Northern Ireland churches face financial deficit over coronavirus

With churches locked up and normal Sunday services off the congregational timetable for more than a month and the prospect of weeks more of a dire unproductive lockdown, the traditional methods of collecting financial offerings are no longer available for congregation and parish treasurers to balance the books.

While many worshippers are turning to bank standing orders to convey donations to their church, the money in envelopes placed on a plate during Sunday services is still considerable. Congregations can also benefit from tax rebate allowances available on the Sunday collection money.

Encouragement, citing the importance of the Ulsterism of “a silent collection”, is a concept that goes a long way to keeping things financially afloat.

The wages and expenses of the clergy, organists and caretakers have still to be paid as well as money having to be found for the upkeep of church buildings and surrounding property. Some of the larger congregations employ youth workers and in some cases, opportunity has been taken around the government’s emergency furlough scheme to ensure this work continues on a weekly basis.

Tithing, donating 10 per cent of one’s income to a congregation - harking back to a Biblical analogy - is a settled method of financial security for some of the smaller Protestant denominations. Indeed, individuals belonging to the mainstream churches are comfortable with this means of substantive support for their congregations.

The Irish Presbyterian Church has a well-tried apparatus of raising money for the essential work and home and global mission of the church through its annual United Appeal.

In what is known in Presbyterian circles as implementing a ‘Target of Honour’, in excess of £3 million, working a year behind, is raised annually from the United Appeal with each of the 600 congregations located across Ireland weighing with a stipulated proportional amount.

When contributions for the 2018 United Appeal were closed at the end of January 2019, £3,301,553 was generously received from congregations towards the target of £3,500,000. This meant a shortfall of some £208,316, but late contributions managed to make up the difference.

The Presbyterian general assembly agreed to an appeal of £3,550,000 for 2019 with committed agreed grants to its various boards in the year 2020 totalling £3,700,000. To what extent this considerable revenue stream is affected by the current lockdown, we will not know until next year.

Notwithstanding the current restraints, church life in Northern Ireland happily remains in a healthy state and undoubtedly congregations and parishes will employ their own methods to ensure that the books balance by the time we return to normality.