Tag: family

Bishop of Chelmsford raises impact of cost of living and financial insecurity on family planning

The Bishop of Chelmsford spoke in a debate on declining birth rates on 4th June 2026, pointing out the impact of shifting costs of living on the ability to start families:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, as we have heard, declining birth rates carry profound economic and social consequences. The story of human origins in the Book of Genesis begins with a God-given mandate to populate the Earth, and supports the basic goodness of family life. The Christian tradition has consistently affirmed the value of children. The baptism liturgy declares that children are a blessing and a gift from God. That conviction remains important, not only for people of faith but for society as a whole. Children represent continuity, connecting us with the generations that have gone before us and giving hope for the future. They are a gift to the whole community, not only to their parents and others who may raise them.

It is important, however, to understand the complex factors behind declining birth rates, which, as mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Brixton, include women’s choice but also fearfulness about the future, difficulties in combining career and family and financial pressures. The expense of housing, student loan repayments and the rising cost of living all contribute to delaying family formation. Couples now marry later, start a family later and often have fewer children than hoped for, not least because, by the time financial circumstances may seem more favourable, biology may well be less co-operative.

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Bishop of Chelmsford speaks in debate on fertility treatments

The Bishop of Chelmsford spoke in a debate on the regulation of fertility treatments, emphasising the importance of the issue and the need for consideration in forming policy:

The Lord Bishop of Chelmsford: My Lords, I recognise the depth of expertise in this Chamber and that my background is not a scientific one. However, it is incumbent on us all to engage in these crucial issues, which hold wide significance and implication. I approach this debate in the knowledge of what it is to long deeply for children. I am profoundly grateful for the gift of my own three children following the experience of difficult and intrusive treatment over many years, including miscarriages and several cycles of IVF. Indeed, if I may be personal, I was for a number of years a patient under the care of the noble Lord, Lord Winston, for whom I have both affection and great admiration and to whose speech I listened very carefully indeed.

I want to recognise the highly complex and agonising experiences of infertility that many go through, and what it is like to have an unfulfilled longing for a child. This debate takes place in a profoundly challenging scientific, moral, legal and emotional context. I recognise that the lives of my children are the result of extraordinary scientific and medical advances, but, ultimately, like any child, they are a remarkable gift from God. Throughout the treatment, I was always aware that they were never a right of mine to be claimed. Good legislation, thoughtful limits and sober weighing of the implications of those limits are vital if we are to continue responsibly in this work with clarity for all. Indeed, I know personally the importance of those limits for tempering what can be a very human dimension, which, if unchecked, can lead to desperation and a willingness to do anything to have a child.

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Archbishop leads debate on support for families and households

On 8th December 2023 the Archbishop of Canterbury led a debate in the House of Lords on the following motion:

The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury to move that this House takes note of ‘Love Matters’, the report of the Archbishops’ Commission on Families and Households.

The opening speech made by the Archbishop is below. More information and a copy of the report on which the debate was based, can be read here.

The opening speech by the Archbishop of Canterbury in his House of Lords debate on families
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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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Church Commissioner Questions: parishes, freedom of religion, housing, Channel crossings, marriage, new clergy, arts and culture

On 28th April 2022 MPs asked Andrew Selous MP, representing the Church Commissioners, about parish ministry, freedom of religion & belief, affordable and sustainable housing, illegal migrant crossings in the Channel, families parenting and marriage, candidates entering Holy Orders, and supporting arts and culture. A transcript is below.

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Church Commissioners’ Question Time, 10 March 2022

On 10th March 2022 the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Andrew Selous MP, answered questions from MPs in the House of Commons, freedom of religion or belief overseas, family hubs, supporting Ukrainian refugees, affordable housing, the Queen’s platinum jubilee, and the Commissioners’ Scottish landholdings.

Global Summit: Freedom of Religion or Belief

Caroline Ansell (Eastbourne) (Con): What role the Church of England has in supporting the global summit to promote freedom of religion or belief, to be hosted by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in July 2022. (905957)


The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Andrew Selous): The Church is making every effort to support that important summit to promote freedom of religion or belief. A debate was held on the lack of global religious freedom at last month’s General Synod and I am pleased that my hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce), in her capacity as the Prime Minister’s special envoy for freedom of religion or belief, was able to brief Synod members on the huge cost of following Jesus in many parts of the world.

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Bishop of Rochester voices concern about effect of covid ‘rule of six’ on family life

On 6th October the House of Lords approved the Government’s Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (No. 2) (England) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 2020. A further motion to ‘regret’ the Regulations was put by Lord Lamont of Lerwick on grounds of “the failure of Her Majesty’s Government adequately to consult the public in the preparation of the Regulations and the impracticality of enforcing the measures”. The Bishop of Rochester spoke in the debate on both Motions:

The Lord Bishop of Rochester: My Lords, like others, I tend to think that carrots are more effective than sticks. It is, therefore, vital, if people are to behave as the Government might wish, that they understand and assent to the reasons for particular restrictions.

My understanding of the rationale for the rule of six is that is about restricting the mixing of households. I understand that, and I seek, in my role and personally, to abide by that principle. But what the Minister has said notwithstanding, the anomalies do not help to gain that consent. If I have understood things correctly, I may, in a given period, be a part of more than one group of six, and thereby, I am multiplying the households with which I have contact. Yet, as many have observed—and there are other examples—a couple with three children cannot meet with two grandparents at the same time, even though that would only be two households in most instances. Continue reading “Bishop of Rochester voices concern about effect of covid ‘rule of six’ on family life”

Immigration and Social Security (EU Withdrawal) Bill 2020: Bishop of Southwark backs changes on child refugees, detention, documentation

On 5th October 2020 the House of Lords considered amendments to the Government’s Immigration and Social Security (EU Withdrawal) Bill 2020 during the second day of its Report stage. The Bishop of Southwark spoke in favour of amendments to the Bill on

  • Child refugees and family reunion
  • Providing physical, not just digital, proof of settled and pre-settled status in the UK.
  • Placing an upper limit of 28 days on the time an EEA or Swiss national may be held in immigration detention.

The texts of his speeches are below. He and ten other bishops voted on these and other amendments to the Bill and the details are recorded here.

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Church Commissioner Questions – Coronavirus, Access to Worship, Family Life, Education, Clergy Discipline Process and Hospital Chaplains

On 19th May 2020 the Second Church Estates Commissioner, Andrew Selous MP, answered questions in the House of Commons on coronavirus, access to worship, family life, education, the clergy discipline process and hospital chaplaincy. A transcript is below:

Church Commissioners

The hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked—

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Bishop of Durham asks Government about families affected by two-child benefit limit due to Covid-19

On 13th May 2020 Baroness Lister of Burtersett asked the Government “what assessment they have made of the impact of the benefit cap on the incomes of Universal Credit claimants following the increase in the Universal Credit standard allowance announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 20 March”. The Bishop of Durham, Rt Revd Paul Butler, asked a follow up question:

20.04.30 Durham 2

Lord Bishop of Durham: I thank the noble Baroness for again highlighting how the benefit cap is trapping families in poverty. In light of the report published last week by the Church of England and CPAG which estimates that around 60,000 more families will be affected by the two-child limit due to Covid-19, what assessment have Her Majesty’s Government made of the impact of this limit on families who have made a new universal credit claim since the lockdown?

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