From the Churchwardens of St Mungo S, Midshire

May 2015

From the Churchwardens of St Mungo’s, Midshire

Dear Friend,

We are writing to you as you are an active member of this church. Thank you for all the ways that you contribute to the life of our church.

A major part of our expenditure as a church is our payment into a common fund supporting ministry and mission across our diocese, which is known as our parish share. This is how we help pay for parish clergy across the diocese: their training, stipends, housing and pension. It is also part of how we pay for a range of supporting services, such as our diocesan youth and children’s officers, work with 100 church schools, our archdeacons and more.

For some years, a number of parishes and deaneries have raised questions about the way this share has been apportioned. Last autumn, following a debate initiated by Malvern deanery, our diocesan synod agreed a new way of deciding how best to share these costs among the parishes. The clergy and lay people from churches across the diocese, who make up the synod, were persuaded a new approach was needed. This new approach is based on trying to build a fair assessment of each church’s ability to contribute proportionally to the needs of the whole body of the diocese. The ability to contribute in each church is of course related to the proportionate giving ability of church members.

We have the benefit of being able to draw on the method already used in Malvern deanery to guarantee a completely confidential and anonymous way of assessing the income of active church members. This has been achieved by providing two forms, one to identify each participating member (which is the only one with your name on) and one to indicate their income (which is anonymous).

A copy of each of these forms is enclosed. Please read the instructions and notes carefully and then complete and return them to church as soon as possible, putting each in the appropriate sealed box.

The survey participation forms will be checked by us against the list of forms issued in order to follow up missing forms; the sealed box of income declaration forms will be given to the churchwardens of another church for processing. This way the two forms cannot ever be brought together. It is impossible for anyone in this parish to know what you have stated on the income form. It is equally impossible for those who check the income form to know who you are.

The enclosed leaflet sets out more information in an Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) format, but if you would like any further information, please ask one of us, and we will do our best to help.

Thank you for your help.

Churchwardens