The Church of England has published its Finance Statistics 2012 today together with this press release.
Record amount from parishes to fund ministry and mission, show 2012 stats
14 August 2014Parishes across the country raised a record amount of £929 million in 2012 to fund the ministry and mission of the Church of England across the country according to statistics published today. Parishes raised these funds from a combination of investments, legacies and donations despite the reduced gift aid rates*. The figure represents a modest increase on £916m in 2011.
In addition to funding the work of the Church at a parish, diocesan and national level, Parish Churches also continued to give generously to other organisations donating more than £46m to other charitable organisations, exceeding the £43.3m raised by Children in Need.
The statistics also show that after three years of deficits, parishes have successfully reduced their expenditure and encouraged more giving, to reach a break-even point in 2012. After adjusting for inflation, the data show that expenditure increased between 2002 and 2009 but has been steadily declining since.
Dr John Preston, the Church of England’s national stewardship adviser said: “The 2012 figures show the Church’s continued commitment to give generously despite the economic environment. It is a real testimony to the generosity of people in the pews that despite the reduced gift aid rates they have raised the largest ever amount of money to support the ministry and mission of the church. The Christian principle of stewardship is clearly alive and well.”
Notes
* http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/helpsheet-1.pdf
The information in the Finance Stats document is collated from the annual parish returns (excluding the Diocese in Europe).
For further Church of England statistics see https://www.churchofengland.org/about-us/facts-stats/research-statistics.aspx.
The statistics on ordained women in senior posts, shows how WATCH has a lot of work to do…
Male stipendiary clergy / female stipendiary clergy is 52% / 17%. Male senior clergy / female senior clergy is 3% / 1%. That’s approximately the same ratio. Why is improvement the job of WATCH? Is it not the work of the entire church?
As a whole women are nearly 50 per cent of ordinands, and WATCH should ensure that women are treated better than TEC… where there are currently 4 women diocesan bishops out of 105.