Church anger as Archbishop of York looks to recruit £90k chief of staff
New role of ‘critical friend’ branded madness at a time when rural parishes face budget cuts and closures
THE Archbishop of York is hiring a £90,000-a-year chief of staff in a move criticised by clergy as a “slap in the face” in a time of financial crisis for the Church of England.
The Most Rev Stephen Cottrell has been criticised as overseeing the “madness of a management-shaped church” amid allegations of a dismantling of the parish church structure.
The job advert says the new chief of staff role, which will be based at Bishopthorpe Palace, just outside York, comes with a “competitive salary in the region of £90,000” and involves the amplification of mission priorities and liaising with Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The adverts states: “You will be the Archbishop’s chief companion, support and critical friend for developing and refining this vision, aligning his work with the dioceses and central structures of the Church of England, ensuring his time is used effectively and strategically, and making it happen.”
The advert has prompted a backlash amid criticism that £90,000 conflicts with the Archbishop of York previously saying that the Church needs to be “simpler” and “humbler”. The salary could pay for around seven house-forduty clergy plus expenses.
“What need for another brigadier when you’ve sacked all the infantry?”, one layperson said. Another added: “It’s a sign of the madness of the management-shaped church.”
The chief of staff description has triggered mockery that “the Archbishop [can] pretend he’s in the West Wing”.
The criticism comes after The Telegraph reported in October that multiple clergy and laypeople had voiced fears over the “collapse” of the Church in rural communities.
A leaked Church document then suggested that the pandemic could result in the loss of the parish church model in a bid to remain “financially sustainable”. Clergy were warned of cuts, sparking fears that rural churches will not survive.
Responding to the £90,000-a-year chief of staff role, Will Pearson-Gee, Rector of Buckingham parish church, said he was “dismayed”.
“We should be spending that money on clergy posts. Surely the Archbishop could get a ‘critical friend’ for a lot less than that. It’s sending out the wrong sort of messages at a time of huge financial pressure. We only survived because of the Government’s furlough scheme.”
Neil McKittrick, a retired judge who served at Peterborough Cathedral, said the salary is “amazingly generous” when “many parishes are seriously short of money. If the Church has a future, it should stimulate successful parishes by putting more time and money into them.”
It is understood that the £90,000-a-year post will be paid for out of existing agreed budgets from the Church Commissioners, which are not linked to diocesan budgets or parishes.
A spokesman from the Office of the Archbishop of York said: “Remuneration has been benchmarked against similar senior roles within the charitable sector and agreed centrally.”