February 2026 Finance Update

Thank you for your ongoing and generous support of the ministry at Christ Church St Ives. The year has just begun so Growth Groups and serving teams are starting to get moving, the church site is activated all week as Everyday English and Kids and Youth ministry start up again and next week Mondays are on! I am giving thanks and praying with confident expectation that God will be at work in the hearts of men, women and children, bringing people to know and love him and growing many in Christ. 

Our Vision is to build 3000 wholehearted disciples of Jesus and we are praying that God would save many of those as new believers.  

As you know, we rely almost entirely on the generosity of church members to fund the work of our church month by month. As we reported in January, following some cost restraint and your generosity we finished 2025 with a small surplus (the audit begins this Friday and full accounts will be out in March). Praise the Lord.

There is also positive news to share about January - our giving is up 10% on this time last year.

We give great thanks for this but also note that our monthly general giving budget is $170,000 (up from the monthly general giving budget of $165k in 2025).

Here is another helpful graph!

We need to build quickly towards our general giving target of $170k per month, otherwise we will get behind. We will have more to say about the budget at the AGM in March which will cover the different types of revenue we receive including tax deductible giving and rent. 

The key focus for now is to ensure that we achieve our general giving monthly budget of $170k per month which is our main source of revenue.

So while we have started really well, we need to keep up the good work to maintain the ministry we have planned for 2026. 

See the button below for more information on how to give:

We recognise that there are some who are yet to start giving to the ministry here at Christ Church St Ives or have not had a practice of giving regularly.  Just getting started with giving is important no matter how much you earn or how old you are. Throughout the Scriptures we read that God’s people faithfully bring their contributions and gifts to support God’s work (see 2 Chronicles 31:12 and Acts 4:32-35). If you have questions about how to work out your giving, why not raise this at growth group or chat to a member of the staff team.  

Thanks to the many who give regularly. Your generosity is fuelling the mission and ensuring that we keep building wholehearted disciples of Jesus.  

If you have specific questions about church finances, current financial decisions or plans or any other matter regarding our governance, please do not hesitate to contact the Wardens (wardens@christchurch.com.au) or me (nigel@christchurch.com.au). 

Please be assured of my prayers for you and your financial decisions throughout this year. Thank you for your generous gifts and for your partnership in the Gospel as we seek to build 3000 wholehearted disciples of Jesus.