Tag: clergy

Church Commissioners Written Questions: Schools, Clergy, Community Relations, Engagement, Closures, and Repairs & Maintenance

On 12th September 2023, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs:

Julian Knight MP (Ind, Solihull): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to collaborate with local schools and educational institutions to promote positive values and to engage with students and educators.

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Church Commissioners Questions: Ordinands, Community Sponsorship, Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Act, Ordination, Freedom of Religion & Belief, Family Relationships

On 20th July 2023, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked the following questions by MPs in the House of Commons:

Ordinands

Mr Louie French MP (Con, Old Bexley & Sidcup) asked: What recent steps the Church of England has taken to increase the number of ordinands.

Andrew Selous MP (Con, South West Bedfordshire) I am very pleased to be able to tell my hon. Friend that there are 1,100 clergy in training in 2022-23, and that £10.3 million has been given to 25 dioceses to fund more curacy posts and £4.3 million has been given to 19 dioceses to make sure that clergy leaving training have a post of first responsibility to go to.

Continue reading “Church Commissioners Questions: Ordinands, Community Sponsorship, Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Act, Ordination, Freedom of Religion & Belief, Family Relationships”

Church Commissioners Written Questions: Church Finance, Repairs and Maintenance, Technology, Religious Freedom, Diocesan Vacancies, and Education

On 14th July 2023, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs:

Church of England: Finance

Julian Knight MP (Ind, Solihull): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church is taking to ensure transparency and accountability in its financial operations.

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Church Commissioners Written Questions: Same Sex Relationships, Homelessness & Poverty, Young People, Investment, and Rural Areas

On 6th July 2023, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs:

Clergy: Homosexuality

Mr Ben Bradshaw MP (Lab, Exeter): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what recent discussions he has had with the Church of England General Synod on its expected timetable for bringing forward proposals on (a) blessings, (b) marriages and (c) rules for clergy in same-sex relationships.

Andrew Selous MP (Con, South West Bedfordshire): In February 2023 the General Synod agreed proposals that would enable same-sex couples to come to church after a civil marriage or civil partnership to give thanks, dedicate their relationship to God and receive God’s blessing.

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Church Commissioners Written Answers: Gender Pay Gap

On 5th July 2023, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answer to a question from an MP:

Church of England: Equal Pay

Cat Smith MP (Lab, Lancaster and Fleetwood): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church has taken to close the gender pay gap.

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Church Commissioners Written Answers: Independent Safeguarding Board and Truro Diocesan vacancies

On 3rd July 2023, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from an MP:

Independent Safeguarding Board

Mr Ben Bradshaw MP (Lab, Exeter): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners:

  • what steps the Church took to resolve the dispute with members of the Independent Safeguarding Board before the decision was made to give them notice.
  • whether the Commissioners made an assessment of the potential implications of any obligation to provide an independent mediator to resolve the Independent Safeguarding Board dispute.
  • what process the Church is using to appoint new members of the Independent Safeguarding Board.
  • whether the work started in phase one of the Independent Safeguarding Board will be completed following the disbanding of the Board.
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Church Commissioner Questions: choirs, clergy, rural parishes, families

On 15th June 2023 MPs put questions to Andrew Selous MP, Second Church Estates Commissioner, in the House of Commons:

Church Choirs: Engagement with Local Schools

Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con): What steps the Church of England is taking to encourage church choirs to engage with local schools. (905370)

The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Andrew Selous): The Church of England has enthusiastically supported the Government’s Sing Up programme, encouraging local music hubs to partner with churches, and enabling the use of skills and knowledge that schools would otherwise have to buy in. I am sure that my right hon. Friend, as a strong supporter of singing in church, will very much approve.

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House of Commons Passes Church Commissioners Diocesan Stipendiary Funds Measure

On 13th June 2023, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, put an amendment to the Delegated Legislation Committee on new regulations allowing the transfer of diocesan stipend funds outside of dioceses, either to another diocese, to the Archbishop’s Council, or to another Church charity. The Committee agreed the measure:

Andrew Selous MP (Con, South West Bedfordshire): I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the Diocesan Stipends Funds (Amendment) Measure (HC 1413).

It is a pleasure, as always, to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. I hope that you will permit a very brief piece of historical context setting on the Measure before us today. In medieval times, clergy were paid mainly from income from land owned by the Church, known as glebe land, from the Latin gleba, meaning soil. The amount of land varied from parish to parish and from 1571 onwards, the amount of land a parish owned was recorded in a glebe terrier. With the industrial revolution and the growth of cities, wealthy industrialists were often willing to give significant amounts of money to support the local church, often helping to build and endow the church in question, such as, for example, St Mattias church in Stocksbridge, which opened in 1890 thanks to the generosity of Samuel Fox, the founder of the local Stocksbridge works.

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Church Commissioners Written Answers: Clergy Ordination & Retirement, Clergy Vacancies, Leicestershire, Church Security, and Energy Cost Grants

On 8th June 2023, Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, gave the following written answers to questions from MPs:

Clergy: Ordination and Retirement

Damien Moore MP (Con, Southport): To ask the Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, whether the Commissioners are taking steps to reduce average lengths of time between (a) the retirement and enthronement of bishops in dioceses and (b) the retirement and consecration of priests in parishes.

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Church Commissioner Questions: Holy Land, Nigeria, Local Authority Grants, Parish Ministry, Trees, Coronation

On 28th April 2023 MPs asked questions of Andrew Selous MP, Second Church Estates Commissioner.

Holy Land: Desecration of Religious Sites

Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)

1. What discussions the Church of England has had with international counterparts on the desecration of religious sites in the Holy Land. (904699)

Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)

4. What discussions the Church of England has had with international counterparts on the desecration of religious sites in the Holy Land. (904702)

The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Andrew Selous): In the first three months of this year, seven cases of serious vandalism and antisocial behaviour against churches have been recorded in Israel. That is a sharp increase on the previous year. The Church of England continues to work with the Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem, the heads of other Churches, other faith leaders and the Jordanian Government, as custodian of the holy sites, to maintain the peace.

Continue reading “Church Commissioner Questions: Holy Land, Nigeria, Local Authority Grants, Parish Ministry, Trees, Coronation”