This scheme has been in operation since 1995. It has been well received and the Diocesan Board of Finance is very grateful to the parishes for their continuing contributions under the scheme to support the ministry of the Church in the Diocese of St. Albans.

INTRODUCTION

Funding the work of the Church in the Diocese of St. Albans

The major part of the Church’s work is carried out in the parishes of the diocese. The biggest cost of this work is the remuneration of the clergy (stipends, National Insurance and pensions). Money is also needed for the support of the ministry of clergy and lay people in different ways, such as housing, training, administration and advice services and for the work of the wider Church. Each year, the Diocesan Synod agrees a budget for expenditure on this work, which forms the requirement for the Diocesan Common Fund.

Our income

The Diocesan Common Fund has income from fees, glebe rents and investments, together with other general income and some minor grants from the Church’s historic resources. The rest comes from the contributions made by each parish - the Parish Share of the Common Fund.

Parish Shares and the diocesan family

The Parish Shares scheme divides parish contributions into two parts. The first is the actual stipend cost of the parish’s clergy, towards which certain grants are made; the second is a contribution towards ministry support costs, based on the parish congregation’s potential ability to give. It is important that, as members of the diocesan family, each parish contributes realistically towards the support of the ministry and the cost of clergy. However, it is also important that the poorer members of the family are helped by the richer, so that the work of the Church can continue and grow in every part of the diocese. The Parish Shares scheme is intended to hold these two factors in balance. Although Parish Shares are allocated ‘centrally’, local and deanery consultation forms a vital part of the scheme.

HOW THE PARISH SHARES ARE CALCULATED

The Stipends Contribution

For each parish, the contribution is the actual stipend(s) of its clergy plus an average amount to cover the pension and National Insurance, minus a standard grant per minister and minus, for incumbents or priests-in-charge only, a standard grant in respect of fees (eg. for weddings, funerals).

*The stipend

The stipend cost notified to parishes is the actual stipend(s) of their clergy. For incumbents, the rate is that set for the diocese and reviewed each April. As the diocesan financial year ends in December, an annualised figure for stipend is derived to allow for the first quarter at one rate followed by three quarters at the new rate. There is a scale of stipends for assistants who receive an increment annually in July as well as any change in rate set in April. *Shared clergy Where a parish shares an incumbent with other parishes or with a diocesan post, a proportion of the stipend is allocated to each parish.

*Vacancies

During vacancies parishes are asked to make a contribution of 80% of the net stipend, pension and national insurance cost in the first nine months of a vacancy. Should the vacancy last for more than nine months this percentage drops to 40% during the post nine-month period. *Non-Stipendiary Priest-in-Charge/House-for-Duty Priests Parishes in the care of either of the above are asked to contribute towards ministry costs in order to support stipendiary ministry in the diocese. This contribution will be negotiated by the Archdeacon with the parish concerned in consultation with the Deanery Parish Shares Committee. (Applies to appointments from 1 January 2002).

*First-Post Curates

Parishes with a first-post curate are asked to contribute up to 50% of the net stipend, pension and national insurance cost from the point of priesting. This contribution will be negotiated by the Archdeacon with the parish concerned in consultation with the Deanery Parish Shares Committee. (Applies to parishes taking on a deacon from June 2002, contributions to be requested from point of priesting in June 2003).

*National Insurance and pensions

The cost of these is apportioned to the diocese on the basis of the overall number of clergy, so they are allocated in the stipend contribution as an average cost per minister in each parish.

*Standard grant from historic resources

Each parish receives a standard grant in respect of each of its stipendiary clergy, made from the resources available for this purpose from glebe rents and investments. Where the stipend payable is not the usual amount eg. because of a vacancy or because the incumbent is shared, the grant is altered accordingly.

*Fees

The total income from parochial fees payable to incumbents across the diocese is calculated each year and it is divided as a standard grant in respect of each incumbent (as only incumbents are eligible to receive parochial fees).

*Chaplaincy income

There are a few parochial ministers who also have a chaplaincy role (eg. prison, hospital). In these cases, the parish is credited with the actual amount of the chaplaincy income (net of expenses and the current additional earnings allowance).

The Ministry Support Contribution

The Ministry Support Contribution provides the money needed for:

• the remuneration of newly ordained first-post assistant clergy up to the point of priesting and then the balance not covered by parishes in the Stipend Contribution;
• the provision and maintenance of clergy housing and payment of Council Tax;
• the training and support of future ministers and their families;
• a contribution towards the cost of the national Church, administration; and
• the work of diocesan boards and committees in supporting the parochial ministry.

The parish Ministry Support Contribution is calculated as a number of shares of a certain value and is intended to take into account each congregation’s potential ability to give. The method of calculation is as follows:

*The Share Factor (SF) (Reviewed every three years)

i) Deaneries will ask each parish to assess its congregation’s ability or potential to give, in relation to the other parishes in its deanery and the diocese, within the range 0.50 - 3.00. 0.50 indicates a congregation with extremely limited potential to give, while 3.00 indicates a congregation with exceptionally high potential.

ii) As a guide, the current aggregated share factors for each deanery are checked by the diocesan Parish Shares Committee (PASC) with external data, to ensure consistency from one deanery to another. The deanery body which deals with Parish Shares is supplied with a list of current share factors and a recommendation from PASC about what its aggregated share factors should be, within a limited range, in order to be in line with other deaneries.

iii) Parishes should agree their own SF with the Deanery Synod standing committee or other body appointed by the Deanery Synod, which will then forward them to the Diocesan Office. The levels will be checked again by PASC to ensure consistency across the diocese.

iv) It is important that each parish should consider its congregation’s potential to give, rather than past or present levels of giving. The parish and deanery should take into consideration any factors which may be relevant, and which may include the socio-economic make-up of the congregation, the parish’s other financial liabilities and the other resources available to it, current per capita giving etc.

v) If a parish is unable to reach agreement with the deanery on its SF, the matter may be referred by either party to PASC, which will make a final assessment.

*The Church Membership Figure (CMF)

Information on church membership is supplied by parishes each year as part of the annual return to the Central Board of Finance (CBF). From this information the figures for usual Sunday attendance (uSa) and electoral roll are each averaged over the three most recent years for which the figures are available. A composite ‘church membership’ figure is calculated as the average of these figures, with a weighting of 3:2 in favour of uSa.

*Number of shares

For each parish, the CMF is multiplied by the SF to give a number of shares.

*Value of shares

The total number of shares across the diocese is calculated, and this figure is divided into the net diocesan budget (everything except that which relates to the Stipend Contribution) to give a value for each share.

*Result of the calculation

Each parish is asked to make a Ministry Support Contribution equivalent to the product of its allotted shares multiplied by the current share value as calculated above.

Pastoral Support Grants (formerly Supplementary Grants)

1. In every year there will be some parishes which are unable to meet the full stipend and other costs of their clergy, as identified in the Parish Share. This may be due to exceptional circumstances at one particular time, or it may be an on-going situation because of the nature of the parish. To help with these needs, a Pastoral Support Grant Fund is available.

2. A sum is allocated within the diocesan budget each year, from available income, for pastoral support grants. Parishes are also invited to contribute to the fund as part of their support of ministry across the diocese.

3. ‘Start of year’ grants

These are made to parishes which, it is recognised, need additional support to maintain an appropriate level of ministry. Grants are awarded and notified before the start of the year to which they apply, so that the parish is clear what net contribution it is asked to find. Parishes which may need such assistance include:-

• new areas of development
• Urban Priority Areas
• parishes with a ‘mission’ post agreed at deanery and diocesan level.

4. Other grants

Applications may be made during the year for a one-off grant, where a parish is facing exceptional and unforeseen difficulties. Part of the Pastoral Support Grant Fund is held in reserve for this purpose.

5. Applications

(i) All applications must be made via the appropriate deanery body (deanery standing committee, deanery pastoral committee or separate deanery parish shares committee). The deanery’s recommendation in each case should be sent to the Diocesan Office by the end of October each year, for the attention of the Parish Shares Committee at its grant-allocation meeting in November. This timetable applies to start-of-year grants and to other applications, but applications for cases of unforeseen difficulties may be considered at other times as well.

(ii) The body nominated by the Deanery Synod to deal with Parish Shares should consider applications made by individual parishes and any other cases where it considers assistance may be needed. The deanery body should ensure that it has sufficient information about each case to make a recommendation which includes the following:-

• a brief outline of the parish’s circumstances, including reference to the categories listed in paragraph 3 above if applicable.
• an indication of the level of support which might be appropriate.
• the degree of priority which should be given to each recommendation (essential - very desirable - desirable)
• the length of time for which the parish is likely to require additional support (this year only - 2 years - 3 years). The circumstances of parishes receiving longer-term support should be considered annually as part of the deanery’s work concerning Supplementary Grants.

In Summary

Each parish is asked to pay a Stipends contribution and a Ministry Support contribution, calculated in the ways described above. It is important to remember that the whole Parish Share, not just the part which goes directly to clergy remuneration, is vital if God’s work in our parishes is to be supported and maintained for the future.

NOTIFICATION OF PARISH SHARES

Each parish is notified during December of its Parish Share for the following year with an early indication of a likely figure, for budgetary purposes, having already been given in July. The calculation is based upon numbers of clergy in post, stipend levels etc. which are current or known when the calculation is made. Adjustments may be necessary during the year arising from subsequent changes in these factors. All parishes are urged, where possible, to arrange for their Parish Shares to be paid by monthly instalments. Although this may mean that individual parishes lose a small amount of income, it does enable the monthly stipends and salaries bill to be met through the Common Fund without recourse to short-term bank loans, which otherwise impose an additional burden on the following year’s Common Fund.

EXTRA CONTRIBUTIONS

Some parishes occasionally make extra contributions, over and above their parish share, as part of their mission giving. The Board of Finance is very grateful for these generous donations and has decided that money received in this way should not be put into the general pot, but should be directed to specific parishes, which may be nominated by the contributing parish or suggested by the Board.

THE ROLE OF THE DEANERY PARISH SHARES COMMITTEE (this role may be exercised by a separate committee or by the deanery standing committee or pastoral committee, as the deanery decides)

1. To agree appropriate share factors with each parish and to maintain the aggregated Share Factors within the range designated for the deanery.
2. To make recommendations for supplementary grants for parishes in the deanery.
3. To take appropriate action in the case of parishes with a shortfall in Parish Share contributions, including the need to make recommendations to PASC for writing off sums in particular cases. In addition, the deanery committee may decide:-
4. To make recommendations for a block Pastoral Support Grant which it then allocates amongst its parishes (with notification to the Parish Shares Committee and diocesan Financial Secretary).
5. To encourage or assist a parish in making an additional contribution to help another parish facing difficulties

EXAMPLES

A leaflet showing a simplified example of how parish share is calculated can be found here