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Motion 5: Church Worker Retirement Housing

Here is the full text of General Synod te Hīnota Whānui Motion 5 on Church Worker Retirement Housing with amendment as carried.

Church Worker Retirement Housing Working Group  |  03 Nov 2022

Motion # 5

Church Worker Retirement Housing

Mover: The Most Rev’d Don Tamihere                      Seconder: Ven Mere Wallace

 

That this General Synod/ te Hīnota Whānui 2022 resolves that:

Noting that the Church Worker Retirement Housing Working Group has completed its exploration of options for the provision of retirement housing support for licensed church workers in the province of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, and has identified that retirement housing is a significant problem for both Anglican church workers and for the wider community.

 

Recommendation 1 – Housing advice, support, and provision

That General Synod/ te Hīnota Whānui:

a. recognises that there is no entity in the province currently fit for purpose to oversee retirement housing advice, support, and provision for Church workers.

b. acknowledges that although AFC is seen by many in the Church as an obvious locus of retirement housing support, and that AFC currently provides some welfare and mortgage support for Church workers, AFC would need significant input of resources to broaden its scope of services.

c. asks AFC to carry out a review of how retirement housing advice, support, and provision could be undertaken in the province, including how a clearinghouse/resource centre for housing advice for Church housing initiatives could be hosted.

d. asks AFC to establish an oversight group for this review, which may include some or all the members of the current Working Group. The oversight group would report to the Board of AFC.

e. asks AFC to report back in 18 months to GSSC, including on:

i. how and where the development of housing advice, support, and provision can be undertaken in the province in order to make progress on Mission Aligned Investment

ii. what ongoing resources would be needed to maintain these two functions, and where those might come from. (See recommendation 5 for the resourcing for this review.)

 

Recommendation 2 – Provision of mortgage finance

That General Synod/ te Hīnota Whānui:

strongly encourages Church bodies with investment funds to actively consider investing a portion of their funds, via AFC, into mortgage funding for church worker housing.

 

Recommendation 3 – Provision of housing

That General Synod/ te Hīnota Whānui:

requests all church land holding entities to review their current mapping of land held across the province (including parishes, schools, hospitals, social service organisations etc.) together with its provenance and details of current use, if any. Such information needs to include details of each individual title/address to support analysis of fallow land or opportunities for more fruitful utilisation of the land. Where necessary, information will be updated. Church land information can then be made available to those who wish to explore social housing options, including for church workers.

 

Recommendation 4 – Review of remuneration

That General Synod/ te Hīnota Whānui:

a. commissions an immediate review of the methodology for setting stipends and lay salaries across all three tikanga, considering issues of affordability for the Church, equity across tikanga, as well as relativity with similar professions.

b. asks those doing the review to present a range of options for future stipends and salaries, and to note any consequent ministry or financial issues.

c. requests a report in 6 months to GSSC, who are to appoint the reviewers.

 

Recommendation 5 – Resourcing

That General Synod/ te Hīnota Whānui:

endorse an application from AFC to the General Church Trust Board, bodies in this Church and other ethical source to provide immediate funding of $300,000 for AFC for 18 months, to undertake the work of Recommendation 1.

                                                                                                                                               

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