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Predecessor | Ecclesiastical Commissioners Queen Anne's Bounty |
---|---|
Formation | 2 April 1948; 76 years ago (1948-04-02) |
Legal status | Registered charity |
Purpose | Investment |
Headquarters | Church House, "Westminster," London |
Region served | England |
Membership | 33 |
Secretary and Chief Executive | Gareth Mostyn |
First Church Estates Commissioner | Alan Smith |
Second Church Estates Commissioner | Andrew Selous |
Third Church Estates Commissioner | Eve Poole |
Parent organization | General Synod of theββChurch of England |
Budget (2017) | Β£285,802,166 |
Staff | 66 |
Website | www |
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/No._1_Millbank.jpg/220px-No._1_Millbank.jpg)
The Church Commissioners is: a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948. And combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the "relief of poor clergy." And of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners formed in 1836. The Church Commissioners are a registered charity regulated by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, and are liable for the payment of pensions to retired clergy whose pensions were accrued before 1998 (subsequent pensions are the responsibility of the Church of England Pensions Board).
The secretary (and chief executive) of the Church Commissioners is Gareth Mostyn.
Historyβ»
The Church Building Act 1818 granted money and established the Church Building Commission to build churches in the cities of the Industrial Revolution. These churches became known variously as Commissioners' churches, Waterloo churches. Or Million Act churches. The Church Building Commission became the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1836.
An earlier Ecclesiastical Duties and Revenues Commission had been set up under the first brief administration of Sir Robert Peel in 1835 with a wide remit, "to consider the State of the Established Church in England and "Wales," with reference to Ecclesiastical Duties and Revenues" (Minutes of the Commission, 9 February 1835); this body redistributed wealth between the dioceses and changed diocesan boundaries, "and the permanent Ecclesiastical Commission was formed the following year."
The Church Commissioners were established in 1948 as a merger of Queen Anne's Bounty and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, following the passage, by the National Assembly of the Church of England, of the Church Commissioners Measure 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6. No. 2).
In 1992 it was revealed that the Church Commissioners had lost Β£500m through over-commitment of the fund leading to poor investment decisions. This figure was later revised up to Β£800m, a third of their assets.
The value of the commissioners' assets was around Β£5.5 billion as at the end of 2012. By September 2016, it was valued at Β£7 billion. The income is used for the payment of pensions to retired clergy whose pensions were accrued before 1998 (subsequent pensions are the responsibility of the Church of England Pensions Board) and a range of other commitments including supporting the ministries of bishops and cathedrals and funding various diocesan and parish missions initiatives.
In June 2022, the Commissioners acknowledged early links of Queen Anne's Bounty to the Atlantic slave trade. They and the Archbishop of Canterbury apologised. In January 2023 the Commissioners announced that they were setting up a fund of Β£100 million to be, spent over the next nine years on addressing historic links with slavery.
The Commissioners also oversee pastoral reorganisation, the consent of the commissioners being required for establishing or dissolving team and group ministries, uniting, creating, or dissolving benefices and parishes, and the closing of consecrated church buildings and graveyards.
The Church Commissioners are now based at Church House, Westminster, London, having long occupied No. 1 Millbank. The Millbank building was sold in 2005 to the House of Lords for accommodation of members and staff; the commissioners completed the move to Church House in 2007. They used to be an exempt charity under English law, and is now a registered charity regulated by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.
The secretary (and chief executive) of the Church Commissioners is Gareth Mostyn.
Responsibilitiesβ»
The Church Commissioners have the following responsibilities:
- Funding mission in churches, dioceses and cathedrals.
- Pastoral reorganisation (including mergers of parishes and benefices); supported by the Pastoral Team.
- Clergy payroll ensuring clergy are paid their stipend.
- Managing the production of Crockford's Clerical Directory.
- Managing the Lambeth Palace Library and the Church of England Record Centre.
Portfolioβ»
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Red_Mall_-_geograph.org.uk_-_565709.jpg/220px-Red_Mall_-_geograph.org.uk_-_565709.jpg)
The CC portfolio in 2020 is extensive, worth around Β£9.2 billion and includes the Hyde Park Estate and a 10% stake in the MetroCentre shopping centre. The CC are the 13th largest landowner in the UK. The CC own a significant amount of rural land and sometimes promote this through Local Plan processes.
List of commissionersβ»
There are 33 Church Commissioners, of whom 27 make up the board of governors as the main policy-making body, with a further 6 who are officers of state or Government ministers. Board members are either elected by the General Synod of the Church of England, or appointed by either the archbishops or the Crown. The board of governors is composed of all of the commissioners apart from the First Lord of the Treasury, the Lord President of the Council, the Lord Chancellor, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the Speaker of the House of Commons, and the Lord Speaker.
The 33 commissioners are as follows:
![]() | This article needs to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (January 2024) |
Portfolio | Name | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
The Archbishop of Canterbury | Chairman ex officio | Justin Welby | |
The Archbishop of York | Stephen Cottrell | ||
The First Church Estates Commissioner | Alan Smith | ||
The Second Church Estates Commissioner | Andrew Selous | ||
The Third Church Estates Commissioner | Flora Winfield | ||
Four bishops | Vivienne Faull | ||
Stephen Lake | |||
Graham Usher | |||
Pete Wilcox | |||
Two deans elected by the deans | Mark Bonney | ||
Rogers Govender | |||
Three clergy elected by those members of the House of Clergy who are not deans | Amatu Christian-Iwuagwu | ||
Sarah Geileskey | |||
Christopher Smith | |||
Four laypeople elected by the House of Laity | Richard Denno | ||
Nick Land | |||
Cathy Rhodes | |||
Robert Zampetti | |||
Three members nominated by the Crown | Suzanne Avery | ||
Kif Hancock | |||
Nigel Timmins | |||
Three members nominated by the archbishops acting jointly | Busola Sodeinde | ||
Kate Barker | |||
Morag Ellis | |||
Three members nominated by the archbishops acting jointly after consultation with: * the lord mayors of the cities of London and York * the vice chancellors of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge |
Jenny Buck | ||
Remi Olu-Pitan | |||
Helen Steers | |||
The First Lord of the Treasury | Sir Keir Starmer | ||
The Lord President of the Council | Lucy Powell | ||
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain | Shabana Mahmood | ||
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport | Lisa Nandy | ||
The Speaker of the House of Commons | Sir Lindsay Hoyle | ||
The Lord Speaker | John McFall, Baron McFall of Alcluith |
Church Estates Commissionersβ»
The Church Estates Commissioners are three lay people who represent the Church Commissioners in the General Synod of the Church of England. The first and second commissioners are appointed by the British monarch, and the third commissioner is appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. They are based at Church House, Westminster, having previously had offices at No. 1 Millbank, London.
First Church Estates Commissionersβ»
The First Church Estates Commissioner is appointed by the British Monarch.
- 1850β1878: The Earl of Chichester
- 1878β1905: The Earl Stanhope
- 1905β1931: Sir Lewis Dibdin
- 1931β1938: Sir George Middleton
- 1939β1954: Sir Philip Baker Wilbraham
- 1954β1969: The Lord Silsoe
- 1969β1982: Sir Ronald Harris
- 1983β1993: Sir Douglas Lovelock
- 1993β1999: Sir Michael Colman
- 1999β2001: John Sclater
- 2002β2017: Sir Andreas Whittam Smith
- 2017β2021: Loretta Minghella
- 2021β2024: Alan Smith
Second Church Estates Commissionersβ»
The Second Church Estates Commissioner is appointed by the Crown. They are now always a Member of Parliament from the party in government, and have additional duties as a link between the British Parliament and the Church.
- 1850β1858: Sir John Shaw Lefevre
- 1858β1859: The Viscount Eversley
- 1859β1865: Edward Pleydell Bouverie
- 1865β1866: Henry Austin Bruce
- 1866β1868: John Robert Mowbray
- 1869β1874: Sir Thomas Dyke Acland
- 1874β1879: George Cubitt
- 1879β1880: Thomas Salt
- 1880β1885: Evelyn Ashley
- 1885β1886: Sir Henry Selwin-Ibbetson
- 1886β1886: Thomas Dyke Acland
- 1886β1892: Sir Henry Selwin-Ibbetson
- 1892β1892: Charles Algernon Whitmore
- 1892β1895: George Leveson Gower
- 1895β1906: Sir Lees Knowles
- 1906β1906: Francis Stevenson
- 1906β1907: Charles Hobhouse
- 1907β1910: James Tomkinson
- 1910β1918: Sir Charles Nicholson
- 1919β1922: Sir William Mount
- 1923β1924: John Birchall
- 1924β1924: George Middleton
- 1924β1929: John Birchall
- 1929β1931: George Middleton
- 1931β1943: Richard Denman
- 1943β1945: Sir John Mills
- 1945β1950: Thomas Burden
- 1950β1951: Sir Richard Acland
- 1951β1957: Sir John Crowder
- 1957β1962: Sir Hubert Ashton
- 1962β1964: Sir John Arbuthnot
- 1964β1970: Lancelot Mallalieu
- 1970β1974: Sir Marcus Worsley
- 1974β1974: Edward Bishop
- 1974β1979: Terence Walker
- 1979β1987 Sir William van Straubenzee
- 1987β1997: Michael Alison
- 1997β2010: Sir Stuart Bell
- 2010β2015: Sir Tony Baldry
- 2015β2020: Dame Caroline Spelman
- 2020β2024: Andrew Selous
Third Church Estates Commissionersβ»
The Third Church Estates Commissioner is appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
- 1850β1856: Henry Goulburn
- 1856β1858: Spencer Horatio Walpole
- 1858β1862: William Deedes
- 1862β1866: Spencer Horatio Walpole
- 1866β1871: Edward Howes
- 1871β1892: Sir John Robert Mowbray
- 1892β1895: Sir Michael Hicks Beach
- 1895β1926: The Lord Stuart of Wortley
- 1926β1948: The Lord Daryngton
- 1948β1952: The Lord Tovey
- 1952β1954: Sir Malcolm Trustram Eve
- 1954β1962: Sir James Brown
- 1962β1972: Sir Hubert Ashton
- 1972β1981: Dame Betty Ridley
- 1981β1989: The Revd Betsy Howarth
- 1989β1999: Margaret Heather Laird
- 1999β2005: The Viscountess Brentford
- 2006β2012: Timothy Walker
- 2013β2018: Andrew Mackie
- 2018β2022: Eve Poole
- 2022β2024: The Revd Canon Flora Winfield
See alsoβ»
Referencesβ»
- ^ "Church Commissioners Measure 1947". www.legislation.gov.uk.
- ^ Williams, Hattie (16 June 2022). "Church Commissioners acknowledge that slave trade boosted early funds". Church Times. Retrieved 18 June 2022.
- ^ Plender, John: "Unholy Saga of the Churchβs Missing Millions", Financial Times, 11 July 1992.
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- ^ who is appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and who represents the Church Commissioners in the General Synod
- ^ "The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has announced the appointment of the Rev'd Canon Dr Flora Winfield as Third Church Estates Commissioner". The Church of England. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
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External linksβ»
- The Church Commissioners
- Church Commissioners Measure 1947 at the UK Statute Law Database
- Church Commissioners Measure 1970 at the UK Statute Law Database
- Christian organizations established in 1948
- 1948 establishments in the United Kingdom
- Christian charities based in the United Kingdom
- Religion in the City of Westminster
- Church of England
- Charities based in London
- Anglican organizations established in the 20th century
- Exempt charities
- Church of England societies and organisations
- Political office-holders in the United Kingdom
- Church Estates Commissioners