Now That Is A Good Question.

What happens to church property if evangelical congregations leave the Church of England?

Julian Mann  17 July 2024

(Photo: Getty/iStock)

Why do evangelical churches leaving the Church of England because of its revisionist direction of travel have to find new venues and their ministers have to move out of their vicarages?

Ian Blaney, solicitor and partner at Westminster-based law firm, Lee Bolton Monier-Williams, explains the legal position: "Clergy and congregations wishing to leave the Church of England will struggle to take the land and buildings of their church with them. The church building of a parish church and any churchyard is very likely to be vested in the vicar or rector, but in a way that does not allow the vicar or rector to transfer the property or to take it with him or her.

"These are normally consecrated which, additionally, means they are held under a tight leash under ecclesiastical law. That much is not likely to cause too much surprise. Parsonage houses - vicarages and rectories - are also held by the vicar or rector but, again, with very limited powers of disposal. No disposal can take place without various consents, such as from the bishop, having been obtained."

He says church halls are in a different category. They are normally "parish" property entrusted in the Parochial Church Council (PCC) or the vicar and churchwardens.

"However," he says, "the custody of the land is with the relevant diocesan board of finance. Funds and movable property might be easier to transfer, but will either be held by the churchwardens or the PCC on trust for Church of England purposes, which means that a churchwarden or PCC trustee might find themselves personally liable if they transfer assets out to a body which is disaffiliated with the Church of England."

He concludes: "All in all the situation is very different to that which prevails in the United States where there has been much litigation around ownership of church property between bodies disaffiliating with the Episcopal Church.

"In England, ecclesiastical and charity law is likely to make transfers out very difficult. That doesn't prevent clergy, churchwardens and PCC members staying in Church of England structures in name only while subscribing to a different polity, but disciplinary and other systems are likely to be enforced against them eventually, depending on the appetite of the diocese to do so."

London Diocese recently did have such an appetite, getting an eviction order to remove Rev Paul Williamson from his vicarage after he stayed in it six years beyond his retirement age.

These legal realities were why a conservative evangelical minister and members of his congregation in Cornwall had to leave their building when they decided to leave the C of E. In 2019 a group from Fowey Parish Church, led by their vicar Philip de Grey-Warter, formed Anchor Anglican Church under the auspices of the global orthodox network, GAFCON.

This was after the C of E's House of Bishops in 2018 issued 'pastoral guidance' allowing clergy to use baptism liturgy when "approached by transgender people requesting a way of marking this transition in their lives". According to its website, Anchor meets in the Fowey Gallants Sailing Club.

Philip de Grey-Warter says: "We know the church is people, not buildings or institutions. We know this from the Scriptures, from our heritage in the 39 Articles (of Religion - the Anglican doctrinal standards) and in the experience of church planting in recent years. Buildings may be useful, but they're not essential. God's people will always find ways to gather and we have proved the Lord's faithfulness in his provision of places to meet."

He and his wife were able to buy a house in Fowey: "We bought a house in October 2019 at the top of the town - actually much better located than the vicarage, because it's in amongst people in the new-build housing estate. We had sought to leave well and the diocese had offered us six months in the Vicarage if required but, as it transpired, we only needed three weeks beyond our resignation."

He adds: "Like many clergy, we had some savings for retirement housing which we were able to use, and we were helped by a generous donation too."

A spokewoman for Truro Diocese, which includes the parish of Fowey, said: "Vicarages are usually retained in case we need them for another vicar but it will depend on what the deanery plan is for the area in question. Sometimes they are rented out if we have no one needing them in the short term."

She added: "We didn't ask Philip to leave. Philip left to set up his own church. Those in the congregation who identified with his theology went with him. Those that didn't, stayed. It doesn't happen often but it does happen."

The financial resources of evangelical ministers and congregations who may decide to leave the C of E in the coming years vary but sacrificing their buildings is certainly part of the cost for orthodox Anglicans who take that decision.

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Julian Mann is a former Church of England vicar, now an evangelical journalist based in Lancashire. From 2017 to 2019 Lee Bolton Monier-Williams acted for the PCC he chaired.