Five Bailiwick churches fail to meet payments
FIVE of the 14 parish churches in the Bailiwick failed to collect enough money to meet their financial commitments this year, prompting one to warn that it could eventually mean more sharing a rector.
All the churches pay into the Common Fund, which funds clergy posts.
‘While we are able to absorb some shortfall in payments to the Common Fund, we are seeking to address the issue of shortfall by two initiatives this year – focusing on mission action planning and stewardship, with conferences for all the parishes planned for March and May,’ said the Dean of Guernsey, the Very Rev. Tim Barker.
‘This issue is not confined to Guernsey, with many parishes across England facing similar challenges in addressing the question of giving.’
He said there were there were no plans at present to cut the number of clergy posts in Guernsey.
‘But continuation of our staffing at this level may depend on factors other than ability to meet the rising costs of the payments to the Common Fund.
‘We have a higher number of clergy in post than many areas of England; but recruitment is becoming more difficult, given that there are more parishes looking for stipendiary (full time) priests than there are priests available.
‘This gap between “supply” and “demand” is mainly due to a significant number of priests reaching retirement age.’
Three Guernsey ecclesiastical parishes were not able to pay the full amount requested: Castel, St Sampson’s and Vale. Alderney and Sark were also short.
‘For the whole deanery, we received 90% of the total requested,’ said Mr Barker.
‘Alderney and Sark present particular issues – Alderney, because of a long vacancy following the ill-health retirement and subsequent death of the previous vicar.’
He stressed that it was right to invest in the number of stipendiary clergy Guernsey has.
‘This benefits the people of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, whether or not they are regular attenders of our churches.
‘Many parish priests in England have to look after three or more parishes – in one case I know, 17.
‘Our staffing levels mean that the initiatives that we run, highlighted in the Guernsey Faith Action Audit, produced by the Cinnamon Network in July 2018, can be far better staffed and cared for.’
That audit argued faith groups contribute more than £1m.-worth of financial value to the community each year.
It found that 1,850 volunteers spend 102,500 hours annually working on more than 330 projects, which benefit 45,400 members of the community.
Writing in the Vale parish magazine, the Rector, Stuart Tanswell, said that it has expenses of around £100,000 a year and its income was less than that.
This meant it was not paying the whole of its expected contribution to the Common Fund.
‘This means that the deanery is having to make up the difference from their income or reserves,’ he said.
‘This is not sustainable. In the long term, with income falling across the deanery churches, this could well result in more parishes having to share a rector.’
Guernsey is independent of English dioceses for the purposes of budgets and the calculation of payments to the Common Fund in the island.
