The Church of England spent the weekend defending its £100 million reparations fund. Critics call it a vanity project that puts grievance politics before the needs of today's congregations.
On 12 and 13 July the Church Commissioners insisted the money, known as Project Spire, remains a moral duty for any responsible Christian investor. Yet the cash sits untouched. Legal hurdles around setting up a separate charity mean none of it has reached the intended projects as of June.
This is not abstract debate. The Church's endowment stands at £11.6 billion. Parishes across the country face closures, leaking roofs and dwindling congregations. A separate £1.6 billion pledge over three years for parish support sounds substantial until you realise the reparations pot diverts attention and resources from immediate crises at home.
Conservative voices push back
Conservative MPs and peers have labelled the scheme legally dubious. They want it scrapped so the funds can shore up local churches instead. A Policy Exchange report from February 2025 delivered a blunt verdict: the programme is poorly justified, historically shaky and simply inadvisable.
Traditional clergy echo the point. The Rev Ian Paul has argued that the entire case for reparations lacks solid evidence, leans on racist assumptions about inherited guilt and fundamentally misunderstands history. His critique cuts to the heart of the matter. Why pursue perpetual division when the Christian tradition offers forgiveness and forward-looking unity?
The Church Commissioners, as a 320-year-old Christian in-perpetuity endowment fund, has committed £100 million to set up a new investment fund to support healing, justice and repair.
That came from a Church Commissioners spokesperson on 13 July. The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, added his own gloss: 'We hope that the work we are doing – to repair, to heal, and to pursue justice – demonstrates how Christian faith can bring about real change in the world.'
