Foreward by Bishop Libby

I am encouraged by your generousity. As I visit parishes across our Diocese, I have seen and heard stories that show how so many people have contributed - and continue to contribute towards resourcing God’s Mission and Ministry in every parish.

Your generosity is expressed in different ways: people giving their time and talents, people giving their money. Many parishes have been inspired by their parish priests, to develop in discipleship and stewardship. Projects like repairing a Miner’s chapel, restoring a war memorial, opening church for the local school to become a prayer space, are all examples of how the resources received into Common Fund directly support the work in the communities of Derbyshire and the City of Derby.

As you think thoughtfully and prayerfully in your parishes about your own level of giving, please take some time to read this leaflet and discuss with your PCC, as it is only through your generous contributions that work can continue to share the Good News in Christ in our local communities.

How the Common Fund works

How Common Fund works Common Fund is a practical way to share our financial resources across the Diocese:

• Proportionality with parishes paying into a pool of resources
• Shared Funding so that those who are able can support others who may struggle
• Ensures that stipendiary clergy can be in places where they are most needed
• Generosity of an affluent parish allows us to put stipendiary clergy in a less affluent parish that would otherwise be unable to afford ministry costs.

The Challenge

Meeting the Common Fund is a challenge for us all. With national funding declining and costs increasing, the cost to maintain the levels of clergy and support to deliver our collective mission falls upon our local income.

Working together, we can sustain the ministry that God has called us to provide. What we receive from our parishes goes directly to support mission and ministry.

Each PCC is asked to make an annual pledge of the requested amount they will contribute to the Common Fund. This allows the Diocese to budget effectively.

Please be realistic, challenging and generous as you consider prayerfully your contribution so that mission and ministry is supported in every parish.

2020 contributions and 2021 aspiration

In 2020, we requested £5,502,926 from our parishes and received £4,121,887 (75%). 

In 2020, despite the struggles of the Covid-19 pandemic and the closure of church buildings, many churches managed to reach their full contribution towards Common Fund and many other churches made a valued contribution towards Common Fund. This made a positivel impact on our diocesan finances.

Thank you for all that you do to ensure that God’s Mission and Ministry is well resourced.

Our aspiration for 2021 & beyond is to receive 100% of pledges from parishes of the requested amount. We fully understand this challenge for parishes, with your own financial demands, so we would like to support you in any way that we can.

Where the money goes

Based on the approved 2021 budget, the average cost of mission and ministry, (per stipended minister) is approximately £72,945.

This is made up of:

• Stipend
• National Insurance and Pension Contribution
• Ministerial Housing
• Training & other Ministry Support
• Wider Church Responsibilities
• Contributions to National Church
• Parish Support, Admin and Governance
• Partners - including Board of Education
• Other statutory requirements

Our onward journey together

As the income from Common Fund pledges currently does not cover the full cost of ministry, we need to increase our level of giving to maintain ministry and grow the mission of the church.

As we journey together, we give grateful Thanks for all God’s generosity and pray that we too can embrace this spirit of generosity to ensure that “Christ’s presence reaches every community”

Common Fund in Action

“As a priest, I see quite clearly the hopes and dreams of the local community as I come alongside them at key moments such as christenings and funerals.

As I arrived in the parish, I noted the importance of our mining heritage and we established the mosaic project to tap into what the community needed - something that would unite them around a common passion.

The project raised the profile of our church in the village and brought lots of people into church who haven’t been before for our special mining festival - people are now visiting the church just to see the mosiac!

We were able to involve not just congregation members but people of all ages from the community in creating a lasting memorial to the mining involved people of all ages from the community in creating a lasting memorial to our villages’ mining heritage.”

Revd Bryony Taylor St James Barlborough & St John the Baptist Clowne

Links
http://www.derby.anglican.org/en/church-admin/common-fund.html