I was late to bed last night but awake for 'Thought for the Day' and up for breakfast in time to leave to go to St Peter's on the 61 bus in good time for the 10.15 Eucharist. I didn't stay for coffee after the service but took the bus back to Canton with Kate one of the two Ministry Area Wardens for a meeting to which I had been invited about an unexpected increase in financial demand from the Diocese, considered unsustainable by Ministry Area churches.
The impression all have received is that there's no fact based understanding of the economic capacity for generosity on the part of church members and the wider community in which the six churches of the Ministry Area are set. The question is how best to respond to this? We mulled this over for an hours and a half before having lunch together, and agreeing a tentative next step. What really needed is a way to raise questions about the assumptions made by those who manage diocesan finances. Are their decisions correctly informed?
As ever, the real issue is a gulf between institutional church bureaucracy and grass roots communities of worshippers which seem unbridgeable unless such difficult questions are faced. Reforms in the way churches in the same geographical area work with each other, introduced by Bishop June, the previous diocesan bishop haven't yet succeeded in their intention, as they were dictated to parishes with no meaningful dialogue about the prospects of getting them to work.
Admittedly covid damaged regular support for the churches. Recovery is still a work in progress and decline continues unremittingly. Judgement about how to cope with the situation, viewed from the top down or the bottom up, isn't going to be objective. We're far from having objectively informed dialogue between diocesan authorities and church congregations about how it's possible to navigate through the present economic crisis.
These thoughts plagued me after the meeting. I went straight into town to bank a cheque in the newly refurbished central HSBC branch, which has finally replaced all its automatic banking tills. It's now possible to pay in cash or cheques and withdraw money from the same machine. Clever little thing.
I had an idea of a Christmas present to buy for Clare, but I had to hunt for stores that would provide for me what I wanted. I was delighted to have succeeded after trekking all over the city centre.
St Catherine's Nine Lessons and Carols took place this evening, and I joined a congregation of about a hundred and twenty for the hour and a quarter service, rather over-long to my mind, as there was a mini nativity scene and crib blessing in the middle, plus a liturgical 'dance of the angels', which was lovely and an uplifting contrast to all those words and music. I have to plan a carol service for St Peter's on New Year's Eve. Tonight's service has informed my thinking about how much time is 'enough' for an evening service with hospitality to follow.
If I remember aright, this year's carol service congregation was bigger by two or three dozen compared to last year, suggesting to me that covide fears may be lifting and influencing casual, as opposed to regular church attendances. To my mind, this is significant, in an era where people aren't driven by obligation, as they were in times past, but by interest or curiosity. But, we'll see, long term.
During the service, still chewing over the problems presented by today's meeting, it occurred to me that what was needed was an independent fact checking process to examine the reality of the demand being made by the diocese that people in the Ministry Area contribute 25% more than they expected to, and at short notice. I have an idea about how fact checking may be possible, but that's for tomorrow.
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