The historic obligation imposed on Guernsey’s parishes to provide a home for Church of England Rectors is being scrapped.
Deputies yesterday agreed that the Church should pay to house any parish priests, not the individual parishes.
Policy and Resources had originally asked the States to agree that where two parishes share a priest, the cost of providing them with a home is shared by the two parishes.
However, the onus to provide a home will be removed from the parish finances entirely by 2030 – after Deputy Christopher Le Tissier and Neil Inder secured support from the States to change things even further.
They argued that many parishioners across the island are not followers of the Church of England, and some maintain beliefs in other faiths, while there’s a growing number of people that follow no faith at all.
That meant therefore that the need to contribute financially to the accommodation
for rectors from the Church of England faith is “plainly inequitable”.
They managed to convince a majority of the States that it was “plainly inequitable” that those people should have to pay to accommodate the Church of England’s rectors.
Deputies originally already agreed that the parishes would stop paying for the rectories by 2035, with Deputies Al Brouard and Sue Aldwell arguing that it was difficult to justify continuing to do so.
Changing the situation would take time they said, with the abolition originally set to come in to force in a decade to give the parishes and Churches time to plan for this significant change.
Deputy Le Tissier said that should happen sooner, as the Church can afford to get its house in order now.
“I’ll always stick up for the local folk, including pensioners and those on fixed incomes so in a small way, abolishing the obligation in five years rather than 10 years helps.
“Every little helps, say the commercials on TV. And yes, it’s true, these small savings will add up. So I’m going to pursue these cost of living issues in the future.
“My amendment gives the Guernsey Church of England five years to sort out any financial issues, and believe me, they are fixable with goodwill on all sides.”
He referenced the wealth of the Church of England, and said it could take over the cost of housing its Rectors immediately without having to wait five years at all.