COME ALL YE FAITHFUL.... AND WRITE OUT A CHEQUE

THE CHRISTMAS greeting from your local church may come with a begging letter this year as the clergy try to boost dwindling funds from diminishing congregations.

Worshippers are being asked to plunge into the festive spirit of giving as both the Church of England and the Catholic Church faces unprecedented demands on its finances.

Corporate donors are being pressed to “add another nought” to their cheques and humble parishioners, including pensioners, are being asked to dig deep for extra cash to keep the churches going.

A vicar at one church in the South-west has incensed the faithful by sending a letter virtually demanding increased contributions. Others have been outraged by direct appeals that they feel are shackled with guilt clauses.

The increased appeals come despite churchgoers contributing £750million a year to running costs in the UK. 

“Some churches are preying on the consciences of worshippers for more money. It is all very well asking for an extra bit for the church roof but to up the ante for general running costs is a bit rich,” says one churchgoer, who declined to be named.

The Church of England has sent its 8,000 full-time clergy advice about cutting costs and ways to secure financial support from the local community.

Many observers fear that US-style fund-raising tactics, which involve the “turbo-charged” pursuit of funds, could become a feature of British Christianity. Letters and cards inviting worshippers to events and asking for contributions are being sent out in time for the Christmas Day attendance boom when congregations swell from 784,000 to around three million.

The dismay felt by many parishioners at heavy-handed fund-raising is elevated by the amount of wealth in central church funds which is staggering to the average man or woman in a pew.

The Catholic Church has estimated assets of £1billion in the UK and Ireland as part of a £51billion global fortune. 

The CoE has assets of about £8billion including £4.4billion in hedge fund accounts, which covers clergy and staff pension provision.

However, the foundations of these organisations have been rocked by increased costs and diminishing flocks. 

The number of Christians in England and Wales has dropped by 13 per cent to 33 million over the last decade while the non-religious population grew from 15 to 25 per cent according to the 2011 census published this week.

Sunday attendances across 13,000 CofE parishes have dropped from an average 878,000 in 2000 to 784,000 in 2010 when donations fell for the first time in a decade.

The Diocese of Chichester predicted that its cash reserves will be used up by the end of next year. Falling attendances have hit its collection plates with a £220,000 donation shortfall fall expected by the end of 2012.

The Catholic Church faces even greater problems with the cost of settling cases of clerical abuse heaped on to the economic corrosion. It is facing a conveyer belt of lawsuits after losing a test case over alleged sexual abuse by a priest in Portsmouth. 

Appeals have failed and specialist lawyers are waiting for a final Supreme Court ruling before launching a string of actions in 2013.

“I have at least 12 cases waiting and if you look at all the actions that may be brought then it could cost the Catholic Church millions upon millions,” says Jonathan Wheeler, a partner at compensation claims company Bolt Burdon Kemp.

“I don’t know how they organise their funds in the UK but some dioceses in the US have had to file for bankruptcy because of the amount of compensation.”

Despite the decline the church is fighting to prove its modern relevance and attract new worshippers. 

Churches may close and vicars may be turning off the heating in the rectory but they are far from beaten.

Grass roots activity is still ingenious. An enterprising cleric gave away nearly £1,500 in crisp £10 notes to his parishioners to attract attention, another set up services in a local pub to get closer to his target audience and the nave at Guildford Cathedral can be hired for functions and glamorous champagne receptions.  

More than 400 clergy, including 24 bishops, regularly use Twitter, and social media is now a confirmed method of preaching.

Reverend Paul Pervell recast the Parable Of The Talents by handing out tenners at the end of this year’s Harvest Festival. “We were trying to engage with people but it was an absolute gimmick,” says the vicar of Christ Church, in Great Ayton, North Yorkshire. “We asked them to do some good with that money and it made people think about what could be achieved by helping and we know that £800 of it has been sent to support Christians in Syria.”

The Reverend Nick Gowers started “prayer and a pint” meetings in The Hourglass pub in Exeter and Father John Wall is a leading light in community pub in Brighton, which is being run as a co-operative with members of the public, including the Bishop of Chichester, buying shares for £10 each.

The Reverend David Willey, vicar at St Peter’s in Farnborough, Hampshire, is not alone in believing that the economic pressure provides a perfect moment for the church to reach the people. “It gives us a brilliant opportunity to say that the things that really matter to us are not necessarily what money can buy. It is relationships with one another that count,” he says.

“Helping each other, sharing, caring and spending time with each other, brings a tremendous sense of well-being.”

His church regularly attracts 400 adults and 100 children to its range of Sunday services and parishioners are enthusiastic donors to a food bank scheme run by its sister Church of the Good Shepherd.

Millions of Brits are happy to give a little extra at Christmas but don’t be surprised if the collection plate hovers just a little longer this year.