The question I raised last week about the position of
clergy and Free Church ministers under the new Insurance Bill has been answered in the House of Commons. Clergy and ministers, it seems, are not " under a contract of service," and therefore rank as self-employed persons. This seems a rather surprising ruling, but it obviates the necessity of deciding who the employer of a beneficed clergyman or a minister is. The result of the ruling is that the clergy will have to pay substantially higher contributions —about £15 a year, and more when the National Health Service is inaugurated—than if they were employed. The burden on the smaller stipends will be considerable, particularly if it is desired to keep payments to existing pension funds going. The position of curates and lay readers has still to be defined. * * *
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