A letter from the vicar to parishioners in the village of Walton, Wetherby
Dear Walton Resident,
St Peter’s Church has been part of our village skyline for at least 675 years. We want to continue to be part of our lovely village’s life for years to come, but we need your help.
St Peter’s is a Grade II* listed building which is expensive to maintain. In addition to this, the overheads of heating, lighting, grounds maintenance, tuning the organ, and being served by clergy as part of the Diocese of York add to our overheads. The Sunday congregation are a faithful few and already give generously of their money, time and talents to ensure that Sunday worship continues, that we are here to serve you all when needed, and that St Peter’s can play its part in the vibrancy of village life by putting on fundraising and community events and helping the village mark the changing seasons as we celebrate Christmas, Easter, Mothering Sunday, Harvest and national celebrations. But the congregation cannot keep things going alone, and we need more people to join our Planned Giving schemes, as well as make one-off donations to support St Peter’s.
Planned Giving enables us to budget and face the future with confidence so we can meet our financial obligations. It is often incorrectly assumed that the Church of England is rich and local churches will simply keep going for ever. But the fact is that local churches like St Peter’s receive no central or national funding, and we literally rely on the generosity of parishioners and worshippers to keep going week by week.
As vicar of Walton, I love this village and am committed to continuing to serve you all. Whether you share my Christian Faith or not, if you like to be part of a village where there is an active church which clergy continue to serve, and which dearly wants to continue to be part of village life, please consider supporting St Peter’s in one of the ways detailed in the enclosed sheet if you are not doing so already.
Thank you for taking the time reading this letter. If we at St Peter’s can offer you or your loved ones any support, please do not hesitate to get in touch. The Parish Office number is 01937 844402 and our email address is bramhambenefice@outlook.com
Details of church services and other activities at St Peter’s and other churches in the Bramham Benefice may be found on our website www.bramhambenefice.org – the homepage includes our weekly Newsletter which has the most up to date information about services and events.
Yours faithfully,
The Reverend Nick Morgan, MA, Vicar of Walton
How to support St Peter’s Church
THE PARISH GIVING SCHEME
The Parish Giving Scheme allows you to set up regular giving, or to make one off payments. Visit their website www.parishgiving.org.uk and search for us there using your own postcode, then select St Peter’s, Walton,
or use the QR code (to the right).
or simply call 0333 002 1260 and a friendly operator will talk you through the process. Our Parish Giving Scheme reference number is 430643175 and our postcode is LS23 7DJ.
ANNUAL LUMP SUM DONATIONS
You might consider committing to give an annual lump sum to support St Peter’s, perhaps towards the end of each tax year, or when you receive annual dividends. If this is the case, please contact our treasurer Fiona Robinson fionarob@outlook.com to let her know how much you would like to pledge each year. This will help us budget and know we can meet our financial commitments and Fiona will tell you how to arrange these payments.
STANDING ORDERS?
If you already have a standing order to St Peter’s Church, please consider transferring your planned giving to the Parish Giving Scheme. The benefits of this scheme are:
- you have the Direct Debit guarantee to safeguard your payments
- each year it gives the option of increasing your payments in line with inflation which helps future-proof our budgeting. This increase is never done automatically – only on your say so.
ONE-OFF GIFTS
If you would like to make a one-off gift to St Peter’s Church
please make cheques payable to: St Peter’s Church, Walton,
or make a Bank Transfer to: St Peters church Walton 55-81-11 03626237
or contact our Treasurer, Fiona Robinson – fionarob@outlook.com
St Peter’s Church, Walton, in the Diocese of York
Loving and serving the village of Walton since 1350AD and committed to keeping our heartbeat of love, regular prayer and worship going in our village into the future.
Vicar of Villages 