John Preston - National Stewardship and Resources Officer

Money matters and much more

Not exactly a self-explanatory job title, National Stewardship and Resources Officer, John Preston's role for the past two years, is an important position that has been specially created so the Church of England can speak on all levels about money and giving.

'From a faith perspective, what we think about money, what we do about money, the decisions that we take, has an important role to play in our faith,' John says, taking a break from paperwork in his home office in Shropshire. 'From a finance perspective, the money that we give, the money that the Church has, funds its mission and its ministry; without it we simply couldn’t operate.'

However, as the many hundreds of hours of hard work, research and networking put in by John testify, there is more to this role than talking about the weekly Sunday collection and asking for more.

'There's a lot to say about money and a distinctive Christian view on money - and it's exciting.'

One day a week he is in London at Church House, consulting with colleagues nationally on mission and policy, and liaising with government representatives or other organisations to further the Church's thinking on money and giving; for three days he works with dioceses all over England, offering training and advice on things as diverse as preaching about generosity to the intricacies of complying with the Charity SORP; and the remaining day is spent working from home.

Despite the various opportunities this brings to travel, meet people and make a real contribution to the workings of the Church of England, John - who previously worked in marketing for several large companies - says the favourite part of his job is helping people discover that giving leads to joy.

'When the Bible talks about God loves a cheerful or hilarious giver,' he teaches, 'there's a real truth in that; that actually when people discover what their giving can unlock it gives them a tremendous feeling of satisfaction and of great joy.'

To make his knowledge on money matters more widely known, and to show people how to apply Christian principles to handling money, John has authored a new booklet The Money Revolution, and an accompanying website www.themoneyrevolution.net, intending to inspire personal finance reviews all over the country - via the unpacking of five key Christian principles.

'It talks about ethical spending, about issues such as pensions, issues about debt, ethical investment,' John explains, 'as well as helping people to discover how they can give more generously.'

Over the next few months, he will undertake a national tour of free seminars to further explain how money can either worry us or liberate us.

'If we can discover that money is a joy and a real blessing and a gift from God,' he concludes, 'then that helps us handle it.'