Common Fund

Common Fund 2026: Request for Parish Financial Contribution 

Common Fund is  a contribution from every church in the Church of England Birmingham towards the costs of ministry and mission across the city and region.  Common Fund is not a payment for services, but a sharing of life together that the Gospel might be proclaimed everywhere, through the shared funding of Ministry. It continues to be a parish voluntary contribution, but it is what supports and funds our ability to deliver our wider mission.  

Before I start to talk about 2026, I want to say a huge THANK YOU for all of your contributions, however small, in 2025 so far.  I also want to thank you all for the commitments that most of you made at the start of the year – your engagement and offerings were more than we had hoped for.  The contribution of your people and communities, and your work and prayers are central to maintaining the work of the Church of England Birmingham. Please accept and convey to your community enormous thanks and appreciation from myself and all of the CofE Birmingham family. 

Life since March 2020 has been challenging for us all -  for diocesan finances this has meant using some of our own reserves that we had planned to use for mission and ministry and substantial amounts of sustainability funding from National Church simply to maintain 'business as usual'. 

We have spent a substantial part of 2025 developing a new approach to Common Fund, which is embedded in the successful 2025 bid for National Church funding that underpins our long term financial sustainability plan.  We will be rolling out this new approach in 2026, when you will start to meet our new “Generosity Team”.  This new approach is not a formula but an individual parish conversation that aims to agree a long term growth plan for each parish and set planned common fund contributions within that context that reflects our allocation of key funding streams including Lowest Income Communities (LinC) Funding.

For 2026, Bishop’s Council has therefore determined to repeat our 2025 approach to Common Fund – once again allowing 'free will' to PCCs in their discernment of their contribution within the context of a parish’s ministry provision and diocesan (DBF) operating costs.  The attached Common Fund leaflet provides you with the contextual information so that you can do this.  I would encourage you to take time to look carefully at this detailed information and most importantly to listen to my recorded message.
 
The leaflet sets out the 2026 financial budget for the Diocese (DBF) – which shows a planned operating deficit of £872,000.  As I say in the video, this improvement compared with 2025, reflects two key changes to the financial landscape for 2026.  These are a significant increase in permanent and time-limited income from national church of around £1.5m against which is offset the impact of a substantial uplift in stipend levels. What it does not do is assume a significant increase in Common  Fund contributions at this stage – we are still far from returning to pre-covid levels, let alone covering our real costs.
  
The leaflet also provides a breakdown of our costs into a number of key areas; Core cost of stipendiary ministry for your incumbent/vicar/priest in charge (including housing costs), the costs of training and developing clergy (to ensure a supply of 'new' clergy as well as training and supporting those that are in post) and the cost of maintaining the mission and parish support that you all draw on as well as our governance and regulatory infrastructure.

Based on this, the costs for 2026 are as follows:
                           

You may not have a stipendiary minister serving your parish alone, but the costs of training and support set out above need to be shared by all of us in Church of England Birmingham. And as you consider your level of contribution to the stipendiary budget, you may like to reflect on the relative affluence of the parishes with whom you share a priest, so we ask you to contribute to these costs on the basis of your current ministry. 

Once you have had time to consider these details in the context of your own parish finances, the Archdeacons, Area Deans, Diocesan Secretary and Director of Finance are once again happy to talk to as many parishes as possible to discuss your proposals for your 2026 Common Fund commitments.  This dialogue is critical as we work together to reimagine sustainable mission and ministry deployment that is both effective and affordable for both your PCC and the BDBF, as we work together towards a more financially sustainable future for the Diocese of Birmingham. 

For Local Ecumenical Partnerships (LEPs), your request has been discussed over the summer with your ecumenical partner. Your Anglican contribution has already been agreed (although you may give more if you wish), and you may receive additional communications from your ecumenical partner in relation to their share.

Please can you let us know your PCC’s agreed common fund commitment using the attached form by 31 December 2025.  You can return a scanned copy to us at Financeteam@cofebirmingham.com or you can of course return the form by post.  

Our Finance Team and others continue to be here to help you in whatever way we can, as we all navigate these challenging times together.  Please use your usual finance contacts or any of the wider team for help and support. 

You and your community remain in my prayers as always and I continue to give thanks for God’s generosity and hope that it will inspire confidence and hope across our shared life as one family in Christ.  

Yours sincerely    

The Rt Revd Dr Michael Volland
Bishop of Birmingham