Covenant Pledges
Jeremiah 31:33: “But this is the covenant that I will make…, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
The Covenant Scheme, approved by Diocesan Synod in May 2021, is to fund the cost of stipendiary ministry across the Diocese of Lincoln. It is also part of the more expansive Diocesan strategic endeavour to resource and build mutually flourishing relationships and together grow the Church. Financial generosity towards the Church’s mission and ministry is a sacrament of seriousness about what we value and believe. The term ‘Covenant’ provides the framework for understanding our Christian community and mutual discipleship journey. Based on the principle of covenant and promise, the Covenant Scheme is a theological pledge of financial intention and generosity between parish/Local Mission Partnership and the Diocese of Lincoln. It is not a legally binding contract but should be entered into in good faith. In this spirit, we can fulfil our calling to work together as a diocese, reaching out into our communities to see the Kingdom of God grow and lives transformed, in the name of Jesus Christ.
The life of the Church in the parishes of our diocese is blessed with a wide range of ministers, both lay and ordained. Many of these give of their time entirely voluntary, and share the burden and the joy of ministry with the stipendiary clergy.
In sending his followers out to spread his Good News, Jesus said that they deserved to be provided for by those to whom they went (Lk 10:1-12). Our stipendiary clergy, by and large, have no other source of income other than their stipend. They need to be housed in the places they serve. Provision needs to be made for their pensions, and they need support to guide their continued development.
The cost to parishes of supporting a stipendiary parish priest in these ways is £55,000 a year, which is roughly double what that priest is actually paid as their stipend. Compared to other dioceses, this cost to parishes in considerably lower in our diocese than elsewhere, owing to the generosity of previous generations to the Church in Greater Lincolnshire.
This Covenant Scheme enables your parish, along with others within your Local Mission Partnership (LMP), to determine how much you and they shall each contribute towards the cost of mission and ministry, and balances this with what you and your LMP then receives.
The Diocese needs to know exactly the amount of funds it will receive from each parish, so it can budget accurately, to ensure that stipendiary priests are available to the community of Greater Lincolnshire, and so we can plan a sustainable future together.
As part of this two-way pledge, the Diocese commits to directing resources where there is the greatest need and to funding all other costs and activity from other sources of income, such as investments and assets. This means that parishes can continue, at no cost, to receive support from the Diocese, including training and expertise on mission, buildings, fundraising, finance, safeguarding, governance and more.
The Generous Living Team offers support to each parish as they decide on their Covenant Pledge. There is no formula to work with that decides what figure each parish should give. That system did not work. Therefore, the onus is on each parish to decide what it wishes to give.
It is hoped that in deciding upon its Covenant Pledge, the PCC will consider the amount it is pledging prayerfully, generously, realistically and purposefully, seeing it as a gift towards helping the church develop not just in its own local community, but across the whole county. For instance, a Key Mission Church may contribute more than the cost of a full stipendiary post. Such generosity blesses the whole Church. By working together in this way, we can keep progressing towards our shared ambition of providing 100 stipendiary posts located across the Diocese, including within your Local Mission Partnership.
Submitting your Parish’s Covenant Pledge
Please use this form to submit your parish’s Covenant Pledge.