The Commissioners' spending responsibilities are briefly
outlined below. Further details can be found in their Annual Report.
Through the Archbishops' Council the Church Commissioners
contribute more than £40 million annually to support the church's
mission and
ministry at parish level. This money includes targeted
grants to dioceses, used mainly for clergy stipends, and mission
development funding to help dioceses develop new church ministry by
investing in parish mission initiatives.
The Commissioners fund grants towards the Church Urban
Fund and the Archbishops' Council's youth evangelism fund.
Both focus on the church's mission at local level.
The Commissioners also provide grants towards the six qualifying
dioceses which benefit from the City Church
Fund. Its latest triennial
report sets out dioceses' use of these grants.
The Commissioners fund all clergy pensions
earned before 1998, plus contributions to the funded pension scheme
for those bishops and cathedral clergy whose stipends they fund
directly. Read more about
the clergy pension and retirement housing schemes.
The Commissioners support the ministry of bishops
and cathedrals. They meet bishops' stipends and
working costs - mainly staff salaries - and maintain diocesan
bishops' houses. They meet the stipends of the dean and two other
senior clergy at each cathedral in England and make targeted grants
towards the salaries of cathedrals' lay staff.