More than 500 parishes and worshipping communities across the Diocese are resourced through a unique collaboration between local churches and the London Diocesan Fund charity (the LDF). Parish Common Fund contributions, alongside substantial LDF funding, make possible the provision of parish priests, parsonages, parish support teams and training the next generation of clergy.
All of this happens to pursue the vision for every Londoner to encounter the love of God in Christ, but the provision is as costly as it is vital. Over many years, we have seen God’s financial provision through Common Fund. We continue to trust in that provision for the year ahead and are grateful to PCCs for taking time to consider prayerfully their annual commitment.
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Common Fund practically expresses the commitment to resource parishes in every community, independent of capacity to contribute. PCCs are asked to make a contribution in the light of their ministry costs, underwritten by the LDF and indicated by their ‘Parish Standard Cost’, and bearing in mind their own financial resources.
Like the LDF, PCCs may be facing challenging financial circumstances as they set a budget for next year. Nevertheless, we trust that parishes will prioritise contributing as fully as possible to their own costs, so that together we can secure the future of local church ministry for years to come.
Many will be able to commit to meeting their costs in full, as well as considering giving more to support other parishes. There are parishes that need to be supported by the LDF and other churches, but it is still important that all parishes contribute as much as they can.
The Parish Standard Cost (PSC) is offered as an indication of the cost of clergy provision, parish support teams and the training of future priests. It acts as a benchmark against which PCCs can assess their contribution and gives a starting point for conversations about an appropriate contribution in 2025. A paper on the PSC is available to download below.
The PSC is based on this year’s budget, set by the Diocesan Bishop’s Council which includes representatives across church traditions and Episcopal Areas. Predicted additional costs, such as inflation, are added to this and likely savings subtracted.
Each part of the budget is then averaged across the Diocese, and this gives the PSC: the average cost of providing a parish with a priest, a parsonage, parish support teams and training future clergy. The PSC for 2025 shows what we believe it will cost to:
- Sustain the number of parish clergy posts across the Diocese.
- Continue to increase stipends following the cost-of-living crisis.
- Prioritise clergy wellbeing by improving our parsonages.
- Provide practical training and advice for local church teams.
Having written to each PCC with a suggested cost contribution, Archdeacons and Area Finance Advisers are available to answer questions and to engage directly with PCCs and parish clergy as decisions are made. PCCs are then asked to make a Common Fund commitment by the end of July.
An LDF budget is drafted in the summer, scrutinised by the Bishop’s Council in the light of the Financial Plan and Common Fund pledges and then recommended to Diocesan Synod.
Downloads for PCC discussions
Watch this year's Common Fund presentation
