There are 33 Church Commissioners, who have trustee responsibility for meeting our charitable obligations. Six of the Commissioners hold offices of state and the other 27 make up the Board of Governors, the main policy-making body.
Ex officio Commissioner from 2013. Former oil industry executive; ordained in 1992; curacy and incumbencies in Coventry diocese 1992-2002; Residentiary Canon at Coventry Cathedral 2002-05 and Sub Dean 2005-07; Dean of Liverpool Cathedral 2007-11; Bishop of Durham 2011-13. Expert in the politics and history of Kenya and Nigeria, Archbishop Justin has done extensive reconciliation work, most notably in Africa. Member of Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards.
Member of the Board and Chair of the Church Commissioners. (However, the Archbishop is authorised by legislation to appoint a Deputy Chair for periods of up to 5 years. Currently his Deputy is the Bishop of Manchester)
He found faith as a teenager through the work of youth organisations in his local church. After a brief spell working in the film industry, and at St Christopher’s Hospice in South London, he began training for ministry at St Stephen’s House, Oxford, in 1981 and was ordained deacon at the age of 25. He later studied for an MA with St Mellitus College.
Serving his curacy in Christ Church and St Paul’s, Forest Hill, south London, in the mid-1980s he was priest-in-charge at St Wilfrid’s, in Parklands, a council estate parish in Chichester from 1988 to 1993. He also served as Assistant Director of Pastoral Studies at Chichester Theological College at the same time.
He then moved to West Yorkshire, as Diocesan Missioner and Bishop’s Chaplain for Evangelism in the Diocese of Wakefield and in 1998 he also became a member of Springboard, the Archbishop of York and Canterbury’s team for evangelism. Throughout this time he adopted Huddersfield Town as his team alongside his beloved Spurs.
In 2001, he was called south to become Canon Pastor of Peterborough Cathedral and three years later was consecrated as Bishop of Reading. He became Bishop of Chelmsford in 2010 and served there until 2020 when he became the 98th Archbishop of York.
First Church Estates Commissioner from October 2021. Commissioner from April 2018. Senior Advisor on Climate and ESG Risk Management at HSBC. Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and member of Board of Trustees of Global Association of Risk Professionals. Member of the Audit Committee of Commonwealth Secretariat. In 2015 co-authored his first book “Dreaming a Nation” which told the story of Barbados’s journey to Independence.
Member of the Board and Chair of Assets Committee.
Second Church Estates Commissioner from 2020. Re-insurance underwriter and former Territorial Army officer. Elected to parliament in 2001 for South West Bedfordshire. Served as a shadow work and pensions minister, then as prisons minister. Has served on the work and pensions, health and social care and ecclesiastical committees. Writing an independent report for the government on how to support Armed Forces families better. Currently Prime Minister’s trade envoy to South Africa. Married with three daughters. Dog walker, cyclist and litter picker.
Member of the Board. Not a member of any committee but entitled to attend and speak at any.
Canon Winfield was ordained deacon in 1989 and priest in 1994. She has worked in parish and cathedral ministry, university and military chaplaincy, ecumenical and Anglican Communion relations, and humanitarian diplomacy, representing the Anglican Communion at the United Nations. Most recently, Canon Winfield was the Archbishop of Canterbury's Advisor on Reconciliation until her appointment as Third Church Estates Commissioner in 2022.
Member Board of Governors and Chair of Bishoprics & Cathedrals Committee and Mission, Pastoral & Church Property Committee.
Bishop of Manchester Commissioner from 2014. After research work in Pure Mathematics, spent 17 years in parish ministry and industrial chaplaincy in Sheffield Diocese. Bishop of Dudley 2000-13. Former vice chair of Church of England Pensions Board. Engaged in statistical research and Social Housing. Lead bishop for Religious Communities.
Member and Deputy Chair of the Board and member of Bishoprics & Cathedrals Committee.
Commissioner from 2019. Ordained Deaconess in 1982, became chaplain of Clare College Cambridge in 1985. Ordained Deacon in 1987 in Ely, +Viv moved into work in cathedrals in 1990 in Gloucester as chaplain where she was ordained priest, in Coventry as Canon Pastor and later Vice Provost, and in Leicester as Provost and later Dean. MBA (Open University), former chair of the Association of English Cathedrals and Chair of Deans’ Conference. Has served on Boards of a regional theatre, a large FE College and a University. Appointed Dean of York in 2012, with responsibility for completion of £20m HLF/ Chapter funded restoration of the Great East Window, as well as significant major organisational cultural and strategic development. In 2018 she was consecrated Bishop to serve as Bishop of Bristol, her mother’s home city. She is married to Michael, an immunologist, gardener and beekeeper.
Member of the Board and Bishoprics & Cathedrals Committee
Commissioner from 2021. Graduate in ecology and theology. Spent 18 years in parish ministry in Middlesbrough and Hexham. Bishop of Dudley 2014 -2019. Bishop of Norwich since 2019. Member of the Anglican Consultative Council and the International Commission for Anglican Orthodox Theological Dialogue. Maintains an interest in landscape and forestry, including in his writing, and chaired the Forestry Commission’s Northeast Advisory Committee and was a board member of the Northumberland National Park Authority. From 2016-2020 he was a member of the board of the Human Tissue Authority. He is the lead bishop for the environment.
On General Synod from 2015, and elected to the Commissioners in 2017. New College, Oxford, and St Stephen's House. Ordained 1995 to a curacy in Wantage, then chaplain to the Bishop of Horsham. Vicar of St Michael's Beckenham for ten years. Vicar of St Alban's Holborn since 2011. Degrees in Music, Theology and Law; called to the Bar 2010. Trustee of the London Diocesan Fund and the London Diocesan Board for Schools. Contributor to an Ashgate/Routledge volume on Religion and Legal Pluralism, and author of a monthly column in the journal New Directions.
Member of the Board, member of the Assets Committee and member of Mission, Pastoral and Church Property Committee.
Commissioner from 1997. Ordained 1984, Curacies in Hull (York diocese) 1984-88, Rector of Pitsford with Boughton from 1988, diocese of Peterborough. CME Secretary 1988-93. Chair of Church Buildings Committee, member of Bishop's Council and DBF. General Synod member from 1995, Synodical Secretary of Convocation of Canterbury from 2010. Member of Ecclesiastical Law Society. Writer on theology and canon law.
Member of the Board and Mission, Pastoral & Church Property Committee
Commissioner from 2019. Ordained in 1991 following managerial roles in the Home Office and British Telecom. Parish priest in Greenwich, Battersea and Central London where she is currently Vicar of St Pancras Church. Also previously Chaplain of Trinity College Cambridge and Director of Reader Training in Southwark Diocese. Member of General Synod for Southwark 2005-2012, and London from 2017. Degrees in English (Warwick) and Theology (Cambridge and London). Trustee of Inclusive Church 2013-2016 and WATCH 2012-2019.
Member of the Board and member of the Mission, Pastoral and Church Property Committee.
Public affairs, community engagement and media management. Commissioner from 1992. Trained as a lawyer, MP for Leicester East 1983-87, many current and former voluntary roles including member of General Synod from 1985, Dioceses Commission, Legislative Committee (former acting Chair), Cathedrals Fabric Commission, General Synod Board of Education and Dearing Commission. Also lay canon Guildford cathedral, Civilian-Military Liaison Adviser and Regional Fundraiser. Ofsted Church Schools inspector and former independent lay chair of NHS complaints tribunal.
Member of the Board, Assets Committee and Mission, Pastoral & Church Property Committee
Church Commissioner since 2009. Following a successful career as a Director of a Chartered Surveying practice, changed in 2010 to work in Charity sector as CEO of an interdenominational Christian charity with a focus on Jewish/Christian relations. General Synod member from 2005 and former member of its Church Buildings Council. Previously served on Commissioners' Church Buildings (Uses & Disposals) Committee. Church Warden and member of Bishop's Council (Chichester). Duke of Edinburgh Expedition Leader.
Member of the Board and Bishoprics & Cathedrals Committee
Commissioner from January 2019. Jay has been an environmental campaigner since 1989 and now also campaigns against modern slavery. Career in Social Work (M.Phil. Social Work University of York 1976) with later training in both project and change management. Took a career break in 1994, gained an HND in Land Use and since then has a special interest in Forestry and the timber industry. Given a Millennium Award in 1999 to study development and capacity building projects in Uganda.
Member of the Board, member of the Audit & Risk Committee and member of Mission, Pastoral and Church Property Committee
Career in banking and Local Government Education finance, including 20 years as School Business Manager. 2002-2009- involved in development of national training programme for School Business Managers, working with the DfE, TDA and National College for School Leadership. Awarded MBE for “services to education” in 2008. Project Co-ordinator for £20 million new school build under Building Schools for the Future (2008-2011). Lay Canon Chester Cathedral, Member General Synod, Chair of Chester Diocesan Multi Academy Trust, former chair of Chester DBF and former member of Archbishops’ Council Finance Committee and Ecclesiastical Fees Commission.
Member of the Board and Bishoprics & Cathedrals Committee
Dean of Manchester. Church Commissioner from 2022.
Ordained priest in 1986, early ministry was in South Africa before moving to Manchester in 2001. Dean of Cathedral since 2006.
Chair of Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns, observer of the Archbishop’s Council and Church Commissioner elected by the Deans. Member of General Synod. Was awarded MBE in the 2018 Queen’s New Year Honours List for Inter-faith work. Member of Manchester Climate Change Board, founder of Our Faith Our Planet and The Challenging Hate Forum. Committed to promoting anti-racism, bridge-building, diversity and inclusion.
Member of the Board and Bishoprics & Cathedrals Committee
Dean of Ely. Commissioner from 2019. Ordained in 1985, served first in the Durham Diocese, then sent 16 years in St Albans diocese as chaplain and precentor at St Albans Abbey, Vicar of Eaton Bray and finally Rector of Great Berkhamstead. Canon Treasurer of Salisbury Cathedral from 2004-2012. Member of General Synod 1995-2010, chaplain to the Synod and member of Liturgical Commission. Married to a primary school headteacher. Has two daughters who have now left home.
Member of the Board and member of Bishoprics & Cathedrals Committee.
Commissioner from 2017. Graduate in Industrial Economics and Associate of Chartered Institute of Bankers. Early career in corporate banking with culminating in leading the mid-market real estate & construction finance business in 2002. Head of Real Estate and Retail Group followed by various managing director roles at RBS, including MD of Real Estate Finance Group & Sustainability. London Real Estate Finance Board Chair and member of UK Real Estate Management Committee from 2008. Moved to a portfolio career in 2015 including various commercial and charitable sector roles such as a board member of LondonMetric Property Plc, senior advisor at Centrus, co-founder of Real Estate Balance which helps promote and embed a diversity culture within industry and Board director of RHP.
Commissioner from 2023. Partner and Chief Investment Officer International at Brown Advisory, responsible for leading multi-strategy international investment offering for clients. Relocated to London in 2013 to establish international external manager platform, working on third-party manager selection, asset allocation and opportunistic investments. Prior to this, was a research analyst with the firm’s Open Architecture and Asset Allocation group based in Baltimore. Previously, while completing post-graduate work in Hong Kong, spent time analysing the market challenges and opportunities associated with RMB currency reform for Citigroup and has served as a financial editor at Agora Publishing.
Nigel Timmins studied Geology before an early career in the off-shore oil industry. That changed with a Masters in Community Engineering where his thesis was on low-cost techniques for water well drilling.
He subsequently volunteered as a Water Engineer in Guatemala during the last years of the civil war, then spent 2 years in Afghanistan in the mid 1990s, joining Tearfund.
He led Tearfund’s response to the famine in (then) southern Sudan from 1998 to 2000. Taking up a role at Tearfund’s HQ in the UK he oversaw a number of humanitarian programmes from the Balkans, Great Lakes of Africa to the Asian Tsunami response. At Christian Aid he covered their emergencies work in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America before moving to Oxfam in 2012 where he is currently Humanitarian Director, responsible for their humanitarian work globally. Nigel was a founder Trustee of the Global Network for Disaster Reduction, and of the Start Network and Chair of the CaLP network.
Member of the Board
Nominated by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York
Busola has spent most of her executive career in Financial Services. Until 2019, she was a Managing Director/CFO – Global Markets EMEA for State Street Bank. She is a non-executive director at TR Property Investment Trust plc, a non-executive director of Hargreave Hale AIM VCT, and is a non-executive director at The Ombudsman Services.
Busola is the founder of a social start-up active in the digital space developing tech products for youths and young adults and is also an activator supporting women-led ventures.
She currently serves as a Trustee for The Scouts Association and Holy Trinity Brompton and is an elected member of General Synod
She is a qualified Chartered Management Accountant (CGMA), holds an MBA with Distinction from Leeds University, and a BSc. Economics.
Commissioner from 2013. Managing Director and Co-Chief Investment Officer of BlackRock Alternative Advisors, the Absolute Return Strategies group at BlackRock, where he is a member of the Investment Committee and Management Committee. Portfolio manager responsible for managing commingled funds and custom solutions for institutional clients and oversees the sourcing, evaluating, and monitoring of alternative investment managers and co-investments. Spent several years in Asia where he established the Hong Kong-based office for the group. BA degree in business administration with a concentration in finance from the University of Washington.
Remi Olu-Pitan was appointed a commissioner from October 2022 and is a member of the Board and Assets Committee.
She is the Head of Multi Asset Growth and Income strategies at Schroders, where she is responsible for outcome orientated investments on behalf of clients globally. She is a Fund manager of the Schroder Diversified Growth Fund, Schroder ISF Global Multi-Asset Income Fund and Schroder Managed Balanced Fund and a voting member of the Schroder Global Asset Allocation Committee. She serves on the Board of Directors of Schroder Investment Management (Switzerland) AG.
Remi holds a BSc in Business Finance from Durham University, a MSc in Statistics from the London School of Economics and is a CFA Charterholder.
Commissioner from 2019. Practicing barrister, based in London, specialising in planning, local government and environment law. Commissary General of the diocese of Canterbury and the Deputy Chancellor of Southwark, and, on occasions, chairs Clergy Discipline Tribunals. Reader in the Church of England with a keen interest in music, especially choral. Morag is married to a parish priest; they have three children and live in Essex.
Member of the Board and member of Mission, Pastoral & Church Property Committee
Commissioner from 2020. Partner at Pantheon since 2004, Head of European Primary Investment and a member of the firm’s International Investment Committee and Co-investment Committee. After graduating with a degree in Engineering from Cambridge University, and an MBA with great distinction from the Richard Ivey Business School in Canada, spent the last 30 years investing in private equity and venture capital opportunities on behalf of large institutional investors. Co-founder and current Board member of non-profit organisation Level 20, past Board member of Invest Europe and past Chair of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.
Commissioner from January 2023. Started her career in real estate and has invested directly and indirectly in the UK and globally. Her experience includes working on Grosvenor’s London estate, working for a bank in property lending and nearly 10 years working for Schroders. Most recently Chief Investment Officer at Tesco (more than £12bn of assets under management across equities, fixed income and private markets including direct real estate, private equity, private credit, hedge funds and infrastructure), where her role widened from real estate to all private markets.
Passionate about education and giving young people an opportunity. Also particularly interested in “practical” responsible investing and thinking about how the investment management industry can evolve to face into the changing needs of society including decarbonisation, digitalisation, demographics, deglobalisation, and destabilisation.
