"The Christian Stewardship Campaign lasted for five intensive and exhilarating weeks. The target mentioned in the Brochure was £10,506 over a perid of three years. There was a feeling of deep thankfulness and a sense of “something attempted, something done” on the last day of the canvass when, with the help of covenants, this figure was achieved. (Net amount promised £10,050; gross £10,501). This is more than two-and three-quarter times as much as all the giving to and through the church over the last three years, and a four fold increase of the pledged giving figure for the same period. The brake that has been clamped on so hard for many years, and kept us from doing so many things that needed to be done, is off at last Laus Deo!

“63 Per Cent. - Or What Are You Waiting For?”
This is the title of a little booklet published by the Diocese and available free to anyone who wants it. It explains fully the Covenanting method referred to above. As it says, it is really very simple, and if you are paying the standard rate of income tax it is well worth considering, for the benefit to the Church is great - 7/9 for each 12/3 you pay, or 63% In other words, for every 1 / - you put in your weekly envelope, St. James’s would get back £l-12-0 a year, in addition to the original 52 shillings. So if this appeals to you please ask Mr. Rockliffe for any further particulars.

The Unexpected
With a building such as ours, it is never easy to plan ahead. The unexpected so often intervenes. What had seemed to be in good condition is suddenly found to contain defects calling for immediate action, just when we wanted to tackle something else. We knew that certain things needed urgent attention, and listed them in the Campaign Brochure - Roof, wiring, lighting, organ - but we thought the floor was fairly safe. Several fruiting bodies of the dry rot fungus had just made an ominous appearance in the Nave. But we hoped that the damage underneath was only slight. On investigation, however, it was found to be far more extensive and serious than recent outbreaks in Chancel and Vestry, spreading for fifteen feet down the whole North side of the Church. Then, in the Aisle, where dry rot ended, wet rot took its place - and a similar strip of rotten wood-work was later found to stretch the whole length of the South Aisle as well.

A month of intensive effort and very skilled work in putting the damage right is now coming to an end, and we hope that there will be enough days left for our own keen volunteers to move in and get the Church clean and tidy for Christmas. Already some members of the Y.P.F. have started to give the pillars the cold water treatment, with good results. The cost of the work carried out by the specialists is expected to be more than a thousand pounds. Obviously we shall have to think of getting together a large contingency reserve, to keep in hand for unexpected emergencies like this, which cannot be budgetted for. In this case we shall have the satisfaction of knowing that faulty original work and bad construction has been replaced by a much better job, which should remain sound for a much longer period."

Source: The Spire Magazine - 1961 December

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