Derrick Elliott

Stewardship and money are synonymous to many people.  Because it is relatively easy to identify financial needs and equally easy to assess a response in terms of proportions or amounts of money, it must not be assumed that stewardship is wholly or even mainly about money.

Money is one resource we all possess in some measure and the correct apportionment of our finances is what Stewardship of Money is about.  What that apportionment is can only be a personal decision, but the vital point is that there should be a decision.

We are all ready to consider money and discuss it in connection with the rising cost of living, the inflated value of our houses or the current round of wage claims.  Embarrassment only seems to occur when talk is of money and the church.  We should recall that we are The Church and that The Church needs to be as realistic about its finances as it is about all other aspects of its mission.

In this context The Church is often thought to be 'the Church Commissioners with their millions' – millions which accumulated as a result of the giving of our ancestors and which are appreciating in the care of the Commissioners – both examples in themselves of stewardship of money.  In practical terms, of the £33.8m which will be needed in 1973 for the maintenance of the ministry (includes stipends, pensions and training) the Church Commissioners will be providing £23.1m.  This includes more than its 50% share of the £3m needed for maintenance of vicarages and clergy houses since the County is, in general, not yet meeting its share.

The Church Commissioners will be providing a further £3m towards the maintenance of old or provision of new church buildings and the costs of Central and Diocesan administration bringing their total contribution up to £26m towards an estimated total need of £70m.  To meet the difference, parish giving will need to increase by 55% p.a. minimum.  At the level of our Diocese of St.Albans the annual expenditure of £135,000 (1970) is a figure which is more comprehensible to most of us.  Much of this comes from Parish contributions to the Diocesan Common Fund (95% of which is generally met each year).  Our own Parish contribution to this amounts to almost £3,000 for 1972, the actual quota varying annually. The fact that we in Harpenden meet our Diocesan quota is no ground for complacency.

Nearer to home the Parish income by direct giving was £15,000 in 1971 – £100 lower than in 1970, and more than £500 less than in 1969.  From this, the major outgoings are:–

                            Upkeep of the Churches                                      14   %

                            Maintenance of the Ministry                                 26   %

                            Clergy Houses                                                       3.4%

                            Diocesan Common Fund                                      15   %

                            Charities, Missions & Donations                           19.3%

These facts about the Church finance at National, Diocesan and Parish level must be taken in the context of personal incomes.  Those have been rising at the rate of 9% p.a. on average which is not reflected in the church income, in Harpenden in particular.  National Savings also increased by over £130m in 1969/70.  The indication thus is that money is available and the lower level of giving to the Church is not due to poverty, but rather to a failure to respond to the real principles of Stewardship.

Although the level of incomes is generally rising, it cannot be denied that there are many families who are on fixed incomes, and so have their own problem of facing rising prices.  To people in those circumstances the stewardship of money is of vital importance if only to be able to exist.

The population of Harpenden also includes a large number of teenagers.  Nowadays youth is popularly thought to have too much money.  They certainly appear to be more affluent than their elders remember – but then most of society is more affluent and there are many pressures on young people.  Not the least of these is the example set by many parents in being acquisitive.  Young people would seem to have a need to reflect on Stewardship of money.

By far the largest group represented in the Parish is the 'average' family.  The menfolk and an increasing number of-women use their major ability in their full time employment, the rewards of which enable them to support families – house, feed, clothe and educate them.  Money earned is also a flexible means of showing care for our fellow men – often in remote areas where any other form of direct caring is not practicable for most of us.  However, it must not be thought that using money – whatever the amount – is any alternative or substitute for exercising direct care by correct stewardship of all our time and skills.  It is therefore from this major group that the prime response is called for in terms of money.

Considering these three broad categories of people, it is clear that no group or individual in a group can really evade the issue of Stewardship of money, since this does not mean 'giving to the church' but rather a proper allocation of money.

Neither does it imply considering one tenth (or any other proportion) but rather ten tenths of our resources, and although Stewardship does not mean giving to the church it does mean responding to God's love.

To quote Capt. D.H. Doig of the Central Board of Finance, 'what a man does with his money must reflect in a unique way what he thinks about God and his neighbour'.