Below are two charts that give an overview of our typical outgoings are as a church, and where our income came from before we launched our Plan for the Future. We will update the charts in a few months to show how the plan is progressing, but for the latest update (May 2018) visit How has the Plan gone so far?

Our Outgoings

The pie chart above shows approximate proportions for each of six categories of outgoings:

  1. Ministry – These are the costs of having a vicar and being able to hold regular services and special services like weddings.
  2. Site – These are the running costs of the church building and grounds. So, together with ‘Ministry’ costs, this is the proportion of expenses necessary to keep a parish church open.
  3. Services – This category includes regular costs related to all services – supplies like communion wine and occasional expenses like service books.
  4. Communications – This is the cost of having a website and the printing costs of posters, cards and fliers to tell people about services and events (excluding events that raise money ring-fenced for building restoration)
  5. Outreach – This includes charitable donations we make and money that helps to fund a youth worker and mission projects in Lordsbridge, the local team of churches to which we belong.
  6. Other – This includes gifts and cards, and small administrative expenses like stationery and postage

A breakdown of expenses:

1. Ministry (56%)

  • Ministry Share: £8,724.65
  • Team Ministry costs: £60
  • Service fees to the Diocese of Ely: £188
  • Clergy expenses: £500
  • TOTAL: £9473

2. Site (27%)

  • Water: £50
  • Insurance: £1150
  • Churchyard maintenance: £1095
  • Building maintenance: £500
  • Electricity: £1600
  • Fire Extinguisher inspections: £60
  • Organ tuning/repairs: £156
  • TOTAL: £4616

3. Services (10%)

  • Organist fees: £520 (several of our organists waive their fees, in which case this budget for fees is balanced in our accounts as income from waived fees)
  • Service supplies (wine, wafers, etc): £331
  • Occasional expenses (books, chairs, etc): £500
  • Printing (orders of service): 50
  • Service refreshments: £200 (where members of the congregation buy these at their own expense, it is balanced in the accounts by an income of waived expenses)
  • Copyright license: £50
  • TOTAL: £1651

4. Communications (3%)

  • Online communications (Website hosting, domain name renewals, etc): £88.50
  • Publicity printing (village cards, fliers, posters etc): £419.50
  • TOTAL: £508

5. Outreach (2.5%)

  • Charitable donations: £205
  • Lordsbridge Mission Project: £100
  • Lordsbridge Youth Worker: £116.40
  • TOTAL: £420

6. Other (1.5%)

  • Gifts and cards: £250
  • Fundraising expenses: £30
  • Administrative expenses (stationery, postage, books, etc): £75
  • TOTAL: £1005

Our income

The pie chart shows approximate proportions for each of six categories of income:

  1. Sunday collections: cash or cheques in the collection plate on Sundays
  2. Regular giving: by direct debit, standing order or Charities Aid Foundation donations
  3. Gift Aid: reclaimed directly from HMRC or automatically through PGS and BTMyDonate
  4. Single gifts: one-off donations by cheque, card or bank transfer
  5. Fundraising: events or special appeals for the church running account
  6. Grants: we currently receive a £500 annual grant from the Parish Council to help towards the cost of maintaining the churchyard
  7. Service fees: for weddings, etc – most of these fees are passed on to Ely Diocese

Before we launched our Plan for the Future, our outgoings exceeded our income by about £7000 annually. Read more about our Plan for the Future to see how we are moving towards a sustainable future.