THE ending of the requirement for ratepayers in Guernsey to fund rectories will have “significant implications” for clergy and their families, the Dean of Guernsey, the Very Revd Tim Barker, has warned.
On Wednesday of last week, the Guernsey States Assembly’s deputies voted by a two-thirds majority for an amendment to the Parochial Church Property (Guernsey) Law 2015, stating that any customary duty on parishes to provide suitable accommodation for their rector and rector’s household should be abolished in January 2030, the Guernsey Press reported. An earlier amendment gave a longer timeframe of ten years.
In an explanatory note attached to his proposal, Deputy Christopher Le Tissier described the requirement as “an anachronism”. “Many islanders . . . are not all followers of the Church of England, and some maintain beliefs in other faiths. In fact, there is a growing number that follow no faith at all. For these people, the need to contribute financially to the accommodation for rectors from the Church of England faith is considered plainly inequitable.” In some cases, hundreds of thousands of pounds might be required to maintain the parish rectory, he wrote.
Dean Barker said last week that he respected the “clear resolution of the States”, but warned that there would be “significant implications, primarily for the clergy and their families who will be directly affected by the decision but also for the Deanery of Guernsey and the work and ministry of our churches, especially in the more rural parishes . . .
“We need to work carefully with the parishes and others to consider the consequences of the States resolution and what happens next.”
There are 16 churches in Guernsey, across 14 parishes, in addition to one each in Alderney and Sark. Ratepayers are responsible for the external maintenance of the churches of the ten ancient parishes in Guernsey.
Detailed legislative changes will have to be approved by the next States Assembly before the reforms come into effect, the Guernsey Press reports.