The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners formed in 1836. The Church Commissioners is a registered charity regulated by the Charity Commission for England and Wales, and is liable for the payment of pensions to retired clergy whose pensions were accrued before 1998 (subsequent pensions are the responsibility of the Church of England Pensions Board).

The secretary (and chief executive) of the Church Commissioners is Rosie Slater-Carr.

History The Church Building Act 1818 granted money and established the Church Building Commission to build churches in the cities of the Industrial Revolution. These churches became known variously as Commissioners' churches, Waterloo churches or Million Act churches. The Church Building Commission became the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1836.

An earlier Ecclesiastical Duties and Revenues Commission had been set up under the first brief administration of Sir Robert Peel in 1835 with a wide remit, "to consider the State of the Established Church in England and Wales, with reference to Ecclesiastical Duties and Revenues";Minutes of the Commission, 9 February 1835 this body redistributed wealth between the dioceses and changed diocesan boundaries, and the permanent Ecclesiastical Commission was formed the following year.

The Church Commissioners was established in 1948 as a merger of Queen Anne's Bounty and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, following the passage, by the National Assembly of the Church of England, of the (10 & 11 Geo. 6. No. 2).

In 1992 it was revealed that the Church Commissioners had lost £500m through over-commitment of the fund leading to poor investment decisions.Plender, John: "Unholy Saga of the Church’s Missing Millions", Financial Times, 11 July 1992. This figure was later revised up to £800m, a third of its assets.

The value of the commissioners' assets was around £5.5 billion as at the end of 2012. By December 2025, it was valued at £11.6 billion. The income is used for the payment of pensions to retired clergy whose pensions were accrued before 1998 (subsequent pensions are the responsibility of the Church of England Pensions Board) and a range of other commitments including supporting the ministries of bishops and cathedrals and funding various diocesan and parish missions initiatives.

In June 2022, the Commissioners acknowledged early links of Queen Anne's Bounty to the Atlantic slave trade. They and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, apologised. In January 2023 the Commissioners announced that they were setting up a fund of £100 million to be spent over the next nine years on addressing historic links with slavery.

The Commissioners also oversees pastoral reorganisation, the consent of the commissioners being required for establishing or dissolving team and group ministries, uniting, creating, or dissolving benefices and parishes, and the closing of consecrated church buildings and graveyards.

The Church Commissioners is now based at Church House, Westminster, London, having long occupied No. 1 Millbank. The Millbank building was sold in 2005 to the House of Lords for accommodation of members and staff; the commissioners completed the move to Church House in 2007. It used to be an exempt charity under English law, and is now a registered charity regulated by the Charity Commission for England and Wales.

The secretary (and chief executive) of the Church Commissioners is Rosie Slater-Carr.

Responsibilities The Church Commissioners has the following responsibilities:

Funding mission in churches, dioceses and cathedrals. Pastoral reorganisation (including mergers of parishes and benefices); supported by the Pastoral Team. Clergy payroll ensuring clergy are paid their stipend. Managing the production of Crockford's Clerical Directory. Managing the Lambeth Palace Library and the Church of England Record Centre.

Portfolio

The CC portfolio is extensive, worth around £11.6 billion <ref></rhttps://www.churchofengland.org/media/finance-news/church-commissioners-england-endowment-fund-delivers-8-return-2025ef> at end 2025, and includes the Hyde Park Estate and a 10% stake in the MetroCentre shopping centre. The CC is the 13th largest landowner in the UK. The CC owns a significant amount of rural land and sometimes promotes this through Local Plan processes.

List of commissioners There are 33 Church Commissioners, of whom 27 make up the board of governors as the main policy-making body, with a further six who are officers of state or Government ministers. Board members are either elected by the General Synod of the Church of England, or appointed by either the archbishops or the Crown. The board of governors is composed of all of the commissioners apart from the First Lord of the Treasury, the Lord President of the council, the Lord Chancellor, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, the Speaker of the House of Commons, and the Lord Speaker.

+ List of Church Commissioners as of July 2026TypeConstituencyNameStartArchbishops (ex officio)Archbishop of CanterburyChair of the Church Commissioners2026Archbishop of York2020Appointed by the CrownFirst Church Estates Commissioner2021Second Church Estates Commissioner2024Appointed by the Archbishop of CanterburyThird Church Estates Commissioner2025Elected by General SynodFour bishops elected by the House of Bishops from among their number.2024202520212026Three other Clerks in Holy Orders elected by the members of the House of Clergy other than the Deans, whether or not those persons are members of that House.201720242024Four lay persons elected by the House of Laity, whether or not those persons are members of that House.202420242024Elected by the DeansTwo deans elected by all the deans20222019Nominated by the CrownUnrestricted appointment20172023Nominated by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York acting jointlyUnrestricted appointment20232019after consultation with: The Lord Mayors of the Cities of London and York The Vice Chancellors of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Such other persons as the Archbishops finds appropriate202320222025Officers of State(Ex officio Church Commissioners, but not members of the Board of Governors)First Lord of the Treasury2026Lord President of the Council2025Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain2026Speaker of the House of Commons2019Lord Speaker2026Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport2024

Church Estates Commissioners The Church Estates Commissioners are three lay people who represent the Church Commissioners in the General Synod of the Church of England. The first and second commissioners are appointed by the British monarch, and the third commissioner is appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. They are based at Church House, Westminster, having previously had offices at No. 1 Millbank, London.

First Church Estates Commissioners The First Church Estates Commissioner is appointed by the British Monarch.

1850–1878: Henry Pelham, 3rd Earl of Chichester 1878–1905: Arthur Stanhope, 6th Earl Stanhope 1905–1931: Sir Lewis Dibdin 1931–1938: Sir George Middleton 1939–1954: Sir Philip Baker Wilbraham 1954–1969: Malcolm Trustram Eve, 1st Baron Silsoe 1969–1982: Sir Ronald Harris 1983–1993: Sir Douglas Lovelock 1993–1999: Sir Michael Colman, 3rd Baronet 1999–2001: John Sclater 2002–2017: Sir Andreas Whittam Smith 2017–2021: Loretta Minghella 2021–present: Alan Smith

Second Church Estates Commissioners The Second Church Estates Commissioner is appointed by the Crown. They are now always a Member of Parliament from the party in government, and have additional duties as a link between the British Parliament and the Church.

1850–1858: Sir John Shaw Lefevre 1858–1859: Charles Shaw-Lefevre, 1st Viscount Eversley 1859–1865: Edward Pleydell Bouverie 1865–1866: Henry Austin Bruce 1866–1868: John Robert Mowbray 1869–1874: Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 11th Baronet 1874–1879: George Cubitt 1879–1880: Thomas Salt 1880–1885: Evelyn Ashley 1885–1886: Sir Henry Selwin-Ibbetson 1886–1886: Thomas Dyke Acland 1886–1892: Sir Henry Selwin-Ibbetson 1892–1892: Charles Algernon Whitmore 1892–1895: George Leveson Gower 1895–1906: Sir Lees Knowles 1906–1906: Francis Stevenson 1906–1907: Charles Hobhouse 1907–1910: James Tomkinson 1910–1918: Sir Charles Nicholson 1919–1922: Sir William Mount, 1st Baronet 1923–1924: John Birchall 1924–1924: George Middleton 1924–1929: John Birchall 1929–1931: George Middleton 1931–1943: Richard Denman 1943–1945: Sir John Mills 1945–1950: Thomas Burden 1950–1951: Sir Richard Acland 1951–1957: Sir John Crowder 1957–1962: Sir Hubert Ashton 1962–1964: Sir John Arbuthnot, 1st Baronet 1964–1970: Lancelot MallalieuDavid Butler and Gareth Butler, Twentieth Century British Political Facts 1900–2000, eighth edition (Macmillan, 2000) p. 70. 1970–1974: Sir Marcus Worsley, 5th Baronet 1974–1974: Edward Bishop 1974–1979: Terence Walker 1979–1987 Sir William van Straubenzee 1987–1997: Michael Alison 1997–2010: Sir Stuart Bell 2010–2015: Sir Tony Baldry 2015–2019: Dame Caroline Spelman 2020–2024: Andrew Selous 2024–present: Marsha de Cordova

Third Church Estates Commissioners The Third Church Estates Commissioner is appointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

1850–1856: Henry GoulburnMichael Stenton ed., Who's Who of British Members of Parliament, Volume I 1832–1885 (Harvester, 1976) p. 162. 1856–1858: Spencer Horatio Walpole 1858–1862: William Deedes 1862–1866: Spencer Horatio Walpole 1866–1871: Edward Howes 1871–1892: Sir John Mowbray, 1st Baronet 1892–1895: Sir Michael Hicks Beach, 9th Baronet 1895–1926: Charles Stuart-Wortley, 1st Baron Stuart of Wortley 1926–1948: Herbert Pease, 1st Baron Daryngton 1948–1952: John Tovey, 1st Baron Tovey 1952–1954: Sir Malcolm Eve, 1st Baronet 1954–1962: Sir James Brown 1962–1972: Sir Hubert Ashton 1972–1981: Dame Betty Ridley 1981–1989: Betsy Howarth 1989–1999: Margaret Heather Laird 1999–2005: Gillian Joynson-Hicks, Viscountess Brentford 2006–2012: Timothy Walker 2013–2018: Andrew Mackie 2018–2022: Eve Poole 2022–2024: Canon Flora Winfield 2025–present: Sir Robert Buckland

See also Allchurches Trust Churches Conservation Trust

Notes

References

Sources

External links The Church Commissioners Church Commissioners Measure 1947 at the UK Statute Law Database Church Commissioners Measure 1970 at the UK Statute Law Database