THE PARISH SHARE

At this time of year our Treasurer and PCC are busy preparing our budget for next year. Of course the one item which tends to transcend any other conversation is that of the Quota, now thoughtfully renamed Parish Share. This item makes up almost exactly two thirds of our total expenditure proposals and is thus worthy of some amplification. Recently there was an excellent article in Pompey Chimes about this, but perhaps a few more words would help.

The Quota has always been the 'bete noir' of parish finances. Why do we pour thousands into that 'bottomless pit', the Diocese, has often been heard. Few seem to understand, or want to understand, that a goodly portion (81%) of that demand covers the regular stipend (salary) of our parish priest. (During an interregnum the payment continues and priests are provided by the Diocese/Deanery at no ultimate cost to us.)

The total employment costs of the average parish priest is in the region of £30,000. This covers his/her stipend, pension costs, housing costs, council tax and all other employment costs. Judged against commercial employment cost you can take it from me that this figure is not excessive.

'Ah, but where does the balance go?' is often the cry; 'that bottomless pit, the Diocese, I expect'. Well, no. That bottomless pit is in fact a team of highly competent people who are there to assist parishes through many of the difficult subjects prevalent in today's modern world. Finance is of course the obvious example. Would anyone want to see Linda Wainwright, our hard working Treasurer, deprived of Diocesan financial support and advice? Publicity, Mission, Music and Child Protection and Welfare are three others among many.

The whole enterprise (worship in the Portsmouth Diocese) needs managing, just as any business does and these Managers are the Archdeacons. Their stipends and employment costs come out of these funds. Finally there is a need to fund those parishes where there is not a hope of them meeting their full share of the above; parishes where Priests are struggling to make ends meet with very small congregations, very large overheads and difficult catchment areas. Most reasonable people would agree that there is a need for the "richer" parishes to subsidise those parishes. There is a somewhat convoluted system to apportion these costs fairly according to area and church attendance, and St George's comes out mid way down this league table.

Given that we agree the need to fund these areas, as far as we at Waterlooville are concerned, we need to find £66,000 this year, or £5,500 per month or £1300 per week or £187 per day! Roughly this breaks down to £44,800 Quota, and £21,000 other necessary expenditure to keep our building (including health and safety items), and worship afloat. From time to time we also budget for some items of general improvement but this year there are no such luxuries.

Whilst we nominally have an electoral roll of some 175, we seem to only have about 110 regular worshippers and givers each week. The awful calculation thus turns out to be £66,000 divided by 110 divided by 52 to produce a weekly giving target of £11.54 each!! Embarrassing isn't it? Of course there are several other incomes to consider - bazaar, fete, donations, bequests, interest etc but even deducting these we still have to find £37,000 (£6.50 per person each week). Our current rate of giving is £4.74 per person per week. Comparison of other local parishes shows giving levels of £5.50, £5.93, £11.05 and in one instance £19.69!

Portsmouth Diocese is one among few who had the forethought to keep the rise in future Quota demands down when they ring fenced a large sum of money some years ago to cover the recent transition of pension contributions from the Church commissioners to local funding. As a result Portsmouth is about the most frugal Diocese in terms of costs per average church attender. Latest figures show that the Portsmouth Diocese budgets costs each parish member about £171 per annum whilst, for comparison, that of Winchester is £228, and Chichester is £180. Bradford is £300 per church member, if anyone is thinking of moving there!

As churchgoers we tend not to automatically index-up our giving each year. In fact it is probably the last thing we think of in terms of next year's expenditures. But in the same way that the PCC is having to think about increased costs for next year, we should all be thinking about increasing our giving to match with that thought of £6.50 ringing in our ears. It is also worth remembering that if you pay any sort of tax on any income (investments, dividends etc,) the church can probably reclaim some of your tax for its use. Linda or Winifred will always be pleased to advise.

Tony Rice-Oxley