Retirement

In the Diocese of Worcester, we are blessed to have so many retired clergy who offer their service in a number of different ways. We are grateful for each and every one of them and for their gift of ministry.

You will find information on these pages to support you when planning retirement, and when you have retired. 

We are also blessed to have an active network of retired clergy and of bereaved clergy partners (previously widows and widowers) is administered by two Deans of Retired Clergy – The Revd Guy Hewlett and The Revd Ann Waizeneker. Further details can be found here.

The Church of England also has a Retired Clergy Association RCACOE.

Planning for retirement

The transition into retirement can be one of huge potential, leaving a specific role and responsibilities to re-discover oneself and one’s vocation for the next phase of living. Letting go can be both disturbing and freeing, disorientating and liberating, feared and desired, so is potentially deeply creative.

Clergy need to consider three main areas when preparing for their retirement:

Financial planning for retirement (including pensions)

Read more: www.churchofengland.org/resources/pensions/clergy-my-retirement-options 

Retirement Housing

For housing purposes, retiring clergy fall roughly into five categories:

1. Those who have a house of their own and wish to retire into it;
2. Those who have enough capital to purchase a property of their own;
3. Those who have some capital and who wish to take advantage of the pensions board's new shared ownership scheme;
4. Those whose capital is very small or non-existent and who would wish to rent a property from the pensions board;
5. Those who wish to move into supported housing - full details are available from the pensions board.

The Church of England pensions board is a registered charity that has operated the Church's Housing Assistance for the Retired Ministry (CHARM) since it came into operation in 1983. The Church of England pensions board has dedicated website pages on retirement housing, including useful resources on what help and support is available and the housing schemes on offer.

The Church of England pensions board will usually offer affordable retirement housing for clergy through the Church’s Housing Assistance for the Retired Ministry (CHARM) schemes.  The objective of the scheme is to enable all clergy, deaconesses and licensed lay workers who retire from the stipendiary ministry having been in occupation of a 'tied house' with a suitable retirement property if they do not have the financial resources to provide such accommodation for themselves.

Three types of housing schemes are available and are subject to meeting the eligibility criteria:

1. Shared ownership properties - for those who cannot afford to buy on the open market but have enough savings to buy a 25% share of a property, with us purchasing the remaining percentage, up to £150,000;
2. Rental properties – for those who don’t have enough savings to buy a property through shared ownership, you can rent a modest, unfurnished home under a tenancy agreement;
3. Supported housing – for those looking to live semi-independently. There are seven schemes around the country.

When clergy retire, one month's leave is permitted between their farewell in the parish and the date of their formal vacation of their post. Read more.

Ministry in retirement

Ordination to the Priesthood, in the Church of England, is understood as a life-long vocation. You remain ordained as a priest after retiring from office and have a vocation to ministry even if it takes a different form in retirement. Retirement does not mean that the demands of your vocation have ceased, although your ministry may take a different form, which may include new challenges.

The ministry that clergy exercise after retirement from office depends on the needs of the Church in a particular place, and their talents and capability (which may change as they get older), but there are many ways in which you can support the mission and ministry of the diocese while having permission to officiate. Being given PTO does not mean that your ministry is limited to providing short-term cover or taking weddings and funerals.

You may therefore wish to continue to offer a ministry in retirement, freed from some of the formal and administrative business of being a parish priest or sector minister. Retired clergy are a reservoir of theological, spiritual, pastoral and other experience, and the mission of the Church benefits greatly from the ministry of those retired clergy who wish and feel able to continue to offer a ministry.

Clergy who have retired from office are able to exercise ministry on a basis of permission to officiate (PtO) which does not commit them to carry out any regular ministry. The House of Bishops introduced a policy on granting permission to officiate which was approved by the House of Bishops Delegations Committee in 2021. Read more.

If you are interested in applying for Permission To Officiate (PTO), please contact the Bishop’s Office.

If you are interested in attending the Letting Go to Live Anew course (a retreat for clergy and their spouses / partners planning for retirement in the next 18 months please contact Janet Fox, Clergy Development Officer.