Parochial Fees
The 2024 and 2025 PAROCHIAL (LIFE EVENTS) FEES TABLES [click to access link] can be found on the Church of England website.
Please note the following change in one area of parochial fees for 2025:
From 1 January 2025 a fee of £199 is due to the Hereford Diocesan Board of Finance ("HDBF") for a funeral service led by an authorised Anglican minister at a crematorium or at a cemetery, plus £35 to the Parochial Church Council of the parish in which the deceased used to live. (The equivalent 2024 fee was £228, all due to the HDBF.) If the funeral service takes place in premises belonging to a funeral director, the combined fee of £234 is due to the HDBF. These fees should be sent directly to the Hereford Diocesan Board of Finance, Finance Team, Diocesan Office, Palace Yard, Hereford HR4 9BL. Funeral directors who prefer to transfer these fees by BACS should email the Finance Team for bank account details. Some funeral directors may need this claim form completed before they can send the relevant fee.
Clergy who officiate at a funeral service at a crematorium/cemetery should claim travel expenses (if they wish to) directly from the funeral director.
Funerals
Churches often invite the congregation at funerals and other similar services to make a contribution to church funds. However, families may also ask for a collection to be taken for a named charity in memory of their loved one. Guidance for families can be found on the Funerals page of the website. Guidance for clergy, funeral directors and PCCs can be found here.
If you are booking a funeral via the Diocese of Hereford Funeral Service (currently only available in Hereford City Deanery), please visit our funerals page. A copy of the fees for a Diocese of Hereford Funeral Service can be viewed here.
Voluntary Ministers
Information relating to services to be conducted by Voluntary Ministers can be found in the Guidance for Voluntary Ministers section of the Guidance for Clergy page.
Marriage Forms
The marriage form is a record of the date of the marriage, the parish, the statutory fees and any extra fees set by the PCC and agreed with the family. The form should be completed by parishes and copies provided to the family, PCC Treasurer and Incumbent / Priest-in-Charge:
Payment of Parochial Fees to the Diocesan Board of Finance
Since 2013, the whole of each statutory fee due to the Diocese must be paid to the Hereford Diocesan Board of Finance (HDBF). Any payments to Voluntary Ministers will be paid by HDBF on receipt of a Voluntary Minister claim form. Some fees are collected at a parish level, others at a group or benefice level. The PCC Treasurer should ensure that they understand how fees are administered in their particular parish.
Parochial fees must be submitted to the Hereford DBF on a monthly basis (quarterly for small parishes if no Voluntary Ministers have taken services) accompanied by the relevant form:
Only the fee element due to the PCC should appear as income in the PCC's annual accounts. Further guidance on accounting for statutory fees can be found here.
Churches often invite the congregation at funerals and other services to make a contribution to church funds. However, families may also ask for a collection to be taken for a named charity in memory of their loved one.
Church of England regulations strictly limit the amount of parochial fees that a church is permitted to charge for a funeral. Some additional expenses (e.g. heating) may be charged at cost, by agreement with the family. However, there may be some hidden costs for which the church is not allowed to charge. Some churches may choose to take up a collection to help offset these costs.
From time to time, difficulties have arisen in connection with these collections. The following guidance is for funeral directors and church officials and is based on a legal opinion published by the Church of England. You can find a summary of this guidance, revised in April 2024, in this Collections in Church at Funerals, Memorial Services, and Services of Thanksgiving leaflet.
Who decides if a (retiring) collection is to be taken?
A collection can only be taken with the consent of the minister taking the service.
What can the collection be used for?
The purposes to which collections at funeral or thanksgiving services are to be allocated must be determined by the PCC jointly with the incumbent or priest-in-charge. (In the rare case of disagreement, the diocesan bishop may give directions cf. section 7(iv) of the Parochial Church Councils (Powers) Measure 1956).
It is good practice for the PCC to have an official policy specifying the share (if any) of a retiring collection that will go towards church funds. The PCC may also have a suggested list of other charities that a family can choose from. Alternatively, the PCC may agree that a retiring collection can go to other charities and causes nominated by the deceased's family. Note that the officiating minister cannot agree to such requests without the authority of the PCC. A large church may appoint a PCC sub-committee to decide on requests that are made.
Occasionally, the incumbent or priest-in-charge may consider it appropriate for pastoral reasons to ask PCC to vary the usual collection policy. This should be done with the agreement of the PCC before the service.
Good communication is essential
The question of a collection at the funeral should be discussed by the officiating minister in a pastoral visit ahead of the service, and agreed in advance with a representative of the immediate family.
If there is to be a retiring collection for the general purposes of the church or a specific church project or an outside organisation, this must be made clear to the congregation. There should be an announcement about the collection at an appropriate point in the service, together with an explanatory note in the printed order of service. It is also helpful to display a card identifying the beneficiary/ies at the point of donation.
Who can take the collection?
The churchwardens are the proper officers to make the collection, either alone or with the aid of the sidespeople or other persons selected by them. Collections can be taken according to the usual custom of the local church, using collection plates, bowls, or boxes. At least two people chosen by the churchwarden should count the collection. The officiating minister may ask a representative from the family to join the sidespeople in counting the collection to receive any personal messages.
NB - Updated policy April 2024: Please review carefully the updated guidance contained in the Collections in Church at Funerals, Memorial Services and Services of Thanksgiving leaflet. The guidance includes a section on how to deal with a retiring collection that is partly or wholly for a charity nominated by the family. However the collection has been taken and recorded, it's important that the family is informed promptly of the total collection raised.
Retiring collections taken wholly for the Parochial Church Council should be handled by the PCC Treasurer in the usual way (not by the funeral director). It is the responsibility of the PCC Treasurer to inform the family promptly of the total collection raised.
Card readers can be very useful for retiring collections but, unless PCC officers are confident setting up dedicated digital giving options in line with the family's wishes, it is recommended that card readers are used only for donations to the local church / PCC. In this scenario, donations for another charity nominated by a family should be made by cash, cheque, or online via the link provided by the funeral directors. Churchwardens should ensure that card-readers are handled only by individuals trained and authorised in their use.
How should the collection be recorded?
All collections taken in a Church of England church building or within the curtilage of the church (i.e. porch or churchyard) that are 100% for the Parochial Church Council must be handled in the same way as any other service collection, recorded in the church's services register, and processed through the PCC bank account by the PCC Treasurer. If the collection is for a particular church project, then it should be treated by the PCC Treasurer as restricted income.
Retiring collections for another charity, or where only a portion of the collection is for the local PCC, may be taken away for processing by the funeral directors. In no circumstances should collections be taken away by family members.
Gift Aid
Any Gift Aid claimed in relation to the collection must follow the purpose of the collection. Where Gift Aid envelopes are received in favour of a charity, they should be passed on, unopened to the charity. A PCC is not permitted to claim Gift Aid on any portion of a collection not intended for the church/PCC.
Alms boxes
Money placed in alms boxes are to be applied to such uses as the incumbent or priest-in-charge and PCC think fit. (If they disagree, the 'Ordinary' (usually the bishop) is to determine the disposal of the alms.)