Fears for church
Dwindling reserves spark appeal for cash
A Cambuslang church is facing a cash crisis that could close it down.
Cambuslang Parish Church has experienced an enormous drop in funds during the coronavirus pandemic, and could be down by as much as £40,000 by the end of the year.
The church’s minister Peter Nimmo has now appealed to parishioners and local residents to help out and ensure the church can survive.
The huge reduction in revenue is because of a lack of regular weekly donations from the congregation and the fact that no groups or organisations have been able to use the premises for months.
A letter to parishioners states the church is facing an “immediate crisis”.
Rev Nimmo, who only took over at the parish earlier this year, confirmed to the Reformer that the situation is bleak.
He said: “It’s unprecedented. I’ve never had to deal with anything like this before.
“It is not just about the church either. We provide facilities for youth organisations and community groups and that could all disappear too.
“What has happened has been a double whammy, where we have had weeks and weeks without any parishioners so there is no income coming in that way. But at the same time we don’t have anything coming in for rental of premises, and that would usually be about 25 per cent of our annual income.
“There is a danger because most of the costs we have are fixed, and we are already digging deep into our cash reserves to pay those. At some point that is going to run out.
“By the end of August we were facing a deficit of £25,000 and that will continue to rise. The end of year deficit could be as high as £40,000, which is why we are appealing to people now.”
Rev Nimmo said that he is aware times are tough for many people just now, which could affect their ability or willingness to donate.
He added: “I wanted to be frank about how bad the situation is.”
The church is encouraging locals to donate via standing orders or contactless card payments in a bid to boost regular funding.
It is also accepting payments via texting CPCNOWXX (where XX is a value in £) to 70085.
The Reformer understands most churches in the area are also dealing with financial difficulties, of varying degrees.
The Church of Scotland recently announced it feared it was facing a loss in 2020 of more than £20 million.