IT IS ALREADY mid-Lent: have you given to our Lenten appeal for the Church Times Train-A-Priest (TAP) Fund yet? Have your friends? Why not mark Mothering Sunday by making a special gift to TAP?
Giving has never been easier. A donation can be made quickly online, using our secure page at www.hymnsam.co.uk/train-a-priest . This has a Gift Aid facility. So please spread the word about it to your congregation.
Or send cheques, postal orders, or charity cheques to: TAP Fund, Church Times, 13a Hellesdon Park Road, Norwich NR6 5DR. If you giving in this way, and are eligible to claim Gift Aid, please enclose the form printed in previous weeks.
We have a downloadable leaflet to help our readers promote the fund: it includes the Gift Aid form, and can be printed via this link.
The running total stands at £15,550 this week; so there is a long way to go to reach last year’s grand total of £92,733.
There is still time to bid in the special TAP auction being held by the Revd Tony Bell, of Glapwell, in Derbyshire. He is offering for sale more than 200 back copies in “excellent condition” of the Expository Times on eBay. The auction closes at 9 p.m. this Sunday. The item no. is 320859746938. (Find using this link or the advanced search facility.)
This year is TAP’s diamond jubilee. “It would be wonderful to see a record amount given this year, especially as the number of candidates for ordination is rising again,” says the chairman of the Church of England’s Ministry Division, the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt Revd Graham James.
Every ordinand, married or single, is eligible to apply for a TAP grant if he or she is in full-time training for the priesthood in the C of E. Moreover, ten per cent of every donation goes into the TAP Special Hardship Fund. This exists to help any ordinand training for the priest-hood in the C of E in a college, on a course, or on an OLM scheme, whose training is jeopardised by financial difficulties. Candidates may apply to the fund at any time during their training.