Jenan Taylor
17 October 2024
Members of synod have been warned urgent change in the structure of the Melbourne diocese’s finances was needed to ensure the Church was able to continue its work.
Diocesan representatives highlighted increasing stresses to ministry, including from diminishing congregations and continuous cash deficits.
They called for a unified approach to transferring land and building assets into a form that better supported ministry and sustainable income generation.
Finance Committee chair the Reverend Kirsty Brown said the diocese had drawn down on reserves to fund its operations for many successive years, with property sales funding deficits.
Ms Brown said the effect of this was a cycle of deficit budgets leading to declining cash levels.
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In a presentation to synod, Ms Brown said expenditure was expected to significantly exceed income in the diocese in 2025.
She drew attention to the 2025-2027 budget and financial plan which showed income was expected to come from property sales, investment income, parish assessments, and other sources.
The plan stated these income sources were no longer able to meet the diocese’s cash outlays, and projected a negative cashflow for the next two years.
It showed the major outgoings were redress funding, Girl’s Friendly Society settlement, diocesan services staffing costs, and church planting.
Ms Brown said the diocese needed to start working on structural changes now.
“We need the riches we hold to be in a form that can be utilised well for ministry in the 21st century, and we need a significantly larger corpus of investment generated over a short period of time to break this current cycle,” Ms Brown said.
Responding to members’ concerns that the diocese had been in this situation previously and needed to curb spending, and live within its means, she said only cutting particular types of expenditure would not solve the problem.
Ms Brown said the quantum the diocese faced was different from the past.
She said matters such as redress were significant responsibilities that had to be honoured, congregations were diminishing, and there were fewer people to support the Church’s financial sustainability.
“We do need to consider the requirement to manage our expenses wisely, but the problem is structure, and we need to fix this to live within our means,” Ms Brown said.
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She said resources in land and buildings needed to be transferred into a cash resource that could be invested, and income generated in order for the Church to be sustainable financially.
Ms Brown told The Melbourne Anglican this would mean parishes making decisions about what their futures were, and how they contributed to being part of the diocese.
Diocesan Sustainability Strategy Working Group chair Bishop Paul Barker said manoeuvring the diocese into long term missional sustainability would be a major task in the next two years.
He said the diocese needed to keep addressing ministry and mission in the growth corridors, in multicultural ministry, and in the suburbs where churches have been traditionally strong.
Bishop Barker said this presented a dilemma that the diocese needed advice from synod members on because it was about much more than just balancing the books.
“We want … to be best placed for ministry and mission for the next generations. If we are to be strategic and sustainable for the long-term, we need to address these issues urgently,” Bishop Barker said.
Synod voted to receive the Revised 2025 Diocesan Budget and Revised 2026-2027 Financial Forecast, and note the revised 2025 diocesan budget.
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