Church Commissioners

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).

Church Commissioners for England

Predecessor	Ecclesiastical Commissioners Queen Anne's Bounty
Formation	2 April 1948; 75 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 MP
Third Church Estates Commissioner	Eve Poole
Parent organization	General Synod of the Church of England
Budget (2017)	£285,802,166
Staff	66
Website	www.churchofengland.org/about/leadership-and-governance/church-commissioners

No. 1 Millbank, built for the Church Commissioners by W. D. Caroe (1903)

The secretary (and chief executive) of the Church Commissioners is Gareth Mostyn.

History

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.^[1][2]

In 1992 it was revealed that the Church Commissioners had lost £500m through over-commitment of the fund leading to poor investment decisions.^[3] This figure was later revised up to £800m, a third of their assets.

The value of the commissioners' assets was around £5.5 billion as at the end of 2012.^[4] By September 2016, it was valued at £7 billion.^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[2] In January 2023 the Commissioners announced that they were setting up a fund of £100 million to be spent over the next nine years on addressing historic links with slavery.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[10][11]

The secretary (and chief executive) of the Church Commissioners is Gareth Mostyn.^[12]

Responsibilities

The Church Commissioners have the following responsibilities:^[13]

• Funding mission in churches, dioceses and cathedrals.^[14]
• Pastoral reorganisation (including mergers of parishes and benefices); supported by the Pastoral Team.^[15]
• 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.

Portfolio

 

The MetroCentre in Gateshead is one of the largest CC investments

The CC portfolio in 2020 is extensive, worth around £9.2 billion^[16] 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.^[17] The CC own a significant amount of rural land and sometimes promote this through Local Plan processes.^[18]

List of commissioners

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.^[6] 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.^[1]

The 33 commissioners are as follows:^[1][19]

Portfolio		Name	Notes
The Archbishop of Canterbury	Chairman ex officio^[1]	The Most Revd and Rt Hon Justin Welby, PC	^[20]
The Archbishop of York		The Most Revd and Rt Hon Stephen Cottrell
The First Church Estates Commissioner^[21]		Alan Smith	^[22]
The Second Church Estates Commissioner^[23]		Andrew Selous, MP	^[24]
The Third Church Estates Commissioner^[25]		Dr. Eve Poole	^[26]
Four Bishops^[27]		The Rt Revd Vivienne Faull, Bishop of Bristol
		The Rt Revd Christine Hardman, Bishop of Newcastle
		The Rt Revd David Urquhart, Bishop of Birmingham
		The Rt Revd David Walker, Bishop of Manchester
Two deans elected by the deans		Mark Bonney
		Stephen Lake
Three clergy elected by those members of the House of Clergy who are not deans		Christopher Smith
		Anne Stevens
		Stephen Trott
Four laypeople elected by the House of Laity		Jay Greene
		Peter Bruinvels
		Elizabeth Rennshaw
		Jacob Vince
Three members nominated by the Crown		Suzanne Avery
		Nigel Timmins
		Duncan Owen
Three members nominated by the archbishops acting jointly		Busola Sodeinde
		Morag Ellis QC
		Mark Woolley
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		Poppy Allonby
		Alan Smith
		Helen Steers
The First Lord of the Treasury		Rishi Sunak, MP
The Lord President of the Council		Penny Mordaunt, MP
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain		Dominic Raab, MP
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport		Michelle Donelan, MP
The Speaker of the House of Commons		Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP
The Lord Speaker		John McFall, Baron McFall of Alcluith

Church Estates Commissioners

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.^[28] They are based at Church House, Westminster, having previously had offices at No. 1 Millbank, London.^[29]

First Church Estates Commissioners

The First Church Estates Commissioner is appointed by the British Monarch.

• 1850–1878: The Earl of Chichester^[30]
• 1878–1905: The Earl Stanhope^[31]
• 1905–1931: Sir Lewis Dibdin^[32]
• 1931–1938: Sir George Middleton^[33]
• 1939–1954: Sir Philip Baker Wilbraham^[34]
• 1954–1969: The Lord Silsoe^[35]
• 1969–1982: Sir Ronald Harris^[36]
• 1983–1993: Sir Douglas Lovelock^[37]
• 1993–1999: Sir Michael Colman^[38]
• 1999–2001: John Sclater^[39]
• 2002–2017: Sir Andreas Whittam Smith^[40]
• 2017–2021: Loretta Minghella^[41]
• 2021–present: Alan Smith^[42]

Second Church Estates Commissioners

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.^[43]

• 1850–1858: Sir John Shaw Lefevre^[30]
• 1858–1859: The Viscount Eversley^[44]
• 1859–1865: Edward Pleydell Bouverie^[45]
• 1865–1866: Henry Austin Bruce^[46]
• 1866–1868: John Robert Mowbray^[47]
• 1869–1874: Sir Thomas Dyke Acland^[48]
• 1874–1879: George Cubitt^[49]
• 1879–1880: Thomas Salt^[50]
• 1880–1885: Evelyn Ashley^[51]
• 1885–1886: Sir Henry Selwin-Ibbetson^[52]
• 1886–1886: Thomas Dyke Acland^[53]
• 1886–1892: Sir Henry Selwin-Ibbetson^[54]
• 1892–1892: Charles Algernon Whitmore^[55]
• 1892–1895: George Leveson Gower^[56]
• 1895–1906: Sir Lees Knowles^[57]
• 1906–1906: Francis Stevenson^[58]
• 1906–1907: Charles Hobhouse^[59]
• 1907–1910: James Tomkinson^[60]
• 1910–1918: Sir Charles Nicholson^[61]
• 1919–1922: Sir William Mount^[62]
• 1923–1924: John Birchall^[63]
• 1924–1924: George Middleton^[64]
• 1924–1929: John Birchall^[65]
• 1929–1931: George Middleton^[66]
• 1931–1943: Sir Richard Denman^[67]
• 1943–1945: Sir John Mills^[68]
• 1945–1950: Thomas Burden^[69]
• 1950–1951: Sir Richard Acland^[70]
• 1951–1957: Sir John Crowder^[71]
• 1957–1962: Sir Hubert Ashton^[72]
• 1962–1964: Sir John Arbuthnot^[71]
• 1964–1970: Lancelot Mallalieu^[71]
• 1970–1974: Sir Marcus Worsley^[73]
• 1974–1974: Edward Bishop^[74]
• 1974–1979: Terence Walker^[71]
• 1979–1987 Sir William van Straubenzee^[75]
• 1987–1997: Michael Alison
• 1997–2010: Sir Stuart Bell^[76]
• 2010–2015: Sir Tony Baldry
• 2015–2020: Dame Caroline Spelman^[77]
• 2020–present: Andrew Selous^[78]

Third Church Estates Commissioners

The Third Church Estates Commissioner is appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

• 1850–1856: Henry Goulburn^[79]
• 1856–1858: Spencer Horatio Walpole^[80]
• 1858–1862: William Deedes^[81]
• 1862–1866: Spencer Horatio Walpole^[82]
• 1866–1871: Edward Howes^[47]
• 1871–1892: Sir John Robert Mowbray^[83]
• 1892–1895: Sir Michael Hicks Beach^[84]
• 1895–1926: The Lord Stuart of Wortley^[85]
• 1926–1948: The Lord Daryngton^[86]
• 1948–1952: The Lord Tovey^[87]
• 1952–1954: Sir Malcolm Trustram Eve^[35]
• 1954–1962: Sir James Brown^[88]
• 1962–1972: Sir Hubert Ashton^[72]
• 1972–1981: Dame Betty Ridley^[89]
• 1981—1989: The Revd Betsy Howarth
• 1989–1999: Margaret Heather Laird^[90]
• 1999–2005: The Viscountess Brentford^[91]
• 2006–2012: Timothy Walker^[92]
• 2013–2018: Andrew Mackie^[93]
• 2018–2022: Eve Poole^[94]
• 2022—present: Canon Flora Winfield

See also

•  Christianity portal
•  England portal

• Allchurches Trust
• Churches Conservation Trust

References

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External links

• Church Commissioners Measure 1947 at the UK Statute Law Database
• Church Commissioners Measure 1970 at the UK Statute Law Database