THE answer to P Friend’s question about whether parish priests will benefit from the 1,000-home development in Hereford, (Letters, March 19) is ‘yes’. But not in the way your correspondent wishes.
As a former member of the Church of England central board of finance I’m well aware that church finances are more complex than they might appear.
The land at Huntington Lane in Hereford belongs to the Church Commissioners, not Hereford diocese to whom each parish contributes to a common fund via parish share.
The commissioners give annual grants to every diocese to help meet increasing costs and have to rely entirely on their historic assets which have no new additions each year.
It is only by managing those assets, for example by developing land, that their annual grants to dioceses can be increased.
Where I totally agree with your correspondent is that a parish priest should not be a fund-raiser. As a member of a parochial church council, fund-raising is a task for the laity.
CHRISTOPHER WHITMEY Fownhope
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