Any C of E bods answer me a question please?

[wolfracesonic]

^ Did she marry herself? 'Do you take me to be your lawful wedded wife, sickness 'ealth etc'?

[Adam B]

NinjaPower said:

I'm guessing they have a pension scheme of some sort?

a pension is generaly enough to live on, assuming your have alreay paid off a mortgage though

[Mopey]

C of E vicars have it pretty sweet vs just independant church workers.

Free house (often very large)
Doesnt matter if you do a crap job- they just move you to another parish with other people, there is therefore no drive to grow the ministry, hence C of E is slowly dying off ageing congregations. The church in the UK that is growing is Charismatic/Pentecostal church.
Good bonus money for funerals etc, so I take some funerals in fact doing one at the crem on monday, a methodist rate is about £120-130, c of E guys charge £190, and thats up north, dread to think how much they charge down sarf.

A dog collar can get you surprisingly far, hospital visits whenever you like, free tickets for community events, gigs, sports events etc.

I am not convinced that when you start out as a vicar you dont believe, just perhaps their views are in flux so as they get on a bit they no longer believe what they used too?

The vicars I know and work with from time to time are good blokes, and they have very nice houses.

[RobinBanks]

Mopey - are you a vicar?

[L1OFF]

my old vicar was the ex Chief Constable of Hampshire. (Liked a sherbet or two) lovely chap.

[ClaphamGT3]

L1OFF said:

my old vicar was the ex Chief Constable of Hampshire. (Liked a sherbet or two) lovely chap.

An increasing number of CofE clergymen come to ordination late in life after a career elsewhere - Justin Welby being a classic example.

Ordained clergy are not employees of the CofE but are deemed to be employed by God and, once appointed to a parish, cannot be dismissed, except by act of parliament. They can be instructed to resign by the diosecan Bishop and, if the refuse, can be removed from parish duties but they are still the vicar/rector of the parish until they resign or die

[Skodaku]

It's not all ber and skittles. The Parish, i.e. Vicar/Parochial Church Council have an annual target of monies to be raised to run the Parish, including upkeep of the church premises and possibly transport for the Vicar. Church Commissioners don't pay for much these days. Can be fairly straightforward in a wealthy parish but a problem in poorer ones. That is the way it is for CofE, anyway. Think Methodists are much the same but don't know about the others.

[Mopey]

RobinBanks said:

Mopey - are you a vicar?

Well I'm not c of e. So technically not. But work for a church. So equivalent minus the dog collar. Hence the funeral service I'm conducting on Monday.

As for the targets that the church if England have set, it's my understanding that the give year plan is at a 20% loss in congregation size. So they are planning to shrink, many vicars are without motive to have a large thriving church because they get paid the same for a parish of 10 or 300.
10 probably has less problems.

Edited by Mopey on Sunday 25th January 00:01

[Mopey]

Skodaku said:

It's not all ber and skittles. The Parish, i.e. Vicar/Parochial Church Council have an annual target of monies to be raised to run the Parish, including upkeep of the church premises and possibly transport for the Vicar. Church Commissioners don't pay for much these days. Can be fairly straightforward in a wealthy parish but a problem in poorer ones. That is the way it is for CofE, anyway. Think Methodists are much the same but don't know about the others.

I believe some of the wealthier parishes now help out the struggling ones.

[DeuxCentCinq]

I've never understood why they're always trying to raise money for something. Are they not still the 2nd wealthiest landowners in the country?

[TVR1]

DeuxCentCinq said:

I've never understood why they're always trying to raise money for something. Are they not still the 2nd wealthiest landowners in the country?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23467750

Interesting that there isn't an absolute 'NO' in regard to arms dealing,pornography,tobacco and alcohol just an advisory about percentages.

[Flip Martian]

Mopey said:

many vicars are without motive to have a large thriving church because they get paid the same for a parish of 10 or 300.

Edited by Mopey on Sunday 25th January 00:01

That's supposing the only motive for vicars is money? I find that hard to believe for the few I come in contact with.

[ApOrbital]

CoE is the biggest money making spinner going.