A church in the village of Peasedown St John near Bath has given away £9,000 to local, national and international causes thanks to the generous giving of parishioners.
The congregation follows the biblical principle of giving away the first 10% of its income each year in a bid to practice what it preaches.
This year £9,000 was set aside for the church’s Mission Giving Committee to make decisions about where the money should go.
Over the last 13 years, St John’s Church has distributed £127,000 to good causes.
In the past 12 months, the committee has received applications for funding and financial assistance from a range of organisations.
Church Leader, Revd Matthew Street, said: “This year we have been able to support international projects such as Christian broadcasters SAT7 and Flame International – an organisation that works with grassroots projects around the world to alleviate poverty.
“St John’s is part of the child sponsorship scheme where we support families in Africa – enabling children to go to school and have opportunities they wouldn’t have otherwise.
“The overseas projects we support often have a personal link for our church so we can receive regular feedback on how our donations are being spent.
“We are also extremely pleased to be supporting local initiatives such as the Timsbury-based charity Bibles for Children and Somer Valley Foodbank– an essential project that supports local people in food crisis.”
St John’s Church has also supported, for the third year in a row, a Bristol-based charity called One-25 – which supports women who have experienced abuse and trauma.
Revd Street added: “The team here at St John’s feels extremely blessed to be in a position to donate this money each year.
“As we continue to move further into a culture of collaborative working, with grassroots organisations running services, the church can play an increasingly key role in supporting projects which in the past would have received their support from elsewhere.”
St Julian’s Church in Wellow, another of Revd Street’s churches, also gave away £1,100 to good causes – with donations to the Young Carers Development Trust, Parkinson’s UK and Bibles for Children.
