Author: Ruth Gledhill
Publication: The Times
Date: May 3, 2001
(Note from the Hindu Vivek Kendra:
On the one hand, there is a financial shortage within the churches. On
the other, they raise huge sums of money and send them to countries like
India and other non-Muslm, non-Communist countries to convert non-Christians
to Christianity. Would it not be nice if these churches first try and prove
that there is a spiritual merit in Christianity by retaining those who
have been Christians for generations?)
THE Church of England is facing
a £12 million pensions shortfall, meaning that worshippers must increase
giving yet again if current clergy are to be looked after in their retirement.
The Church is to launch a nationwide
appeal today for parishioners to put more in the collection plate. It means
a dwindling number of worshippers will need to give at least £12
a year each to meet the new pensions target. A letter has been sent to
every diocese outlining the shortfall and how parishioners can help.
The Church's new pension scheme,
set up in January 1998, has been hit by the sudden downturn in the stock
market. The scheme, funded by contributions from parishioners, has outperformed
comparable funds but has failed to generate enough cash to meet future
pension commitments. When the new scheme was set up, the fact that more
clergy were living longer was taken into account but original predictions
about longevity have long been exceeded.
The news will come as a blow to
the Church of England's diminishing band of worshippers, which fell recently
below the million mark for the first time.
Church officials emphasised that
the pensions difficulties were not on the same scale as problems caused
by the speculations on the property market in the 1980s. They lost the
Church Commissioners, who manage the Church's £4.4 billion assets,
£800 million off asset values, an amount that was subsequently recovered
in the stock market boom.
The new problems, which emerged
in the three-yearly actuarial review, could hardly have come at a worse
time for parishes. Rural dioceses in particular have seen incomes slump
because of foot-and-mouth as regular worshippers are forced to stay at
home. Even before foot-and-mouth, several dioceses had moved from positions
of surplus to barely breaking even, with some in debt. The Manchester Diocese
expects to be more than £1.2 million in deficit by 2003 and two others
will have debts of more than £700,000.
Parishes are currently picking up
three quarters of the cost of the Church's ministry as the commissioners
have cut the amount they give to stipends by £45 million. They are
already paying about £35 million a year towards pensions under the
new scheme. This works out at about £3,400 per clergyman per year.
The extra cash will take this to £4,500 per clergyman.
The changeover to the contributory
scheme is expected to take about 60 years in total. There are currently
11,000 stipendiary clergy and 7,700 clergy pensioners, with 4,300 clergy
widows also receiving Church pensions.
The Church Commissioners are meeting
most of the cost of existing pensions at present, a commitment which is
to be funded by the sale of nearly half of the Church's assets over the
60-year changeover period. Parishes will be informed today about the new
need for cash.
The average worshipper now gives
more than £6.50 a week by deed of covenant. Increasing numbers of
worshippers also donate by Gift Aid and others still give through the collection
plate.
The present clergy pension works
out at £10,380 a year, two thirds of the minimum stipend. On retirement,
clergy, who receive free accommodation during their working lives, receive
a lump sum of three times that to help them to find somewhere to live.
