Latest news with #ChurchCommissioners
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Abuse scandals throw Church of England into staffing crisis
The organisation that manages a large part of the Church of England's assets is bracing itself for a recruitment crisis in the wake of its latest abuse scandal, a report suggests. The Church Commissioners of England has described its reputational risk as 'at an elevated level' after the Anglican Church apologised for more historic safeguarding failures and a review into one prolific abuser prompted the Archbishop of Canterbury's resignation. It comes as the body that manages the Church's endowment fund – its largest source of revenue – announced a 10.3 per cent return last year, taking the value of the fund to £11.1 billion at the end of last year. In November, the extent of abuse carried out by barrister John Smyth, who abused up to 130 boys and young men over several decades, was revealed in a damning report. Smyth, who died aged 77 in 2018, used his role at Christian summer camps to meet victims, yet his crimes were not reported until 2013, decades after many were carried out. The 2024 Makin review, found that the 'abhorrent abuse' by Smyth could have been exposed four years earlier if Justin Welby, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, had contacted the authorities and done more to follow up on reports. Mr Welby announced his resignation days after the report, and formally ended his tenure earlier this year. A replacement for the highest position in the Church of England is yet to be decided, with the selection process not set to conclude until later this year. A section of the 2024 Church Commissioners for England annual report suggested there were concerns about the effects on its own recruitment. The report said: 'Reputation is important for any charity, and the Church Commissioners considers its reputational risk currently to be at an elevated level. 'Members of the public, whether they consider themselves part of the Church of England or not, can quickly form opinions about the Church as an institution based on what they see/hear/read in various forms of media, which understandably impacts their perception and view of the Church Commissioners.' Referring to the Smyth case and Mr Welby's resignation, the authors wrote: 'This case and other safeguarding failures undermine public confidence in the assertions made by the Church, including the Church Commissioners, about the importance of, and priority given to, safeguarding. 'The potential reputational impacts could be far reaching; for example they may in turn make it more difficult for us to attract and retain staff.' The same part of the report also referred to controversial slavery reparations, which were set to total £100 million over a nine-year period. It named the Fund for Healing Repair and Justice, an investment fund that will aim to raise £1 billion for members of communities affected by slavery, following criticism that the £100 million sum was not enough. Acknowledging the reparations issue, the report read: 'The highly significant and contested nature of the Church Commissioners' work researching and responding to historical links with African chattel enslavement also attracted significant attention, comment and, in some cases, criticism. 'Further reaction (including negative comment) to this programme of work is expected when the intended new Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice is launched, making investments and issuing grants.' Meanwhile, it was revealed that clergy would receive a pay rise of nearly 11 per cent next year as their stipends continue to catch up with salaries. The two key measures for clergy pay, the National Minimum Stipend and the National Stipend Benchmark, will both rise by 10.7 per cent next year, to £33,350 and £34,950 respectively. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
North Wales Chronicle
5 hours ago
- Politics
- North Wales Chronicle
Warning over ‘reputational risk' damage from Church abuse scandals
High-profile cases such as that of serial abuser John Smyth and the subsequent Makin Review which prompted the resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury, are said to 'undermine public confidence' in how seriously safeguarding is taken. The annual report from the Church Commissioners for England – which manages the Church's investment portfolio – described their reputational risk as currently being 'at an elevated level'. The Makin review, the commissioners said, 'gave rise to serious questions about safeguarding practice in the Church of England'. The commissioners' report, published on Monday, added: 'This case and other safeguarding failures undermine public confidence in the assertions made by the Church, including the Church Commissioners, about the importance of, and priority given to, safeguarding. 'The potential reputational impacts could be far-reaching; for example, they may in turn make it more difficult for us to attract and retain staff.' The warning came as Church Commissioners announced they would be investing more than £1.6 billion towards the work of the Church from 2026 to 2028. Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally said the 36% rise on the previous three-year period was 'the biggest injection of funding towards the work of the Church of England in our history, and we are very grateful for that'. The money will go towards various areas including clergy pay, church repairs and net zero plans. Some £30 million is being allocated towards the cost of national safeguarding work, including moves towards greater independence in how safeguarding is dealt with. Some £150 million towards the costs of the new national redress scheme for survivors of Church abuse had already been announced. In his foreword to the report, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell acknowledged the 'challenging year' the Church had faced. The commissioners noted there was also an element of reputational risk around the Church's work on dealing with its past links to slavery, saying such work had already 'attracted significant attention, comment and, in some cases, criticism'. Their latest report warned: 'Further reaction (including negative comment) to this programme of work is expected when the intended new Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice is launched, making investments andissuing grants.' The Church announced in January 2023 its work to address historic links to slavery, with a funding programme for investment, research and engagement to 'address past wrongs' but the initial £100 million investment fund was branded too small and slow. An independent oversight group later said commissioners had 'embraced a target of £1 billion for a broader healing, repair and justice initiative with the fund at its centre'. Elsewhere, some of the overall £1.6 billion investment announced on Monday is to go towards clergy pay rises of almost 11%. The Church said the National Minimum Stipend (NMS) and the National Stipend Benchmark (NSB) will both rise by 10.7% from April, bring them to £33,350 and £34,950 respectively. Dame Sarah said the latest investment will 'value and affirm our clergy who give their lives in the service of Christ through the Church'. She said: 'I hope these carefully costed plans will provide a step-change in support to clergy right the way through from those following a call to ordination to those who have retired. 'It is vital also that we learn the lessons of our recent past and do everything we can to be a safer church for everyone. 'While no amount of money can ever erase the harm done by perpetrators of abuse, these spending plans will support the vital work of safeguarding in the Church and underpin the new National Redress scheme.' To aid the Church's ambition to be 'net zero' by 2030, the commissioners said have earmarked up to £190 million up to 2031 for projects including decarbonising cathedrals, churches, church halls, schools andhouses. The report admits it is 'unlikely that cathedrals will achieve net zero carbon by 2030 without some form of carbon offset, but we are working with the community to help reduce emissions as much as possible'. The commissioners add that the latest investment will go towards preventing 'a 'cliff-edge' after the 2030 target date set by Synod, enabling work to limit carbon emissions to continue to receive support'. Meanwhile, the report noted dozens of repair projects had been funded by commissioners to the value of £1.3 million last year, with a rise in instances of Church ceilings which appeared to have been damaged through lack of ventilation when the buildings were closed during the Covid-19 lockdowns. It said there had been 'an increase in the numbers of failed lath and plaster ceilings due to weakened plaster' which it said was 'likely to have been exacerbated by condensation forming due to the lack of ventilation when churches were closed for prolonged periods during the pandemic'. First Church Estates Commissioner, Alan Smith, said: 'This distribution of £1.6 billion represents the highest distribution in the Church's history – and we celebrate all those who have made it possible across the entire community of the Church, in particular the investments team, clergy and parishes. 'In stewarding these resources, we must be humble and vigilant, as the times ahead promise both great opportunities and challenges.'
Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Telegraph
Abuse scandals throw Church of England into staffing crisis
The body that manages a large part of the Church of England's assets is bracing itself for a recruitment crisis in the wake of its latest abuse scandal, a report suggests. The Church Commissioners of England has described its reputational risk as 'at an elevated level' after the Anglican Church apologised for more historic safeguarding failures and a review into one prolific abuser prompted the Archbishop of Canterbury's resignation. It comes as the body that manages the CoE's endowment fund – its largest source of revenue – announced a 10.3 per cent return last year, taking the value of the fund to £11.1 billion at the end of last year. In November, the extent of abuse carried out by barrister John Smyth, who abused up to 130 boys and young men over several decades, was revealed in a damning report. Smyth, who died aged 77 in 2018, used his role at Christian summer camps to meet victims, yet his crimes were not reported until 2013, decades after many were carried out. The 2024 Makin Review, found that the 'abhorrent abuse' by Smyth could have been exposed four years earlier if Justin Welby, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, had contacted the authorities and done more to follow-up reports. Mr Welby announced his resignation days after the report, and formally ended his tenure earlier this year. A replacement for the highest position in the Church of England is yet to be decided, with the selection process not set to conclude until later this year. A section of the 2024 Church Commissioners for England annual report suggested there were concerns about the effects on its own recruitment. The report said: 'Reputation is important for any charity, and the Church Commissioners considers its reputational risk currently to be at an elevated level. 'Members of the public, whether they consider themselves part of the Church of England or not, can quickly form opinions about the Church as an institution based on what they see/hear/read in various forms of media, which understandably impacts their perception and view of the Church Commissioners.' Referring to the Smyth case and Mr Welby's resignation, the authors wrote: 'This case and other safeguarding failures undermine public confidence in the assertions made by the Church, including the Church Commissioners, about the importance of, and priority given to, safeguarding. 'The potential reputational impacts could be far reaching; for example they may in turn make it more difficult for us to attract and retain staff.' Slavery reparations The same part of the report also referred to controversial slavery reparations, which were set to total £100 million over a nine-year period. It named the Fund for Healing Repair and Justice, an investment fund that will aim to raise £1 billion for members of communities affected by slavery, following criticism that the £100 million sum was not enough. Acknowledging the reparations issue, the report read: 'The highly significant and contested nature of the Church Commissioners' work researching and responding to historical links with African chattel enslavement also attracted significant attention, comment and, in some cases, criticism. 'Further reaction (including negative comment) to this programme of work is expected when the intended new Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice is launched, making investments and issuing grants.' Meanwhile, it was revealed that clergy would receive a pay rise of nearly 11 per cent next year as their stipends continue to catch up with salary. The two key measures for clergy pay, the National Minimum Stipend and the National Stipend Benchmark, will both rise by 10.7 per cent next year, to £33,350 and £34,950 respectively.
Reuters
6 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Church of England plans record $2.2 bln spend after signs of revival
LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - The Church of England will spend a record 1.6 billion pounds ($2.17 billion) over the next three years to boost clergy stipends and help cash-strapped parishes, it said on Monday, hoping to build on signs of a churchgoing revival among Britons. The 2026-2028 spending plan is 36% higher than the previous period and will help revitalise local churches and outreach after four years of growth in church attendance, the mother church of 85 million Anglicans worldwide said. A YouGov/Bible Society report this year found that a growing number of young men are attending church in Britain compared with before the COVID pandemic, upending an established trend of generational decline in Christianity across Western nations. The number of regular worshippers across 16,000 Anglican churches in Britain grew 1.2% to 1.02 million in 2024. The country's overall population is roughly 68 million. "Parishes and clergy are at the heart of everything we do in the Church ... It is also vital that we prioritise support for churches serving communities in the greatest need," the Church's interim leader, Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, said in the statement. The plans to increase stipends - payments made to clergy to cover their cost of living - by 10.7% next year will be financed by the Church Commissioners, who manage the institution's 11.1 billion endowment fund. That fund grew by 10.3% in 2024. The Church, under pressure over failures to handle child abuse complaints, said it would spend 30 million pounds on safeguarding work and confirmed 150 million pounds would be allocated to a redress scheme. A separate Church Commissioners' report estimated their reputational risk to be at an elevated level and warned of far-reaching impacts, as safeguarding failures undermine public confidence in the Church. ($1 = 0.7375 pounds)
Leader Live
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Leader Live
Warning over ‘reputational risk' damage from Church abuse scandals
High-profile cases such as that of serial abuser John Smyth and the subsequent Makin Review which prompted the resignation of Justin Welby as Archbishop of Canterbury, are said to 'undermine public confidence' in how seriously safeguarding is taken. The annual report from the Church Commissioners for England – which manages the Church's investment portfolio – described their reputational risk as currently being 'at an elevated level'. The Makin review, the commissioners said, 'gave rise to serious questions about safeguarding practice in the Church of England'. The commissioners' report, published on Monday, added: 'This case and other safeguarding failures undermine public confidence in the assertions made by the Church, including the Church Commissioners, about the importance of, and priority given to, safeguarding. 'The potential reputational impacts could be far-reaching; for example, they may in turn make it more difficult for us to attract and retain staff.' The warning came as Church Commissioners announced they would be investing more than £1.6 billion towards the work of the Church from 2026 to 2028. Bishop of London Dame Sarah Mullally said the 36% rise on the previous three-year period was 'the biggest injection of funding towards the work of the Church of England in our history, and we are very grateful for that'. The money will go towards various areas including clergy pay, church repairs and net zero plans. Some £30 million is being allocated towards the cost of national safeguarding work, including moves towards greater independence in how safeguarding is dealt with. Some £150 million towards the costs of the new national redress scheme for survivors of Church abuse had already been announced. In his foreword to the report, Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell acknowledged the 'challenging year' the Church had faced. The commissioners noted there was also an element of reputational risk around the Church's work on dealing with its past links to slavery, saying such work had already 'attracted significant attention, comment and, in some cases, criticism'. Their latest report warned: 'Further reaction (including negative comment) to this programme of work is expected when the intended new Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice is launched, making investments andissuing grants.' The Church announced in January 2023 its work to address historic links to slavery, with a funding programme for investment, research and engagement to 'address past wrongs' but the initial £100 million investment fund was branded too small and slow. An independent oversight group later said commissioners had 'embraced a target of £1 billion for a broader healing, repair and justice initiative with the fund at its centre'. Elsewhere, some of the overall £1.6 billion investment announced on Monday is to go towards clergy pay rises of almost 11%. The Church said the National Minimum Stipend (NMS) and the National Stipend Benchmark (NSB) will both rise by 10.7% from April, bring them to £33,350 and £34,950 respectively. Dame Sarah said the latest investment will 'value and affirm our clergy who give their lives in the service of Christ through the Church'. She said: 'I hope these carefully costed plans will provide a step-change in support to clergy right the way through from those following a call to ordination to those who have retired. 'It is vital also that we learn the lessons of our recent past and do everything we can to be a safer church for everyone. 'While no amount of money can ever erase the harm done by perpetrators of abuse, these spending plans will support the vital work of safeguarding in the Church and underpin the new National Redress scheme.' To aid the Church's ambition to be 'net zero' by 2030, the commissioners said have earmarked up to £190 million up to 2031 for projects including decarbonising cathedrals, churches, church halls, schools andhouses. The report admits it is 'unlikely that cathedrals will achieve net zero carbon by 2030 without some form of carbon offset, but we are working with the community to help reduce emissions as much as possible'. The commissioners add that the latest investment will go towards preventing 'a 'cliff-edge' after the 2030 target date set by Synod, enabling work to limit carbon emissions to continue to receive support'. Meanwhile, the report noted dozens of repair projects had been funded by commissioners to the value of £1.3 million last year, with a rise in instances of Church ceilings which appeared to have been damaged through lack of ventilation when the buildings were closed during the Covid-19 lockdowns. It said there had been 'an increase in the numbers of failed lath and plaster ceilings due to weakened plaster' which it said was 'likely to have been exacerbated by condensation forming due to the lack of ventilation when churches were closed for prolonged periods during the pandemic'. First Church Estates Commissioner, Alan Smith, said: 'This distribution of £1.6 billion represents the highest distribution in the Church's history – and we celebrate all those who have made it possible across the entire community of the Church, in particular the investments team, clergy and parishes. 'In stewarding these resources, we must be humble and vigilant, as the times ahead promise both great opportunities and challenges.'
