What does Common Fund pay for?  

The common fund contributes towards ministerial costs: clergy stipend, housing, council tax and water rates, remuneration costs, national insurance, pension, training (curates and ongoing CME); safeguarding and wider church responsibilities, including parish support, statutory contributions to the national church and education.

If the Diocese makes any savings could these passed on to parishes in the form of lower Common Fund contributions?  

The diocese is not a profit-making organisation and any investments from savings gets put back to subsidise ministry in our parishes. What is received via Common Fund payments does not equate to the amount it costs to keep the level of clergy and ministerial support that is needed for the ongoing sustainability of the diocese. So, it is not possible to return any contributions.  Each parishes calculation is based on their estimated ability to contribute and all that is received goes straight back to support ministry.

If we cannot pay the suggested amount of CF can we adjust our payments accordingly?

Your payments can be adjusted to reflect what is affordable to you, however, the common fund request will remain the same and we ask that you contribute as much as you can. For assistance in fundraising and stewardship or new ways of giving contact the Finance Team, telephone 01332 388650, finance@derby.anglican.org.

Will we lose our vicar if we cannot afford our Common Fund payments?  

Not necessarily as, within the spirit of the Common Fund, it is through generosity of an affluent parish that allows stipendiary clergy to be placed in less affluent areas. We all share the costs of ministry so there can be a Christian presence in every community.

There is a problem with the formula

We agree that every formula will have its own problems, that no formula will be ‘perfect’ because the complexity of any Diocese cannot be neatly captured in a formula. But the question remains for us as a Diocese: how do we fund our Common Life and live out the Gospel imperative to ‘love our neighbour’?

We should not have to pay for ministry we’re not getting?

Within the Diocese we understand ministry more widely than the Vicar or the Parish Priest in a parish. As we reflected on this question other questions emerged. For example, if we only pay for the ministry we receive how will this affect the life of other ministry that is currently offered in the Diocese eg. Reader Ministry, Self-Supporting Ministry, Safeguarding, DAC?

Our congregations can’t afford it / won’t be persuaded to pay

As we continue to reflect on the new Common Fund, we recognise that for some parishes there will be a difficulty in paying what is asked. But we really do want to live up to the name of ‘Parish Support Office’: we want to support parishes that might find it difficult to contribute to the Common Fund. We have prioritised the work of a number of staff in the ‘Parish Support Office’ to support parishes as the new Common Fund is introduced. They will work with parishes and with deaneries through open conversations and drawing on a variety of resources.

We have abnormal costs

We recognise that the formula cannot capture the complexity of the different parishes in the Diocese. As we journey together as a Diocese in our Common Life we will become more aware of these costs. In listening to parishes and walking with them we hope that we can be imaginative in finding ways to take account of ‘abnormal costs.’

The money is going to churches that are not pulling their weight

This is an important point for clarification. This statement raises all sorts of other questions: Do we want to go down the line of ‘enforcement’ and ‘sanctions?’ How do we encourage people to build God’s Kingdom, to be healthy, outward facing, growing and learning? How do we help parts of our church family find a new life and a new way of ‘being and doing church’? How do we avoid being judgemental about what another church is doing or not doing, particularly if we are not familiar with the particular context of that church?

There needs to be a conversation about the viability of some churches

This is another important point. We are aware that some ‘small’ churches feel they are struggling. And we are aware of the historic, cultural and social importance to the wider community of churches. How do we discern viability? How do we do closures well? How do we celebrate the past, but also mourn the loss of one part of the Diocesan family in the present?

The diocese needs to spend less money and cut staff costs

We recognise that in any financial planning – for business or personally – it is important to balance the budget. Income and expenditure need to be the same; if there is over expenditure in one area then cuts are need to happen in another area. The Diocesan budget reflects the Diocesan priorities for mission and ministry, for our Common Life together as a Diocese. How we spend less money and still achieve the Diocesan priorities for mission and ministry is an important – and challenging – question. How do we decide what we need to keep and what we can do without so that together we can work to achieve the Diocesan vision ‘Christ’s Presence in every community?

>> Our Finances

Thank you once again for your important contributions to our thinking about the Common Fund. As together we continue our journey into the next phase of the Common Fund we pray that together we may hear and listen to one another and that together we pray the Common Fund Prayer:

God our Father,
make us to think more of what we can give to life and less of what we can get out of it.
May we be mindful that we hold our gifts, our talents, our possessions, our life itself,
in trust for you and the service of all people.
Save us from thinking only of our own needs and desires;
and help us to remember that it is more blessed to give than receive,
according to the teaching of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen