The Common Fund
The Common Fund allows us to put a vicar in nearly every parish. It pays their wages, their pension, their housing, their training and it even pays for the training of a parish’s next vicar.
The Common Fund is about every parish seeing itself as part of the big picture and giving generously and sacrificially. This means parishes are able to help fund work and worship in places where people contribute to the big picture in amazing ways but do not have the financial resources to meet the cost of ministry.
It is how we express being one body by doing more together than we could ever do alone.
What is it?
Common Fund is money given by congregations in every parish in the Diocese of London. It is collected from rich and poor parishes, to provide and support clergy, and to further our work in every parish, across London. That is why our contributions are called the ‘Common Fund’; they are made by everyone, for everyone. Generous giving by congregations enables the Diocese to live out Capital Vision 2020; to maintain ministry and enable mission in all parts of the Diocese of London.
Why should we contribute?
We should contribute to Common Fund:
to enable the Church to work throughout London as a sign of our commitment to proclaim Christ’s Gospel
to share our resources with our fellow Christians because we recognise the importance of our Church’s mission for the future
in thanks for God’s generosity towards us because we believe wholeheartedly in our Christian faith.
Diocesan finances
Briefly, money comes in from:-
parishes (Common Fund)
rents and investments
other donations
and the Diocese spends it on
paying parish clergy, including pension, NI, Council Tax
housing for clergy
training for new priests and existing clergy
giving to other less well-off dioceses in England
developing lay ministry
supporting parishes in many other ways.
What is the average cost of a parish?
The basic running costs of the parish; heating, lighting, insurance, repairs, services etc; are paid for by the congregation. On top of this, supporting one full time priest in a parish and contributing a fair share of the costs of other activities is estimated to amount to around £85,200 per parish in 2021*. This can be divided into three roughly equal parts:
We pay the parish priest
We have to pay pension contributions and provide a house
We have to train new clergy, support parishes in many ways, help schools, help the wider church.
To read more about the common fund please download this leaflet from the Diocese.
Who decides how much a parish contributes?
Each parish’s PCC decides.
Each parish is told the costs of keeping its clergy and its share of other costs. The PCC makes an offer based on its knowledge of its own finances and diocesan finances. The generous offer reflects the parish’s ability to give as well as how much it costs to run the parish.
Not all parishes can give this full amount, so the generosity of past generations supports parishes that cannot meet their full costs. However, this inheritance is limited, so for the Church to continue to be present in poor and deprived areas of London, as well as in rich areas, the less well-off, poor parishes depend on their own generous, committed and sacrificial as well as some giving by better-off parishes.
What happens if the Diocese doesn’t receive enough Common Fund?
In past years when contributions to the Common Fund have not been sufficient there have been reductions in clergy and lay posts. In some parishes, self-supporting clergy have been appointed, or two parishes have been put together.
This may have to happen again if sufficient funds are not available. Selling property and reducing central costs never provides a long term solution to a lack of income.