Church split is a welcome opportunity
IN THIS column last week, we argued that Jersey falling out with Winchester over its handling of a safeguarding matter was poor grounds for Guernsey also to split from the Church of England diocese, especially as the independent report published about the issue makes it clear that the Jersey Church fell far short of what most islanders would believe to be acceptable.
Why this matters more widely is not just because it has implications for Guernsey's constitutional links with the Crown but also because any dissolution of the current arrangements is ultimately a matter for the States since primary legislation would be required.
That raises some interesting possibilities. Would the Assembly simply nod through what the Church of England requested, having devoted scarce Law Officer and legal drafting time to this, because it is what the established Church wanted?
Or would members look at the issue in the round and question why separation was being requested and what diocesan regime – particularly in relation to safeguarding – was being sought as an alternative to a critical Winchester?
But members are unlikely to stop there. The relationship of church and States as a whole is long overdue review and States members are still waiting for the report on funding parish churches and rectories, which puts the CoE in the happy position of seeing non churchgoers forced by law to pay for the upkeep – no matter how high – of the premises it uses or its rectors occupy rent free.
Over the 10 years to 2011, ratepayers have spent £4.3m. in this manner. Yet while they are finding around £430,000 per annum, those using the churches are sending more than £640,000 to Winchester via what's known as the parish share.
In other words, secular ratepayers and parishioners do not need to spend a penny on the properties they theoretically own because the users are more than capable of doing so for themselves. And that's before probate income via the Ecclesiastical Court is factored in.
That the Church is in this privileged position is an anachronism enshrined in the Loi Relative à La Taxation Paroissiale, 1923.
The law and the reasons for a split from Winchester remain questionable.
But a root and branch review of the issues underpinning all this is essential.
