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The Bishop's letter |
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The Bishops write a monthly letter to churches in the diocese. For June 2008, from Bishop Ian: Reviewing our financial priorities We are all conscious of rising prices – fuel, gas, electricity and now food, though that has the silver lining that for once many farmers are receiving a better return for their labours. The “credit crunch” has hurt us all where we feel it, in our pockets. We all have had to prioritise, turn down the thermostat, forgo that meal out, get out the bicycle rather than the car …. Rising costs affect our churches and the diocese as well. At the Bishops Council last month we looked seriously at the 6% deficit in last year’s accounts and resolved to make some hard decisions about priorities. For all of us the priority we were determined not to lose is the cost of paying our clergy. And that means the Parish Share, out of which we pay clergy stipends, housing and pension costs (and that has involved a major increase in contributions recently), and fund clergy training and support from the small team of specialists at Bouverie Court. If the share is not paid in full (for which we budget) we have to dip into our dwindling reserves to meet the shortfall. But the church is first and foremost about people and that includes those who minister to us week by week. In my book paying the parish priest through the Parish Share should be the first priority, not the last. It is part of being worship-centred. Giving is an act of worship, mission-shaped, for it enables our outreach to the community to continue, releasing ministry, because it enables people to explore their vocation, and potentially world-transforming through the building up of vibrant Christian communities. The Bishop’s Council is committed to taking some hard decisions about how we spend our money at “the centre”. But if it is to remain committed to its priority of paying the parish clergy then it needs the whole-hearted commitment of every parish and every worshipper - to make giving a priority for our personal expenditure and paying the Share a priority for the PCC and congregation. I hope that all of us, forced as we are to review our priorities, will take that to heart. The time of renewal While the Easter snowfall brought a blast of winter, the mid April school holidays reminded us that spring is really in the air. All of this points us to an important truth: we all benefit from renewal. Our children and teachers need some time to recharge their batteries before the summer term with all the challenges and changes it brings. The winter chill has passed and now we see the sticky buds, the courting birds and the blooming spring flowers and we feel that a corner has been turned. Renewal is at the heart of this Easter to Pentecost season. The body raised by the power of God is the same Jesus and yet there is something different about him. The apostles and those who gather at Pentecost are the familiar characters with whom we have journeyed, yet they too are different. The Spirit has taken hold of them and given them a new confidence, a fresh authority and undoubtedly a greater courage. The garden is the same plot of land as it was in the depths of winter but now it is very beautifully clothed and charmingly refreshed. Renewal is the enlivening of the familiar with a power which makes it evidently different. When God’s Spirit is welcomed into our hearts and churches, when his enlivening power is freed into our society then what happens is real change. Yet this is change which has enough of the familiar to enable us to have confidence that some thing better is being offered to us. The elders who questioned Peter after the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate recognised him as one who had been a companion of Jesus. But this was no longer the scared, friend-denying figure who had slid into the shadows and wept over his own weakness. This was a renewed and refreshed disciple who would pave the way of faith with courage and conviction. It’s wonderful what the renewing work of the Holy Spirit can do! |
