MORE than half of Church of England clergy feel that they are underpaid, with one in ten demanding an increase in their stipend of up to 50 per cent, according to an independent survey.
At the other extreme, one in ten made a virtuous, if somewhat unusual, request for a pay cut.
The survey, of more than 6,000 parish clergy, was conducted for the Archbishops’ Council as part of a review of stipends, the amount paid by the Church to its clergy. Parish priests receive an average annual stipend of just under £17,000, most of which comes from parishioners.
The report, Generosity and Sacrifice: The Results of the Clergy Stipends Survey, found that most clergy were struggling to live on this and that some were more than £10,000 in debt.
More than one in four clergy said that they should receive up to £21,000 a year and one in ten wanted an even bigger increase in their allowance to £25,000. The highest stipend is the £57,000 received by Dr George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The clergy who feel that they are suffering most are in Sheffield, according to the independent survey, which was carried out by Information Research Services. There, nearly 20 per cent of those who responded wanted an increase in their stipend to more than £25,000.
The area in which clergy were happiest with their stipends was Birmingham, where 15 per cent said that an allowance of up to £17,000 a year was reasonable.
The survey, based on interviews with 6,295 people, including some lay workers, bishops and archdeacons, comes after a sharp drop in parish incomes. As the number of worshippers dwindles, several dioceses have moved from financial positions of surplus to barely breaking even, with some in debt.
Last week the Church of England made a nationwide appeal for parishioners to put more money in the collection plate so as to help to meet a £12 million shortfall in its clergy pensions scheme, which has been badly affected by the downturn on the stock market.
Over the past few years the Church Commissioners, who manage the assets of the Church of England, have been forced to cut the top-up amount that they give to stipends each year. They will be cheered by the request for below-inflation increases that the survey uncovered. Ten per cent of vicars requested an annual stipend of less than £17,000.
In the preface to the report, the Ven Dr John Marsh, the chairman of the Stipends Review Group, said: “Clergy, in responding to their call from God . . . show generosity and sacrifice by forgoing the financial rewards they might have expected in secular employment.
“At the same time, Christians are challenged to give generously, even sacrificially, out of the resources available to them in order to support those called to ministry among them.”
A spokesman for the Manufacturing, Science and Finance Union, which represents about 1,500 clergy, said: “We have never said that the majority of vicars are on the breadline or are having to sell The Big Issue. But they are not being remunerated according to their professional status and, more importantly, we mourn the lack of employment protection and protection from discrimination which a salaried employment contract would provide.”
The final recommendations on the Church’s review will be published this year.