| The Church of England has been short of money since
the end of the first world war and even before that there
were disputes as to how funds should be spent. 100 years
ago the Archbishop of Canterbury wanted a second bishop
to help him in the diocese besides the bishop of Dover
who earned his salary as Archdeacon of Maidstone as there
were no funds for suffrage bishops. So he appointed a
priest to a wealthy city of London parish which had
hardly any work and no Sunday services to be mainly
bishop of Croydon. Many objected to this as a misuse of
funds but in practice it worked. During the First World
War as again in the 2nd world war and again in the 1970's
inflation largely obliterated the historic resources of
the Church of England often held in government fixed
interest securities or agricultural land.
Since then the Church of England has relied more and more
on the giving of its parishioners for its funds. Some
places have smaller congregations; many places have
poorer congregations. Costs, especially buildings costs,
rise faster than inflation. Central services accumulate.
Child protection, Health and Security legislation
increase the financial burden to parishes. 100 years ago,
the area presently served by our parish had a population
of around 10,000 compared with 21,000 today and was
served by 5 parishes with 10 priests between them.
The church today has in effect two main choices: ask its
members for more or cut expenditure by reducing numbers
of stipendiary clergy and/or numbers of church buildings.
Other measures such as have less bishops, raise more
income from building use will only have a small effect.
And so I have no alternative but to ask everyone who
belongs to our parish to see if you can increase your
giving. The Diocesan Secretary and the Archdeacon have
both said that if we do not pay our quota in full, I will
not be replaced when I leave and the parish will have to
manage with non stipendiary clergy. I believe that at
this stage in our life, with the civic involvement we
have, with the substantial new housing being built in
Tovil and with the prospect of a new church school this
would be very sad indeed.
Christian teaching throughout the ages has been this: God
is good to us, we respond to the wonderful things he does
for us by offering our lives in service to him. This
includes giving a proportion of our income as a mark, a
token of our gratitude. The traditional amount has been
to give 5 % to the church and 5% to other good causes;
maybe we need to consider giving more than 5% to the
church in present circumstances.
As we come this month to renew our stewardship promises I
ask we all consider again our giving. May God bless and
guide us all.
Christopher Morgan-Jones
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