St. Mary’s largest expense item is what is known as the Fairer Share and it is what we are asked to pay to the central funds of the Diocese of Salisbury. So, what is it for and why should we pay it? Well, it pays clergy stipends, their pensions and housing. It also pays for training and administration – basically the cost of being church. It does NOT pay for Bishops neither does it pay for our cathedral. 89% of the total diocesan budget goes directly to local ministry whereas the share payments they receive only contribute 71% of that budget!Mike Sargent, Hon Treasurer
As we move into winter, we appreciate that the church is often not as warm as you would like but we try to balance comfort against cost, complicated with our unpredictable weather and our financial constraints. As it is, we have spent £8035 on energy over the last 12 months. Of this amount, £3070 was standing charges or what we have to pay before we even switched anything on!Mike Sargent, Hon Treasurer
