Parish funding
Until the 1950s the pay of parish clergy was immensely varied, depending on the endowment of the parish. The Vicar of Chelsea was paid far more than the parson in some country parish. The Church Commissioners agreed to consolidate all the endowments and as a result the pay of parish clergy was more or less evened up.
Very sensible. But since then then the church commissioners and bishops have in effect stolen the parish endowments and used them as they chose. The number of bishops and archdeacons has vastly increased. Expenditure on diocesan offices and officials has grown and the parishes have lost out. The endowments were for PARISHES and they have been taken and used for bureaucracy.
What was that book I read which pointed out that after the first world war, as the number of ships in the navy decreased, the number of admirals grew. It is a classic bureaucratic development. The parishes are the front line of the C of E and that is where the money should be spent.
