so that we are able to initiate new activities reaching out to the community, and to have the ability to use our churches separately from the halls.  Now we can truly become '7 Day Churches'.

·           There is a role here for each and every one of us - we are most certainly not in the business of trying to ‘guilt’ anyone into giving, but we are in the business of creating a right and proper culture in which you want to give generously in response to God’s generosity to you, and because you are inspired and enthused by what your local church is doing in response to its Mission Statement of ‘Welcoming all in the Community into the Love of Christ’!

·           The need is immediate - assuming we do all of the things that I have mentioned, and assuming the 2010 deficit is what we have predicted it to be, we have just around another 12 months before the cash runs out!

·           None of this is about being reckless - we have contemplated the scenarios at length and we have discussed it at every level, including with our bishop and Archdeacon.  This is the right thing to do in order to secure and develop a future for the Parish!

I do very seriously ask you to engage with this initiative, and to respond.

This is the prayer which we wrote for our 2005 Funding Programme - I think it still stands good.  Please use it as you consider how to respond to the present need:

God our Father, we thank you for our two churches,

for past, present, and future. 

We thank you for the generosity you have shown to us

 in the gift of your Son, Jesus our Lord.

We pray that you will pour out your Holy Spirit on us and fill us,

            and our churches, with the radiant brightness of your love. 

For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Update from the ‘Funding Our Future’ Team

Since we began the Funding Our Future Campaign in April, and up to 13 December 2010:

• · 42 people (30% of those in the scheme) have increased their Planned Giving
• · 16 new people have joined the scheme
• · There has been a Net increase in giving of 28%
• · We now have an annual income from Planned Giving of £89,256 before Gift Aid, which equates to around £110,000 after Gift Aid

In the long run our target is to double our income from the Planned Giving scheme, but all of this represents a remarkable response, and we thank everyone who has contributed to it.  The team are now beginning to look at other ways of engaging those who have not yet felt able to respond.