Forty Million Lessons to Learn

Last night someone came to me and said, "Whoo Hoo, £40m! Hope you're not going to ask us to make that up in the offering!"

I didn't have a clue what they were on about but was, very quickly, brought up to speed as it seems, once again, the Church Commissioners have gone out and lost a fair amount of money by getting into a couple of property investments (Again!) in the US. These were investments in Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, a couple of Manhattan housing estates alongside the East River. It's fair to say that they couldn't have foreseen the property bubble bursting - after all they're into profits and not prophets - but bottom line is that they have blown another £40m.

Having done this, the Church Commissioners have now written off the debt and, "Will be looking 'carefully' into the deal to see what lessons could be learned!" Yippee, hallelujah and 'Praise the Lord'! I can probably be of a little help here in that I was taught that the key was to 'buy low - sell high' and that buying into the deal at the top of the market was possibly an indication that it might be the wrong investment to make. Then again, perhaps they thought that the market was just going to rise for ever and they, like the bankers, were merely doing what they do in the same old way and assuming they'd make money!.

Investments are a real pain. When I worked in the financial sector I was amazed by the people in the investments arm of the firm who took money and by cautious, informed and intelligent investing made a comfortable sum year upon year. In fact, as I recall, there was never a year when they made a loss in their own history - not even when the bubbles that have decimated the CofE finaces at least twice were popping - does this tell us something or perhaps raise concerns that need to be addressed I wonder?

So what's the fallout for this? I've already be taunted (nicely) about this three times today. "Going to have to start charging admission fees," I was told by one. "Going to have to sell some of those riches and the flashy properties," said another. Well, it isn't mine of course for I live in an ordinary (leaking roof and problem-ridden) house in an urban priority area but this isn't noticed. Once again the love of money and the CofE is in the public domain. Now there is a blessing - it's stopped some wittering on endlessly about what people to to each other in terms of sexual antics BUT it has raised in the minds of many the fact that they see us (the CofE) as hypocrites when it comes to money (and fools when it comes to managing it).

I have tried to explain that having property and possessions that bring in interest means that there is money in the pot to support the churches and other 'good works' out there and in response I am asked to explain that if this is the case how comes we are told that unless we pay our parish share the dog-collar's existence cannot be guaranteed. I tell them how we have a common pot and share and live as one family and they ask me how comes fifty years ago (some people have long memories) the central church paid eighty percent of the costs of running the whole shebang leaving the parishes to find the remaining twenty percent. You know what - I don't have an answer to that (not even a facile one - which is unusual for me).

Spread across the Dioceses this loss is a measly £909,090.90 each - at our present rate of parish share we will pay that in just over five hundred and five years. It's going to be hard for some of us to encourage giving and real financial support for the places we find ourselves ministering in the light of this news(thankfully I don't see us having that problem) and I wonder if there will be 'lessons learnt' or will we merely see belts pulled tighter and more veiled threats relating to the sustainability of congregations because of it. Perhaps we need to rationalise those financial, administrative and other types and realise that unless we have congregations out there we won't see people come to Christ and of course, if they don't hear and come, how will they pay?

This is not an issue that should cause us to panic - it just tells us that perhaps we need to be trusting in the Lord a little more and in bankers and the like a little less. Now, how do I answer the text message I've had that's asking me if we're going to hold a jumble sale to help make up the loss?