The Church of Scotland is being urged to cut more than £800,000 from its budget, with overseas missionary work targeted to safeguard domestic priorities such as ministers' stipends and pensions, and its child protection unit.
A report to next month's General Assembly will recommend that almost half of the proposed £813,000 reduction would affect the Kirk's board of world mission, whose financial situation is already under pressure because of its spending on a troubled property development in the Middle East.
The state of the church's finances is described by the Rev Gordon Jamieson, director of stewardship, as "a cause for concern".
The board of stewardship and finance welcomed as "very encouraging" a 3.7% rise in offerings by members over the past four years, representing £54.2m and showing that, despite a membership fall to around half a million, giving had been more generous.
However, it said that the period had been financially extremely difficult, with central expenditure exceeding income by £19m. "Many boards and committees are incurring deficits and using reserves to maintain existing work," it said.
The findings highlighted the board of world mission as one of those suffering, indicating that it was having to cut back on some areas of work as a result of the beleagured Tiberias residential development on the Sea of Galilee for pilgrims to the Holy Land.
Work on completing one of the church's biggest property investments has been badly disrupted by hostilities in the Middle East.
Mr Jamieson said: "If you think of things that could go wrong in Israel in the last four years, they have gone wrong. That project has certainly never had a fair wind. The political situation has always been a problem and the difficulties have largely been outwith the church's control."
The report said the Kirk's pension schemes had moved from an actuarial valuation surplus of £8m at the end of 2000 to a deficit of £56m at the end of 2003. However, the stewardship director said a full actuarial examination which had just been completed was likely to show the deficit would be several million pounds less.
The report said parish staffing – ministers, deacons, project workers – and congregational resourcing were "priorities for the church". Pensions and the child protection unit, which faced increased costs because of "outside regulations", were other priorities.
The report said the five-year rolling budget to 2009 predicted mounting cuts in some areas of the church's work.
It concluded: "As costs increase, deficits mount, reserves dwindle, and membership falls, it is imperative that urgent strategic action is taken to address and resolve the problems."
Mr Jamieson said that funding parish staffing over the next few years was likely to put in jeopardy other aspects of the church's work.
He said that a proposed restructuring, if approved by the Assembly, would mean a new body "geared up" for strategy planning and "with more teeth than the board of stewardship and finance".
THE Church of Scotland is being urged to cut more than £800,000 from its budget, with overseas missionary work targeted to safeguard domestic priorities such as ministers' stipends and pensions, and its child protection unit.
A report to next month's General Assembly will recommend that almost half of the proposed £813,000 reduction would affect the Kirk's board of world mission, whose financial situation is already under pressure because of its spending on a troubled property development in the Middle East.
The state of the church's finances is described by the Rev Gordon Jamieson, director of stewardship, as "a cause for concern".
The board of stewardship and finance welcomed as "very encouraging" a 3.7% rise in offerings by members over the past four years, representing £54.2m and showing that, despite a membership fall to around half a million, giving had been more generous.
However, it said that the period had been financially extremely difficult, with central expenditure exceeding income by £19m. "Many boards and committees are incurring deficits and using reserves to maintain existing work," it said.
The findings highlighted the board of world mission as one of those suffering, indicating that it was having to cut back on some areas of work as a result of the beleagured Tiberias residential development on the Sea of Galilee for pilgrims to the Holy Land.
Work on completing one of the church's biggest property investments has been badly disrupted by hostilities in the Middle East.
Mr Jamieson said: "If you think of things that could go wrong in Israel in the last four years, they have gone wrong. That project has certainly never had a fair wind. The political situation has always been a problem and the difficulties have largely been outwith the church's control."
The report said the Kirk's pension schemes had moved from an actuarial valuation surplus of £8m at the end of 2000 to a deficit of £56m at the end of 2003. However, the stewardship director said a full actuarial examination which had just been completed was likely to show the deficit would be several million pounds less.
The report said parish staffing – ministers, deacons, project workers – and congregational resourcing were "priorities for the church". Pensions and the child protection unit, which faced increased costs because of "outside regulations", were other priorities.
The report said the five-year rolling budget to 2009 predicted mounting cuts in some areas of the church's work.
It concluded: "As costs increase, deficits mount, reserves dwindle, and membership falls, it is imperative that urgent strategic action is taken to address and resolve the problems."
Mr Jamieson said that funding parish staffing over the next few years was likely to put in jeopardy other aspects of the church's work.
He said that a proposed restructuring, if approved by the Assembly, would mean a new body "geared up" for strategy planning and "with more teeth than the board of stewardship and finance".