The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of

Queen Anne's Bounty Queen Anne's Bounty was a scheme established in 1704 to augment the incomes of the poorer clergy of the Church of England and by extension the organisation ("The Governors of the Bounty of Queen Anne for the Augmentation of the Maintenance of the ...

, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the

Ecclesiastical Commissioners The Ecclesiastical Commissioners were, in England and Wales, a body corporate, whose full title was Ecclesiastical and Church Estates Commissioners for England. The commissioners were authorised to determine the distribution of revenues of the Ch ...

formed in 1836. The Church Commissioners are a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

regulated by the

Charity Commission for England and Wales The Charity Commission for England and Wales is a non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Government that regulates Charitable organization, registered charities in En ...

, and are liable for the payment of

pension A pension (; ) is a fund into which amounts are paid regularly during an individual's working career, and from which periodic payments are made to support the person's retirement from work. A pension may be either a " defined benefit plan", wh ...

s to retired clergy whose pensions were accrued before 1998 (subsequent pensions are the responsibility of the Church of England Pensions Board). The secretary (and

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

) of the Church Commissioners is Gareth Mostyn.

History

The

Church Building Act 1818 A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglican church in England or Wales built with money voted by Parliament as a result of the ( 58 Geo. 3. c. 45) and the ( 5 Geo. 4. c. 103). The 1818 ...

granted money and established the Church Building Commission to build churches in the cities of the Industrial Revolution. These churches became known variously as

Commissioners' church A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in England or Wales built with money voted by Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament as a result of the (58 Geo. 3. ...

es, Waterloo churches or Million Act churches. The Church Building Commission became the

in 1836. An earlier Ecclesiastical Duties and Revenues Commission had been set up under the first brief administration of Sir

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

in 1835 with a wide remit, "to consider the State of the Established Church in England and Wales, with reference to Ecclesiastical Duties and Revenues" (Minutes of the Commission, 9 February 1835); this body redistributed wealth between the dioceses and changed diocesan boundaries, and the permanent Ecclesiastical Commission was formed the following year. The Church Commissioners were established in 1948 as a merger of

and the

, following the passage, by the National Assembly of the Church of England, of the (10 & 11 Geo. 6. No. 2). In 1992 it was revealed that the Church Commissioners had lost £500m through over-commitment of the fund leading to poor investment decisions. This figure was later revised up to £800m, a third of their assets. The value of the commissioners' assets was around £5.5 billion as at the end of 2012. By September 2016, it was valued at £7 billion. The income is used for the payment of

s to retired clergy whose pensions were accrued before 1998 (subsequent pensions are the responsibility of the Church of England Pensions Board) and a range of other commitments including supporting the ministries of bishops and cathedrals and funding various diocesan and parish missions initiatives. In June 2022, the Commissioners acknowledged early links of Queen Anne's Bounty to the

Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of Slavery in Africa, enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Pass ...

. They and the Archbishop of Canterbury apologised. In January 2023 the Commissioners announced that they were setting up a fund of £100 million to be spent over the next nine years on addressing historic links with slavery. The Commissioners also oversee pastoral reorganisation, the consent of the commissioners being required for establishing or dissolving team and group ministries, uniting, creating, or dissolving benefices and parishes, and the closing of

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

church buildings and graveyards. The Church Commissioners are now based at

Church House Church House may refer to: Buildings Diocesan and national ecclesiastical offices * Church House (Presbyterian Church in Ireland), Belfast, Northern Ireland, headquarters of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland * Church House, Brisbane, Queenslan ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, having long occupied No. 1

Millbank Millbank is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. Millbank is located by the River Thames, east of Pimlico and south of Westminster. Millbank is known as the location of major government offices, Burberry headquarters, the Mill ...

. The Millbank building was sold in 2005 to the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

for accommodation of members and staff; the commissioners completed the move to Church House in 2007. They used to be an

exempt charity An exempt charity is an institution established in England and Wales for charitable purposes which is exempt from registration with, and oversight by, the Charity Commission for England and Wales. Exempt charities are largely institutions of furt ...

under English law, and is now a registered charity regulated by the

. The secretary (and

) of the Church Commissioners is Gareth Mostyn.

Responsibilities

The Church Commissioners have the following responsibilities: * Funding

mission Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality * Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * ...

in churches, dioceses and cathedrals. * Pastoral reorganisation (including mergers of

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es and

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

s); supported by the Pastoral Team. * Clergy

payroll A payroll is a list of employment, employees of a company who are entitled to receive compensation as well as other work benefits, as well as the amounts that each should obtain. Along with the amounts that each employee should receive for time ...

ensuring clergy are paid their

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

. * Managing the production of

Crockford's Clerical Directory ''Crockford's Clerical Directory'' (''Crockford'') is the authoritative directory of Anglican clergy and churches in Great Britain and Ireland, containing details of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish benefices and churches, and biographies of aro ...

. * Managing the

Lambeth Palace Library Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the opposite b ...

and the Church of England Record Centre.

Portfolio

The CC portfolio in 2020 is extensive, worth around £9.2 billion and includes the Hyde Park Estate and a 10% stake in the

MetroCentre Metrocentre (previously styled as MetroCentre) is a shopping centre and entertainment complex in the Dunston area of Gateshead. It is located on the former site of Dunston Power Station, near to the River Tyne. Metrocentre opened in stages, ...

shopping centre. The CC are the 13th largest landowner in the UK. The CC own a significant amount of rural land and sometimes promote this through

Local Plan A development plan sets out a local authority's policies and proposals for land use in their area. The term is usually used Town and country planning in the United Kingdom, in the United Kingdom. A local plan is one type of development plan. The d ...

processes.

List of commissioners

There are 33 Church Commissioners, of whom 27 make up the board of governors as the main policy-making body, with a further 6 who are officers of state or

Government ministers A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

. Board members are either elected by the

General Synod of the Church of England The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

, or appointed by either the

archbishops In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

. The board of governors is composed of all of the commissioners apart from the First Lord of the Treasury, the Lord President of the Council, the Lord Chancellor, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the Speaker of the House of Commons, and the Lord Speaker. The 33 commissioners are as follows:

Church Estates Commissioners

The Church Estates Commissioners are three lay people who represent the Church Commissioners in the

. The first and second commissioners are appointed by the British monarch, and the third commissioner is appointed by the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

. They are based at

Church House, Westminster The Church House is the home of the headquarters of the Church of England, occupying the south end of Dean's Yard next to Westminster Abbey in London. Besides providing administrative offices for the Church Commissioners, the Archbishops' Counc ...

, having previously had offices at No. 1 Millbank, London.

First Church Estates Commissioners

The First Church Estates Commissioner is appointed by the

British Monarch The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British con ...

. * 1850–1878: The Earl of Chichester * 1878–1905: The Earl Stanhope * 1905–1931: Sir Lewis Dibdin * 1931–1938: Sir George Middleton * 1939–1954: Sir Philip Baker Wilbraham * 1954–1969: The Lord Silsoe * 1969–1982: Sir Ronald Harris * 1983–1993: Sir Douglas Lovelock * 1993–1999: Sir Michael Colman * 1999–2001:

John Sclater John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

* 2002–2017: Sir Andreas Whittam Smith * 2017–2021:

Loretta Minghella Loretta Caroline Rose Minghella (born 4 March 1962) is a British academic administrator and former charity executive. Since 2021, she has served as Master of Clare College, Cambridge, her alma mater. Previously, she was the Chief Executive Offic ...

* 2021–2024: Alan Smith

Second Church Estates Commissioners

The Second Church Estates Commissioner is appointed by the Crown. They are now always a Member of Parliament from the party in government, and have additional duties as a link between the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

and the Church. * 1850–1858: Sir John Shaw Lefevre * 1858–1859: The Viscount Eversley * 1859–1865: Edward Pleydell Bouverie * 1865–1866: Henry Austin Bruce * 1866–1868: John Robert Mowbray * 1869–1874: Sir Thomas Dyke Acland * 1874–1879: George Cubitt * 1879–1880: Thomas Salt * 1880–1885:

Evelyn Ashley Anthony Evelyn Melbourne Ashley (24 July 1836 – 16 November 1907) was a British barrister and Liberal politician. He was private secretary to Lord Palmerston and later published a biography of him. After entering Parliament at a by-election ...

* 1885–1886: Sir Henry Selwin-Ibbetson * 1886–1886: Thomas Dyke Acland * 1886–1892: Sir Henry Selwin-Ibbetson * 1892–1892: Charles Algernon Whitmore * 1892–1895:

George Leveson Gower Sir George Granville Leveson-Gower Order of the British Empire, KBE (19 May 1858 – 18 July 1951), was a British civil servant and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician from the Leveson-Gower family. He held political office as Comptroller of ...

* 1895–1906: Sir Lees Knowles * 1906–1906: Francis Stevenson * 1906–1907:

Charles Hobhouse Sir Charles Edward Henry Hobhouse, 4th Baronet, TD, PC, JP (30 June 1862 – 26 June 1941) was a British Liberal politician and officer in the Territorial Force. He was a member of the Liberal cabinet of H. H. Asquith between 1911 and 191 ...

* 1907–1910: James Tomkinson * 1910–1918:

Sir Charles Nicholson Sir Charles Nicholson, 1st Baronet (born Isaac Ascough; 23 November 1808 – 8 November 1903) was an English-Australian politician, university founder, explorer, pastoralist, antiquarian and philanthropist. The Nicholson Museum at the Universit ...

* 1919–1922: Sir William Mount * 1923–1924: John Birchall * 1924–1924: George Middleton * 1924–1929: John Birchall * 1929–1931: George Middleton * 1931–1943:

Richard Denman The Honourable Sir Richard Douglas Denman, 1st Baronet (24 August 1876 – 22 December 1957), was a radical British Liberal Party politician and Labour Party then National Labour MP. Background Denman was the son of Richard Denman, a court c ...

* 1943–1945: Sir John Mills * 1945–1950: Thomas Burden * 1950–1951: Sir Richard Acland * 1951–1957:

Sir John Crowder Sir John Frederick Ellenborough Crowder (10 November 1891 – 9 July 1961) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the member of parliament (MP) for Finchley from the 1935 general election until the 1959 general elec ...

* 1957–1962: Sir Hubert Ashton * 1962–1964: Sir John Arbuthnot * 1964–1970: Lancelot Mallalieu David Butler and Gareth Butler, ''Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900–2000'', eighth edition (Macmillan, 2000) p. 70. * 1970–1974: Sir Marcus Worsley * 1974–1974: Edward Bishop * 1974–1979: Terence Walker * 1979–1987 Sir William van Straubenzee * 1987–1997:

Michael Alison Michael James Hugh Alison (27 June 1926 – 28 May 2004) was a British Conservative politician. Born in Margate, Kent, Alison was educated at Eton College; Wadham College, Oxford; and Ridley Hall, Cambridge. During the war, he served in the Co ...

* 1997–2010: Sir Stuart Bell * 2010–2015: Sir Tony Baldry * 2015–2020: Dame Caroline Spelman * 2020–2024:

Andrew Selous Andrew Edmund Armstrong Selous (; born 27 April 1962) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South West Bedfordshire from 2001 until 2024, when the constituency was abolished. Selous stood for the new Dunstab ...

* 2024–:

Marsha de Cordova Marsha Chantal de Cordova (born 23 January 1976) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Battersea since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she was a Member of Lambeth London Borough Council from 2014 to 2018. Since 202 ...

Third Church Estates Commissioners

The Third Church Estates Commissioner is appointed by the

. * 1850–1856:

Henry Goulburn Henry Goulburn PC FRS (19 March 1784 – 12 January 1856) was a British Conservative statesman and a member of the Peelite faction after 1846. Background and education Born in London, Goulburn was the eldest son of a wealthy planter, Munbee G ...

* 1856–1858:

Spencer Horatio Walpole Spencer Horatio Walpole (11 September 1806 – 22 May 1898) was a British Conservative Party politician who served three times as Home Secretary in the administrations of Lord Derby. Background and education Walpole was the second son of Th ...

* 1858–1862: William Deedes * 1862–1866:

* 1866–1871:

Edward Howes Edward Howes DL (7 July 1813 – 26 March 1871) was an English Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1859 to 1871. Life Howes was the son of Rev. George Howes, rector of Spixworth, Norfolk, and his wife Elizabet ...

* 1871–1892: Sir John Robert Mowbray * 1892–1895: Sir Michael Hicks Beach * 1895–1926: The Lord Stuart of Wortley * 1926–1948: The Lord Daryngton * 1948–1952: The Lord Tovey * 1952–1954: Sir Malcolm Trustram Eve * 1954–1962: Sir James Brown * 1962–1972: Sir Hubert Ashton * 1972–1981: Dame Betty Ridley * 1981–1989: The Revd Betsy Howarth * 1989–1999: Margaret Heather Laird * 1999–2005: The Viscountess Brentford * 2006–2012: Timothy Walker * 2013–2018: Andrew Mackie * 2018–2022:

Eve Poole Eve Poole (born Eva Auerbach; 29 December 1924 – 26 December 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as Mayor of Invercargill from 1983 until her death in 1992. She was the first woman and Jew to hold this position. Early life Poole w ...

* 2022–2024: The Revd Canon Flora Winfield * 2025–: Sir Robert Buckland

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

The Church Commissioners

Church Commissioners Measure 1947
at the UK Statute Law Database
Church Commissioners Measure 1970
at the UK Statute Law Database Christian organizations established in 1948 1948 establishments in the United Kingdom Anglican organizations established in the 20th century Charities based in London Christian charities based in the United Kingdom Church of England Church of England societies and organisations Exempt charities Political office-holders in the United Kingdom Religion in the City of Westminster