It was a nickname at first: ‘the son of encouragement’.
Giant of heart, laugh and beard, the man could not stop giving. It spilled out of him like water carelessly carried. He couldn’t speak without building someone up. Couldn’t touch his wallet without gifts bursting out. Couldn’t see a lost friend without crossing the room. The disciples noticed the atmosphere change when he came into conversations, noticed how shoots of hope broke through when he was around – so the name came naturally. Barnabas. Born of encouragement. Born to encourage.
Barnabas, a Levite from Cyprus, first emerges in Jerusalem in Acts 4 soon after Pentecost. Perhaps he was in that multi-national, multi-lingual crowd when the Holy Spirit spilled so generously and abundantly, like too much wine. Perhaps that was where this generous Spirit reached him – and he never stopped overflowing.
When fear separated the church from the newly converted Saul, it was Barnabas who built a bridge, confident that God’s abundance could reach the most unexpected places. When the good news of Jesus began to reach across cultural lines to Gentiles in Antioch, it was Barnabas who checked it out on behalf of the Jerusalem church, and who responded – guess how? – with glad encouragement.
Thankfully the church remembers Barnabas on 11 June, and he gets a festival day. Where would we be without him? The early church would have been poorer, more divided, and – possibly – less fun.
So perhaps this Spirit-filled Cypriot makes a good companion for a season about our shared ministry and the Parish Support Fund (PSF).
The PSF is a practical expression of something of a Barnabas spirit – the commitment to build one another up, to give generously in overflowing response to all that God has generously given us.
Thank you for your commitment to the PSF. We are so grateful that parishes have, in challenging economic times, overwhelmingly given to honour their pledges. Through the PSF, we are able to support ministry in every parish in the Diocese, including those areas who cannot afford a vicar from their resources alone. St John’s Angell Town is in one of the top three most deprived parishes in Southwark, and yet it has just celebrated 170 years of faithful ministry – a sustained, resourced ministry that would not be possible without commitment to the PSF.
Through the PSF we are able to support ministry with every generation. The young people of St Mildred’s Lee, are enjoying a new ‘Upper Room’ in which they can explore and experience the overflowing love of God, thanks to a diocesan grant from the PSF.
Across the Diocese, churches are experiencing the challenges of this season and meeting them with hope and resilience. We recognise that this is a hard financial time, and we are here to support you in the resourcing of your ministry and mission.
Our giving team, partially funded by the national church (not the PSF!), is here to work alongside you to encourage generosity and support giving campaigns in your church, including helping churches offer digital giving. We were pleased that at the end of 2022 Southwark is the Diocese with the highest proportion of churches using contactless or online giving, and with the highest average weekly gift per contactless device. Hear from four churches how contactless giving has helped their church.
Generosity Week is approaching in the autumn, and we will have resources for services, daily generosity challenges, and sermon notes which you can use when or how you wish. Please do contact the Giving Team if there is anything we can do to support you further.
In the last week of June, parishes will receive information about the Parish Support Fund 2024 which includes parish stories and videos from around the Diocese – please enjoy them, share and give thanks to God and be encouraged! You will be invited to your pledges for the coming year to enable each church, as Revd Robert Faulkner from Angell Town said, “to continue to be a light in the darkness , spreading God’s love and mercy”. We’re so grateful that, year after year, parishes are responding with a Barnabas spirit to this invitation, looking to build up one another with practical encouragement.
Thank you for all you do.
Bountiful God, giver of all gifts,
who poured your Spirit upon your servant Barnabas
and gave him grace to encourage others:
help us, by his example,
to be generous in our judgements
and unselfish in our service;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
Collect for St Barnabas’ Day.
The Giving team are: Gabby Parikh, Director of Giving and Parish Funding; Jenny Dawkins, Generous Giving Advisor and Hannah Starkins, Digital Giving Advisor.
