Missionary Support

St Mary's and Mission

Policy

St Mary's tries to be an outward looking church, caring for the community locally and further afield in a needy world.

History

Members of St Mary's have developed links with many different Christian Societies over the years which seek to share the love and the message of Jesus through their work. Some are in this country such as Framework, with its work for the homeless in Nottingham city and county. The Children's Society is also a favourite of many, and they show their support by collecting small change in a box throughout the year. Both these societies receive support from the general congregation too at various Christmas Carol Services.

Scripture Union is the most recent society we have chosen to support as it helps individuals, churches and schools to meet with Jesus through the Bible. At St Mary’s, we believe that Jesus died for each and every one, that we might all have eternal, God-filled life. We learn about this from scripture, yet our nation does not make use of all the availability of scripture that we have, and many children are not taught Bible stories or brought to church to meet Jesus.

Scripture Union tries to counter this situation through its workers in schools, leading youth clubs, camps and big events, aswell as by providing accessible written resources.

Scripture Union has provided Bible reading notes across the world and led people to Christ for over 100 years by many different means. May it long continue to do so.

Other societies we support are Bible Society, Release International, and Tearfund.

If you want to discover more about any of them, please click on their logo, but below is a sample of what they do:

Bible Society was founded to make available to everyone the written Word of God. That still means translating it into thousands of languages, which is a slow and ongoing process for the many people groups within the many nations of the world. But the demand for the Bible in people’s own ‘heart language’ is ever increasing. For example: Christians in Egypt have endured difficult years of terrorist attacks and other pressures. But the powerful witness of believers who were dignified and forgiving spoke volumes, so that people want to meet their Jesus for themselves. Others have suffered from the pandemic, and in desperation have turned to scripture for hope and comfort. The leaders of churches in Egypt have asked for 1000s of Bibles, NTs and booklets, but the local Bible Society team can only allocate 100 for each church.
If you want more encouragement, click on the Bible Society logo to visit their website, where there are many stories of how scripture has helped different people. Let us help many more, to have access of their own to God’s Word, by supporting Bible Society.

Release International cares for persecuted Christians across the world, through local Christian workers who encourage them in their situation. They have set up Self-Help groups in Pakistan and Egypt and have supported and rehoused the families of pastors attacked in India or Nigeria. Their magazine “Voice”, which is available online, provides many interesting stories to encourage your faith, while you could encourage the people mentioned by your prayer or financial support through Release International.

Tearfund has work across the world, enabling local churches to help their villagers to address their own needs, and in so doing, people learn of God’s love, learn how to plan for their lives and are drawn to work together and put their faith into action by combatting hunger and poverty, health and educational needs, and/or situations caused by climate change.

Jesus is interested in all these needs and encourages us to work with Him, through such Societies, to bring about His Kingdom in the lives and homes of His people.

We can all join in by praying, going or giving.

Giving to mission policy

The PCC agreed to send 5% of its income from regular giving to the above four societies.
There are also other occasional events at which money is raised and shared between these Societies such as: Our giant Christmas Card, Lent soup lunches and collections in a Lent box. Other initiatives are always welcome. If you would like more detail about giving, how money is raised for Mission or have an idea for our Missionary events, please contact Margaret Panter (0115 854 7143)