Lode Baptist Chapel
Mayday! Mayday! When's my next Payday?
DID YOU KNOW that 16th May is World Debt Day? In 2005 the major focus
throughout the year was the burden of debt on the world's poorest countries
- and I was one of the more than 200,000 people who went to Edinburgh seeking
to persuade the G8 to "Drop the Debt".
But debt is also a problem in the UK. In 2005 nearly 70,000 people became insolvent, the highest since records began. At the same time home repossession orders were also rising sharply. Apparently Britain's personal debt is increasing by £1 million every four minutes and the interest we pay on that debt is running at £6 billion every month. The average owed by every man, woman and child in the UK is £17,000.
One in five people are borrowing money just to pay household bills, one in four are struggling to meet bills and credit repayments. That makes six million families who are struggling to keep up with their credit commitments. This means that many of our neighbours will be facing the reality of debt - maybe even you.
If you are in debt, a course called The Money Secret may be your first step on the journey to financial security. If you feel that nobody could understand the sheer loneliness of financial pressure, then The Money Secret (produced by Care for the Family) could become your friend. The course is packed with insight and practical advice and is likely to be start at Lode Chapel in the middle of May. Please contact me if you would like more information.
Dates for your diary:
- Sunday 14th May - "Money, money, money", a family service for World Debt Day.
- Sunday 28th May - "Hurry, hurry, hurry", a special service on Time Management.
- Sunday 11th June - "Hope and Glory", a family service to mark the start of the World Cup (we will be showing the England matches on a big screen in the Chapel - more information next month).