Giving

Dear All

Please remember that the Parish is here for all who need  it, when they need it, and it needs to be supported on that basis: people's support for the Parish should not be determined by whether they have managed to come to the Service on any particular day or not. 

That is why, members of the Parish are encouraged to give regularly in support of its mission, and a good way of doing this is to give a fixed proportion of your income by means of a Standing Order each month.

The Parish asks its members to give into its bank account by means of Standing Order, on a regular basis, a proportion of what they have received from the ‘Father of lights’ (Jas 1,17).  This is as much a part of our ‘living sacrifice’ and ‘reasonable service’ to God (Rom 12,1) as what is offered at the services in church.  Our giving in support of the Parish is an expression of our communion with one another, and a means ‘for building up the body of Christ’ (Eph 4,12).  We have been born again through baptism into a family-like relationship with one another (a new covenant) in Christ, and we rejoice that we are being saved together, with the help of one another, living and departed; and that through us the world around us might be saved.

(The Apostolic Tradition: MISSION)

Regular giving in this way is about offering our lives to one another as a church: it is about mutual self-giving.

In the Liturgy, each of us offers that part of the world which is ours, to God, and receives back from God the gifts that God wants to give to our world: we are to give those gifts to our families, our friends, our neighbours, our world. 

(The Apostolic Tradition: MISSION)

You can set up Standing Orders yourself:

The Parish of the Nativity of Christ
Account Number: 65766130
Sort Code: 08-92-99 (The Cooperative Bank)

Or - complete A Standing Order Mandate, which is available from Father Ian (see  ‘Contact us’).

You can give a one-off donation to the above Bank Account should you prefer it to Standing Order.


Gift Aid:

Why donate through Gift Aid?
Donating through Gift Aid means that the Parish – The Parish of the Nativity of Christ Orthodox Christian Property Trust Deed, Registered Charity no. 1161893 - can claim an extra 25p for every £1 that you give – and it won’t cost you any extra!
Paying enough tax to qualify for Gift Aid
If you have paid tax on either your income or on capital gains (or both) your donations will qualify, as long as they’re not more than four times what you have paid in tax in that tax year (6 April to 5 April) and you must tell the Parish if you stop paying enough tax.
What you need to do
You need to make a Gift Aid Declaration for the Parish to claim. Please contact Fr Ian for a form and return it to the Hon Treasurer at the address shown at the bottom of the form. You can include all donations from the last four years, but not for any years when you didn’t pay enough tax.
Higher rate taxpayers
If you pay tax at the higher or additional rate, you can claim back the difference between the rate that you paid, and the basic rate, on your donations; do this either -
through your Self Assessment tax return or by asking HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to amend your tax code
(With Payroll Giving, you don’t pay the difference between the higher and basic rate of tax on your donations.)

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!

Marriage (Wedding Service)

Father Ian says: 

MARRIAGE (WEDDING SERVICE)

With the Wedding Service (Marriage or Holy Matrimony): the couple are seen to be coming together in a relationship that can be considered an expression of the one new covenant in Christ that embraces all the baptized.  I quote again from the Mission statement,

Our humble belief is that we as Orthodox Catholics, are in a communion with the living Father, mediated to us through Christ, in the Holy Spirit, and through those who have drunk the Lord’s cup, and been baptized with his baptism (‘the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church’).  We are in that communion, and we receive that communion, for the life of the World. 

The couple are crowned as a sign that their witness to Christ is now as husband and wife, in mutual giving, the one to the other; and they become a domestic church (within the parish) where the Holy Trinity is glorified and served throughout their married life.  As with Holy Baptism, our belief is that the proper context for celebration of that mutual giving is the Sunday Liturgy.

Anyone thinking about the possibility of our parish celebrating a marriage (wedding service) either for themselves or their family or friends, should contact the Rector (see ‘Contact Us’ for details) for more information about the practicalities involved.

Если вы хотели бы получить информацию о праздновании Венчания в нашем приходе (касается ли это Вас лично, Вашей семьи или друзей), пожалуйста, обращайтесь к Отцу Иану (его номер телефона указан на странице ‘Contact Us’) , чтобы обсудить все практические детали.

Baptism (Christening)

Father Ian says:

BAPTISM (CHRISTENING)

‘My mother and my brethren are those who hear the word of God, and do it.’ (Lk 8,21)  The evangelist of Luke’s Gospel has Jesus say these words, and there are very similar words in Matthew’s Gospel (Mt 12,46-50).  Our baptism (or christening) has brought us into a renewed relationship with both God and our neighbour: to quote from our Mission statement,

We have been born again through baptism into a family-like relationship with one another (a new covenant) in Christ, and we rejoice that we are being saved together, with the help of one another, living and departed; and that through us the world around us might be saved.

The full expression of that relationship is experienced in the Holy Liturgy (or Eucharist, Holy Communion) and again I think it is worth quoting from our Mission statement,

The Liturgy (our service of the Eucharist or Holy Communion) is our act of remembrance par excellence; and the anamnesis in the Liturgy is the core experience of what we believe to be a living tradition of Christ and the saints, in the communion of the Holy Spirit: a creative and collective reality, which is the Church’s true treasure.

Our belief is that receiving Holy Communion is the completion of the rite of Baptism, and that the proper celebration of the service of Baptism is in the context of the Sunday Liturgy. 

Anyone thinking about the possibility of our parish celebrating a Baptism (Christening) either for themselves or their family or friends, please, contact the Rector (see ‘Contact Us’ for details) for more information about the practicalities involved.

Если вы хотели бы получить информацию о праздновании Крещения в нашем приходе (касается ли это Вас лично, Вашей семьи или друзей), пожалуйста, обращайтесь к Отцу Иану (его номер телефона указан на странице  ‘Contact Us’) , чтобы обсудить все практические детали.

About Fasting

Father Ian explains:

The Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church (of which the parish is a part) is a body with a long history, and a wide geographical spread. It should, therefore, not be at all surprising that there are (and always have been) differences of practice within it; and that applies as much to the practice of fasting, as it does to the practices of prayer, and worship, that accompany it: what is said here about fasting can only be taken as a general guide.

‘Fasting’ is commonly understood as going without food for a limited period of time, but we more usually employ the term (in the church calendar) as days when we abstain from certain types of food and drink: on ‘Fast Days’ we mostly abstain from meat and fish (including any sea creature with a backbone), eggs and dairy products; also olive oil (other vegetable oils are often substituted) and wine (usually understood as including all alcoholic beverages).

However, fasting should also be done in secret: it is better to break the fast than to draw attention to the fact that we are fasting. In particular, when we are with people who are not keeping the fast, we should be careful to eat what we are given, and also to provide for others a choice of food: no one should be forced to fast.

In Britain, we have a long history of Catholic practice, and substituting fish for meat on Fridays is a well-known custom: however, the wider form of abstention outlined above is not so well-known, and neither is its extension to include all Wednesdays.

Similarly, Lent (or the ‘Great Fast’) is relatively well-known as a period of abstention in preparation for Easter (or ‘Pascha’) but not the fast before Christmas (or the ‘Nativity’) sometimes called the ‘Philip Fast’ (because it starts on 15^th November, which is the day following St Philip’s Day). Even less well-known are the fasts in the summer: one before the Feast of SS Peter and Paul (29^th June) and one before the Dormition (or Falling-Asleep) of the Most Blessed Virgin (15^th August).

The church calendar tells us when these fasts begin (including a number of days not mentioned here) and also those ‘Fast Days’ when fish, wine or oil are allowed: the Calendar published by the Orthodox Fellowship of St John the Baptist is recommended for use in our parish.

‘Fasts’ and ‘Fast Days’ are noted in the church calendar, but the calendar also contains the principal scripture readings (and the names of the saints that are more commonly commemorated) for each day of the year: fasting (as briefly described above) is offered to us by the Church to be used along with prayer (in company with the Saints and the heavenly host). Fasting without prayer will damage you emotionally: if you fast, and find that you are becoming irritable or angry, then either find more time for prayer, or relax the fasting. The change of diet is offered as a help to prayer, and prayer is a way of releasing our spirit to love. If you have loved, and served your family, your friends, your neighbours, and your enemies, you have kept the fast.

DATA PRIVACY NOTICE

DATA PRIVACY NOTICE



Your personal data: your consent You may request at any time that any of your personal data – in our possession – be either removed/deleted or corrected, for whatever reason. However, members of the Parish (those people listed on the Membership Roll) should be aware that they are obliged to have their name and address recorded: a request to remove/delete their contact details would equate to them ceasing to be listed on the Membership Roll.

Electronic data The data currently collected is primarily your email address and/or phone number and/or postal address.

Paper Records The Parish has a Parish Register of baptisms/receptions, marriages and funerals; and included in this are copies of birth/civil marriage/death certificates: these records are permanent.

How is your personal data processed? Your personal data is used for the following purposes: -



 To serve our Parish membership i.e. those people listed on our Membership Roll;

 To serve the wider public, who call on the ministry of our clergy;

 To inform people of relevant news, events, activities and services;

 To maintain the accounts and financial records of our Property Trust (including the processing of Gift Aid);
On what basis is your personal data processed? Explicit consent is needed for us to keep people informed about news, events, activities and services; and also to process Gift Aid, when applicable. Processing relates only to members/former members of the Parish, or those who wish to have contact with the Parish and/or its clergy, for whatever purpose.

Sharing your personal data This information is treated as confidential, and not shared with anyone else, unless necessary to fulfil pastoral obligations.

How long is your personal data kept? The Membership Roll is updated every year; Gift Aid declarations, and associated paperwork, should be kept for up to 6 years, after the calendar year to which they relate; but the Parish Register, containing details of baptisms/receptions, marriages and funerals, is a permanent record.


May 2018