The Dean of Jersey, the Very Rev Bob Key, said that dioceses across England were having to reduce the number of clergy, but he added that ‘the jury was still out’ on whether Jersey would have to follow suit.
Mr Key said that people would have to get to grips with the reality that the church did not have ‘millions stashed away’. Mr Key, who attended a meeting on Monday on funding shortages with the Bishop of Winchester, the Right Rev Michael Scott-Joynt, said that the Island could only deploy the clergy that they can afford to pay.
Mr Scott-Joynt recently announced a budget reduction for 2010 that would address the effects of the recession. He said: ‘The Diocesan Synod, the diocese’s decision-making body, has agreed what we believe to be an equitable budget. It should ensure that we sustain our vision and resource our mission appropriately in 2010.’
