The Poor will Always be with You

Abstract

In the church of england the costs incurred by the upkeep of parish churches and the salaries and housing costs of local clergy were historically borne by parishes themselves. Since the mid-nineteenth century, however, the church of england has implemented a more re-distributive mechanism, whereby parishes pay a “share” (or quota) to a “common fund” held by the diocese. This is then used to pay directly a standard stipend to all clergy regardless of the parish within which they work. This amount is usually calculated by each diocese based upon the size and wealth congregations. however, there is no national standard process. in this paper we map the distribution of human and economic resources in two contrasting church of england dioceses; one urban (Birmingham) and one predominantly rural (Worcester). Specifically, we explore the distribution of resources as a function of the level of material deprivation of each diocese’s constituent parishes. Following on, we comment on the success of these redistributive mechanisms and consider the implications of this on the Church of England’s stated policy on resourcing deprived urban parishes documented in Faith in the City (1985) and Faithful Cities (2006).