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LONDON: Church accused of £100m asset stripping
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
THE TELEGRAPH
July 10 2006
The Church of England was accused of "scandalous asset stripping" after it disclosed that it had raised more than £100 million over the past five years by disposing of scores of often historical vicarages.
A report on finances, written for this week's General Synod in York, showed that the income raised from selling parsonages and other assets had helped fill a black hole exacerbated by mounting clergy pension costs.
The official report noted that the sales had provided "vital" if "short-term" funding at a time when some dioceses were struggling and clergy were being asked to tighten their belts to pay for a £9.5 million pension shortfall.
The report says that without the sale of parsonages and other charitable assets, dioceses would have been hundreds of thousands of pounds in deficit by the end of 2004.
But the pressure group Save Our Parsonages accused dioceses of disposing of crucial parish assets even in the face of fierce local opposition.
Anthony Jennings, the organisation's director, said: "The figures paint a clear picture of asset stripping for short-termism, funding a growing bureaucracy which cannot support itself.
"It is a scandal, and the report vindicates what Save Our Parsonages has been
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