Church of England Pensions Measure 2018

4 Meaning of “stipendiary ecclesiastical service”

(1) “Stipendiary ecclesiastical service” means stipendiary ecclesiastical service in connection with—

(a) a diocese, cathedral or parish, or

(b) the Collegiate Church of St. Peter in Westminster or the Collegiate Church of St. George in Windsor.

(2) “Ecclesiastical service” means—

(a) service rendered under the direction of a diocesan bishop, or

(b) service carried on in furtherance of the spiritual or administrative work of the Church of England and recognised as such by a diocesan bishop.

(3) Ecclesiastical service is “stipendiary” if the person performing it receives in respect of it—

(a) a payment from the Church Commissioners’ general fund,

(b) a payment from a diocesan fund, or

(c) a payment from money raised in a parish and given for or allocated to that person’s maintenance.

(4) But ecclesiastical service is not “stipendiary” if the only payment the person receives is by way of reimbursement of or contribution to expenses incurred by him or her, including the cost of maintaining, heating, lighting or cleaning the property in which he or she lives or is entitled to live.

(5) The reference in subsection (3)(a) to a payment from the Church Commissioners’ general fund includes a reference to—

(a) a payment from that fund by way of a guaranteed annuity under section 1 of the Endowments and Glebe Measure 1976, or

(b) an annual personal grant under section 2 of that Measure.

(6) In the application of this section to the diocese in Europe, a reference to a parish is to be read as a reference to a chaplaincy.