What Makes Up the Income

The parish share is the amount of money that each parish is asked to contribute to support the provision of mission and ministry in the Diocese of Coventry. We receive approximately £5.5m each year and without it we would not be able to support and pay for our clergy, ensure appropriate levels of ministry or resource mission across the Diocese. The payment of parish share is calculated in two stages. First, the calculation is based on number of stipendiary clergy posts, the number of houses for these posts and the number of training shares (which covers clergy ministerial development, and the cost of training and housing curates). This is shared between the 11 deaneries and called the Deanery Share. Second, each deanery decides how best to allocate their Deanery Share among their own parishes. This is called the Parish Share and each deanery has the freedom to determine Parish Shares using any method they choose ensuring the right balance of fairness, simplicity and transparency. The Diocesan finance team work with the Deanery Treasurers and the Area Deans to facilitate this process. 

Find out more about how Parish Share works

It is a statutory requirement for diocesan boards of finance to collect a portion of the parochial fees (the monies charged by parishes for occasional offices) each year. Coventry Diocese returns these funds, almost £260k each year, through a credit to the parish share system.

The diocese holds land, farms and commercial properties, known as Glebe, which account for £1m of our annual income. Historically, Glebe was the land given to individual priests to provide them with a source of income. The amount of land varied from one parish to another, which meant some clergy were very wealthy while others lived in poverty. This inequality was partially addressed in 1978 when the Endowments and Glebe Measure came into effect. Under the measure, all glebe land was transferred from local parishes to a central diocesan fund and held as an endowment to pay the parish priests centrally and equitably. The Board of Finance manages the portfolio with our land agents. Glebe income makes a significant contribution to the life of our churches across the diocese.

Alongside our Glebe holdings, the diocese currently has over £40m that is ethically invested in the stock market generating dividend income each year of £1.2m once fund manager fees are accounted for.

Similar to some other Dioceses, Coventry Diocese uses a total return approach, which allows us to spend any capital growth in our investments that exceeds inflation. This means we can use increases in the value of our permanent endowment above indexation, while keeping the original "real" value intact. 

Bishop’s Council members, who serve as our trustees, are legally required to maintain the capital value of the original endowment. Each year, they set a strategy for how much of the fund to use for stipend costs, which then allows an equal amount of parish share to be allocated to other expenses approved by Bishop’s Council. This approach helps preserve the historic value of our portfolio, supports long-term planning, and enables multi-year projects. As with all financial matters, total return income is closely monitored.

Rental income
During a parish vacancy, the property team work to prepare the vicarage for the next incumbent. Some properties are let and this income offsets the costs of repair and maintenance to our vicarages to circa £xm each year.

Benefact Trust
We receive small grant of approximately from the Trust which we use to support our charity partner, Together for Change

LInC Funding
Lowest Income Communities Funding is allocated to individual dioceses from the National Church of England. Created in 2017, the purpose of LInC funding is to support and develop mission in communities with the most deprived populations.

28 dioceses across England receive this block funding and in 2026 the diocese of Coventry will receive £792,000 which we use to support parishes and initiatives in our most deprived areas.

Time Limited Support
The National Church of England, in recognition of the major financial pressures diocese have faced since the pandemic, have made provision for £200 million additional time-limited support for dioceses over the next nine years, of which £100 million will be in the next three years. Our diocese will received £553,000 in 2026.