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As
the year draws to a close, the questions “How are we doing financially?” and
“What about next year?” naturally fall to be discussed in the Finance
Committee and the PCC.
First, the good news! Based on the figures to end September, it looks likely
that the Church and Hall combined will achieve a small surplus, more or less
in line with our budget. This is despite a doubling in the amount we pay for
Gas, and a significant increase in the cost of our Parish Administrator, who
is now working 20 hours per week rather than last year’s 15. This year it
will in total cost us in total approximately £160,000 to run the Church and
the Hall, and our income should just about meet that. Our Promised Offerings
– by far our largest source of income - are up slightly on last year, and
the Church Hall continues to be busy and is again recording a healthy
surplus which supports the costs of running the Church.
Thanks to the good results of the Church Hall and our investment income of
about £15,000 a year, combined with a reduction in our 2006 contribution to
Clergy costs through the Diocese, we have been able to balance the books of
the Church for several years now without having to fund raise on a big scale
to balance the books.
The
outlook for 2007 is I am afraid less easy. Our Parish Share will rise back
to approximately £108,000 from the present level of £102,000, and we will
also be looking at another big heating bill, plus extra costs for Church
cleaning due to lack of volunteers. It is likely the Parish Share will rise
again by a similar amount in 2008 as well. The cause of this further
increase in the Parish Share is the cost of clergy pensions, where a further
valuation of the Diocese’s liabilities during the year has shown that the
fund needs to be further topped up. This is the case with all final salary
pension schemes in the country at this time, and in fact the proportion of
this cost being borne by the Parishes is less than it could have been thanks
to good investment results.
We
need to get the Promised Offerings up by about £6,000 per annum in 2007 and
again in 2008, which means we need new members of the planned giving scheme
plus existing members to review their giving. In the run up to Christmas,
please do think about whether you can support the Church through the planned
giving scheme, and contact Andrew Mills or myself if you would like to help.
The Bible teaches us that proportionate giving is the fair way to support
the Church, and the General Synod recommends that we should give 5% of
available income (income less tax and national insurance). Andrew Mills can
be contacted at
atmills111@aol.com and I am at
markhackforthjones@btinternet.com.
Thanks for your support of St Mary’s in 2006, and best wishes for Christmas
and the New Year.
Mark Hackforth-Jones, Church Treasurer
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