It's a story most parishes could tell. Finding the funds to keep both church and community together can take a concerted effort as a Wairarapa parish can attest.

Keeping it together

Martinborough's First Church gets funding from a property the Presbyterian Church rents out.

As the income is insufficient, fundraising is necessary to balance the books - which is where the church community steps in.

It's pretty hand-to-mouth, says Sherryl Howie, former Sunday school teacher turned arch-fundraiser.

"[Churches] are a piece of history, that's for sure, they're definitely beautiful and hopefully we can retain that by doing some nice things, enjoying ourselves at the same time as raising some money" she says.

Bearing these facts in mind, they have an annual "Spring Fling" event that brings in good money. Other fundraising efforts are dotted throughout the year.

"We ... have a church fair and we sell books all the time ... I guess this happens all round the country" Howie says.

Spring Fling

Held at the town hall, this year's annual "Spring Fling" included dinner, musical entertainment and a fashion parade.

A local musician joined the events saying her "love for that church is just so strong that I want to be part of this" Howie recalls.

"This year, we sold the whole 150 tickets, we fed them and we did the fashion parade. Yeah, it was all pretty good" Howie says.

Tickets were limited to 50 when the event was first held "a couple of years ago" she notes.

"The following year people just said 'look, we want to come, we heard what a great thing this was', so the committee upped the number of tickets to be sold.

"It's not just about raising the funds, it's about bringing that community together to have a great time" she says.

Many of those who attended the Spring Fling had family connections to the church spanning multiple generations, she says.

Connecting past with present

One of this year's big success stories was an update of the Martinborough Cookbook. First published in 1972, the collection of recipes from the Martinborough area was reprinted in 1992.

Now a new generation wants copies.

"The local kids were starting to say things like ‘where can we get that book from? My nana was in that book, my aunty was in that book, I remember that book, my mother had it, where can we get these?'

"We reprinted the book as it was [but with a new foreword], just so that you could see your aunty or your mother or somebody in that book from way back" Howie says.

She hopes getting a younger generation involved in hosting events like Spring Fling will help keep the church and its community going in the future.

Source

• The Post

Teresa Dykes, of Rupert Road in Newbury, completed the thrilling wing walk on a biplane at the RFC Rendcomb Aerodrome in Cirencester on May 7.

The small orange and black plane, which had Mrs Dykes standing on top of it, took off at 1.30 pm and was up for a full 15 minutes before it came back to land.

At that time, she reached a height of 2,000 feet, reached speeds of 150mph, and completed a loop-the-loop and a barrel roll.

Mrs Dykes said: "The trickiest bit is facing into the wind at 150mph."

Read More

It all started when mechanic-turned-priest Father Matthew Keller gathered together a "Garage Gang" of classic car aficionados.

Between them, they restored a "muscle car", which they raffled in an online sweep.

Their 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle Super Sport was in top form: they raised US$140,000 and the money was spent on seminary education.

After their success, Keller and the Garage Gang began restoring a 1969 Pontiac Firebird convertible.

Keller is personally refurbishing the 350 cubic-inch V-8 engine that's mated to a three-speed Hydra-Matic transmission.

They're hoping to get $100,000 from the $25 per ticket raffle for the car.

Whoever wins it will enjoy the car's original cream interior, new top, power steering and power brakes.

But there's more to the work than doing up cars and raising much-needed money.

The workshop has also become an unanticipated "rallying point for evangelization, and I just didn't see that coming," Keller says.

"There are some men that would come to the garage on the back side of the church that wouldn't necessarily come through the front doors," he explained, "and they're spending hours and hours."

Some have even asked him to hear their confessions in the workshop.

"And it's their way of contributing and being a part of something for God."

"It's that whole thing that Pope Francis is asking of us — to go to the periphery," he added.

Source

• Automobile
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image:

The person speaking said something like this: "We are doing fantastic work, but we can only continue because of your financial support. Therefore, please give." Browsing the faces around me, I noticed most people passively listened, waiting for the speaker to finish.

The unfortunate part was the joy of celebrating the Mass was disrupted by a tepid, five-minute request for money.

Fast forward to today, after experiencing countless Sunday appeals and second collections, I recognize that most requests for funds are dull and disruptive. My assumption is you agree with me.

The Landscape of Catholic Fundraising is Changing
I understand the importance of giving, and I enjoy supporting Catholic causes, but I have come to the conclusion that the only reason they asked me is that I was sitting in the pew, unable to run away.

Everything else is secondary, such as how diligent the organization is in managing money, how faithful they are to Church teaching, or how successful they are in their mission. Their stewardship of my generosity is never discussed.

The following Sunday, if lucky, I may hear, "Thank you for your generosity. We raised [the amount]." The end. I won't hear anything from them until the following year when I am asked to replicate my generosity.

Repeat this scenario 30 or 40 times, and this is what most Catholics experience each Sunday throughout the year. Our fundraising culture is founded on dull, disruptive appeals, one after another, with minimal stewardship on the part of the recipient.

This method of fundraising, which dominates the Catholic Church, along with other methods such as auctions and dinners, has undoubtedly accomplished much over the past decades. At the same time, these methods appear to be gaining rust.

Statistics on the level of giving by Catholics has remained low (in comparison to Protestant denominations) and stagnant for several decades, and there appear to be no signs of any increases. Continue reading

• Brice Sokolowski is the founder of Catholic Fundraiser.net.

The sleep-out is being organised by Wellington's many agencies collaborating to help raise funds and awareness about the reality of homelessness in New Zealand.

"We are both witnessing and fund raising as well, so I am asking for your sponsorship of my efforts," says Marcellin.

They are asking for sponsorship for their team, made up of themseleves and two staff members from the Wellington Homeless Women's Trust.

"Any contribution would be appreciated 10c, 50c, $1, or $10 per hour would all help the Wellington Homeless Women's ministry."

Donations can be recorded on the "Give a Little page the Wellington Homeless Womens's Trust website.

Donations make also be given on night at the Wesley Church Hall and Car Park Taranaki St. Wellington.

Marcellin said their Trust members all intend to sleep out for 10 hours.

The event will be held at the Wesley Church, 75 Taranaki Street, Wellington, from 6pm, Friday 9 October to 8am Saturday 10 October.

Those present will hear from homeless people, and those helping them, then sleep outdoors overnight in a secure location.

Funds raised will go to one of the many projects being undertaken by participating agencies.

"I will sleep better in the car for the knowledge it is counting for something for our women," said Marcellin.

Other people are being encouraged to register a team on Give a Little, with its own fundraising target and a team profile.

Source

• Supplied
• wel-com.org.nz
• Image: wellingtonsouthrotary.weebly.com static2.stuff.co.nz

The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes near the Sea of Galilee was set alight on June 18 and anti-Christian graffiti was daubed on its walls.

A crowd-funding campaign by a group of Orthodox rabbis and Knesset speaker Yuli Edelstein raised NZ$20,000 - as at July 27 - for repairs to the church.

"Condemnation is not enough; after a while it loses its credibility," said Elijah Interfaith Institute Director Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein, who is spearheading the effort.

"When Jews reach into their pockets to support a cause, one knows they are serious," he said in a Times of Israel report.

The project received the endorsement of 17 leading Orthodox rabbis.

"The church is visited daily by 5000 people, making this act of vandalism the most visible to date in a series of attacks on religious sites of other religions," a statement from the group said.

"The accompanying graffiti appealed to texts from the Jewish prayer book, making it an attack on explicitly religious grounds."

Last week, Moshe Ya'alon, Israel's defence minister, ordered the detention without trial of Mordechai Meyer, 18, for extremist activities believed to include starting the fire at the Galilee church.

He was one of three extremists detained after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was prompted to launch an unprecedented offensive against "Jewish terrorism".

This followed an arson attack by suspected hardline settlers in the West Bank village of Duma last Friday that killed a one-year-old Palestinian toddler and gravely injured his parents and brother.

Meanwhile, Catholic Church leaders in Israel filed a complaint for incitement with the police against the leader of the far-right group Lehava, Benzi Gopstein, after it was reported that he called for churches in Israel to be torched.

Sources

• Times of Israel
• The Telegraph
• Haaretz
• Image: Times of Israel

Fr Pierre "Jalapeno" Pepper, parish priest of St Rynagh's in Banagher, Co Offaly, will be squaring up to parishioner Jared "The Artful Dodger" Madden to raise money for the St Vincent de Paul Society and the Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association.

The pair have been interviewed by the BBC and appeared on The Late Late Show after a video of Fr Pepper calling out his opponent went viral.

Fr Pepper said he was enjoying his five minutes of fame but would be keeping out of the way of his bishop. Contiue reading

The financial literacy programmes which began in October are being delivered bi-lingually, taking into account cultural values and obligations that impact financial decisions for Pacific people.

The programme's director, Jackie Curry-Malolo said it was aimed at the many Pasifika families who are struggling to make ends meet.

She said a lot of that was because they were trying to meet church and cultural obligations as well as to pay the household bills.

The course, Poto Money, will run for five weeks at two churches - one Samoan, the other Tongan, and the families will be monitored once the course ends.

Ms Curry-Malolo said unlike generic financial literacy programmes, it will focus on Pasifika cultural values and significant events like funerals and weddings.

If Poto Money shows good results, the organisers hope to get funding to train more Pasifika people to run the programme across the country.

Source

• Radio New Zealand
• Radio Australia
• Image: Massey University