Justin Welby, a former oil executive, may have hoped to have left the problems of Mammon behind on his appointment as Archbishop of Canterbury, but he could be plunged into an immediate cash crisis.
The Church of England’s pension deficit could reach £500m by the end of this year, putting a huge financial burden on congregations, an independent pensions consultant has warned.
John Ralfe said congregations, who already pay £68m annually to support the Clergy Pensions Scheme’s 24,000 members, will have to find £108m a year if an existing plan to eliminate the deficit over 12 years is not extended.
This C of E ‘pensions deficit’ story surfaces every few years, to my amazement. The Church Commissioners have (from our RC perspective) vast riches beyond the dreams of avarice. I mean, billions, literally, of investments. From this side of the Tiber where we seem to make do with far less it seems incredible that the C of E devotes such vast amounts to pensions. Something seems wrong somewhere.
The US church has excess pension funds – perhaps they could just take some of that?