An Introduction to the Diocese
The Diocese in Europe covers a territory roughly equivalent to that represented by the Council of Europe. There are 140 chaplaincies and around 300 congregations spread from Casablanca in the South to the Arctic Circle in the North and from Madeira in the West to Moscow in the East. Kyiv, Tangier and Turkey are all in the Diocese. This is the Church of England across the continent of Europe and beyond for those keen to be part of an English-speaking Anglican Christian community.
One quarter of the countries in the Anglican Communion are in this single Diocese. It is present through its network of chaplaincies (our equivalent of parishes) and congregations. Our chaplaincies are located in capital cities, small towns, rural villages and holiday areas. Our largest multi-centre chaplaincy in France covers an area the size of Wales.
The Diocese is supervised by a senior team consisting of two bishops and four archdeacons. The staff of the DBF such as the Chief Operating Officer (Diocesan Secretary), finance, safeguarding and communications teams are based in Westminster, the Bishop’s office is in Brussels.
The Diocese is multi-cultural, dynamic and relatively youthful compared to many in England.
We are one of the 42 Dioceses of the Church of England and, Post-Brexit, our Diocese is an important ecclesial bridge with the European mainland. English canon law is imported into our Diocese via our Diocesan Constitution, our Diocesan Bishop is a member of the House of Bishops and our Suffragan Bishop a member of the College of Bishops. We have clergy and lay representatives in the General Synod. At the same time, in each country our chaplaincies are incarnated in the local culture and language and they follow local law alongside English canon law. These arrangements make for a range of church structures, but the combination of canon and local law brings with it some challenging issues. The Diocesan Handbook at www.europe.anglican.org sets out how some of this works in practice.
A map of the Diocese and the locations of our chaplaincies and congregations can be found on the diocesan website here.
The Strategy of the Diocese in Europe
The Church of England strategy of being a diverse community of missionary disciples that is growing simpler, humbler and bolder fits our Diocese remarkably well.
The current high level Diocesan Strategy ‘Walking Together in Faith’ has 5 strands and can be seen here DinE Strategy. We are in the process of developing a refreshed diocesan strategic that will focus our work and growth over the next period.
Finance and Governance
The Diocese in Europe Board of Finance is a charity and a limited Company in the UK. The Chair of the DBF chairs the Trustees who are a mix of elected and ex Officio members as well as nominees of the Diocesan Bishop. The DBF chair also chairs the Finance, Audit and Personnel Committee.
The latest Annual Report and Accounts can be found here: Annual report 2024 The Diocesan Constitution is here: DinE Constitution.
The total annual central operational costs are about £1.75 million. The total annual revenue of our chaplaincies is of the order of £11m pa. Our financial aim is to balance income and expenditure by 2028. The DBF has almost no fixed assets but has unrestricted reserves of around £5million mainly invested by Churches Charities and Local Authorities (CCLA). 70% of the DBFs running costs are raised by the Common Fund which amounts to an average of 10% of the income of the chaplaincies. The amount requested from each chaplaincy is based on their size (membership) and their income over three years. 95% of the amount requested is returned.