Financial ecumenism

[ursusanglicanus]

I am not a great fan of the Church of England. Its average level of spirituality fails to impress, which is why I am in Orthodoxy.

But one thing I do miss is the Anglican approach to money. This I find far superior to the Russian model. Priests all get a pretty standard salary, paid centrally. Each church knows at the beginning of the year how much

Comments

[silberfischka]

:0
12 Pfund für die Taufe!...
50 Euro bei uns... es waren 4 Jahre rückwärts. Es ist jetzt wieviel - ich weiß nicht.

[mmekourdukova]

Nein, es sind GBP 12 für ein Taufzertifikat. Für die Taufe selbst wird kein festes Gebühr gesetzt. Die meisten Taufen geschehen innerhalb der Kirchengemeinschaft.
Soweit ich weiss, wurden Hochzeiten früher auch nicht bezahlt, oder minimal. Das Problem kam insbesondere in schönen Kirchen auf dem Lande, wo es einen Andrang gab (bis zu drei Hochzeiten an einem Juni-Sonntag) von Menschen, oft von besseren sozialen Kreisen, die sonst nichts mit der Kirche zu tun hatten.

[mmekourdukova]

I have pressed the wrong key below and have undergone a sex change....

[silberfischka]

Ja, ich habe verstanden :)
(und für die Taufe auch)

[mata_ariki]

ROCOR uses the similar approach (as COE), except there is no fixed charges for the services.

[maitai1again]

Я сейчас в Японии, ездим почти по всей стране; храмы обойдёнными не остаются ) Пытаюсь если не разговаривать всенрьёз (здесь не вдруг идут на разговор с внешними), то хоть смотреть внимательно по стенам и куда можно достать. Нигде, ни разу не видела _прейскурантов_. Зарплаты у клира - фиксированные (за скобками оставляю православный приход в Хакодатэ), монашеские приходы выглядят так недёшево, что даже мысль о поборах с треб не приходит )

Через несколько дней вернусь в НикорайДо, попробую там поузнавать денежное. Три недели назад говорили только о стеснённом финансовом положении ЯПЦ, однако поскольку клир там японско-греческий, вряд ли прихожанам приходится много платить.

[golovinvlad]

I really do not understand. If priests all recieve salary, so why they need fees?
By the way, what is is usual monthly salary?

[ursusanglicanus]

The fees, as I understand it go into the general 'big pot', from which salaries and buildings maintenance are paid. (Priests are not paid by the state).

The salary figures I picked up on the net are:
Curates: £14,680-£15,820
Parish clergy: £16,420
Cathedral-based canons: £20,200
Junior bishops: £24,790
Diocesan bishops: £30,120
Archbishop of Canterbury: £55,660

These are 6 years old, so add another 15% or so for inflation. OK, priests normally have free housing, but this is not riches if you are raising a family.

But more to the point, a church building can be hideously expensive to keep in order - repairs, heating etc. From the notices I see in church buildings, for a medium-sized 15th century church (and there are an awful lot of them around), you are easily talking £ 25,000 a year. The cost of a cathedral, excluding clergy, is more than £ 1 million a year.

[priest_ali]

Is it gross or net income? Anyway, it is not much at all. If I undeerstand it correctly, a good programmer easily earns as much as a diocesan bishop.

[ursusanglicanus]

Gross - though tax does not bit as hard in the lower income range in the UK as it does in Belgium or Holland, and there is free housing and some sort of car allowance.

It used to be worse - 40 years ago, when I considered priesthood, this was a road to (genteel) poverty. I have heard that marrying pious women from wealthier families was one way out of the trap, especially for a priest expected to function at the higher end of the social ladder.

The real financial problem today is schooling - every priest with a family is desperate to be sent to a part of the country where secondary schooling is still good (i.e. normally with separate grammar schools and not cmprehensives)and free.

Offtop: who, if any, of the gang went to Perwijze yesterday?