To access the statistics forms, please visit the online parish return system. You will be asked for a username and password. These will be the same as last year. If you have forgotten either then click ‘forgotten password’ and you will be sent a new one via email. If you are new in post and have never used the system before, please contact rebecca.hathaway@chester.anglican.org and you will be sent log in details.
Once logged in you will be taken straight to your church. Click on the church name to access the forms. You will be presented with 3 forms to access, Finance Statistics; Statistics for Mission and Energy Footprint Tool. Select which one you want to input first. NB if you are inputting for more than one church you will see that once you access the form you must tick the box or boxes of which churches you are inputting the data for.
On the top right of each page there is a ‘download user guide’ option this will give you details of how to fill the forms in.
You can save and log out at anytime and resume input at a later date.
If you get stuck on any part of the forms then click the blue ‘?’ next to each question and it will give more information about what should be filled in, in that particular field. There is also an option to email for help and you will be contacted by the Church of England's Research & Statistics department in London.
On completion of the forms they must then be submitted to the diocese by clicking ‘submit'. By doing this you will no longer be able to go back and edit what has been inputted. The diocese then verify data and it is submitted to the national statistics department.
By inputting online you will also be able to access forms from previous years. These can be accessed by clicking ‘Reports’ and 'Download Data'.
Please note that any deadlines are set by the national statistics department and are the same across all Diocese in the country and are not set by the Diocese of Chester.