Some Church of England clergy and their families are living in crumbling and decrepit vicarages that are unsafe and environmentally unfriendly, according to trade union officials.
Unite, the country’s largest union that represents about 2,500 faith workers, is calling on the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, Dr Rowan Williams and Dr John Sentamu, to “practise what they preach” in terms of the carbon footprint left by hundreds of parsonages.
Unite want the Archbishops to revamp more than 6,000 vicarages and rectories that the union claims fail to meet modern environmental and safety standards.
Unite will tell a meeting of the Archbishops’ Council in London next week that its clergy members living in poorly maintained vicarages have had to put up with inertia and a host of poor decisions by dioceses on repairs.
These include papering over cracks, central heating being replaced in the middle of winter rather than summer and one priest waiting so long for renovations to happen that he gave up the ministry altogether.
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In its paper to the Archbishops, Unite says: “The vast majority of ministers know others who could tell stories of incompetence, carelessness or neglect.
“At a gathering of clergy spouses in one diocese, addressed by the Diocesan Surveyor, the anger expressed was reportedly so strong that the Bishop’s wife had to call the spouses to supper before things got out of hand.”
The paper says: “Many clergy can tell tales of promises broken, denied or ignored...The replacement of central heating in the middle of winter or the arrival of contractors to dig up drains without warning are among examples reported to us. Often the timing is not only inconvenient to those who live in the house but is illogical in its order, for example, structural work has to be completed before re-decoration.”
One vicar experienced a number of break-ins over a short period of time, all through the same bathroom window. When he commented on this, he was told: “Oh - that’s where they always break in.”
According to Unite’s clergy members, vicarages are sometimes riddled with damp and not maintained properly, leading to serious health and safety risks.
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“It is also very bad for the church to be seen arguing for green policies to avoid climate change while also pumping disproportionate quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere from its badly maintained parsonages,” said the union.
Rachael Maskell, the Unite National Officer, Community and Non Profit Sector, said: “We want to work with the church authorities and their surveyors so that there is a high-quality and structured programme to maintain vicarages and rectories, which incorporates the latest energy efficiency technology.
“There are severe health and safety implications for clergy and their families, as well as visitors, if the building is in a dilapidated state for any length of time.”
One cleric, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Times that he believed his diocese was trying to force him out by leaving him, his wife and four children in a crumbling Edwardian rectory with scaffolding outside, and asbestos, newts and frogs inside the house. “The only reason we are still here is because we cannot afford to get out. On a stipend you never really get the chance to save enough to buy a place of your own.”