Updated Wednesday afternoon
Update
The report is available for download from Mazars, who carried out the study.
Church of England diocesan benchmarking study
Ruth Gledhill writes about it on her blog: One quarter of CofE dioceses ‘in the red’, new study shows
There are stories in today’s papers about a report on diocesan finances commissioned by the Church of England.
Ruth Gledhill and Alexandra Frean in the Times Church of England clergy asked to cut costs as recession takes toll
Alastair Jamieson in the Telegraph : Church of England ‘should prepare for staff cuts to deal with deficits’. One quarter of Church of England dioceses are running deficits, according to a report that suggests parishes prepare for staff cuts that could affect pastoral care and worship.
The Times offers this case study: Bath and Wells diocese sells family silver to tackle £2.5m deficit.
Interesting reading … makes me wonder if more or less than 25% of parishes are running deficits… I bet its more: Wake up time for teh C of E
Why in the world has the C of E waited so long to notice the world wide economic situation. TEC cut her budget and trimmed her sails last summer.
In Bath and Wells, the plan was to run a temporary deficit, covered by reserves, until a drop in clergy numbers balanced the books in 2015 or so. Not sure the drop is happening as fast as hoped!
“In Bath and Wells, the plan was to run a temporary deficit, covered by reserves, until a drop in clergy numbers balanced the books in 2015 or so. Not sure the drop is happening as fast as hoped!”
– David Keen –
Perhaps there may be a further ‘drop in clergy numbers’ – not just for Bath & Wells, but every diocese in the UK – with the upcoming threatened departure of F.i.F. clergy? Well. they say: “Every cloud has a silver lining.” Perhaps this is just what is needed to balance the books.
Dear Fr Ron, I think you are on to something here – but we need to be more pragmatic and less dogmatic to make it happen. The Church of England claims it costs £60K/yr to keep a minister in a parish; that is often far in excess of what the parish contributes to central funds. Now, if a minister & congregation leave to join an ordinariate, there is a saving of £60K/yr – if the minister was in his mid 50s that would add up over 10 yrs to £600/K. But, in order to leave, those wishing to do so… Read more »