Get Involved

Our four parish churches at Amberley, Parham, Wiggonholt and Greatham together serve the Wildbrooks united benefice, working for the benefit of all in our communities and beyond. It is a great joy to be your Vicar, here for you whether you worship with us on a Sunday or not. The churches today remain, as they have been over centuries, focal points for the community in times of joy and celebration, grief and remembrance.

Our congregations are not large but the financial challenges are great. Parishes are expected to be self-supporting – we don’t receive financial support from central Church of England funds or from the Diocese. On the contrary, we need to pay our share towards diocesan ministry costs which include clergy training, stipends and pensions.

With small congregations this is a struggle but, thanks to the generosity of our worshipping communities and others, we usually manage to meet our commitments to the Diocese and cover the expenses of the day-to-day work of the churches in supporting the spiritual and other needs of the community.

But then there are the buildings.

All four church buildings are historically important and are Grade I Listed. They are frighteningly expensive to maintain.

St Michael’s held a major fundraising appeal in 2018-2019, in order to carry out important conservation work on the tower. Wiggonholt church has recently sought funds to restore the Lychgate and Parham its roof. We remain hugely grateful to everyone who supported these appeals, and others that have been held over the years, by fundraising or donation.

But the work of maintaining these buildings is endless. The routine maintenance for St Michael’s alone has been costed at over £8,000 a year. We really want to keep on top of the maintenance, because, as we all know, ‘a stitch in time saves nine’.

Coronavirus  created additional pressure. With fewer visitors, weddings and other services, our income fell dramatically. In 2022 we were able to start fundraising again but there is a lot of lost ground to make up.

We know that our four wonderful buildings are enjoyed and appreciated by residents and visitors, including people of many faiths or none. They are part of the fabric of our communities.

Would you be able to help us maintain them for the benefit of us all and for future generations?

We are well aware that many charities are urgently seeking funds at this time, and that the increased cost of living has put extra pressure on budgets but we hope you may be able to support us in some way.

Here’s how you could help:

• Best of all – commit to a standing order of a certain amount per month to the PCC of the church you wish to support.
• Make a one off donation – again to the PCC of your choice – by Bank Transfer or cheque, or (only for St Michael’s) via our donation page linked to this website – click on the green button at the top of this page.

Please contact amberleystmichael@gmail.com to ensure you have correct bank account details for the church you wish to donate to.

Thank you for your support.