A NEW animated video explaining how parish share works will be launched at our archdeaconry meetings this month.

A still from the animated video that will be premiered at our Archdeaconry meetings

Clergy, churchwardens, PCC officers and all church members are invited to hear about mission and ministry across our diocese and how we pay for it. It’s the second year we’ve held such meetings.

Each archdeacon will lead and chair the meetings, and Bishop Christopher will also be there. Worshippers will hear information about our mission, including success stories from local parishes, and details of our diocesan budget for 2014.

And an animated video will be unveiled, explaining why parish share is vital and what it pays for. 

It has been produced by professional animator Tom Munday, who produced a similar video for London diocese. It will be available both online and as a DVD to take away.

Diocesan Secretary the Rev Wendy Kennedy said: “One request I frequently hear is for something that explains our diocesan finances very simply, and why parish share is important. This new video is designed to be a tool that parishes can use for those in their PCC or congregations who have those questions.

“There are others who want to dig more deeply into the detail of exactly what we spend and how money is raised. That information is also available. There will also be a chance at these meetings to make suggestions and ask questions.

“The evening will be mainly devoted to how we use those resources in mission and ministry. One of the things we’ve changed from last year is to introduce some more local stories from each archdeaconry, as people are often keen to know what’s happening nearby.

“We’ll be showing people how grants from our Mission Opportunities Fund are making a  difference, how the work of our mission development officer has helped parishes be more effective in mission, and what support can be offered in future.”

Worshippers from Portsdown Archdeaconry will meet at 7.30pm on September 10 at St Mary’s Church, Fratton. 

Those from the Meon will get together at 7.30pm on September 23 in St Peter and St Paul, Fareham. And Isle of Wight worshippers will meet at 7.30pm on September 24 in Newport Minster.

The evenings will end with a look at our £7m diocesan budget, which was drawn up by our Bishop’s Council in the light of consultation with deaneries earlier this year. The draft budget shows total parish share payments as £4.7m, an increase of 1.7 per cent on 2013.

The main factors affecting this budget were a desire to maintain the level of clergy and lay ministry currently funded, and to offer strong support centrally while containing and where possible reducing, expenditure.

Worshippers will be invited to comment on possible alternative options. 

One of these would be to deploy an extra incumbent or priest-in-charge, which would add 0.77 per cent to parish share. Another is to use diocesan reserves to limit the increase to 0.9 per cent. And a third option is to combine both of the above.

The Bishop’s Council will listen to what has been said at these archdeaconry meetings and recommend a final budget in October. Our Diocesan Synod will be invited to approve that in November.

To watch the video, click here.