Chancel Repair (Church Commissioners’ Liability) Measure
Debate between Lord Griffiths of Burry Port and Baroness Butler-Sloss
Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)
My Lords, as your Lordships’ House has heard, I am chair of the Ecclesiastical Committee. The committee heard a considerable amount of evidence from the Church, and a number of MPs who are part of the Ecclesiastical Committee asked some very relevant questions, as did the noble Baroness, Lady Harris, who has just spoken. We were satisfied, according to the 1919 statute that sets up the Ecclesiastical Committee, that it was “expedient”—that is the phrase used in the statute—to pass this Measure to this House.
Lord Griffiths of Burry Port (Lab)
My Lords, I do not know whether it is appropriate for me to contribute, but I feel I must. I was also part of the committee coming to the conclusion that the noble and learned Baroness has just mentioned. My degree in theology at Cambridge clearly did not fit me for understanding the complexities of land tenure in parish churches, but I just wished—I know that this is a silly thing to say—that all the chancels in Methodist churches that I know about could have been included in the Measure being put forward.