Church of England bishops criticized for living ‘lavish lifestyles’ as churches struggle to survive
By Anugrah Kumar, Christian Post:
Financial data released by the Church of England, which shows that each bishop costs the denomination more than $166,000 a year excluding their stipends, is drawing criticism for the “opulence at the top” of the church.
The CofE spends at least $166,000 a year on each of its 42 diocesan bishops in maintaining their houses and paying their expenses, in addition to $64,000 each bishop is given per year as a stipend, according to the data that was released ahead of the sitting of General Synod, which began Friday and will end on Monday.
“As a member of General Synod for over a decade I have questioned the cost of bishops’ lavish lifestyles, and opulence at the top while parishes up and down the country struggle to meet their bills, and even close their door,” said Sam Margrave, a lay member of General Synod and a former local councilor, in a written statement submitted ahead of the conference, The Telegraph reported.
The denomination spends, on average, nearly $98,000 on the ongoing maintenance of each bishop’s house, and 26 bishops live in houses that have more than six bedrooms, the data showed. Mony is also spent on chauffeurs and gardeners.
“The Church of England as things currently stand is in danger of being one of the country’s largest pyramid schemes. If we are to maintain a presence in every community and have a bias to the poor, we need to change the way money is shared out. … Bishops should be helping the poor, not helping themselves,” Margrave added.
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