Cash Crisis in Church of England Calls for Structure Change for Mission Funding

A latest report to the General Synod of the Church of England in July reveals that a serious cash crisis has threatened the Church’s mission work. Therefore, it is expected to prompt drastic measures and reconsideration of the current priorities in an attempt to improve the finances of the Church.

The interim report was produced by the Church’s resourcing mission group chaired by the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Right Rev Peter Price and will be discussed by the General Synod in York next month, according to the Times.

The report has tried to attribute the current cash crisis to the extremely high expenses on two particular aspects - £250million-a-year maintenance costs of the Church’s thousands of grade-one listed buildings as well as payment for clergy pensions and stipends that top £140million in a single year.

Despite of the rising running cost of the Church, the falling church membership and thus fewer donations will even worsen the problem. The report has also revealed that more than half of the Church’s 16,000 parish churches have fewer than 50 members. According to the Times, the average weekly attendance in 2003 was 1,187,000 compared with a figure in 1968 of 1.6 million.

Based on these findings, the report admits that the Church needs to make urgent changes to improve its finances so as to revive mission work. Obviously, this would involve concrete actions to reduce the inefficient use of funds. In addition, appropriate priorities and values focusing on a mission-centred church must be formed.

The report urges the Church to seek a new engagement with the public, "The Church of England has in some ways allowed itself to drift apart from society, undermining its witness to the whole nation."

"The structures and systems of the Church still bear the imprint of a pastoral era which assumed a predominantly conforming population."

Some drastic strategies are being put forward for discussion by the report. It suggests cutting existing clergy numbers of about 9,400 by more than 3,000, training more laity to perform unpaid duties and closing down less active churches.

Quoted from the report on the Church of England website, "Having such a large number of small churches poses some serious mission and financial questions for the Church as it seeks to sustain and develop its witness to the nation."

"We note that a number of dioceses have made or are in the process of making systematic assessments of their parishes’ viability."

The document adds, "A common point made in our submissions from dioceses was that the number, cost and inflexibility of the Church’s buildings were hindering its mission."

Currently, one diocese is already seriously considering a plan to hold church meetings and worships in the living rooms of fellow churchgoers instead of the traditional church buildings which require unaffordable costs to be maintained.

Bishop Price, the chair for the report said to BBC news, "The Church of England is looking at the whole question of pioneer mission leaders, experimenting with different patterns of church in different localities."

The report also called for better-resourced dioceses and cathedrals to voluntarily forgo the national funding they receive for paying bishop and clergy stipends, and redistribut the money to poor areas that struggled to keep up with their ministry. Currently, compared to the huge £140million spending on clergy pensions, the parish mission funding is just £4.5million.

"The reality is that the Church of England is blessed with substantial resources compared with the Christian Church in many parts of the world."

"Yet, in many places, it has difficult affording its existing ministry, whether because of low levels of personal income and/or giving and/or low membership."

The report also stressed the need to devote time to "teaching about giving".

The General Synod is expected to discuss in details the content of the document when it meets in York on 8th-12th July.