A message from Simon Clay, our Senior Pastor

Friends, it has been a joy to see what God has been growing over the last few months culminating in a powerful and unforgettable Easter Sunday. He is on the move and the church is growing!
 
I thought it would be a good time to write to you and give you more details about our Giving Day on 18 May. During the service there will be the opportunity to review your regular giving to the church and also give a one-off gift towards some specific areas in which we would like to invest as a community.

Why do we need a Giving Day?

As a Baptist church we do not have a central fund from a national body through which we can draw; everything we seek to do for God and the building of His kingdom at Upton Vale comes from the generous giving of the congregation. A Giving Day provides an opportunity for those who are new to our church to consider beginning to give, for those who are already giving to review their giving and to also invest in key areas of ministry as a one-off.

Why start or review regular giving?

‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’ Malachi 3:10
 
Whilst I would not say a strict 10% tithe is a principle fully endorsed in the New Testament, I know for many people this represents their regular giving to the work of God. Whether it is 4% or 15% of your income, giving regularly to God’s work is a biblical principle and one that helps support the running of Upton Vale. As an example of this, UVBC gives away 12% of our regular giving to local and international mission. For 2025, the membership voted to have a deficit budget trusting in God for the growth of the church and the impact of the ministries here. We are hoping to break even by the end of the year and that will be helped through the regular (ideally gift aided) monthly giving from the congregation. This is an act of worship; it is between you and the Lord and something I commend you to consider.

What will the one-off gifts help the church to achieve?

The one-off gifts will be used by the Trustees to further support the work of the church. We wanted to highlight three key areas that these could support:

• To make the youth worker position full time. We were unable to appoint anyone to our advertised youth worker role and plan to readvertise. This is a vital and growing area of our church life and we feel that making the role full time (with additional responsibilities to support families help their children/youth grow in discipleship) will enable us to attract an outstanding candidate, potentially who might need to move to Torbay. This will be roughly £25k for 18months.
• To purchase new chairs for the church. Our current set of chairs in the downstairs section of the sanctuary are sadly beginning to show their age and are also not very stackable. We would like to purchase some chairs that are easier to stack and store to make the space more flexible and to enable us to accommodate more people downstairs on a Sunday morning. This will be roughly £20k.
• To help refurbish the Link. This will enable us to offer a better welcome for the many visitors and new attendees that are coming along on Sundays, it will help the serving of tea and coffee for our increased attendances in a more efficient and safer manner and it will provide space during the week in which church groups can meet informally. This will be roughly £5k. 

These three areas are going to be vital parts of our journey of trying to keep up with the growth that God is giving to us. The Trustees will see how much the church raises and allocate the money raised from the gift fund towards these areas and/or towards our general ministry fund.
 
This is a good opportunity for me to thank those of you who are sacrificially giving to the life of Upton Vale. Without you and your generous giving we couldn’t do any of the things we do for the building of God’s kingdom here. Now is the time to prayerfully consider what the Lord may be asking you to give regularly and as a one off on 18 May.
 
Grace and Peace,
Your Pastor,
Simon

Ways you can give

Standing Order and Direct Giving

To set up or increase a regular standing order, or to make a one-off donation, please use the bank details as follows:

• Upton Vale Baptist Church
• Account No:  00021384
• Sort Code:     40-52-40
• Ref: For a regular gift to the church use 'RegGive' and include 'your name'
• Ref: For a one-off Giving Day gift 'Giving Day' and include 'your name'

Online 'Giving Day' Gift

 

Gift Aid