Stewardship and Resources Officer, Chris Boden is changing his role slightly to spend more time supporting parishes with their finances.
As Parish Resources Officer, he will now help parishes with budgeting and support churches to look at their finances in the context of their mission and ministry. His previous work on the Parish Giving Scheme, legacies and grants will continue to be covered by Stewardship Officer, Robyn Rooney.
Chris said: “I’ve been leading on stewardship in the Diocese for the past three years and have come to realise that this is only one element of how churches should be looking at their finances. I can help parishes understand their finances as a tool to help with their mission and become something which is owned by everyone in the church, not just the Treasurer.”
Chris will continue to spend much of his time out and about meeting with treasurers, churchwardens, clergy and others. He will be particularly supporting those parishes who have needed to access a Ministry Support Grant, helping them in their journey to achieving financial sustainability, however that looks in their context.
“Lots of our churches are doing some wonderful things with their finances and often don’t recognise that. I can hopefully help encourage those things which have been going well and look at making some simple changes that can help them to increase their income or save on costs. I’ll also be helping them set realistic and achievable financial objectives so that it doesn’t feel quite so overwhelming.”
Although Chris will be offering targeted help with some churches, any parish is welcome to get in touch with him and he’ll still be working closely with Robyn on stewardship related issues.
“I want to make sure I’m supporting parishes in the best way, so I hope that people will contact me to ask for help. No question is too small! I’d really like to get to a point where finances are something that are talked about in church without it just being about bad news!”
Chris is part of the wider diocesan finance team, who are happy to answer queries from parishes on any money-related issues. Find their contact details here: www.cofe-worcester.org.uk/finance-team
