The National Funding for Diocesan Ministry Review has been established to support the Church of England in considering how national funds are distributed to dioceses to sustain and grow mission and ministry across diverse contexts. The review responds to the call from General Synod to examine the Church’s approach to resourcing diocesan ministry for the future, including questions of sustainability, ministry capacity and the effectiveness of current funding arrangements.
The overall quantum of funding available remains a matter to be determined by the Church Commissioners in the light of actuarial advice. The division of that quantum between different priorities remains a matter for the trustee bodies, advised every three years by a Triennium Funding Working Group. The work of this review is focused on the design and operation of funding approaches. The intention is that the review will develop a small number of possible approaches, alongside a recommended direction, to be debated by the General Synod in July 2027. The mind of Synod expressed through that debate will inform future priorities for the use of funds by the Archbishops’ Council and the Church Commissioners, the bodies with statutory responsibility for their disbursement.
The review is focused on the Church’s approach to funding diocesan ministry in support of the Church’s Vision and Strategy, as agreed through the House of Bishops and Synod, through its principal mechanisms: redistribution, diocesan investment and time-limited support for transition and change. The Steering Group will be considering how these elements operate together as a system, including the incentives they create, the behaviours they shape and their impact on sustainability across different diocesan contexts.
While certain related funding streams and pressures are not within the scope of the review, the work will be taking account of how these interact with diocesan ministry funding as part of the wider financial environment experienced in dioceses, cathedrals and parishes.