The Peterborough Circuit Meeting 18/01/17 (Present 36, Voting 29, For 26, Against 0) requests that Conference reviews the proportion of local (or externally sourced funding) that churches and circuits must raise in order to qualify for connexional grants. At present, there is considerable inequity; a Methodist Action on Poverty and Justice (formerly Mission Alongside the Poor) application requires local churches or circuits to source at least a 1/2 of total project costs themselves. A Chaplaincy application requires a 1/3rd. However, no such condition applies in the case of Mission and Ministry, including Heritage, or Property.
The fact that MAPJ applications require the highest proportion of local funding seems incoherent. Whilst the Mission and Ministry including Heritage fund acknowledges that some circuits are faced with ‘impossible or overwhelmingly difficult’ situations, and face ‘unreasonable financial burdens’, no such acknowledgement is made in the case of MAPJ. We hold that the requirement for projects to source half of their funding locally, potentially discriminates against those churches and circuits who have limited resources but still sense God’s calling to serve the poor and campaign for justice. We therefore call upon Conference to remove the MAPJ qualifier, and to also reconsider the contribution required to qualify for Chaplaincy grants.