housing
My daughters mean I benefit from their insights of their generation, and now, I am also seeing the issues confronting young families – for example the cost of housing and working on short- term contracts.
There must be security around clergy housing, pay, pensions, and retirement, if we want to enable new vocations, and improve clergy well-being.
..SO Can we have a CofE-wide commitment to best practice in clergy housing next?
Nationalism, and internationalism, migration, social division, housing and poverty
Through my own experience, and that of my wife, who works in social housing management, I have seen the importance of tackling poverty and inequality and of providing decent, affordable homes.
I have been encouraged to see the Church working through its housing initiatives and the Church Housing Association (CHA) to address these needs, including new developments such as the project in Birmingham.
e Six years in diocesan administration, running the synod department, working on clergy housing, pastoral reorganisation and diocesan communications.
The focus of my work is primarily pastoral, although I am involved in helping clients to work through practical issues concerned with housing, energy supplies, food and clothing.
There remain, however, other serious injustices in clergy retirement provision, particularly around housing.
2019, we brought the General Synod motion “to have a loving, worshipping, serving Christian community on every significant social housing estate in England” which was unanimously supported.
I took this opportunity to raise issues around ordinand finance and ensuring that candidates from social housing, both young and old are afforded the same opportunities as those who have finance from previous careers or inherited wealth.
He comes with experience as vicar of a large housing estate, and with a deep commitment to our vocation to be a church that serves every community, which he shows through his support for the rural, suburban, urban and town centre civic churches across his deanery.
I want the church to reduce administrative friction, improve housing and care standards, and offer robust legal and emotional protection.
I used many of my Questions to push on clergy pensions and housing issues.
Parish: I want to see parishes and clergy supported well, both financially and pastorally, so that they thrive in this changing world especially in areas where village and parish life is being changed by housing developments and the challenging move to net zero is necessary.
For example, new housing estates might include prominently placed churches.
Allow me introduce myself: I have been a worshipping member of St Andrew’s Community Church on Foxhill, Bath for about 8 years - a growing congregation comprising a very diverse crowd largely drawn from the social housing estate where it is located.
The Housing Project.
I sit on the Oversight Panel of the national church’s Housing Project, which supports dioceses and parishes in addressing the housing crisis through developments on church land.
Stipends and pensions have improved somewhat, but retirement housing remains inadequate, and I want to keep pressing the ACFC on this issue.
As a distance runner who runs every day, I recognise that to sustain endurance, there needs to be suficient support in place, so I’d advocate for a Clergy Conduct Measure that leads to better pensions, stipends, housing, and maternity support.
In London I volunteered for a charity called ‘Grandma’s’, supporting a family affected by HIV/AIDS, and was an active member of London Citizens, community organising in Hammersmith, particularly on issues related to affordable housing.
Things like housing, work, money, justice, are kingdom concerns.
Since leaving school, I achieved a Graduate Diploma (degree equivalent) in Music (1983), Post Graduate Diploma in Housing Management (1993), MA in Education (2019) and Level 6 Diploma in Career Guidance and Development (2021).
I am a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Housing (since 2005) and a CDI (Career Development
In employment over almost 40 years, I have worked mainly in the social housing sector (delivery front line management services, then supporting colleagues with policy, strategy, performance and compliance roles).
Over the course of my ministry, after studying at Nottingham, Lancaster and Sandhurst, with degrees in theology and religious studies, I have served in a variety of settings, including eight years with a Church of England Mission Society, as an army chaplain, in Urban Priority Areas, on a housing estate in the East Midlands and more locally in Morecambe and Longridge.
“Simon has become a respected voice at General Synod having made significant contributions in debates on Living in Love & Faith, Safeguarding, Housing and Finance during his two terms.
However, this is mostly now considered to be outdated and is being replaced with initiatives to provide year-round solutions, permanent supported housing, and preventative measures to help individuals secure long-term tenancies.
This is a particular challenge in Ely Diocese with so many new housing areas (two of the largest are in my deanery in Waterbeach and Northstowe) and it cannot happen without national support.
I have asked formal questions (the way at Syn od to hold those in authority to account) on a wide range of issues (evangelism, transparency, clergy wellbeing, pensions, clergy retirement housing and the Crown Nominations Commis sion as well as others).
During my time on Synod I have had a special concern for clergy wellbeing, advocating for improvements to the stipend, the pension, retirement housing provision and support for our mental health.
*® Very active contribution: speaking in debabes across a wide ronge of issues and working on Clergy Wellbeing, housing,
This involved significant culture change and proactive leadership in areas of poverty injustice, refugee integration, climate change, modern-day slavery, reconciliation in a colonial context and addressing the housing crisis in practice as well as advocacy.
In 2024 I began to support Bishop Guli Francis-Dehqani in her work as lead bishop for Housing.
I now chair the Church Housing Foundation and I chair the Project Oversight Group which supports parishes and diocese across our church to develop local creative responses to community and housing needs through the creative use of church land and buildings.
Speak up for the concerns of clergy especially with regard to well-being and mental health, pensions, stipends, housing and guidelines for clergy conduct.
This includes growing a worshipping community in Mowbray - a new housing estate in the north of our parish.
Clergy morale appears to be low in general and while the work at Synod with regard to housing, pay and pensions is ongoing, we must ensure that those who spend their lives caring for others are sustainably supported in long-term ministry themselves.
Finance, housing and practical responsibility: I have more than 30 years’ experience helping small charities and church-related bodies use money carefully and well.
This has included 30 years as director and treasurer of a small housing association, trustee of St Bernard’s charity supporting women in financial difficulty because of ill-health, and Finance Officer for Off The Fence, seeking an end to social and spiritual poverty in Brighton and Hove.
Why I am asking for your vote I offer long experience of governance, finance, education, housing, homelessness services and parish life, together with a deep knowledge of the diocese and its deaneries.
I would want to encourage the further use of the church’s wealth to promote its work especially in areas which have tended to be neglected such as the rural, post-industrial and housing estates especially in the north of the country.
As an active member of the Cornwall Inde- pendent Poverty Forum, I continue to hear about the challenges faced by individuals and families across Cornwall: low incomes, insecure employment, housing pressures, transport difficulties and the additional costs that can accompany rural life.
Before ordination, I worked in the social housing sector for over four and a half years, serving in a variety of roles ranging from Housing Management Apprentice to Resident Liaison Officer in Salford.
In my time on General Synod I have focused on working for better provision for clergy, particularly improved pensions and retirement housing.
lam also committed to inclusion across the range of protected characteristics and other areas of inequality, like finance, employment and housing status.
Outside of the church, I am a board member for a social housing and care provider, trustee of a money advice charity, and community governor at a local secondary school.
• Improved standard of clergy housing
in clergy support and housing is essential for long-term sustainability as well as recruitment of future leaders.
Wellbeing Forum has sharpened my conviction that clergy need realistic expectations, proper support, and fair pay, housing and pensions.
• Clergy Housing Committee
The energy in our parish lies in the ethnic diversity of those flooding in from the housing estates in the area, from its young adults -- many of whom are recovering from addiction or establishing new lives after prison, and from its expanding Children and Youth programs.
Clergy need to be well- trained, with good housing, pay and pensions- and we have made some progress recently.
I supported the reform of clergy pensions and CDMs during the last Quinquennium and will support other initiatives going forwards that support clergy and enhance their well-being (including I hope an appraisal of / improvement in clergy retirement housing).
Evangelism and church growth — including the opportunities facing a mainly rural four- church benefice as significant new housing developments transform our communities.
Our four-church benefice is facing an exciting new challenge, with significant housing developments changing the communities around our churches.
As one of General Synod's most active supporters of the Church's work on housing, my particular interest is increasing good rented social housing while exploring how long-term endowments can support the Church's mission.
childhood was not always settled, and later in life I experienced periods of unemployment, reliance on the benefits system and housing insecurity, including a time when my family needed emergency accommodation.
I would advocate for a stipend that increases in line with the cost of living, and firm assurances about our pensions and affordable housing options in retirement.
I have worshipped in new and old places – starting from scratch in an LEP without a building on a new housing estate to becoming Church Warden of a Grade I listed church that has stood for 900 years.
Much of what is debated at synod has an impact on these groups, including safeguarding, social care and even clergy housing.
I would press on how the Church Commissioners’ funding and historic assets are distributed, and on the buildings, housing and stipends that sustainable parish ministry actually requires.
Morale, recruitment, housing, pay and pensions are not welfare afterthoughts.
Maybe to encourage present incumbents to stay, pensions ought to reflect some value for the housing they get as part of the job.
Nominated by Becky Waring (Archdeacon of Bristol) and Simon Taylor (Director of Ministry) As your representative I have given speeches in General Synod on subjects including net zero, creation care, racial justice, contested heritage, and LLF, and have asked questions on subjects ranging from church buildings to ND inclusion, from gluten free communion bread to retirement housing, and more.
In a parish whose history was marked by its key role in the development of the concept of Housing Associations, I was able to see that support of and advocacy for our communities is a key responsibility of the church.
- Work, through London Citizens, to advocate for social housing reform
Can we ensure the provision of affordable retirement housing for clergy?
parishes to innovate in their unique contexts - remaining “anchored to the Rock, geared to the culture.” 2. Clergy wellbeing and resourcing: I have already raised concerns at Diocesan Synod regarding clergy workload, housing, and stipends.
Previously, I worked in direct access hostels for the homeless for both the Church Army and Church Housing, managed resettlement and housing for young single homeless with the Stopover project in South London, co-ordinated volunteers for South London Charities and served on the board of the South London Family Housing Association.
I am also a charity lawyer, a non- executive director in social housing, a trustee of St Augustine’s Theological Education Institute and a supporter of Christian environmental charities.
My experience in housing and the charity sector has also taught me to keep the impact on people and communities in view when institutions debate structures, money and policy.
My legal work, social-housing experience and environmental commitments have convinced me that the Church must speak and act credibly on poverty, insecure housing, discrimination and the climate and ecological crisis.
Trinity is in an extensive new build housing development.
My daily ministry combines traditional parish life with contextual, pioneering mission on a local housing estate.
Life Outside the Collar: I come from a working-class background and grew up in social housing.
Having grown up in social housing, I have a deep passion for estates and underserved communities.
Pathways, Not Roadblocks: I will challenge Synod to look honestly at how training, housing, finance, and institutional culture block working-class candidates.
There remains vital work to do on safeguarding, including independent scrutiny and redress for victims and survivors, alongside continuing questions about clergy wellbeing, pay, housing, pensions and the reform of clergy discipline.
• Acting Clergy Housing Manager –
• Member of the Clergy Housing
months as Interim Clergy Housing Manager,
As a clergy spouse, I understand the pressures they carry and would advocate for a system that provides stronger support structures and greater financial resourcing for their ministries, housing and wellbeing.
Investment in clergy housing to aid wellbeing.
Like many, I am privileged to work in a role that continually reminds me of the lived difficulties faced by so many, working daily in frontline housing rights and the inquest/coronial system.
Pressure must be kept on the Church Commissioners for a fairer distribution of historic assets, understanding the impact that this hardship is having upon churches, communities, housing, vocations, and the wellbeing of its clergy.
As a synod member I will be keen to contribute to debates which impact clergy wellbeing including the new CCM; clergy stipends; housing and support for retried clergy.
Nor is wellbeing a soft subject: morale, pay and housing decide whether people can remain in ministry at all, and a church that wears out its clergy will not find it easy to call more.
I have been honoured recently to have been invited to be the Chair of the Board of Trustees for Handcrafted, a NE Christian charity offering support, housing and training for those who experience exclusion in society e.g. prison leavers, women who have experienced domestic abuse, care leavers - https://www.handcrafted.org.uk How?
With several moves for work before coming to work in Dorset, our ‘local’ churches included a modern church in a ‘new town’, an ancient church in a very rural village, a lively church in a market town and a mission church on a housing estate; all with very different styles of worship in the rich variety which is the Church of England!
I have lived experienced of exclusion through my neurodivergency & various life experiences (growing up on a social housing estate, homelessness, mental health & in other ways too).
During this time, I also served as Deputy Area Dean of Cobham Deanery, sat on the board of Gravesend Churches Housing Association, and led a New Wine Core Group in Dartford.
Before answering the call to ordained ministry, I trained as a construction manager, working for various construction firms and as a project manager for a housing association.
I am the clergy representative on the Finance, Audit and Personnel Committee where I have advocated for the clergy of the Diocese (both female and male) when it comes to difficult financial situations concerning remuneration, housing, terms and conditions of service, hardship and clergy well-being.
In the houses around mine, you’ll find the retired, people with lifetime disabilities, yound families, families where the adult children are still crammed in, unable to afford housing of their own.
Network, GY Unity Project, GY Housing Alliance, Norfolk Anti-Poverty Alliance, and GYBC Homelessness Prevention Board;
such as debt, housing, addiction, relationships, etc.
I currently work on publishing planning application statistics for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, having previously worked on local government finance and homelessness/rough sleeping statistics.
To this end, I support steps being taken to plant new churches in or near new housing developments, and the national church’s work with mapping experts to ensure that data on planned new housing development are readily available to dioceses, deaneries and parishes across the country.
After more than a decade of campaigning, work is now underway to reduce costs associated with bishops' expenses, including housing, chauffeurs and staff duplication.
Having studied a Business Studies degree and working in various organisations before the church, I have a strong ethos of caring for our workforce, and making sure expectations are realistic alongside working conditions, pay, housing etc.
I've advocated for diocesan members on topics from Youth Synod to housing for our poorest retired clergy.
Community & Housing Regeneration Co-Ordinator in East London
I want to use my experiences to speak into the issues that affect clergy at Synod, from stipends, pensions and housing to training and structural reform.
• Born in London, raised on local estates and in council housing by a wonderful, faith-filled single
Morale, recruitment, housing, pay and pensions all need careful attention, all over the country.
I will press for a Clergy Conduct Measure that learns from previous failures, sustained progress on stipends, housing, pensions, proper implementation of the Clergy Care & Wellbeing Covenant, and better support for curates and those in new posts.
In practice, this will mean Synod making positive changes to clergy pensions, housing, and stipends; helping us manage the costs associated with VAT and NetZero; and reforming the Faculty system.
I have held careers in specialist housing where I worked with people with AIDs and HIV, and in education, where I taught in estate schools before moving into special needs.
I was on the diocesan Racial Justice Committee I was southern lay rep for the executive of A.M.E.N (Anglican Minority Ethnic Network) During Covid I worked for my church setting up and managing a Trussel Trust Foodbank which was based at our sister church site on the housing estate where I live.
We have developed fruitful links with Parliament through the House of Lords and played a part in wider national rural issues such as farming, ecology, housing, climate resilience and food security.
For most of my working life I was a Civil Servant, working in the north of England, dealing with housing and regeneration issues across a variety of local authority areas, both rural and urban.
Following the Heseltine initiative, I went to work on Merseyside, again on housing and regeneration matters.
I think we should be dialoguing together on how we support and develop our leadership, and this would include investment in clergy housing, peer to peer reflection, safeguarding, and improving frameworks for chapter and shared learning.
Where significant housing growth occurs, thousands of homes are often built without essential social infrastructure.
I will be keeping a close eye on this – and the use of land for affordable housing and in other ways commended in the Coming Home report.
Before coming to Norwich Diocese, I served a group of housing estates in the Diocese of Chelmsford for a little over half a decade.
For me this epitomises the ministry here in Earlham where our parish consists of low-income housing estates and the University of East Anglia making this a broad context with a complex mix of needs and opportunities.
Poverty, of course, is not limited to social housing estates, and having witnessed first hand the challenges facing those living in ‘hidden deprivation’ in both rural and coastal areas I commit to bring awareness and missional- focus to those living in poverty of all kinds in our Diocese, be that financial, food or infrastructure based.
Served my curacy in West Yorkshire, and before ordination was a housing professional in the North East of England working with students and the homeless.
I have also raised questions on various matters, recently around what benefit the Net-Zero commitments are having on clergy housing.
Serving God in Bath and beyond We are quite busy in our Combe Down benefice, with its two rural village churches and the ‘mission’ church birthed from the main church into a housing estate.
I spent the whole of my working life with a housing association in Tower Hamlets.
My other roles include serving as Company Secretary to the Salmon Youth Centre, chairing a small charity involved with housing key Christian workers, deputy Chair of another Southwark charity which matches volunteers to befriend isolated older people in the community and a co- opted Trustee of a large Community Foundation in east London.
My career has spanned health, housing and adult social care.
Our own church at St. Paul’s was planted 150 years ago to reach a new area of housing, and we need to plant new churches today to reach new people in new places in new ways.
This also includes Church housing and making them safe and comfortable places for clergy and other tenants.
I believe the Church of England is called to be a Church for everyone and I passionately support “The Estates Project,” which seeks to see a church on every significant social housing estate of the country.
Questions around the adequacy of stipends, the future of pensions, and the provision and maintenance of clergy housing can all add considerably to the pressures clergy face.
My journey has included work as a pipefitter and in IT, street outreach, prisons, schools, housing estates, rural communities, and life on a substance rehabilitation working farm.
This touches workload, wellbeing and housing.
We need to take clergy family life seriously: housing, time off, expectations, financial pressures, children's needs, the pressures placed upon clergy spouses and the ability simply to be a family.
Clergy retirement, housing and financial security deserve serious attention.
Practical areas such as administrative and other support in parish work, housing, pensions and retirement housing must be further addressed in the next Synod.
In return they deserve good quality housing, a living wage and a good support system.
With support, lay people can be key to this work. ● Humbly tackling big issues: Since we know and trust God, we think differently about national and global issues like justice, the environment, wealth and poverty, racism and migration, class, prejudice and housing.
I will argue for fair provision for clergy, including stipends, housing, and pensions, and for sustainable ministry in rural, suburban, urban, and lower- income communities.
I believe that St George's has modelled inclusive mission across the social spectrum by operating a CAP (Christians Against Poverty) debt centre, Fresh Hope, our ministry to the vulnerable and homeless, and SHEP (Stamford Housing and Essentials Project), providing white goods and furniture to those in need of emergency help, all set in the wider context of the ministry of a parish church committed to the local community.
Liverpool Diocese is widely recognised as having some deep-seated failings around decent clergy housing, and in 2020/21 we lost Fellfeld, the beautiful house in the Lake District given to us and our families as an affordable place to go on holiday.
I supported the motion to improve clergy pensions and also see the need for long- term thinking on sustainable clergy renumeration and housing - including retirement housing - as well as clear access to additional practical support for clergy and members of their family when needed.
I am conservative in belief, but I support change in practice where it leads to better, clearer communication of the gospel During my time on Synod I have: Asked questions about the ‘Five Guiding Principles’ and their application within the church Asked questions about ecclesiological balance at senior levels I have spoken up to urge respect for others in debate I have spoken in support of the parish patronage system as a means of maintaining parish traditions and distinctions I have listened and made good friends across traditions If elected to serve for the coming quinquennium I will: speak up for busy parish clergy against an increasingly episcopally directed church. support reforms to clergy condition and terms of service that will enhance clergy wellbeing and the proclamation of the gospel support reforms to enhance clergy pensions and retirement housing provision that will improve the lives of those who have served the church support the freeing of central church resources to benefit parishes on the ground continue to work to maintain a respected place within in the Church of England for all who find themselves isolated or marginalised by change I would really appreciate it if you would consider giving me your first preference vote.
Housing Options.
Clergy wellbeing is something close to my heart whether that be about resting well, pensions or housing – all the different ways in which clergy are enabled to thrive as they seek to serve God and his people in their setting. __________________________________________________________________________________ Nominated by
From that age, I have been active in Christian activities: street evangelism during the Edinburgh Festival, church mission to a housing estate in a different part of town, leading the student Christian Union, teaching Sunday School, leading church small groups, and leading the worship band.