8:45pm Sunday 12th July 2009
By James Rush
A proposal by a Bradford vicar to axe bishops and other senior posts in the Church of England are to be considered by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the gathering of the General Synod was told this evening.
The Archbishops’ Council, headed by Rowan Williams and John Sentamu will prepare a report on changes to the “episcopal deployment” within the Church, to be delivered to the Synod in 2010.
The decision was made after a debate by the Church of England’s governing body in York today.
The Synod was asked to back a move to reduce the number episcopal and senior clergy posts to help reduce the Church costs in a time of financial uncertainty.
The Reverend Doctor John Hartley, vicar of Eccleshill, Bradford, asked the Synod for a “review” of the number of senior Church posts.
The Synod heard that the Church of England had become top heavy in the past 30 years, as the number of paid clergy fell, but senior Churchmen remained largely unchanged.
There are about 110 episcopal posts including diocesan and suffragan (assistant) bishops in the Church of England. Other senior clergy posts include between 100 and 110 archdeacons and 42 cathedral deans as well as cathedral canons.
A briefing note prepared by the Bradford Diocesan Synod said the Church Commissioners spent £7.3 million in maintaining diocesan bishops’ houses in 2008 and £14.5 million in grants for bishops’ support staff, office and working costs.
Mr Hartley told the Synod, meeting at York University, that his proposal was a “call for refocusing our efforts in ministry to the people of our nation”.
“It is not basically about cuts; it is basically about saying we want to do the best with our resources,” he said.
“We feel there is something that needs to be addressed in the way the Church of England is staffed. It cannot be right simply to maintain the structures of any organisation if the staff are cut substantially, and that applies in the Church as much as anywhere else. The dioceses and national institutions exist to support local expressions of the church, and not vice-versa.
“£21.8 million spent on bishops’ houses, staff, offices and costs is over 400 clergy stipends. It cannot be right to continue in the present way without a proper examination of what we expect from senior clergy.”
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