We’re inviting you all to the Annual General Meeting of Christ City Church. Are you excited? No? It sounds boring, doesn’t it? All about finances and stuff. Shouldn’t church be about people and God, rather than euros and cents? The church should be reaching people’s hearts, not people’s wallets!
Should we talk about money together?
On first glance there could be plenty of objections and apathy to having an AGM with good ‘spiritual’ responses, but entertain us just for a minute and let us respond to this with a spiritual quote too – and the most spiritual of spiritual quotes, from the Bible:
Jesus says in Matthew 5: “Where your treasure is, there your heart is also”.
Jesus actually talks about money a lot. He knows we have bills to pay and practical needs to be met which require money. We individually and as a church need money to keep going on a day to day basis. But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He says that what we are spending our money on (i.e. where our treasure is), reveals, and is representative of, our desire, vision and motivation (i.e. where our heart is). This is a massive challenge that Jesus is laying out to us personally and even more so as a church. Jesus is saying in that passage that where we are spending our money IS where our heart is as a church. The question is therefore, is our heart in the right place? Do we need to make changes to both?
AGM & Vision Meeting
Since money reveals our hearts, we want to consider if the way we steward our money reveals a good and healthy heart in CCC. Our vision as a church is:
To make a positive difference for Christ in the city of Dublin – spiritually, culturally and socially.
So the AGM (and our 6 month review meeting) is not just about reviewing the church’s money but also reviewing the church’s vision, strategy and heart. What guides our decision-making when it comes to money? Why do we encourage people to start giving, or raise their financial giving?
Our hope in the meeting is 3-fold:
(1) Transparency (2 Cor 8:20-21) – transparency is a key value from the scriptures when it comes to money and the church, and decision-making and the church. We want there to be good visibility and accountability regarding church finances.
(2) Ownership/Belonging (Phil 1:3-5) – we’re one family, a covenant community, in this together. Everyone has a role, a part to play and a voice. We’re partners together in the gospel.
In particular (as shown in Philippians 4:10-20 show) it’s important for the church members to feel a sense of belonging and responsibility for the people employed by the church. The majority of our money goes towards releasing people to have time to devote themselves to “equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” (Ephesians 4:12). You can see the staff members here.
(3) Prayer (Ephesians 3:14-21) – the church is not a human initiative. CCC is God’s church. We are joining God in his redemption mission on earth. This is not our idea or our vision. We need God’s guidance, protection, wisdom and courage as we seek to bring glory and honour to him name. Careful stewardship of money is important, but so is prayer.
30-45 minutes: for the church family
The meeting will take place immediately after the sevice and will last between 30-45 minutes. We’ll give an update on our vision and strategy, and update on our finances (income, expenditure and budgets) and there will be time for Q&A throughout.
If CCC is your church family, or you are considering becoming a member of CCC, this is a meeting for you to prioritise and come ready to learn, participate and pray.
May we hear the word Paul says to the Corinthians
But since you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you – see that you also excel in this grace of giving. (2 Corinthians 8:7 )
Steve Vaughan & Justin Anderson (on behalf of the Leadership & Finance Teams)
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You can view the slides from the previous AGMs to see our expenditure from the last year and budget for the next year.
AGM on 21st February 2016, 5th February 2017, 18th February 2018, 24th February 2019, 9th February 2020, 7th February 2021, 6th February 2022, 6 month review Oct 2022, 12th February 2023, 24th September 2023, January 2024, 22nd September 2024, 9th February 2025, 12th October 2025 and 8th February 2026.