Using the Church’s assets from the past to invest in the future was the focus of the Report of the Representative Church Body which was presented to General Synod in Armagh this morning. Proposing the report, Chairman of the RB, Mr Robert Neill (Dublin and Glendalough) flagged the RB’s intention to bring a Bill to Synod in 2016 to loosen the restraints imposed by the Constitution of the Church of Ireland on the use or disposal of Church property, be it real estate, church silver, paintings, or other material or financial assets.

Mr Neill started by focusing on Property and Trusts. He said the RB was introducing a computerised database of all property – 10,000 churches, cathedrals, halls and rectories in every parish in the country – in its care. This represented the first comprehensive revision of the records since 1941 and meant access to data would be easier.

The Clergy Pensions Fund was on a ten year path to recovery, he stated. The assets had grown by 16% (€23m) – although that good news was tempered by the caution expressed in the Actuarial Statement as a result of Quantitative Easing which has driven down the accepted discount rate on long term bonds from 3.8% to 2.15%.
“There has been mayhem in the pensions industry, with the closure of many schemes and the collapse of others. We successfully stabilised the Clergy Pensions Fund by the range of measures agreed at Synod in 2013,” he stated.

Mr Neill observed that Clergy stipends had remained unchanged in the South since 2008 and in the North had been increased by 5.06% up to 2014 with a further 2% increase in 2015 but were still lagging a little behind average earnings increases in Northern Ireland. He added that Education costs had outpaced inflation but there were no resources to increase support in this area.

Reporting on the performance of funds under RB management, Mr Neill said that Unit Trusts had performed well. General Funds increased from €154m to €166m. “Financially, we are making progress. We have survived the worst recession of our lifetimes and RB General Funds, which took the largest hit, have recovered 70% of their value since the losses after 2006, and that is after the transfer of €25 million in support of the Clergy Pensions Fund,” he stated.

He hoped he had demonstrated that the RB continued to keep the ship on an even keel and do its best to support and serve the wider church. “We are though on a treadmill – year in, year out we manage funds, meet overheads and distribute available income. Can we do more to support the development of the church’s mission?” he asked. “We are very focused on preserving our assets and investing for the future – often by–passing the needs of the here and now. We are conditioned to preserve what we have inherited and to pass it on. But, to quote the Archbishop of Dublin, we end up with ‘conservation and preservation leading to fear and withdrawal’. This is an obstacle to obeying the Great Commission ‘go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you’,” he said.

He suggested investing in the future and not just for the future and said that it was time to share resources and put assets to work to improve ministry and outreach.
“We propose to bring a Bill to Synod in 2016 to loosen the restraints imposed by the Constitution on the use or disposal of Church property, be it real estate, church silver, paintings, or other material or financial assets. In its place, we need to pool resources and to build a system to support initiatives in building the Church for the future. This is our vision for a ‘Long–Term Church’,” he said before saying they wished to hear the views of Synod members.

Seconding the report of the RB, the Bishop of Connor, the Rt Revd Alan Abernethy, thanked the RB staff and the staff of Church House in Belfast. He welcomed the announcement by the UK government of a church roof grant. He also praised the RB Library Archive of the Month.

He welcomed the RB’s support in looking to investing in the future. “We have many assets from church buildings, silver and land. As I have oversight over parts of Belfast that are struggling because of conflict, population shift and ongoing paramilitary and sectarian division some of our assets are becoming huge burdens for parishes finding it difficult to survive. The various rules and regulations place many limitations on how these resources can be used limiting the potential for reimagining church in areas where there will not be communities of faith unless we do. These are issues focused in cities like Belfast and Dublin but the rest of the church may not be that far behind. This is urgent and critical and would be life giving for Church and community and I welcome the RB’s willingness and desire to help give a lead on these issues. How can we use our assets to help us develop mission and ministry in ways that can build new communities of faith and continue our involvement in communities that can often feel forgotten and isolated,” Bishop Abernethy stated.

Points raised during the discussion on the RB report included:

• The proposal to free assets to support mission was welcomed. It presented an opportunity to move forward on the Great Commission. Mr Neill and the committee were encouraged to consider what could be realised and see what the money could be used for.
• Support for freeing the assets to support the mission of the Church but focus should also be turned to our present giving which averages €1 per day per family across the Church of Ireland. Lay people were urged to reflect on their giving.
• There was a request for details on the RB policy on investing in companies which are involved in fossil fuels. The Church of England’s process of disinvestment in companies involved in fossil fuels was highlighted.
• The focus on environmental, social and governance issues by the RB Investment Fund was welcomed but it was suggested that they did not go far enough. The Church of Ireland was urged to act and speak with a prophetic voice on climate change and call on the RB to update its policies and disinvest in companies that contribute to climate change.
• In the interest of transparency the investments of the RB should be listed for all to see.
• The plans to invest in the future were commended.
• The environment has to be considered in all we do.
• The staff of the property and legal department of the RB were thanked for the work they do.
• The difficulties of parishes borrowing from the banks were highlighted.
• The RCB Library’s Archive of the Month was highlighted along with the archive’s work on digitising the collection of church drawings. The digitisation of the Gazette was also praised.
• The Church’s failure to invest in artistic creativity was highlighted.
• Concerns were expressed over individual parishes having to register under the Charities Legislation rather than the dioceses as a whole.

Henry Saville, chairperson of the investment committee, said the depth of comment on climate change would be noted by the committee. He said it was a live issue. But he said they were a very small, but very diligent, investment team and were very dependent on the work of the Ethical Investment Group. The investment committee is in receipt of documents on the issue and they are considered. He said they could not change course over night but changes could come over time. “We are conscious of all of the ethical, social and governance issues,” he said and said that the team was aware of the need to be proactive on the issue and asked to be given time to take action if appropriate.

The report of the RB was adopted by Synod.

A motion calling on General Synod to authorise allocations from General Funds in 2015 was passed.

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