Religious Charities Update - Summer 2014

Welcome to the Summer 2014 edition of our religious charities briefing note. Our aim is to provide informative updates in an accessible form on legal issues affecting religious charities. Previous editions can be accessed from our website at www.charlesrussell.co.uk.

In this edition George Duncan comments on issues arising from the proposal to bring English Cathedrals under the wing of the Charity Commission, Mark Rowden explores the particular issues which Charity Trustees need to consider on disposing of land and Matthew Feather provides a brief overview of the Listed Places for Worship Grant Scheme. Finally, we recently ran a very successful seminar where we discussed the relationship between Dioceses and their churches and the governance of the Church of England in times of financial strain. You can read more about the event and key discussions below.

Articles

Regulation of cathedrals: the proposal that cathedrals should be brought within the jurisdiction of the charity commission ( click here) Disposing of charity land: the requirements and possible options ( click here) The listed places of worship grant scheme: an overview ( click here) Churches: part of the problem, or part of the solution?

We held what was – judging by the responses from those attending – an extremely successful seminar on this theme on 19 May. The seminar was held under Chatham House rules so we cannot report on what was said. We can however say that the talks stimulated a lively discussion. The seminar set the rather bleak financial background against which churches are operating but presented some topical case studies on how, with courage and imagination, churches have shown that it is possible to become part of the solution rather than part of the problem. Our...