When Bishop Stephen gave away £10 shares of £10,000 during his welcome service earlier this year, he gave it away with a mission “that we can invest what we have for the good of God's Kingdom.”
After suggesting ideas of how to use the money, Bishop Stephen told the congregation: “This is your talent. What will you do with it? Will you bury it, save it, or make it grow so that some good can come from this?”
The message rang clearly, and those present were set to work trying to figure out what they would do with their talents, and the £10.
From our early estimates, this original gift of £10 has over doubled, in excess of £11,740. The diocese has remained hard at work though, and our talents keep growing!
For example, the Salisbury Community Hub for Ukraine recently received £527.23 from Judy Johnson’s original £10 talent. She used the money to pay for a stall at a local car boot sale where she sold goods donated by neighbours, friends and family.
Giles Fletcher, Churchwarden for All Saints Church in Woodford, pooled his £10 talent with his sons. After adding the £20 he’d recently earnt bell-ringing and another £10 as gift aid, he collected £50 altogether. The money was then donated to The Children’s Society for Young Carers, a charity that supports Young Carers in all aspects of their lives and holds a special place in Giles's heart.
Chairman of the Sudan Medical Link, Revd John Simmons, didn’t even leave the building before he found his talents tripling. After the service, he found someone had stuffed an envelope in his pocket addressed to Medical Link and containing £30!
Young Pupils at St Andrew’s School, Weymouth raised £78.14 for Weymouth Foodbank after the chief executive of their school’s chain, Mark Lacey, challenged them to suggest how to grow his talent. The reception class suggested that he make decorations to sell to the parents, and settled on heart-shaped magnets modelled after their school’s vision statement: “Let all that you do be done in love.”
Canon Lucy Holt spread some joy in her community with her £10 talent. After thinking long and hard about what to do with the gift, she came to the idea of blessing those in her community with brownies!
With the £10, Lucy managed to buy enough ingredients to make three trays worth of delicious brownies and delivered them to local businesses along with a thank-you card from the church. She plans to continue delivering joy like this, and already has an offer for someone to make the brownies for her.
Team Rector of The Lantern Church, Revd Mike Tufnell, came up with a ‘slightly odd’ idea when praying back in July. He thought of turning his £10 back into 1,000 pennies and challenging the congregation to see if they could turn them back into £10,000+!
Revd Mike encouraged his congregation to fundraise and donate in return for one of his thousand pennies and has ended up with just over £9,000 so far in donations. The money will go towards a variety of charitable causes, including supporting local families in the cost of living crisis, a free Christmas day community lunch, and any other ideas that emerge as they listen to what God is saying through the church.
In another incredible act of generosity, the Bishop also received a note from an anonymous donor that they intended to fund an electric door opener for a Salisbury-based church after being inspired by the service. The donor intends to spend up to £1,500 on the device which would allow greater accessibility and far longer unstaffed opening hours.
Thank you Salisbury Diocese for your creativity and faithfulness, it is simply extraordinary to hear of what you have done to bless your communities. #SalisburysGotTalent.