Planned Giving

Anglican Church of Canada Website
www.anglican.ca

Diocese of Niagara http://www.niagara.anglican.ca
The Right Reverend
Michael A. Bird

Christ Church
Coat of Arms

Granted 2006

Donations support Worship ministry by paying the salaries of the clergy and organist who are visibly involved, and the salaries of the administrative assistant who makes the bulleting and the custodian who keeps our church clean and beautiful. Besides these salaried persons, services also rely on the participation of volunteer choir members, readers, servers, chalice bearers, intercessors, lay readers, sides people, greeters, Altar Guild members who prepare the altar, and on the reverent participation of each congregant. Many staff and volunteer hours go into planning for worship services. Equally important, the church building which shelters and inspires our worship also relies on those highly-skilled, hard-working individuals who keep it maintained and on the donations that pay for bread and wine, heating and air conditioning, roof repairs and carpeting. These donations allow us to worship God in all times and seasons of our lives.

Automatic Giving
Many parishes and their parishioners have turned to electronic donations to ensure regular giving. Typically, a parish pays the bank to be able to receive regular donations, then parishioners sign up, authorizing their own bank to debit their account and make the same donation each week - the same as the pre-authorized payments many people use to handle utility bills automatically each month. Those involved in electronic donations call it a no-brainer: parishes know mid-month what their giving will be and can budget accordingly. Parishioners know their intended gift to the church is being made automatically and don't need to double up on envelope donations if they miss one Sunday

If you are interested in the automatic donation program, please contact Enid at the church office (905) 358-9712.

Gift Planning
Gift Planning means finding a way to make an important gift to a cause you believe in while still getting the best tax benefits possible and achieving personal financial goals.

A planned gift to The Anglican Church of Canada can be made outright to the Church for its immediate use, or deferred – arranged now for completion later. Some planned gifts are designed both to support the work of God through the Church and to provide a life income for the donor. Each type of planned gift offers benefits to the donor, and supports the mission of the Church, whether it be a parish, diocese, General Synod, or another Anglican Church of Canada entity or ministry.

Carillon Bells Project

In 2012 the bells in the Church Tower will be 100 years old. As a project to commemorate this special occasion, a separate account has been initiated (by donations to get things started) to install a keyboard at either the organ or "electronic piano", attached to the tower bells, from which the bells could be played. By inviting others to participate now, it should allow ample time to reach our goal (not yet determined). . Tom Ridgway has kindly volunteered to head this exciting project, and has already spent weeks investigating all possibilities. He will keep us informed. We are also planning to dedicate this system in the memory of Robert Stuckey, who was the Carillonneur for fifty years; and Nick Minov, who passed away three years ago. If everything goes well, what a joyous occasion it will be at the dedication in 2012 to again hear those uplifting, magnificent bells chime!

While the main focus is to get the bells ringing again there are also some things from the Decennial Report that will coincide with this project: Replace built-up roof over bell tower; Clean, paint and repair the bell tower; Install pneumatic / manual system to play bells; Install a plaque in memory of past Carillonneurs:

Update: July 11, 2010

At the Vestry meeting Jun 13, 2010, there was a strong vote in favour of the Meeks, Watson bid for renovating the church bells. This will include an electro-pneumatic computerized system to ring the bells automatically. This will allow us to ring our bells daily. The 100 yr-old chime stand will be rebuilt so we can also ring the bells manually.

the cost of the project is $56,878.00. This is a major undertaking but there is a strong desire by parishioners to have our bells ring again. The project is a commitment to leave a legacy for those that follow us just as Willam Doran left us his legacy of the bells 100 yrs ago.

We will raise the money through donations, fund raising and a grant application to the Canadian Heritage Foundation. In order to be successful with the application we have to co-ordinate the 100 year celebration of our bells with the celebration of the War of 1812. We are optimistic of receiving some grant money in 2011. This is our only chance to receive any grant money. Thank you for supporting the bells renovation (Tom Ridgway) Grant application was rejected as we did not qualify under their terms for funding.

Enid reports that we already have $10,000 in the bell fund, which is quite remarkable. Thanks to one an all for your support. With this kind of enthusiasm we will really be able to celebrate with the ringing of the bells.

The next phase of our Bell Project is about to begin, and with that the next payment will be due. Please keep our bell Project in you prayers and if you are able to make a donation to this project, it will be most greatly appreciated. Please remember that any donation is a charitable donation and will show as such on your income tax receipt at the end of the year.