The beginning of each year is when the Parochial Church Council (PCC) is faced with the challenge of paying its annual Parish Share, which for our parish is currently £6,268. This equates to £522 per month.
The Parish Share, as defined by the Diocese of Oxford, is the amount of money that each parish is expected to contribute to support the mission and ministry of the Church in the Diocese of Oxford. The total amount needed each year by the Diocese is divided across the 29 deaneries or groups of parishes/benefices by a formula that seeks to recognise the need of some churches to be supported by others. We are then notified of our Parish Share by the Witney Deanery.
In these challenging times the usual sources of income, such as church services including weddings and funerals, have been greatly reduced. Consequently, being able to pay our full Parish Share this year without reducing our current account to zero will be very difficult.
The Parish Share has nothing to do with the maintenance of our church and keeping the roof on. Our fabric account into which many contribute generously – often via the Oil Club or the 100 Club – is exactly that. It is a fund for maintaining the fabric of the building, to which we are always looking for available grants to bolster.
In addition to the Parish Share, routine maintenance and running costs typically add another £5,000 per year, which means we need to cover around £11,000 per year.
The PCC’s specific challenge is how do we meet these costs, not just for this year but also in the years to come? To provide some context this article ‘Can the Church of England Survive Covid‘ is pertinent.
Your PCC welcomes any suggestions. One straightforward possibility is for more of us to contribute via a regular direct debit in order to provide more certainty about what funds we can raise. In the past most rural parishes were supported by a handful of local benefactors who made up the difference in achieving the Parish Share, but sadly for most those days are long gone.
So do please consider what you might be able to give on a regular basis and contact one of the churchwardens. On reading the article you might also be stimulated to think of ideas for boosting our parish share contribution.