Our fund-raising policy

Looking for long-term stability -

'There's no such thing as a free lunch' - this even applies to our village church, which has been here for nine hundred years and seems, like our village pubs, to be 'always there'.

In the 21st Century we can't take that for granted. In our diocese the cost of a parish priest is no longer subsidised by the Church Commissioners, so clergy must be funded by the parishes they serve. We need to face up to this change.

You may attend St Mary's fairly regularly, or just for christenings, weddings and funerals, but when you need it, the church has been there, with a priest not only to conduct services, but to offer open-ended pastoral care to anybody living in the parish at the point of need.

In October 2018 our Parish priest retired and our future is now under discussion. If we can demonstrate that we can secure sufficient long-term regular income this should improve our chances of getting a good level of clergy cover. To cover the cost of clergy and other running expenses, we need to achieve an income of at least £1500 per week, which we believe to be possible if enough people, in addition to our present donors, will make modest but regular contributions equivalent, say, to two coffees per week at a coffee bar in Stamford - or a couple of beers, if you prefer!

An on-line link to a Direct Debit facility for the Diocese of Peterborough will be added to this page when it goes on line, hopefully in early March - watch this space! Meanwhile, contact our Treasurer, Simon Forster (forster.stmary@talktalk.net), for further details.