The promised regulations altering church legislation have come into force as The Civil Partnership (Judicial Pensions and Church Pensions, etc.) Order 2005. Part 8 of this (scroll down a way) amends all of the following:
Church Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 1960
Clergy Pensions Measure 1961
Clergy Pensions (Amendment) Measure 1972
Deaconesses and Lay Workers (Pensions) Measure 1980
Pastoral Measure 1983
Pensions Measure 1997
Church of England (Pensions) Measure 2003
An explanatory memorandum is available as a PDF file. See pages 18-20.
Didn’t Stephen Bates more or less predict something like this? Oh, the joys of establishment….
In a landmark judgment, the House of Lords has ruled that clergy may (in some cases) claim the benefit of sex discrimination law. It must follow that they can claim the benefit of sexual orientation discrimination law. Previously, clergy were denied rights based upon employee status on the basis that they were office holders and not employees. Most discrimination legislation contains specific exceptions for the churches. However, the ruling that clergy can claim employment status for discrimination purposes means that European laws against discrimination also apply to them, and these laws may not recognise such exceptions in all cases. The… Read more »