Cash crisis for Sussex churches (From The Argus)
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Cash crisis for Sussex churches
12:50pm Friday 12th October 2012 in News By Neil Vowles
Churches are at risk as the Diocese of Chichester faces a cash crisis
The Church of England in Sussex is due to run out of cash reserves by the end of next year.
Parishioners are being urged to dig deeper into their pockets to help pull the Diocese of Chichester out of the red.
Falling income from parishes has forced the organisation, which is responsible for all Anglican churches in Sussex, to spend its savings.
It is expected to lose £700,000 in 2012 and £500,000 in 2013, using up the last of its reserves.
The diocese has brought in a raft of cost-saving measures, including stopping most new appointments, which means that departing vicars will not always be replaced.
Instead, vicars from other churches as well as retired clergyman and lay readers are being drafted in to hold services.
The church’s current cash shortage is in part down to the global financial crisis which has significantly damaged its investments.
A fund of about £1.5million dropped by £350,000 in 2011.
Falling attendance and the current economic situation have also hit the collection plate with payments made by deaneries and parishes to the diocese down £220,000 on the pledged amount of £13.2 million for 2011.
The diocese has access to other funds which it could use in an emergency but these would have to be repaid at a later date.
Merging parishes is one way the diocese has approached cutting costs with ten parish mergers in Sussex over the last year including the merging of five into one in Crawley.
Savings
The Reverend Stan Tomalin, rural dean of Dallington Deanery, which covers more than 20 churches between Heathfield and Robertsbridge, has written to his parishes asking them to raise more money.
He said the church’s main costs were its ministers and church maintenance, and the dioceses had very little room to find extra savings.
Rev Tomalin also said it would be the “very worst case scenario” if churches closed, adding that people were not thinking in those terms yet.
The church sold two churches in the last 12 months in Chailey and Hurstpierpoint.
He added: “Regular members of churches or visitors who look to the church at special occasions if they want the church to remain as it is, they might have to give a little bit more.
“What people are giving churches might not have changed in five or ten years |ago.
“It’s a long standing issue the church has had historic reserves that it has been able to rely on to pay for its running costs.
“It’s not got to the stage that these reserves have completely depleted but we can no longer rely on them to help us as much as we once could.
“The church has a lot of investment that because of the current financial situation are not performing as well, these investments have crashed through the floor.”
A diocese spokesman said: “In common with every organisation in these recessionary times, especially those dependent on voluntary income, the diocese is examining its financial position rigorously as a matter of good housekeeping, recognising the financial challenges ahead and that it has to keep a close eye on income and expenditure.”
Fact file:
- In 2011, the total deficit of the diocese was £55,971.
- In 2012, the church is expected to lose £700,000, and in 2013 it is predicted to lose £500,000.
- The diocese saw a 3% increase on insurance premiums due to a rise in metal thefts.
- The diocese is part of the parish giving scheme which allows churches to receive gift aid on donations.
- Churches are also encouraged to be part of a joint buying scheme to improve bargaining powers and take advantage of economies of scale.
Comments(25)
michael.evans
says...
1:31pm Fri 12 Oct 12
Hoarder12345444
says...
2:13pm Fri 12 Oct 12
Angryoldman
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2:23pm Fri 12 Oct 12
dawind
says...
2:28pm Fri 12 Oct 12
Squatters...no where to live,+
Churches ...empty,no money = problem solved.
PaulOckenden
says...
3:17pm Fri 12 Oct 12
Even their rules don't mention modern problems. You can't fancy your neighbour's wife but what about his 15 year old daughter? You can't eat meat on a Friday but what if it has been genetically modified so that it contains fish genes? Though shalt not kill, unless you are a soldier that has been blessed by your regimental padre.
I have a bible. It contains a single page. Which contains a single sentence: "On the first day man created god".
JoeBlow
says...
4:24pm Fri 12 Oct 12
PaulOckenden wrote:Did you enjoy showing everyone how ignorant you are?
What a surprise. An industry (for that is what it is) built on a foundation of explaining everything by examining medieval fairy stories, and which is insists in the truth of those stories, suddenly finds itself irrelevant in an age of scientific discovery.
Even their rules don't mention modern problems. You can't fancy your neighbour's wife but what about his 15 year old daughter? You can't eat meat on a Friday but what if it has been genetically modified so that it contains fish genes? Though shalt not kill, unless you are a soldier that has been blessed by your regimental padre.
I have a bible. It contains a single page. Which contains a single sentence: "On the first day man created god".
rolivan
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4:35pm Fri 12 Oct 12
KTPeeps
says...
4:54pm Fri 12 Oct 12
ude.org.uk/archives/
2997
KTPeeps
says...
5:11pm Fri 12 Oct 12
ude.org.uk/archives/
2997
UglyAmerican
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5:19pm Fri 12 Oct 12
Bluebeef
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5:59pm Fri 12 Oct 12
NickBrt wrote:NickBrt: who are they?
Since they've ostracised about every minority group in the universe no wonder no-one wants to fund them.
Anyone who bothers cares to do a little more than react with a kneejerk or believe every word written in the media will discover within the C of E an incredibly diverse range of approaches to the central message that there is a loving God at the centre of everything. There is no they!
sbiscorrupt
says...
6:06pm Fri 12 Oct 12
The prayers of the world's bankers and investment firms have been answered. The Bank of God has agreed to cover all global debt in exchange for what God is calling "The Ten Commitments."
"We tend to forget that God is a shrewd money manager," said God's spokesman, Pope Benedict XVI. "Remember how he shorted those money changers in the temple? This new deal makes that look like an ATM transaction."
The Pope explained that the world's debt would disappear over the next 10 years "through the miracle of divine easing."
Vatican printing presses will be converted from producing holy cards and prayer books and start turning out euros and dollars, in large denominations.
"We will continuously inject the new wealth into the world's ailling economies for the reasonable surcharge of 10%," the Pope said. "It's going to be like the miracle of the loaves and fishes, but without that fishy smell."
In return for the bailout, humanity has to agree to follow The Ten Commitments. They are demands that come down directly from God, and were delivered by the Pope on two tablet computers. They ask that we:
1. Merge Goldman Sachs with the International Red Cross and let's see what happens. (Just make sure that Lloyd Blankfein is not involved.)
2. Punch up the Bible with some jokes and amusing anecdotes. No wonder no one reads that thing anymore.
3. Eat more calamari. It seems to make people happy.
4. To all clerics, including priests, rabbis, ministers, nuns. bishops, etc.: lose the gaudy gowns, crazy hats and turned around collars. You can't compete with Gaga.
5. Turn off the **** lights when you leave a room.
6. Hey Johnny Depp, enough with the pirate movies.
7. Blessed are the occupiers. I've reserved a special iCloud in heaven for them.
8. Did I tell you to keep Lloyd Blankfein out of this?
9. Change the name of the Euro to the Alleluia.
10. Shop wholesale.
Before humanity accepts The Ten Commitments and God's bailout plan, the proposals must be approved by the United States Congress and the European Parliament. "The deadline for the final voting has been coupled to a specific event," an EU spokesperson said. "It's when hell freezes over."
Roundbill
says...
6:49pm Fri 12 Oct 12
KTPeeps wrote:Men who fancy young boys don't count.
Angryoldman, I think you will find that there are significant number of gay clergy in this Diocese, some in very senior positions. The vast majority of churches are welcoming to the LGBT community, http://changingattit
ude.org.uk/archives/
2997
Maxwell's Ghost
says...
7:41pm Fri 12 Oct 12
Come on celebrate a fairy tale and stop being a misery.
It's no wonder people are turning to Islam in this country.....a religion where the people make donation from their salary each month.
Hove Actually
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8:32pm Fri 12 Oct 12
Hoarder12345444
says...
8:56pm Fri 12 Oct 12
PaulOckenden wrote:Brilliant, I suppose you have read the god delusion too!!
What a surprise. An industry (for that is what it is) built on a foundation of explaining everything by examining medieval fairy stories, and which is insists in the truth of those stories, suddenly finds itself irrelevant in an age of scientific discovery.
Even their rules don't mention modern problems. You can't fancy your neighbour's wife but what about his 15 year old daughter? You can't eat meat on a Friday but what if it has been genetically modified so that it contains fish genes? Though shalt not kill, unless you are a soldier that has been blessed by your regimental padre.
I have a bible. It contains a single page. Which contains a single sentence: "On the first day man created god".
The Real Phil
says...
9:42pm Fri 12 Oct 12
Justin
says...
10:56pm Fri 12 Oct 12
Morpheus
says...
11:11pm Fri 12 Oct 12
seasidejohn2
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10:37am Sat 13 Oct 12
Hoarder12345444 wrote:You can't spell either
Somehow for some reason i feel zero sympathy for them. Apart from the fact I am an athiest!!!
seasidejohn2
says...
10:41am Sat 13 Oct 12
Hove Actually wrote:Very hard to believe somebody is an atheist if they can't even spell it .
Thank God i'm an Athiest
Btnbiker
says...
10:52am Sat 13 Oct 12
michael.evans wrote:Providing you are not gay in which case these right wing evangelical churches dont want you.
In the Argus newspaper today there are also stories about healthy, growing Christian churches in Brighton - St Peter's, under the energetic leadership of the Rev Archie Coates, attracting a large congregation of students and doing outstanding work for the city's homeless; and Church of Christ the King, which regularly gets more than 1,200 people attending its five services in New England Street in central Brighton and at Shoreham Academy and Brighton racecourse.
R.J.S.
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12:09pm Sat 13 Oct 12
copperend
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7:32pm Sat 13 Oct 12
Strange that the bible is never mentioned as the book of the year because it would be a best seller every year.
a religion that has lasted 2 thousand years,
has words and laws everyone obeys to this day.
Where people still use its buildings and believes in marriages on a weekly basis and still have their children Christened also on a weekly basis,
Then you get idiots and stupid remarks like I am an atheist
(disbelief in the existence of God or any other deity)
but still obeys the words of Abraham.
Dear Oh dear how sad
NickBrt says...
1:15pm Fri 12 Oct 12