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The Lichfield Diocesan Board of Finance Inc. is a charitable company limited by guarantee not having a share capital and is registered in England. The company registration number is 239561 and the charity registration number is 1107827.
These registration details relate solely to the Board of Finance and not to the churches which make up the diocese. Church PCCs are separate charitable corporate bodies in their own right; but (at present) do not need to register as a charity as they enjoy excepted status. Churches within the diocese are not permitted to use the Board's company or charity registration number in connection with their own activities.
The Board of Finance was incorporated as a company on 14th May 1929 in accordance with the Diocesan Boards of Finance Measure 1925. It is governed by its Memorandum and Articles of Association as amended by special resolutions dated 28th April 1960, 6th February 1968, 18th June 2003 and 13th March 2004.
The principal activity is to promote, assist and advance the work of the Church of England in the Diocese of Lichfield and elsewhere, by acting as the financial executive of the Diocesan Synod. It overseas the resourcing of ministry within the Diocese and the financing of the work of the various diocesan bodies (constituted under ecclesiastical statute or established voluntarily by the Bishop and Diocesan Synod) which also have the object of advancing the aims of the Church of England in the Diocese and elsewhere.
The Board of Finance and the Diocesan Synod share a common membership. The Board's Directors also form the Bishop's Council, which acts as the Standing Committee of the Synod. Its membership is part ex-officio and part elected. Elections are held every three years, the last occasion being in October 2003. Day to Day financial activity is overseen by a Finance and Central Services Committee (FACS) which receives regular reports on parish share receipts, liquidity, staffing levels and both capital and revenue expenditure.
The Board are currently in the middle of a financial strategy, agreed by Synod in October 2002. In summary, this calls for a cost reduction of some £835,000 over five years and a commitment not to raise the total amount of Parish Share requested by more than four per cent a year between 2003 and 2007. In return it asks parishes to increase the amount they pay to the Board by five per cent each year. This is part of an attempt to stem what had been rising levels of parish share arrears. The strategy is proving successful and the Board is set to produce a break-even budget by 2008.
In 2006, the Board has budgeted to spend £13,367,097 - a below inflation increase of 1.9 per cent of the budgeted expenditure for 2005. The vast majority of this (£10,301,932 or 77 per cent) will come from the churches in the form of their contribution through the Parish Share system.
All the money received from the parishes, together with additional income from other sources will be ploughed back to support Parochial Ministry. Nearly 89 per cent of the diocese's budget will be spent directly on ministry to parishes (£10.7 million) and on support for ministry in parishes (£1.2 million).
A further £417,000 will be used to fund the training of future clergy - and Bishop Jonathan has called for the number of Ordinands to increase to 15 stipendiary and 15 non-stipendiary each year. £464,000 will be contributed to the mission and ministry of the national Church; and just £621,000 - less than five per cent of the total budget - will be spent on statutory and administrative costs.
The budget for 2006 anticipates a reduction in staffing numbers from 337 to 331. Although part of the financial strategy, this is not entirely based on a shortage of money, but a shortage of clergy. There is a forecast rise in the number of new clergy being ordained in the next few years; but clergy are still retiring at a faster rate than new Ordinands are coming through.