One of the items on the agenda for the upcoming session of General Synod is a seemingly innocuous paper on finance titled Diocesan Finance Review Update. It paints an absolutely bleak picture of the state of the Church of England and sets out in black and white a startling set of facts that go well beyond the financial issues it is ostensibly focused on.
The executive summary sets out:
Church attendance figures are down 19% since the pandemic (Statistics for Mission, early look 2023), and 29% below 2015
In real terms, parish incomes are down 14% on pre-pandemic levels (Parish Finance Statistics 2022).
The number of regular givers has fallen from 538,000 in 2015 to 480,000 in 2019 and just over 400,000 today; and for the first time in 2022, the average amount given by regular givers has fallen in real terms
Parish share is down 9% since pre-pandemic (closer to 30% in real terms).
Vocations have fallen by 40% since 2019, with fewer than 350 ordinands beginning training in 2024 compared with an original aspiration of 650
Most dioceses are now in a structural deficit position with 30 dioceses reporting underlying operating deficits in 2022, and 35 expecting to report a deficit in 2023 and beyond.
Church attendance figures have been in long term decline for decades, levelling out at around 1% decline per year prior to the pandemic. The dramatic 19% drop since the pandemic does not appear to be a settled state with the early release of data on 2023 attendance showing an increase in number from 2022. We are still on the bounce-back from the pandemic low, but there is no question that there has been a major pandemic hit to attendance, which has flowed through to mission and giving.
Inflation has hurt the church just as it has hurt everyone. The retail price index is around 25% higher now than in 2019, so parish incomes down 14% in real terms sounds like a cash increase, but one that is eroded by inflation. Combined with the drop in giving that arose from the empty churches during the pandemic a major financial hole has emerged.
Congregations have seen decades of falling numbers but increasing giving, resulting in a form of financial equilibrium which relied on smaller and older congregations giving more every year. The pandemic has broken this model.
Some will look at this and stroke their sceptical chin. Bishop of Blackburn, Philip North, recently wrote in the Church Times, “We are a wealthy Church. But, while the Church Commissioners (along with some DBFs and PCCs) sit on billions of pounds, and at a time when it is possible to raise significant funds for new projects, we seem unwilling to invest in our priests.” He argued for an increased central investment in clergy.
It is true that the central structures of the church still have significant cash at their disposal, although much is earmarked for clergy pensions. They have released many millions on growth initiatives, resource churches and plants as well as 'core funding'. In 2022 the Archbishops announced that the Church Commissioners would release £1.2bn over the next three years in mission funding. It seems astonishing that this appears to have little effect, up on the previous three year funding of just under £1bn. This mind-blowing amount of money is split between the Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment fund and the funding of clergy pensions.
The latest annual report from the Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment fund is a tragic read. It sets out a series of loft aspirations which had millions of pounds allocated to them. No doubt there is also an attempt to measure the impact of this funding, but when we stand back and look at the big picture, the case for a re-think will continue to grow. Questions have been raised already about the efficacy of the funding provided, as well as the basic structure of competitive bidding for funding on specific programmes, rather than simply providing core funding for dioceses and parishes to resource their work better. Mouse thinks the case for a fundamental review of the funding approach is strong.
In six years the Church of England will have spent over £2bn on mission funding, equivalent to over £150,000 for every parish in the land and yet all the trends and predictions are for the rate of decline to continue undiminished.
The report at Synod points out that it is not possible to run perpetual deficits and the current structures to allocate central funding are labyrinthine and lack transparency, leading to a collapse of trust. Whatever funding mechanisms are put in place, the goal must be to create self-sufficiency, which on latest information looks a long way off.
It is clear that there needs to be a radical reaction to this. But will we get one?
When Mouse shared an extract of the report on social media the reactions were depressingly predictable.
"See what the liberals have done to the church!"
"Look what happens when we institutionalise homophobia and sexism!"
Dozens of responses appeared with a very clear view on the malaise in the church. Each contributor concluded: it is all THEIR fault.
Mouse shared the view that perhaps internecine warfare is not a sensible reaction. Nevertheless, a report setting out the existential threat to the church seems to have garnered far less interest than another report being discussed at General Synod setting out the next steps on the process to bless gay couples in church. That is an important debate, but it will be somewhat irrelevant if the church is not able to keep its buildings open and pay its clergy.
Some eyes need to be awakened. Some coffee needs to be smelled.
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