Church
Commissioners
The hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the
Church Commissioners was asked—
Church Maintenance: Sustainability
(Penrith and The Border)
(Con)
3. What proposals the Church of England has to put the
maintenance of churches and cathedrals on a sustainable
basis.
The Second Church Estates Commissioner ()
The Church of England is very grateful for the generosity of
congregations and local communities for the upkeep of its
buildings, as it is to the Government for the recent £54 million
of culture recovery funding, which included £20 million for
capital repairs. However, putting repair and maintenance funding
on a stable footing is essential if the Church is to continue
contributing about £50 billion a year to national wellbeing, as
calculated by the Treasury’s Green Book methodology. Past
partnerships between Government and the Church have been very
helpful in this regard, and with levelling up this opportunity is
even greater.
Dr Hudson
I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. Churches in rural
communities face challenges of small and sometimes decreasing
congregations, significant upkeep of old buildings, and, often,
being in a group of churches under a common minister. These
churches are at the heart of our rural communities and play such
an important role for the people in those communities. What is
the Church doing to support the long-term survival of small rural
churches?
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising this issue; he is
absolutely right to do so. Our rural churches are a precious part
of the Church of England, and we are looking at various options
for small rural churches that could include, for example, new
insurance and maintenance partnerships to remove some of the
bureaucracy from priests and churchwardens while, very
importantly, retaining local ownership. We are committed to a
thriving rural ministry to attract the congregations to be able
to sustain these churches into the future.
(Huddersfield)
(Lab/Co-op)
In my work as a lay canon in the Church of England I have always
been impressed by the engagement of local communities with
churches in the process of sustainability in terms of caring for
the building and caring for the place of the church in the
community. Increasingly, we in the Church of England have new
plans to make young people more energetic in this regard. Is that
not at the heart of sustainability in the Church of England
estate?
Sometimes the church is described as 22 people in need of a rest
and a crowd in need of exercise. The hon. Gentleman has
absolutely put his finger on something important, and I am
grateful to him for raising it.
Family Relationships, Parenting and Marriage
(South East Cornwall)
(Con)
5. What steps the Church of England is taking to support family
relationships, parenting and marriage.
The Church of England places a high value on the covenant of
marriage and does all it can to support families and parents. The
Archbishops of Canterbury and York want to strengthen family life
further and have set up a commission to examine what more the
Church can do to achieve that.
Mrs Murray
I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. I also thank my local
vicar, Michael Brown, who came to Westminster to play an active
role in my own wedding, for all he does in the parish. What more
can we do, as politicians, to recognise these often unsung heroes
of our communities?
I am sure we would all like to congratulate my hon. Friend on her
wedding. I am delighted to learn about the support that Rev.
Michael Brown gave to her for her wedding and about all the good
work that he does in his parish. It gives me, and probably all of
us, enormous pleasure to pay tribute to Rev. Brown and indeed to
all our parish priests who work tirelessly to show the love of
Christ to their parishioners.
(Strangford) (DUP)
Having been married for 34 years, I understand the importance of
marriage and relationships that last. With that in mind, can I
ask the hon. Gentleman what has been done to ensure that, where
there are difficulties in marriages—and that happens—and
difficulties perhaps in looking after children, the Churches can
work with Relate and other organisations to ensure that marriages
can last beyond for the years to come?
I think we can do something even before that, because I am very
keen on marriage enrichment as well, and I think that the Church
can do more to prevent marriages from coming into difficulty in
the first place. My hon. Friend is absolutely right, it is a very
important role for the Church to play when marriages do run into
trouble, and that is what the Archbishop’s joint family and
household commission is also looking at.
Parish Ministry
(Devizes) (Con)
7. What steps the Church of England is taking to strengthen its
parish ministry.
The Second Church Estates Commissioner ()
At last month’s General Synod, the spoke about the
revitalisation of the parish in order that parish churches can
reach and serve everyone in their community. I can tell my hon.
Friend that since 2017, the Church Commissioners have given £130
million to support ministry in deprived parishes.
I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. I quickly pay tribute to
the Bishop of Ramsbury in my constituency, Andrew Rumsey, who has
been appointed by the Church to review the use of church
buildings across our country. The bishop is England’s foremost
expert on the parish, and I know that my hon. Friend will want to
save the parish as much as the rest of us. The Church of
England’s vision for future ministry includes the line:
“a Christian presence in every community”.
What is the Church of England doing to ensure that every
community has a locally based, theologically trained and
well-resourced cleric?
I am delighted to welcome my hon. Friend’s new bishop to his
post. I can tell my hon. Friend that the Church of England
remains committed to providing a Christian presence in every
community. Last year, 591 people were recommended for ordained
ministry, the highest number for 13 years. Ordinations to
stipendiary ministry have increased by 43% since 2013. I also
warmly commend the work of the Church Revitalisation Trust and
its Peter and Caleb streams, which are increasing the number of
clergy from diverse or working-class backgrounds and those in
later life.
(Cleethorpes) (Con)
Notwithstanding what my hon. Friend has just said, he will know
that there is considerable concern in parishes up and down the
country about the recent consultation, which many fear could
result in a weakening of the ministry, rather than a
strengthening. What can my hon. Friend say to reassure
people?
I understand my hon. Friend’s concern and that of many of our
constituents up and down the country. I can only repeat that the
Church of England remains committed to a Christian presence in
every community up and down the country, and the work that the
Church of England is doing at the moment is focused on making
sure that that remains the case.
(Strangford) (DUP)
I understand that the Government have set moneys aside for the
restoration and maintenance of churches. Can the hon. Gentleman
tell me and this House whether the same amount of money will be
set aside for the UK? Will Northern Ireland be a participant and
a recipient of those moneys?
The hon. Gentleman, whom I call my friend, asks a question
slightly beyond the remit of my responsibilities as the Second
Church Estates Commissioner, but I will make inquiries on his
behalf and write to him. I speak for the Church of England.
(Lichfield) (Con)
My hon. Friend said earlier—[Interruption.] Good point. I ask
question 8.
Cathedrals: Sustainable Incomes
8. What discussions the Church Commissioners have had with the
deans of English cathedrals on methodologies to generate
sustainable incomes.
Being a new Member, my hon. Friend is still learning the ropes. I
can tell him that the commissioners recently allocated £20
million to the cathedral sustainability fund, and grants have
been made for more than 120 new posts in cathedrals to support
fundraising, engagement and financial stability. Deans and staff
from our 42 cathedrals also recently met to learn from each other
and share best practice.
Take two, Mr Speaker. My hon. Friend said earlier in answer to a
previous question that according to the Treasury, £50 billion is
generated for the economy by our lovely English cathedrals,
including, of course, the 800-year-old cathedral in Lichfield.
Cathedrals are not just places for worship; they are used as
vaccination centres and concert halls, and even for political
hustings and debates. They cost several million pounds each year
to maintain, so could he say a bit more about what regular
funding can be provided?
I am happy to do that. Indeed, £50 billion is the contribution to
national wellbeing that the Treasury calculated through its Green
Book methodology. My hon. Friend is one of Lichfield cathedral’s
most steadfast and vocal supporters, and rightly so, because the
cathedral is not just a centre of worship; it plays a vital role
in the local community and economy by serving, for example, as a
vaccination centre recently, as he said.
Although we are hugely grateful for the £29.4 million for
cathedrals from the Government’s culture recovery fund, £140
million is needed for cathedral repairs and maintenance over the
next five years. If we want our cathedrals to continue to be at
the heart of our national life, we will all have to put our hands
in our pockets to keep them in good repair, because we cannot let
800 years of worship and service fail on our watch.
Loneliness
(York Central)
(Lab/Co-op)
9. What steps the Church of England is taking to connect with
people who are isolated and lonely in their communities.
Our parish clergy and lay workers try really hard to reach out to
the isolated and lonely day in, day out. In addition, the free
DailyHope telephone line—0800 804 8044—from the Church of England
has been described as a “spiritual lifeline” for many isolated
and vulnerable people. More than 620,000 people have listened to
its prayers, hymns and services. It was recently described by one
listener as,
“Something of a raft on which to hang on for dear life on
occasions.”
Churches have loci in every community. Across our country, a
staggering 9 million people experience loneliness frequently or
occasionally. As a result, in the coming Christmas season, many
people will be isolated. They might be a new mum, somebody who
has lost someone dear to them or somebody who has been left
lonely because of the twists and turns of life. Churches could
develop a loneliness strategy to address that issue across our
communities and to provide friendship, love and hope to people.
This season gives real impetus to the opportunity to do that.
Will the hon. Gentleman ensure that the Church has a proper
loneliness strategy, not just on the phone but in person, to
support people across our communities?
I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for raising this incredibly
important point, and at this time of year as well, when it is
even more significant for many people. She is right that
Christmas can be an especially lonely time, which is why I am
pleased, for example, that churches such as St Michael le Belfrey
in York are running the Love Christmas campaign as part of a
national project to provide 1 million bags of kindness across the
country. For some people, that Christmas gift will be the only
one they receive, and there have been wonderful stories of people
joining local churches after that type of outreach. I would say
to her that a lively worshipping, outward-looking church, which
looks to speak to the issue of loneliness, at the heart of our
community is one of the best antidotes to the loneliness she
speaks about.
