What is the Return of Parish Finance (RPF)?
The Return of Parish Finance (RPF) is an annual online return which enables each parish and the Church of England to understand the activities of the church. Alongside your parish's attendance information (Statistics for Mission) your RPF gives insight into the health of your parish. The data collected informs the following years guided pledge and also enables us to produce deanery, diocesan and demographic summaries that give useful insight to show how things have changed over time.
Each parish’s RPF is collected on the Church of England’s central system parishreturns.churchofengland.org.
How do I submit my parishes RPF?
RPF’s can be completed as soon as the PCC approves their annual financial statements (you do not have to wait until the APCM). You will find it useful to make sure there is a nominated person to collate the numbers and complete the return as some parishes find this can slip through the cracks. You will need a copy of the financial statements to complete the return and also know the number of planned givers and legacies received for the year.
Returns need to be input by each parish representative via the returns system. If you require a username and password please contact parish.returns@durham.anglican.org with your name and parish.
Some people find it helpful to print off a copy of the online form as they collect together the numbers before entering in to their return. If you would find this helpful, forms are available from the parish returns website.
The deadline for submitting parish returns is 28th June each year.
What happens next?
Once submitted, your data is made available to the Diocese of Durham and Church of England Data Services Team to help us understand parish activities and its finances. Information provided through this system will be included in statistical publications and made available online.
The PCC must ensure that a copy of the annual report and financial statements are forwarded to the Diocese for retention within 28 days of its APCM (Church Representation Rules – Part 9) please forward copies to parish.returns@durham.anglican.org
The online returns site also contains tools to help you explore how your attendance and income/expenditure have shifted. Likewise you can use the Energy Footprint Tool to monitor your carbon footprint and energy efficiency. If any of the data is missing or contains errors please do advise us of your parish data so we can update previous years for you.
Thank you for your time in completing this really important information. Your data is invaluable to you, your deanery, Diocese of Durham and the Church of England. If you do have any queries please contact the Generous Giving Team via parish.returns@durham.anglican.org