Parish Share is how parishes and the Diocese work together to fund ministry and mission across the Diocese of Salisbury, sustaining clergy, housing, pensions and the services that support parish life as we seek to Make Jesus Known.
The current Share system is simple, transparent and rooted in mutual support, reflecting the real cost of ministry today. With fewer historic assets to rely on, today’s ministry needs to be paid for by today’s Church. Rooted in mutual support, it enables those who have a little more to help those who have a little less, so that together we can continue to Make Jesus Known now and for future generations.
Parish share is your church's contribution towards local ministry and our shared responsibility to sustain the Church's mission across the diocese.
It pays for: clergy stipends, pensions, clergy housing, training, our future clergy (ordinands and curates), vocations, safeguarding training and DBS checks, church buildings support and quinquennials, pastoral reorganisation support, giving and fundraising support and advice, advice and guidance from the Registry and Chancellor and financial support.
It does not pay for: Salisbury Cathedral, Cathedral staff, Bishops or the Bishop's house, Jersey or Guernsey deaneries.
There are c.50 FTE (full time equivalent) staff working from Emmaus House, around 40 are paid through parish share, whereas the remaining 10 are funded through external funds, to deliver specific pieces of work like Net Zero advice, community engagement and delivering our vision and strategy.
Most of the staff support parishes, such as in safeguarding, maintenance of clergy homes, church buildings support, parish support, financial advice and fundraising.
The costs of employing staff come out of the total economy of the diocese; 78 per cent of income comes from Parish Share and the remainder from investments and other income. Where there have been extra staff recruited in recent years, these are mainly in areas of compliance - safeguarding, church buildings and human resources, to support and enable parishes and the DBF to fulfil their legal responsibilities. The central overheads of running Emmaus House is just 7 per cent of the 2026 budget - much lower than many other similar sized charities.