How parishes ended up with such a raw deal
sir – The letter (November 2) from three bishops, including my own, has heightened my disappointment with the Church of England’s leadership during this pandemic.
Traditionally, parishes paid for the stipend and upkeep of their priest. Town parishes gained their income from the local population, while rural parishes gained theirs from tithes (or rents) from their holdings of land and property.
This was until the Endowments and Glebe Measure 1976 took all land and property from the parishes and gave it to the diocese; in return, the diocese paid for the incumbent.
But, in 2013, it was declared that “the responsibility is ours”, meaning this cost would be returned to the parishes – yet the diocese did not give us back the income from our land and property. In my benefice, this would, at today’s prices, easily cover the £55,000 capitation rate for the incumbent. Instead, the diocese’s support amounts to £9,000, but it then adds £15,000 to the bill as our share of its costs.
The bishops’ letter thanks those who worship in the churches and who pay to maintain the buildings. This narrow-minded focus explains why the Church is in decline. It has possibly the most established community network in the country, and had the chance to show what a practical force for good it could be. The Church should have been out there helping those in need, organising food deliveries, collecting prescriptions or phoning the lonely.
Instead, it shut down and our bishops simply encouraged us to pray. Andrew Purdy
Treasurer, Upper Wensum Benefice, Diocese of Norwich sir – I have worked for financial businesses for 50 years, and been parish treasurer for most of that time. The financial affairs of the Church are a riddle wrapped in an enigma.
It is rarely mentioned that the Church still funds a large part of its defined benefit pension scheme on the voluntary contributions from parishes. That funding amounts to an additional 40 per cent of the stipend of our wonderful priest.
Few organisations outside government can fund a defined benefit pension scheme, and I wonder how much longer the Church thinks it can. Sir Michael Bunbury
Treasurer, Rendlesham Parochial Church Council, Suffolk