Church Commissioners Announce Grant of £1.2 Billion to Support Ministry
The Church Commissioners for England have announced plans to distribute £1.2 billion to support ministry within the Church between 2023-2025. This is a 30% increase in funding.
The increase comes on the heels of the good news that the investment portfolio of the Church of England turned a 13.3% return for 2021. The announcement means that the Church Commissioners and Archbishops’ Councils will distribute £3.6 billion to fund ministry initiatives between the years 2023 and 2031.
Contributions from the Church Commissioners account for around 20% of total Church income.
The majority of the increase in monies will be focussed on parish revitalisation efforts.
The announcement of the increased funding was made in a joint announcement by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York on 12 May.
According to the announcement, the large grant is in keeping with the Church’s Vision and Strategy for the 2020s. The type projects receiving the increased funding will include:
- Continued funding for the Church in the poorest parts of the country, taking into account lessons from the recent independent review into Strategic Development (SDF) and Lowest Income Communities (LInC) funding.
- Increasing the number of clergy in front-line ministry in parishes and chaplaincies, with the intent that the Church’s clergy better reflects the diversity of the nation that we serve.
- Enable thriving local churches across the country, making significant contributions to their local communities and delivering even more social action work
- Support diocesan, parish and cathedral plans for the Church to become carbon net zero by 2030.
- Fund measures that will make the Church more diverse.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby remarked: “The Church of England is called to serve every community in the country, to be a presence that transforms lives and answers the call of God.
“This funding will help local parishes and chaplaincies live out that calling, providing support for mission so every person might hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.
“I am especially pleased that the funding will support our aims to double the number of children and young disciples by 2030 and aid the parish system in doing what the Church does at its best: making the love of God known to every person.”
Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York elaborated further: “The vision for the church is that we are Jesus Christ centred and Jesus Christ shaped and this funding is a huge boost as we work together towards our aim of being the church for everyone everywhere.
“It will help us reach more people with the gospel of Jesus Christ, enabling us establish what we hope will be 10,000 new Christian communities.
“Working through our parishes, most of these will be in neighbourhoods, schools and places of work and leisure. Some will be online. At least 2,000 will be in the poorest and most deprived parts of the country.
