How Much Does it Cost?

It costs the Ministry Area approximately £221,000 per year to operate, or £18,416 per month, or £4,250 per week (or nearly £30 per week for every regular attendee).
Where does the money go?
For 2023 our annual “Fairer Share” quota to the Diocese is £151,787. The following figures are based on the last published figures (2021 – a COVID year) and adjusted for known current expenditure.  We spend about £10,000 on supporting the clergy and visiting clergy. The Ministry Area as a whole spends almost £2,500 per year on altar requisites, such as candles and Altar Bread and Wine, lectionaries and other books.  Organists and vergers cost about £9,218, although the cost of organists and vergers at funerals and weddings is covered by fees charged.

The Churches also give about £7,000 to support various charities, much of this is from special collections. Printing and office costs about £11,862 per year, including the salary of the office secretary / manager.  Maintaining our churches, including heating and lighting, insurance, and general repairs is about £15,484 per year. Similarly maintaining the four church halls, including heating, lighting, insurance and repairs comes to about £26,247 per year.

What about income – how do we pay for all the above?
Our main income comes from the weekly giving of our congregations, raising £125,901 in 2021, which was supplemented by £22,481 in gift aid from the UK government. This shows the importance of gift-aiding our donations whenever possible.
The halls generated rental fees of £43,477 in 2022. The organists and verger wedding and funeral fees came to £5,907 in 2022.
We also receive a rental for the curate’s house, from the Diocese of £10,800 per year. During the Covid lock-downs we received a number of support grants from the Diocese and government, but the last of these was a grant from the Diocese of £11,703.25 in April 2022.
Without the grant of £11,703.25 we would not have been able to pay our “Share” in 2022, so 2023 may be a challenging year.

All churches need money.  We are not funded by the government, nor from the Diocese.  All we receive is the money in our collections, regular monthly donations from our Direct Debit scheme, or from legacies.  If you want a local church, we urge you to give what you can.