Church Commissioners
The hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the
Church Commissioners, was asked—
Parish Churches: Family Attendance
(Torbay) (Con)
1. What recent steps the Church of England has taken to encourage
families to attend events at parish churches. (903285)
The Second Church Estates Commissioner ()
There are Church of England churches that provide breakfast and
lunch clubs, as well as youth, children’s and toddler activities,
including messy church and much more besides. A vibrant
children’s and youth ministry is often a key component of church
growth.
I thank my hon. Friend for his answer. The core of any parish
mission is outreach to the community, with events such as the
forthcoming family fun day at St Martin’s church, Barton, which
will offer local families a chance for free fun, with lunch
included. What resources are the Church Commissioners providing
to support parishes in that mission and to ensure that details of
such events reach those who would most benefit from
attending?
I commend my hon. Friend for drawing attention, for the second
month in a row, to the great work done by his local churches—none
more so than St Martin’s church, Barton under the inspirational
leadership of Father Nick Debney and Pamela Macey. On behalf of
the House and the Church of England leadership, I warmly thank
them for everything they do. I will send my hon. Friend details
of the national churches strategic funding programmes, to which
the diocese of Exeter can apply for St Martin’s church and other
local churches.
Churches and Cathedrals: Maintenance
(Harrow East) (Con)
3. What assessment the Church of England has made of the steps
needed to put the maintenance of churches and cathedrals on a
sustainable basis.(903288)
The Second Church Estates Commissioner ()
The Taylor review of cathedral and church building sustainability
was published in 2017. There is an urgent need for dialogue with
the Government about it, because without a bedrock of basic
maintenance and repairs funding, there is a real risk to many of
our amazing church and cathedral buildings. In passing, I note
that such issues are always easier to address with a full
church.
I thank my hon. Friend for that answer. My constituency is home
to no fewer than 24 churches, including every branch of
Christianity, but St Lawrence’s church in particular is in dire
need of repair. It is a very well populated church, but it does
need additional funds to restore it to its previous good keeping.
Can my hon. Friend tell me what help will be given to St
Lawrence’s church?
I have read up on St Lawrence, Little Stanmore: its baroque
interior and internationally renowned organ—Handel was employed
as a composer in residence —are real treasures. I will put my
hon. Friend in touch with the national church buildings
department, which advises parishes on grants and support for
refurbishment. I can also tell him that the Willesden area
council of the diocese of London is able to distribute grants of
up to £20,000 for urgent repairs.
(Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)
As the hon. Member said, a large number of churches and
cathedrals in this country are in serious danger, including a
number in my constituency. He also mentioned discussions between
the Government and the Church of England on securing the future
of churches. Will he say if those discussions are imminent?
I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising that point,
and I think the answer is that they need a bit of a boost, if I
could put it that way. I would welcome his support, and indeed
that of hon. Members on all sides, because I think all places of
worship—and the Church of England does have an enormous number of
grade I and grade II buildings—are important in all of our
communities, and we do need a serious national conversation about
how we keep them going for the future. Other countries fund them
from the state. Personally, I do not think that is right, but I
do think we need a dialogue with Government as to how we go
forward in this area.
Church’s Assets: Historic Involvement with Slavery
(New Forest West) (Con)
6. Whether the commissioners have made an estimate of the
proportion of the Church’s assets that may have a link to a
historic involvement with slavery.(903294)
The Second Church Estates Commissioner ()
The Church Commissioners have not tried to draw a direct line
from historical investments to current assets, given the myriad
inflows and outflows over 300 years. Our forensic accountants
estimate that investments linked to the slaving activities of the
South Sea Company were equivalent to several hundred million
pounds in today’s money. That is deeply shameful to acknowledge,
and while no amount of money will ever be enough to repair the
horrors of the past, the Church Commissioners have decided to
invest £100 million over the next nine years in a better future
for all, particularly in those communities affected by historical
slavery.
Can my hon. Friend assure me that the not disproportionate £100
million will be spent to reduce the shocking persistence of
slavery in the present?
The £100-million fund will enable impact investment grant funding
and research in response to the findings in the Church
Commissioners’ report. An oversight group will be established to
help the Church Commissioners shape and deliver that response.
Today the Church Commissioners, as award-winning ethical
investors, punch well above their weight in combating modern
slavery and human rights violations all around the world.
(Strangford) (DUP)
While we cannot and should never ignore the Church’s historical
involvement with slavery, is it not better to focus on the
missionary work that churches did over the years, with the spread
of the Gospel and the best story ever told: that Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners?
I do not think it is a question of either/or. When the chief
executive of the Church Commissioners was on the “Today”
programme recently explaining why we have done this, he was
contacted later that day by a global majority heritage individual
who had stayed away from the Church for 40 years and is now going
to come back again. I say also to the hon. Gentleman that full
churches do not tend to fall down.
Lichfield Cathedral
(Lichfield) (Con)
7. Whether he plans to visit Lichfield cathedral to see the work
of Dean Adrian Dorber.(903295)
I look forward very much to visiting Lichfield cathedral, but
sadly that may not be until after Dean Adrian Dorber retires. I
know that the dean’s work has been so significant that I will see
many ongoing examples of his tremendous legacy when I do
visit.
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, because he will see the
Herkenrode glass, which has been restored, and he will hear the
magnificent organ, for which £6 million had to be raised to make
it sound so beautiful. They are a reminder that a dean’s work is
not just worship, but fundraising, management and all the other
factors in running a great and successful cathedral such as
Lichfield. What sort of training is given? It seemed to me that
poor Adrian Dorber had to learn on the job and then, with a
little bit more investigation, Mr Speaker—it is a bit like being
a Speaker, actually—that they all have to learn on the job. Can
we not improve on that?
One might think that Lichfield cathedral was the only cathedral
in the Church of England, because my hon. Friend is one of the
very few Members who regularly stands up for his cathedral.
Running a cathedral, as he rightly says, is not only a major
spiritual undertaking to proclaim the good news of Jesus, but a
huge management task, which is why we require all new deans to
undertake a component of an MBA module before taking up
office.
Blessings for Same-sex Couples
(Edinburgh West) (LD)
8. Whether the Commissioners have held discussions with senior
Church leaders on allowing clergy to conduct blessings for
same-sex couples.(903296)
With you permission, Mr Speaker, following my response to the
urgent question on Tuesday, the advice I was given then was by
the Church legal office, and I was yesterday asked to make a
small clarification. A simple majority in each of the three
Houses of the General Synod could suffice to pass a measure and
amending canon to change the definition of marriage in
ecclesiastical law, but circumstances could also arise in which
two-thirds majorities in the House of Bishops and the House of
Clergy would be needed, and, as with all authorised forms of
service, a two-thirds majority in each House would be required
for the approval of the Synod as a form of service for the
marriage of a same-sex couple. I apologise, Mr Speaker, but I was
only informed yesterday. Given that I was answering questions
today, I thought you would find it acceptable that I put that
slight clarification on the record.
In answer to the question from the hon. Member for Edinburgh West
(), it is the case that the
General Synod of the Church of England can make its own decisions
on these matters. Members of the Synod will have a chance to make
their own views clearly known, having listened to the very
forcible views expressed in this House on Tuesday. I repeat that
the Church of England has apologised for past behaviours, and
welcomes and values LGBTQI+ people unreservedly and joyfully.
I thank the hon. Member for that clarification and for his
comments about welcoming the LGBTQI+ community joyfully. But can
I ask him to clarify then why it is that a man and a woman who do
not believe in God and do not regularly attend church are welcome
to marry in the Church of England—indeed, the Church’s website
says, “God’s blessing is the main attraction for many
couples”—but a couple in a same-sex relationship, both of whom
may have worshipped in the Church all their lives and live in the
spirit of Christian faith, are denied the same right in the
Church, even though similar denominations in Scotland offer that
opportunity? Can the hon. Member inform the House whether the
Commissioners have discussed that inequality with the Church of
England?
The hon. Lady is right to raise this issue. These matters will be
very livelily debated at the General Synod between 6 and 9
February. I can also tell her that each province in the global
Anglican communion is autonomous. The majority of the provinces
in the communion provide neither blessings nor marriages for
same-sex couples: the Scottish Episcopal Church provides
marriages, the Church in Wales provides blessings, and the Church
of Ireland provides neither for same-sex couples, so the hon.
Lady can see that there is a variety of practice within these
islands. But I have heard what she has said and, more
importantly, I will make sure that the General Synod is very well
aware of her views and those of others in this House.
