Leeds Vineyard

The Cost: Sacrificial Giving 

A vision such as this costs money. So we have an opportunity to give. This is not about our regular giving – that is not affected by STEPS, it carries on as before and is your grateful response to the Lord for his generosity and love for you.
 
This is STEPS -  an opportunity to join in with a move of God by making a sacrificial gift, something that will not be easy to give. It may be small or it may be large but your gift will unite you with everyone else and result in a great offering to God which he can then use to advance his purposes through us.
 
We estimate that the purchase and renovation of Vineyard House will cost between £750,000 and £1,000,000. That is a huge number but the Lord has continually reminded us that the everything belongs to him and that he can provide whatever is needed to meet his purposes. The cattle on a thousand hills are mine it says in Psalm 50:10. In Malachi 3:10 God says, test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven so that you will not have room enough for it. And in 2 Corinthians 9:6 Paul reminds us that whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly but whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
 
The Lord will make provision in ways we can plan for and in other, unexpected ways. We will work on the following model until and unless He shows us something different: 

  1. The most important STEP will be the giving of the Leeds Vineyard family;
  2. Then we can raise a modest mortgage from the bank;
  3. We are also considering the merits of setting up a social enterprise to attract social impact investment or gifts from grant-funding charities.

The Trustees of the Wharfedale Vineyard and The Vine (Leeds Community Development) are considering how they should collaborate on this project.

 
Our tithe
As we have done in the past, we will give away 10% of whatever we receive. One basic principle of handling money is to give away the "first slice of the pie", to honour God's generosity and goodness to us by giving back to Him the first and best portion. This applies to STEPS too - the church should not just receive from others' generosity but be generous itself too. So, once we know what the pledges amount to we will give everyone an opportunity to help us decide how to give 10% of the total away.  We usually give to Leeds-based charities and ministries which work with children, young people and families. An important result of doing this is that it will keep our focus on generosity and ministry, not on buildings. 

We do this for our regular giving too, not just STEPS. Giving for everyone starts with an acknowledgement that everything we have has come from God in the first place. So if the church receives gifts we honour God by “tithing” 10% of that away to causes outside the Leeds Vineyard. Handling money is a spiritual matter and there is something about honouring God with giving that releases us to receive so much more than if we try and keep as much as we can.
 
Leeds Vineyard Giving
As you begin to think about what you might give, both upfront and over the coming years, it is important to make that decision prayerfully. For most of us looking simply at what we think we could afford after all our outgoings are deducted will not release very much. In 1 Chronicles 21, King David said “I will not ... sacrifice an ... offering that costs me nothing”, and for this project to happen, it is going to cost. It will involve significant levels of sacrifice.
 
The amount upfront and the amount we pledge each month will of course depend on our financial circumstances. The more God has given us, the more He may ask of us. Often the first figure that comes to mind may be a comfortable amount. But seek God over a period of time until you’re convinced the amount you’ve decided on is also the amount He’s asking of you. It may be more than you can imagine affording, which means growing in trust that God will provide for your needs in out-of-the-ordinary ways. Our experience shows that He will.
 
Equal sacrifice not equal gifts
We want to be a people who give sacrificially but also freely. What giving sacrificially means to each person is a relative thing and we are approaching this on the basis of “equal sacrifice not equal gifts”. Give to the Lord in proportion to what He has given you. The important thing is that we each give what He has asked of us, no more, no less – He knows our hearts, our circumstances and the cost of our sacrifice.
 
We aim to raise at least 1/3rd of the funds through the giving of the church family. Our top target therefore is £333,333.

How the sacrificial gifts of many become a single vision-releasing offering to God
When you see a big number like that it can be difficult to figure out where you fit in. So here is a chart which breaks it down into a combination of large and small one-off gifts plus some monthly gifts over several different periods. If you look down the amount column prayefully you might find a number jumps out at you - or that the Lord gives you a different number - but you can see where it fits in. It won't be an easy amount, "Oh, I can do that", it is more likely to be accompanied by a gulp! But whatever the amount, large or small, you can see how it all adds up together to become one, enormous, vision-releasing offering to God!
 

How the sacrificial gifts of many become a single vision-releasing offering to God
Givers Months Amount Amount Total Given
1 One-off   £100,000 £100,000
5 One-off   £10,000 £50,000
10 One-off   £5,000 £50,000
50 One-off   £1,000 £50,000
70 One-off   £100 £7,000
20 One-off   £5 £100
20 One-off   £1 £20
25 12 £100 £1,200 £30,000
25 24 £50 £1,200 £30,000
10 36 £25 £900 £9,000
10 48 £15 £720 £7,200
246       £333,320