Baughurst, Ramsdell, Wolverton & Hannington - The Benefice Website
 
Funding the Church of England
 
It takes just over £1000 million a year to run the Church of England, financing its 13,000 parishes and 43 cathedrals. 
 
Where do the funds come from?
 
Around three-quarters (£750 million) comes from worshippers in the parishes. Over the past five years, parishes have increased their giving by around £100 million to meet increased ministry and pension costs.
 
Across the Church, regular, tax-efficient giving rose by nearly 50% in the five years between 1999 and 2004.
 
Today:
  • over £200 million is given tax-efficiently each year through gift aid and a further £60 million is recovered from the Inland Revenue in tax;
  • £200 million is given in cash and donations by congregations and visitors;
  • £250 million is raised through legacies, special events, the letting of church halls, bookstalls, fundraising and parish magazines etc.
 
Around 15 per cent (over £160 million) comes from the Church Commissioners who manage assets of £4.4 billion (at the end of 2008) on behalf of the Church:
  • Over the past ten years, the Church Commissioners achieved an average annual return of 5.7 per cent on their investments, substantially outperforming the comparator index of more than 200 similar funds.
 
  • As a result of this above-average performance over the last ten years, the Commissioners’  have been able to distribute £26 million more each year to the Church, than if the investments had performed only at the industry average over the last ten years. 
 
The Church of England owns 0.3 percent on the land.  The Universities own 0.7 percent and the Sovereign 1 percent.
 
Pub bores throughout the ages have told any clergyman unfortunate enough to fall into their hands that the Church of England is the greatest landowner in the country and immensely rich.
 
The facts tell a different story.  Given the immense responsibilities and huge costs which the Church must bear, money must be spread very thin and is always tight.