THE Archbishops’ Council is to award £600,000 to 2 national charities that provide well-being services to clergy, including counselling and financial grants, it was announced on Monday.
The Clergy Support Trust, which is independent of the Church of England, has been awarded £500,000 for work that supports clergy with their funds, health, and well-being. It is hoped that the brand new grant will support clergy with on a regular basis expenses reminiscent of energy costs, unexpected automotive repairs, and school-related costs for clergy children, a press release from Church House, Westminster, said.
The Trust also provides other grants and services for clergy, including counselling, coaching, and occupational therapy. A yr ago, it received a grant of £2 million from the Archbishops’ Council (News, 7 February 2025), through which greater than 7000 grants were provided to greater than 2900 households.
“The overwhelming majority of applicants are from serving clergy households within the Church of England,” Church House said.
The Trust has supported a couple of fifth of all serving C of E clergy for the past three years. In 2025, the Trust reported that the Church of England represented greater than 85 per cent of their work. That yr, greater than £973,000 was provided in health grants “to assist applicants with physical or mental-health conditions”, and greater than £538,000 in well-being grants “to assist carers, clergy children, and folks with special educational needs”.
The Archbishops’ Council has also awarded £100,000 to St Luke’s for Clergy Wellbeing, which provides clergy with access to “independent psychological care, alongside preventive care focused on pastoral supervision”.
The charity “invests around £500,000 a yr in its services for clergy and their families, including £163,000 on psychological services”, Church House said.
The Bishop of Chester, Dr Mark Tanner, who chairs the Church of England’s ministry development board and is a member of the Archbishops’ Council, expressed gratitude for the support provided by St Luke’s and by Clergy Support Trust. He was, he said, “so glad that they’re receiving this funding to enable them to proceed and expand their work”.
“Clergy are a remarkable and infrequently neglected gift to the communities they serve. Their exertions and dedication makes a difference to countless lives, and their very own well-being matters hugely.”
The chief executive of the Clergy Support Trust, the Revd Ben Cahill-Nicholls, said: “The Church’s own research shows that many clergy are anxious about their funds. This grant from the Archbishops’ Council is a crucial recognition of that, in addition to of our applicants’ extraordinary ministry.”
He concluded: “For too many, that ministry — so often an awesome joy — comes with real challenges, and we’re delighted that the Church continues to work hard to search out ways of improving the financial, mental and physical health of its clergy, in partnership with Clergy Support Trust and others.”
