Nearly bankrupt?

Clergy in the Church of England are being asked to cut their cloth to suit the economic times and to prepare for mergers and staff cuts that could drastically reduce pastoral care and worship.

A report on finances has found that a quarter of all 44 dioceses are running deficits and plundering reserves to pay stipends and pensions. A similar proportion has liquid reserves to last them one month or less.

High staffing levels of clegy and laity are highlighted. The Church of England spends £1 billion a year in salaries and pensions for clergy as well as the upkeep of its buildings, an amount roughly matched by donations from parishes. But rising pension costs mean that every year churchgoers are asked to increase donations. The report, commissioned to help churches to improve “efficiency and effectiveness”, suggests that finances are so finely balanced in some areas that parishoners will have to dig even deeper or face cuts in provision. “Cuts are not inevitable, but are an option that needs to be thought through,” said Paul Gibson, of the accountant Mazars, and the report’s author.

The study of 42 dioceses found that although the Church has assets valued at £3.5 billion, its cashflow is parlous. Between them the dioceses had an income of £388 million in 2008 and spent £384 million. While some are extremely wealthy, 14 dioceses are running deficits.

The report suggests that staffing levels are high among clergy and laity and that dioceses as charities are top heavy with trustees. On average across the dioceses, 40 lay staff support 200 clergy: there is one lay person on the staff for every five clergy.

There are 180 Church of England clergy per million people, with each covering 1.7 parishes. “What changes in working practice could reduce the proportion of lay staff and enable individual clergy to support a higher population? What would be the effect of such changes on parishes, dioceses, staff and clergy?” the report asks. It also suggests reducing the size of trustee boards.

The Church Commissioners, who manage the investments and contribute to dioceses’ running costs, recently disclosed a 15.6 per cent return on investments in 2009 and a rise in asset value to £4.8 billion. Although they have pledged to make no cuts in funding to dioceses, this is only until 2013.

New Year's Day at the sales

The ladies go shopping.

The men stay home and worry about the pound.

'Lady', the dog, just sleeps....

Recessional

Recessional: A poem of the times

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Recessional by Alan Franks.

A poem written specially for this blog at Christmas, with apologies to John Betjeman andRudyard Kipling.

Gracious Lord, it seems like ages
Since we had a little chat.
Heaven knows, we've all been anxious -
Not that we blame you for that.
Father, what a dreadful year,
Losing much we hold most dear.

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I am loath to add to such
An inventory of loss and stress:
From Northern Rock to - goodness - Woolworths
(Though we veer to M and S.)
Yet one-eight-nine Cadogan Square
Once more requires your special care.

Through the war, you well remember,
How your will was amply done,
Sparing our grandparents from
The hand of, pardon me, the Hun.
The slump, we fear, will make us suffer
Worse effects than the Luftwaffe.

Such is fame today, we only
Note the great ones going down,
Overlooking, most unjustly,
Unsung firms like Harkness Brown
Where hardly anyone was caught
In any form of selling short,

Least of all my husband Harry
Who's entirely lost his pep;
Joe and Jonquil both at Eton,
Podge and Mimi still at prep;
Our tiny Norfolk hideaway
Gone back below 500 k.

Intending no irreverence,
Your house has likewise shed some stock.
You for this are once more blameless,
We who should be in the dock.
(For what it's worth I'm in the tent
Of antidisestablishment.)

We will labour, Lord, to value
What is not material,
Not that we pretend this won't be,
To begin with, hard as hell.
We will strive to feel we're blessed
With liberty through joblessness.

And we'll definitely stop saying
How we're neighbours of the Blairs,
And we'll jettison our shame
And empty anger when we hear
That dull young man from Foxtons state
We're only looking at 3.8.

Lord, I will leave your house til next time
Willing servant, mother, wife,
Praying that, if appropriate,
You bring the market back to life.
Meanwhile, though little and though late,
I've left a tenner in the plate.

Economic downturn benefits church

Rise in church congregation

attendance down to economy

Thousands of people are turning to religion thanks to 

the recession, according to the Church of England.

 

By Chris Irvine 

Canterbury Cathedral: around 1.7 million people attend Church of England worship each month

Congregations around the country have seen an influx of parishioners, with church elders believing the economic downturn has meant people are rethinking their values.

Back to Church Sunday, an annual service in September where members of the church are encouraged to invite a friend to a service, attracted 37,000 new congregants this year, almost twice the number who attended in 2007.

Lichfield Diocese alone saw between 6,000 new congregants in September, and found that by Easter, between 10 and 15 per cent were still attending.

The Church of England is confident of retaining 10 to 15 per cent this year nationally, meaning an extra 3,000 to 4,000 congregants nationally.

Chelmsford Cathedral in Essex has seen its congregation grow by seven per cent in one year. Last year 108,000 people came to the cathedral, with this year's figure expected to reach 117,000.

Canterbury and Westminster Cathedrals also expect to be full for Christmas Eve services this year - Canterbury is already hosting an extra one on the 23rd.

Reverend Canon Paul Bayes, the Archbishop of Canterbury's adviser on church growth, responsible for Mission and Outreach, explained that more people were turning to the church because now is a period of reflection.

"People are inclined to look at the church when their life gets a bit of a shock," he said.

"This could be when you have a baby, or get married, or experience the loss of a loved one, and the current economic uncertainties are no different.

"We have two periods where people do this - New Year's resolutions and September when the children go to school. It's a moment to take stock."

He added the invite-a-friend scheme worked because it is so "simple".

"It plays to the love that Christians have for their church, but also the love that they have for their friends. That's why our slogan is 'You're inviting someone you already know to something you already love'."

Dr John Preston, national stewardship officer for the Church of England and author of several books on Christianity and consumerism, said: "The downturn challenges materialism and people are finding meaning in alternatives; for some that's Christianity and God. It's undeniably true that the severity and speed of the economic downturn have challenged a lot of people to ask questions about where they place their trust."

A spokesman for the C of E said: "The severity and speed of the economic downturn have challenged a lot of people to ask questions about where they place their trust.

"When life becomes unexpectedly difficult, people naturally ask why, and what they can do about their own lives to improve them.

"The fact that people are more open to going back to church and taking stock may well be down to the economy: anything that shakes the structure of our lives makes us think more about internal things - so if materialism is not the answer, what are the alternatives?

"For some that's a return to the faith they always had; for others it's perhaps an exploration of something they may have unconsciously been groping towards."

Recent figures suggest that around 1.7 million people attend Church of England church and cathedral worship each month, while around 1.2 million attend services each week – on Sunday or during the week - and just under one million each Sunday.

 

Socialist Economics

John McCain Calls Out Obama’s Socialist Economic Plan

Posted on October 18, 2008 

In John McCain’s Weekly Radio Address he lays out why Senator Obama’s economic plan is a socialist plan, and why that would harm our economy.

You see, he believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that help us all make more of it. Joe, in his plainspoken way, said this sounded a lot like socialism. And a lot of Americans are thinking along those same lines. In the best case, “spreading the wealth around” is a familiar idea from the American left. And that kind of class warfare sure doesn’t sound like a “new kind of politics.”

This would also explain some big problems with my opponent’s claim that he will cut income taxes for 95 percent of Americans. You might ask: How do you cut income taxes for 95 percent of Americans, when more than 40 percent pay no income taxes right now? How do you reduce the number zero?

Well, that’s the key to Barack Obama’s whole plan: Since you can’t reduce taxes on those who pay zero, the government will write them all checks called a tax credit. And the Treasury will cover those checks by taxing other people, including a lot of folks just like Joe.

In other words, Barack Obama’s tax plan would convert the IRS into a giant welfare agency, redistributing massive amounts of wealth at the direction of politicians in Washington. I suppose when you’ve voted against lowering taxes 94 times, as Senator Obama has done, a new definition of the term “tax credit” comes in handy.

At least in Europe, the Socialist leaders who so admire my opponent are upfront about their objectives. They use real numbers and honest language. And we should demand equal candor from Senator Obama. Raising taxes on some in order to give checks to others is not a tax cut it’s just another government giveaway.

What’s more, the Obama tax increase would come at the worst possible time for America, and especially for small businesses like the one Joe dreams of owning. Small businesses provide 16 million jobs in America. And a sudden tax hike will kill those jobs at a time when need to be creating more jobs.

Fortunately, America has an alternative to the phony tax cut my opponent started talking about only months ago. The McCain-Palin tax cut is the real thing. Among our other serious tax reforms, we’re going to reduce every income tax bill in America, and double the child deduction for every family. We will cut the capital gains tax. And we will cut business taxes to help create jobs, and keep American businesses in America.

As Joe the Plumber has now reminded us all, America didn’t become the greatest nation on earth by letting government “spread the wealth around.” In this country, we believe in spreading opportunity, for those who need jobs and those who create them. And that is exactly what I intend to do as President of the United States.

Recession shadows Obama's economic goals

Phoenix, November 5: Memo to president-elect Barack Obama: be careful what you wish for.

The victor in Tuesday's US presidential election will face a host of acute economic problems on a scale not seen since the 1930s.

The spiraling financial crisis, meltdown in the housing market, and Wall Street chaos coupled with longer-term challenges like high health care costs and foreign energy dependence will be on the next president's to-do list.

But analysts say Obama, now a Democratic senator from Illinois, will face his biggest challenge after becoming president on Jan. 20 in navigating a deep and potentially prolonged economic downturn.

"The United States is in a profound recession, and when the next president takes office, chances are things will look as bad or worse as they do today," said Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund who provided occasional advice to Obama's defeated Republican rival John McCain.

"That problem's going to be so pressing that it's going to push a lot of other items to the back of the agenda."

Many economic analysts hope that Obama puts his official economic team together quickly, perhaps by Nov. 15 when outgoing President George W. Bush hosts a summit in Washington to discuss the global financial crisis.

Among the candidates frequently mentioned for the top job of Treasury secretary are former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

SECOND STIMULUS PACKAGE

Obama, whose popular support strengthened on perceptions that he has a better grip on the economic crisis, has advocated a second government stimulus package worth $175 billion that would include money for investments in infrastructure as well as another round of rebate checks.

"That's the type of package Sen. Obama believes needs to happen right away," Brian Deese, the Illinois senator's deputy director of economic policy told Reuters.

The McCain camp criticized Obama's plans as a return to a tax-and-spend approach, but Obama countered by saying the United States could not afford four more years of a Republican administration.

Though a recession will likely dominate the Obama administration's agenda, other short- and long-term economic challenges will also feature high on the to-do list, economists and advisers said.

Obama has promised to revamp regulations governing Wall Street, to bring down the costs of health care, to boost indigenous energy sources and fight climate change by setting caps on carbon dioxide emissions for big industries.

But limited resources -- diverted to ease the financial crisis and fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- would hamper the ability of any president to achieve many of those goals.

"These are not things that are achievable," said Jeffrey Frankel, an economist at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

"Energy independence is basically not achievable. Balancing the budget is not achievable. Preventing us from going into a recession? It's too late."

Deese said Obama would not allow health care reform to be placed on the backburner. He has proposed a national program to allow individuals and small businesses to buy health care similar to that available to federal employees.

"Sen. Obama understands that our nation's long-term financial challenges are intimately tied up with addressing our nation's health care crisis and that we cannot wait on the type of ambitious reforms that he's talked about," he said.

On energy, Obama has emphasized massive investments in renewable energy technology as opposed to Republican calls for more offshore oil drilling and increased use of nuclear power.

Archbishop's Joke

 

By Ian Cowie 

BISHOPS AND BLAGGERS

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, criticised City traders this week for their role in the global credit crisis.

In particular, Dr Sentamu told the annual dinner of the Worshipful Company of International Bankers: "Those who made £190m deliberately underselling the shares of HBOS, in spite of a very strong capital base, and drove it into the arms of Lloyds TSB, are clearly bank robbers and asset strippers."

Whether you agree or not, there can be no doubt that Jesus Christ took a pretty firm line with moneylenders in the Temple and it is refreshing to hear Anglican leaders delivering strong moral guidance.

It reminded me of a London Press Club lunch last year when Dr Sentamu spoke very movingly about the BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who was being held hostage, and compared it with his own time in captivity in Idi Amin's Uganda.

Dr Sentamu also told a joke which not many people could get away with. In these desperate times we could all do with cheering up, so here it is.

A Rhodesian airplane was flying across the ocean when some of its engines stopped. The pilot tells passengers not to panic but he must reduce weight to gain height and so is jettisoning all the luggage. He does so but the plane continues to lose altitude.

Then the pilot says: "There is nothing to worry about but we must lose more weight and so some passengers will have to don parachutes and leave the plane."

Pandemonium breaks out but the pilot continues: "To be fair, we will select the parachutists alphabetically. Now, are there any Africans onboard?"

Total silence. So he goes on: "Are there any blacks?"

At this point, a little black boy sitting next to his father at the back of the plane says quietly: "Daddy, aren't we Africans?"

And his father booms back: "Silence, you foolish child. We are Zulus."

Where your treasure is...

Anthony of Padua (1195 - 1231) preached at the funeral of a money lender. He told his listeners that they should not bury his body in consecrated ground, for his soul was already suffering the torments of hell. He said that the man's heart was no longer in his body, but that the Gospel had been fulfilled. "For where your treasure is, there will be your heart". They opened up the man's side and found that his heart was missing, but they found it when they opened up his treasure chest.

This is one of the reasons why a practice called "St Anthony's bread" is so appropriate. The idea is that one thanks St Anthony for a favour received by giving food to the poor. Our blessings should be shared, and charity to those who are disadvantaged is a sign that we are not thinking only of ourselves. As best as can be discovered, this practice developed from an incident that occurred in France during the 19th century. A baker lost the key to her bakery, and she prayed to St Anthony so that the key might be found. When it was found, she promised to feed the poor with the bread of her bakery in gratitude for the favour received.