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The Church Commissioners - helping parishes and dioceses across the Church of England

The Church Commissioners play a vital role in supporting the Church of England as a Christian presence in every community.

They manage an investment portfolio of more than £5bn*, largely in property and shares, derived from the Church’s historic resources.

They look after this as a long-term resource for both current and future generations balancing their needs in all of their decision-making.

 

The  Commissioners:

  • contribute 15p in the pound to the cost of the Church of England’s mission – most of the balance comes from the generous giving of today's parishioners.
  • have distributed £21 million more each year to the Church for the past 10 years than if their investments had performed only at the industry average.
  • operate a distributions policy that ‘smoothes’ fluctuations in the financial markets, with the aim of providing stable support to their beneficiaries.
  • manage their investments within ethical guidelines, overseen by the Church of England’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group.
  • pay for all clergy pensions earned up to 1998 - pensions since then are paid for by dioceses, largely from money donated by parishioners.
  • pay the stipends and workings costs of all the Church of England's bishops – and the housing costs of all diocesan bishops – in support of their local and national ministries.
  • provide more than £30 million each year in support for parish ministry, primarily to less-resourced dioceses.
  • support the mission of the Church’s cathedrals by paying the stipends of the majority of cathedral deans and two stipendiary canons, as well as making other cathedral grants.
  • encourage innovative uses for churches no longer in use for Church of England worship.
  • support the administration costs of parish boundary changes and give grants to other Church bodies.

Who are the Church Commissioners?

The 33 Church Commissioners are:

  • the two Archbishops;
  • three Church Estates Commissioners, who represent the Church Commissioners in General Synod and (Second Commissioner) in Parliament;
  • eleven people elected from General Synod: four bishops, three clergy, four lay people;
  • two deans
  • nine people who are appointed by the Crown and the Archbishops;
  • six ex officio members: the Prime Minister, the Lord President of the Council, the Home Secretary, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, and the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament.

History of the Commissioners

The Queen Anne's Bounty and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners joined in 1948 to form the Church Commissioners. Queen Anne's Bounty was a charity founded in 1704 to help poor clergy. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were given the estates belonging to bishops and cathedrals, so they could fund the Church's ministry into new urban areas.

(*as at December 30th 2007)