At a national level the Ministry and Mission Fund accounts for in the region of 90% of the United Reformed Church’s unrestricted income. In 2006 for every £1 that was given, 96p was used to pay for the stipends and training of ministers, Church Related Community Workers and lay preachers. It is thus the financial foundation of our church. The way that the Fund is run is governed by the Plan for Partnership. This was first approved by General Assembly in 1980 and has been updated from time to time since. Amongst other things the Plan for Partnership defines that, “The whole ministry of the URC is to be made available to the whole of the Church, and the financial responsibility for this ministry is to be shared throughout the whole of the Church.” Thus contributions do not relate to the amount of ministerial time received; or, in other words, we don’t pay for what we get, we give that all might receive.

All will be well your money and the URC

Beware the Unwanted Surprise  How your Gifts are used

The role of the Synod M&M Advocate came into being in 2008 when the cessation of District Councils necessitated a change in the way that the M&M Fund was administered within Eastern Synod. The Synod M&M Advocate serves on the Synod Resources Committee and liaises between Church House and the Area M&M Advocates regarding contributions from individual churches to the Ministry and Mission Fund. A key feature of the Synod M&M Advocates role is to encourage churches to take ownership of the M&M Fund and to see the individual church as part of the wider body of the URC. By encouraging dialogue between churches at local level it is hoped to move towards joyful giving in the spirit of partnership.

Mrs Faith Paulding  - Synod Ministry & Mission Advocate eastern.mandm@urc.org.uk

For many years contributions to the M&M Fund were established within Districts with each District in the Synod using a different system; most such systems relied on membership as a major factor. With the cessation of Districts the Synod was faced with the challenge of moving to a unified system. It also became evident that many churches were profoundly unhappy about the use of membership figures in calculating contributions. A system in which the large support the small does not take account of the ability of churches to give. The Ministry and Mission Resources Committee (which now no longer exists) was directed to find a system whereby the strong support the weak, which reflects ability to give (including demographic influences), takes account of year-on-year changes in circumstances, is easy to calculate and manage, is flexible and involves no sudden large year changes. No mean feat! The task was made even more challenging when it became obvious that there are many in the URC who hold strong and diametrically opposed views.

Through a process of extensive research, discussion and debate the MMRC developed the recommendation of a FairShare System. This system was trialled in 2008 and the process of the trial, data collected and resultant figures were scrutinised by the Area M&M Advocates so that the system could be fine-tuned and any potential problems identified and dealt with. In October 2008 Synod Council unanimously agreed the continued development of the FariShare System with it being used for the first time in 2009 to determine contributions in 2010.

Under the FairShare System each church is asked to submit selected financial details to their Area M&M Advocate on a ‘FairShare Return’. The information on the form is used by the Synod M&M Advocate to calculate a church’s contribution to the M&M Fund. 70% of a church’s contribution is based on financial resources (The Pounds Part) and 30% on average adult attendance at Sunday worship (The People Part). The sum of the Pounds Part and the People Part is the ‘FairShare’ figure but the contribution requested is capped so as to never be greater than 5% + RPI above current contribution. No church can work out its own M&M contribution, as the figures from all of the churches are needed. In essence every church is ‘measured’ using the same assessment of financial resources (broadly defined as unrestricted income less expenditure needed to generate that income) and attendance. These are then used as factors so that every church is treated according to the same criteria.

 The Area M&M Advocate, who may make further adjustments in the light of local knowledge, will inform churches of both the ‘FairShare’ figure (for information only) and the adjusted figure that could be lower or higher than the FairShare. In the light of these two figures churches are asked to reflect on them and on their current situation and to let the Area M&M Advocate know if they are able to meet the requested adjusted amount. It may be that some churches feel in a position to offer more and others who feel that they will struggle to meet their assessment. If the latter is the case then discussion needs to take place with the Area M&M Advocate and with the other churches in the Area so that the churches can work to support each other.

Integral to the whole process of this system is that it aims to be a consultative procedure.  The raw numbers from churches may be objective but they do not take into account local knowledge and situations. That is why discussion and sharing together is so important.

Further details about the FairShare system and how it affects Local Ecumenical Partnerships and United Churches are available in the download documents listed below.

Fairshare Return Form 2010
Guidelines for Completion of Fairshare Return
How the Information given will be used to calculate churches" Contributions
How Local Ecumenical Partnerships and United Churches will be Managed Under a Fairshare System

Area M&M Advocates

Cambridge - Stephen Hampson
Central Suffolk - John Seabourn
Colchester & Tendering - Michael Howard
Chelmsford  - John Tyler
Ipswich & East Suffolk - June Thornton
Norfolk & Waveney - Kier Hounsome
Southend East & South West Essex - Ian Miller
West Suffolk - Nigel Partridge

HAEBEA - Brian Herring