A report published last October showed retired clergy to be the largest group among ordained ministers in the Church of England. They outnumber licensed clergy in every diocese — in some, by a factor of more than two.
Taken together, the number of clergy pensioners and their spouses, plus retired self-supporting ministers, approaches 25,000, suggests Canon Julian Hubbard, a former Director of Ministry at the Archbishops’ Council, and, since 2020, Retired Clergy Officer (RCO) for Guildford.
He is the author of the report The Role and Work of Retired Clergy Officers in the Dioceses of the Church of England. Forty-one out of the 42 dioceses responded to the survey of what that ministry comprised, which revealed a wide variation, depending on size, geography, and culture.
Retired clergy ‘keeping the show on the road’ https://t.co/oTdDJsWvtz
— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) June 28, 2025