Is the CoE hypocritical for investing in Amazon?

IT IS shocking, but not unexpected, to find the Church of England has invested heavily in Amazon and Google — the same companies that Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has berated. The Church can redeem itself by reinvesting the profits of their investments into the local communities it purports to care for. My town is trying to raise money for a community project to regenerate a church that was closed two years ago. Our towns are dying because of online retail giants, so it would be the perfect solution to plough this money back into the community. It would be a Christian act and would go some way to justifying the Church’s investment. B. ANDERSEN, Coleford, Glos. THE sheer hypocrisy of Archbishop Welby: berating big business while allowing the Church to invest in the companies he castigates. He also condemns business for failing to pay the minimum wage while the Church pays low salaries that need topping up with working tax credit. As for condemning the gig economy, he would do well to remember that just 40 per cent of the clergy are paid while the rest are non-stipendiary. DES MORGAN, Swindon, Wilts. THE Church should spend some of its vast wealth in looking after its parishes rather than investing it to make more money. Before criticising others, the Archbishop should put his own house in order. ALAN JONES, Wrexham. WHEN I was on Macclesfield District Council, the Church Commissioners applied for planning permission to build houses in a field next to a church. They said they did not intend to build houses and were only seeking permission in order to enhance the value of the land. It was a ploy to massage their balance sheet. The council saw through this and permission was refused. JOHN BROMLEY-DAVENPORT, Malpas, Cheshire.