The Anglican Diocese of Dunedin is “two years out from a crisis” and must restructure to become sustainable, its Bishop, the Rt Rev Dr Kelvin Wright, says. He informed ministry units and clergy about the situation by letter late last month, before posting it on his blog on Friday.
“For many years, the diocese has been in decline on any parameter that could be named … attendances, numbers of families served and the real level of giving have all been steadily dropping over the years to the point where several of our parishes are on the very edge of ceasing to exist altogether,” he said in the letter.
The impact of skyrocketing earthquake insurance premiums post the Christchurch earthquake is going to be tough for all the mainline churches with historic buildings not just the Anglican diocese of Dunedin.
From the bishop’s description, earthquake premiums have only precipitated a financial crisis which was going to happen anyway, and sooner rather than later.
In the end, it always comes back to parish income – if your parishioners leave and aren’t replaced, a diocese can only continue for a limited time before it has to shut down.