Dear sisters and brothers in Christ
I write as the Chair of Churches Linked Across Staffordshire and the Potteries (CLASP) and on behalf of Black Country Churches Engaged (BCCE) to wish you a joyful New Year and to ask for your help. I have no doubt that over the past number of years your organisation will have benefitted from the work, guidance and inspiration of Robert Mountford, our Ecumenical Mission Officer for Staffordshire and the Black Country. What you may not realise is how this post has been funded. Each year CLASP and BCCE has invited contributions from the larger established denominations. Our total income over the past 3 years has averaged £20500, with 32% coming from the Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham and 30% from the Church of England (Lichfield and Birmingham dioceses). The remainder comes from the Methodist Church (23%) the United Reformed Church, the Heart of England Baptist Association and the Salvation Army. We have also been grateful for donations from the Central England Quakers, the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the Burton Transformation Trust. However, we continue to see a year-on-year deficit in the region of £4000. Should this continue, we estimate that we might only be able to fund the vital work of the Ecumenical Mission Officer for a further 4 years. Therefore we must seek additional sources of funding. We know that Robert provides invaluable support to the various Local Ecumenical Partnerships and Churches Together group across the region, and we feel that the time is right to invite each of these groups to make a financial contribution. We calculate that if each Local Ecumenical Project and Churches Together group were to contribute £50, then we this would bring in an additional £2000 to our annual income. Of course, we would always welcome larger donations!
In terms of mission, ministry and finance, we recognise that these are challenging times for our churches as we wrestle with the legacy of the Covid19 pandemic. However, it is precisely because of these challenges that we believe Robert’s work with churches across Staffordshire and the Black Country must continue. I would be grateful if you could take this request to your management groups and direct any comments or questions to our Treasurer, Peter Lucas (peterlucas1@skjy.com).
Matthew Parker, Bishop of Stafford Chair of the CLASP Enabling Group