Marvin OnumonuThe Archbishops’ Council has put forward proposals to boost clergy pensions, following analysis by the Church of England Pensions Board.
The plans aim to raise future pension payments for both current and future pensioners.
If approved, these changes would start after April 2026.
The proposals include restoring the target pension to two-thirds of a pensionable stipend, increasing pensions that have been paid since 2011, and removing the ‘one-year lag’ in how pensions are calculated.
The uplift would apply to pensions in payment, as well as active and deferred members, so all benefits since 2011 would reflect a two-thirds accrual rate.
If fully adopted, the package would see a full clergy pension after 40 years exceed £20,000 a year in today’s money, with total retirement income from this and the state pension above £32,000.
The changes would mean an extra £900m paid out to clergy during retirement.
Rev Dr Ian Paul, a member of the Archbishops’ Council, said: “This is fantastic news, which I hope will be of great encouragement to all serving and retired clergy.
“It is the fruit of many years of campaigning, and I am grateful both to the Clergy Pension Action team, and to John Ball and Clive Mather, of the Church of England Pensions Board, for their hard work and their positive engagement.
“This puts right a serious injustice, and I look forward to further review work on the pension and stipend following July Synod.”
Archbishops’ Council member, the Ven Dr Miranda Threlfall-Holmes, said: “This set of proposals will come as a huge relief to clergy and pensioners.
“Nobody is in ministry for the pay, but the covenant the Church makes with clergy is that they should be freed by the stipend from financial stress.
“In recent years this covenant has been straining at the seams, and thousands of clergy have been asking for the restoration of the historic two-thirds pension, which this package now effectively provides.”
Threlfall-Holmes added: “I hope they feel heard today, and I pray that Synod will approve these proposals whole-heartedly in July, so that we can begin to increase pensions already in payment as soon as is possible.”
Carl Hughes, chair of the Archbishops’ Council Finance Committee, said: “This announcement is part of a package which, if approved, will represent a sea change both in clergy well-being and as to the wider programme of simplification of the national church finances.
“I hope that these proposed pension changes will give clergy greater clarity as to the provision for the future but also considerable reassurance as to the level of funding that they will receive and the standard of living that they can expect in retirement.”
