§ 27. Mr. Ian TaylorTo ask the right hon. Member for Selby, representing the Church Commissioners, what recent consideration the Church Commissioners have given to the current stipend of a vicar.
§ Mr. Michael Alison (Second Church Estates Commissioner, representing the Church Commissioners)The Commissioners, as the central stipends authority, review stipends regularly and will consider them again at a conference with dioceses in November, and at the annual stipends conferences which take place each spring. The current average stipend of an incumbent is about £12,100 per year. In addition, he receives some benefits in kind, including free accommodation and a non-contributory pension, the average value of which is estimated by the Commissioners to be £7,260.
§ Mr. TaylorWill my right hon. Friend carefully consider taking £1 off a vicar's stipend every time that vicar uses the new Prayer Book which has been published by one of the oldest publishing houses in the country and in which the Lord's Prayer refers to God as "Our Mother and Father"? Is it not sensible that curates who are themselves confused about bisexuality should not try to confuse their congregations about whether Jesus was a hermaphrodite?
§ Mr. AlisonMy hon. Friend makes a serious point, albeit in a light-hearted style. The liturgy of the Church of England is approved by Parliament and therefore has a statutory basis. It would be unlawful to make any unauthorised liturgical change of gender in the Lord's prayer or in any other authorised liturgical service. In that respect, the restraint of the law is even more potent than pay restraint. My hon. Friend refers to the identity of Jesus. He will know from the Gospel that His most popular self-designation was "Son of Man", which is a double positive—or a double negative, depending which way one looks at it.