supporting the church
Ecclesiastical - helping to protect churches for 120 years
Ecclesiastical has been helping to protect the life and work of churches for 120 years. But we’ve always been committed to providing our customers with more than just insurance. We’re here for information, advice and support whenever our customers need us.
Church competition
We organise an annual competition for church communities to share great ideas connected to issues affecting churches today – such as church fundraising, gathering support and making churches an integral part of their local communities.
The Ecclesiastical Ministry Bursary Awards were established in 1987, Ecclesiastical’s centenary year. Since then more than 600 clergy have received awards for a wide range of purposes. We recently surveyed a number of past recipients and the main findings were as follows:
all clergy felt they had benefited ‘very significantly’ from their Award
past recipients of awards had all been in the ministry for over 10 years at the point of receiving their award
clergy felt the main benefits of their award were: personal development, financial support, gaining greater knowledge, enabling them to take ‘time out’
clergy also believed the parish/church benefited from the increased inspiration, knowledge and vision made possible by the leave funded partially by the award. It also helped that the parish didn’t have to bear the cost.
Awards are presented annually in January, we are now accepting applications from all clergy applying for a 2010 award. The basic entry criteria are:
All clergy must be in full-time stipendiary ministry in a Christian Church
the awards are for the benefit of individuals and do not support church-related projects
awards are provided for sabbaticals only (although fees for a course during a sabbatical would be legitimate).
If you wish to apply for a bursary award you can apply on-line here – a letter of authority from your Bishop is required to support your application. Applications must be made before the end of September 2009. Judging will take place during December and awards will be made mid to late January 2010.
Should you have any questions about the Ministry Bursary Awards scheme, please email information@ecclesiastical.com
