...sharing generously
This was the title of a little booklet published by the Archbishops' Council in 1999, with the reference GS 1331. This was a report about funding the Church's Mission. There was an intriguing diagram on the back cover showing where each £1 of the Church of England's money came from and how it was spent in 1997.
The report was called First to the Lord because, for those who know the grace of God, we start by giving ourselves first to the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 8.5 we find Paul holding up the Macedonian Church as an example of Christian giving: "They did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord, and then to us in keeping with God's will".
My interest was aroused by a particular part of the report which estimated that in 1997 the level of giving to the church by members was estimated to be 3.2% of their take-home pay. In 1992, General Synod had commended and reaffirmed for members a level of giving of 5% of take-home pay to and through the church, thus allowing those who practise tithing a further 5% to be given to other charitable work. More recently it has been suggested the this policy be clarified and restated as follows: "Church members are encouraged to continue to work towards an initial giving target of 5% of net income to and through the Church, with a further 5% to other charities and mission organisations". Clearly, at an estimated 3.2% in 1997, we were falling somewhat short of the benchmark for our giving to and through the Church. But how was this 3.2% estimated, how accurate was that figure, and what is it now?
Most years HM Revenue and Customs publishes figures for the average earnings of people liable to tax in each local authority district in the country and for the numbers paying such tax. This data is based on a random sample of tax records with an increased sample size in recent years improving the reliability of the results. There is a wide range of such income in the diocese; the latest available data, for the tax year 2006-7, shows Uttlesford District having the highest average gross income before tax of £38,900 and Newham Borough the lowest at £19,600. Over the last five years Uttlesford District has had the highest proportion (80%) of adults paying tax and Tendring District the lowest proportion (62%).
If the average gross income is reduced by the amount of tax paid we get an estimate of take-home pay for the tax-payers. If we then estimate the average income received by the non tax-payers and combine these two figures we get the average take-home pay for the whole adult population in a district. Combining these we get an estimate for a whole diocese. It sounds complicated and there is a lot of data to analyse but the results have proved to be very useful.
In the next few months I'll show how the 3.2% contained in First to the Lord for the average of take-home pay given to the church by members was obtained and explain some of the factors which can influence this.