-Caveat Lector-
From
1 - http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,737213,00.html
2 - http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,737207,00.html
}}}>Begin
1 -> The Church and its money
Friday June 14, 2002
The Guardian
Equities - �2.7bn
Diverse portfolio includes shares in GlaxoSmithKline (�163.7m), Royal Bank of
Scotland (�80.1m), BP (�147.1m) plus over �40m in Barclays, Lloyds TSB, Shell
and HSBC. Smaller amounts, less than �25m each, held in Tesco, Unilever, Reed
International, Pizza Express, APO Time Warner, Emap and Cadbury Schweppes
Commercial - �537m
Portfolio includes shares in major shopping centres such as Gateshead's
MetroCentre, the Whitgift in Croydon and Bluewater, Kent. The commissioners hold
a 63% stake in Pollen estate - office and retail units in London's West End. They
also own Millbank House and Ashdown House, London, and part of Buchanan
Street, Glasgow
Property - �1bn+
Residential portfolio: valued at �289.2m, mostly in the Octavia Hill and Hyde Park
estates in London
Agricultural property: includes more than 50,000 hectares (125,000 acres) of
farmland spread over 45 estates in England, involving major holdings at Bishop
Auckland, Canterbury and Chester
� Figures taken from the Church Commissioners' annual report, 2001
Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002
2 -> Treasures may be lost as church loses again in its game of risk
�80m loss on Vodafone could force commissioners to sell masterpieces
Nicholas Pyke
Friday June 14, 2002
The Guardian
The Church of England may be forced to take a more biblical view of its treasures
on earth following a disastrous slump in its stockmarket investments.
Church Commissioners have seen the value of their shares in Vodafone fall by
�80m, putting them under renewed pressure to sell off works of art and property to
help them fund clergy pensions.
In particular they now seem certain to press ahead with the controversial sale of a
�20m collection of paintings by the 17th century Spanish master Francesco de
Zurbaran, despite concerns from many within the church, including the Bishop of
Durham.
The Church Commissioners lost a staggering �800m in the late 1980s, chiefly the
result of unwise investments in property. Now, they have fallen victim to the slump
in the telecommunications sector and, according to an article in the Church Times,
have seen their Vodafone portfolio fall by more than �78m since the start of 2000.
The true scale of the church's loss appears to be greater still, but so far the
commissioners have refused to disclose how many additional Vodafone shares they
have acquired since the last published figures. Last month the mobile phone giant
recorded a �13.5bn annual loss, the biggest in British corporate history, and since
2001 its share price has fallen from 179p per share to around 100p.
At present, the Zurbaran paintings, part of the series Jacob And His Twelve Sons,
are hanging on the dining room wall at Auckland Palace, home to the Bishops of
Durham. But they are unlikely to remain there for much longer.
"We cannot justify keeping so valuable a non-income producing asset in view of the
church's needs and priorities for the support of ministry," said a recent annual report
by the commissioners who, in principle, recommended their sale.
But the proposed sale, which would cover more than half the church's current
account deficit for a year, has met with criticism, with many fearing that, should they
be sold, the paintings will end up in Madrid rather than Newcastle.
Simon Jenkins, church commentator and former editor of the Times, believes that
removing the paintings would amount to an attack on the region.
"The Zurbarans remain the glory of the North," he recently wrote. "Like the apes of
Gibraltar and the ravens of the Tower they embody the place. The church should
show more respect and look elsewhere to endow its extravagance."
Jenkins says the church should rationalise its property portfolio, ridding itself of
empty and underused buildings rather than "selling the family silver".
Concern
There is also concern within the church itself. The Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev
Michael Turnbull, has been
prominent in the campaign to keep the paintings in the region, saying: "There's a
tremendous amount of awareness of them in the local area - there is a feeling that
they should be kept here, that this is their real home."
The collection was originally bought for �145 by the Rt Reverend Richard Trevor,
Bishop of Durham from 1752 to 1771.
Paul Handley, editor of the Church Times, believes the commissioners will also
have to consider the sale of bishops' palaces, some of the grandest buildings in the
country, including Rose Castle, seat of the Bishop of Carlisle, and Hartlebury
Castle, occupied by the Bishop of Worcester. The Bishop of Portsmouth has already
agreed to occupy a smaller house.
"There's a great deal of concern about the loss of artistic treasures and it's by no
means agreed that this is the way to fund the church," said Mr Handley. "On the
other hand, if it's a question of losing your vicar or keeping a collection of
paintings
in another part of the country I don't see how they can hang on to them.
"It shows that the reliance on the performance of the stock market when you're
running an organisation of such significance and importance is a serious flaw. The
shift towards congregational giving has been impressive.
"But over time we could be looking at a much more fragmented church, in which
some parishes and dioceses find themselves struggling financially."
He points out that the church's annual income from equities fell from �125.3m to
�118.5m between 2000 and 2001. With a twist of irony, it was only the strong
performance of the commissioners' property investments that kept the church
afloat.
A spokesman for the Church of England said that the Church Commissioners have
had a good investment record over the past decade. Overall, the Church's annual
income is more than �800m, most of it raised from parishes.
Mark Challoner, chief investment officer for the commissioners said: "Vodafone is
the world's leading mobile- phone operator with a strong growth profile. The
company did report a huge loss in 2001/2, but this was due to accounting
adjustments."
He said the commissioners were not overexposed, and that the shares represented
only 5% of their UK equity holdings. Other parts of their portfolio - notably property
-
were performing well in a difficult economic climate.
Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002
End<{{{
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