Financial management in the Church of England : Bradford diocese - Page 69

- 69 -

            (ii) Better use of inventories and terriers - knowing what

                   assets are available may stimulate optimum useage.

            (iii) Cost analysis - and ratio analysis in particular -

                    which may be of value in considering parochial mergers

                    and splits.

            (iv) Risk analysis, particularly in relation to new church

                    building.

            (v) A diocesan communal fund - receiving excess funds from

                     parochial or diocesan sources and lending or donating

                     where needs exceeds resource.

3.5.6

Summary

This grouping of techniques is not exhaustive - and the generic

headings chosen may not even be quite appropriate, phraseology at

least may have to be adapted, - but this section has been included

to suggest ideas which might merit enquiry from within the Church.

By considering and debating new possibilities there may be found ways

in which the Church could improve its management of its secular affairs

without causing embarrassment to its basic doctrinal feelings. Of the

many people interviewed formally and informally for this study, some

few were wholeheartedly in favour of adopting more rational management

techniques, many were uncertain or ambiguous, another few had a

reluctance bordering on fear (that the Church's principal objective(s)

would be hindered rather than helped), but almost all were in comparative

ignorance of what was possible. ("We found it easier to get statistics

than to get any agreement on what the statistics meant."

(B28)

) This

seems to establish something of a paradox - until the church is able

to state clearly the degree to which certain techniques are consistent

with its own concepts, then practitioners cannot develop more than

theoretical ideas of what could be done, but until such ideas are