Supporting Our Churches 

Thank you for thinking about how you can support us. The churches of the Arle Valley Benefice offer a focus for our worship, a witness to God’s love and a welcome to all.  We have exciting plans to develop our buildings further, to extend our work with young people and to reach out to those in need in our community.

In response to God’s love, we are called to live gratefully and generously and that includes using our time, our abilities and our money in God’s service.

So we’ve summarised below some possible ways you can support us.  Please contact us if you want to find out more on any of the subjects below. 

Financial Giving

"Each of you must give you as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance…" 
2 Corinthians 9:7-8

Everyone must decide for themselves what to give — we all face different circumstances.  An important principle in thinking about how much to give is the idea of “giving in proportion to what you have.”  The Church of England’s guideline is to give 5% of our income as a starting point.  Some Christians follow the Biblical example of giving a tithe, 10%.

There are a number of ways of giving to the church, so choose the one that is best for you.  If you are a taxpayer (that’s income or capital gains tax) then if you Gift Aid your giving the church receives an additional 25p for every £ you give! Last year we received over £19,000 from the Inland Revenue in this way!

The alternatives:

• By regular Direct Debit from your bank account. Your donation is taken monthly from your bank account by a central office and your donation, plus recovered Gift Aid, is transferred to the parish a few days later. You also have the option of increasing your giving every year in line with inflation, should you wish to do so, without any further form filling. This is administered by the Parish Giving Scheme and is our preferred option.   Below click on the church name for the direct link to the Parish Giving Scheme. 

            Parish Giving Scheme:
            St. John's, New Alresford
            St. Mary's, Old Alresford
            St. Peter's, Ovington
            All Saints, Bighton

• To make a cash or cheque donation - Please use an envelope located at the back of each Benefice church. (Please note that each church has a slightly different envelope colour, so do ask if you are unsure).

With all the above methods you can Gift Aid your giving, all that is needed is for you to sign a Gift Aid Declaration once.

You can of course just put money in the collection plate. However this has two potential disadvantages: firstly if you are a taxpayer we cannot reclaim the tax; and, secondly, it does not help you to make a regular giving commitment to the church.

If you would like to give regularly to St. John's, please contact: 
David Griffiths (St. John's Giving Secretary) email: giving@arlevalleychurches.org.uk 

We are thankful for all donations, large or small, one-off or regular.

Wills and Legacies

Have you considered leaving a proportion of your estate as a gift in your will to a church in our Benefice?  

St. John's
Contact our treasurer Jon Whale to find out more - stjtreasurer@arlevalleychurches.org.uk

St. Mary's
Roger Parsons (Churchwarden) - email: rwjparsons@gmail.com

St. Peter's
Gemma Hunt, t. 07862 272184 - email: gemma.c.hunt@googlemail.com

All Saints
Robert Ellis, email: robert.sally120@gmail.com 
or Sue Gray (Treasurer), email: sue_mae_gray@hotmail.com

Supporting us through prayer and worship

You can support the churches in the Benefice by your presence at our services, and by your prayers, whether at home or in church or with others. Our Growing in Faith page on this website has lots of ideas about other ways you can support and join us in prayer.

Giving of your time and talents

Your time is perhaps the most precious gift you can give to the life of the church and the people in the local community that we seek to serve. There are so many ways to do this that there is room for absolutely everyone to contribute.

If you are not sure of your own gifts then you might just not be using them properly! You can be a part of our church family and here are some of the ways you can give time and receive blessings in abundance: stewarding and welcoming, catering team, gardening and cleaning and the flower team. 

For other ideas, why not have a look at our Join A Team page to see which you might best be able to help?

By Joining the Electoral Roll 

If you’re a regular church attender and 16 or older you may become a member of one of our churches.

The Electoral Roll is simply a “Church Membership” list and by doing so you become a voting member of the Church of England and so help to ensure that all the councils of the church, the Parochial Church Council, the Deanery Synod and the General Synod, are fully representative of its members.  You may attend and vote at the Annual Meeting where elections take place for the Parochial Church Council and the Deanery Synod. In other words YOUR CHURCH NEEDS YOU!

St. John's
You can enrol by downloading a copy of the form, or by completing a paper application form. The forms are available at the back of the church and in the Benefice Office. When completed they can be left in the office, c/o Janet Pooley.

If you have any questions about enrolment or problems in using the form, please contact Janet Pooley on 01962 732779.

St. Mary's
Please contact Colin Pope, t. 01962 732132, email: colin.pope@btinternet.com

St. Peter's
Vicky Mackintosh, t. 01962 734182, email: vmackintosh@btconnect.com

All Saints
Please contact Sally Ellis, email: robert.sally120@gmail.com