We support Anglican clergy and widowed spouses with financial or medical costs through our assistance programmes. Eligibility criteria apply.
The Health Fund assists retired clergy in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia (and their spouses who are not in full time employment, and dependent children) and clergy widows and widowers, with certain medical costs.
No Health Fund claims are being accepted for treatments occurring on or after 1 April 2024.
The suspension of claims is not a permanent situation and remains under review. The Health Fund will be reopened once its reserves have been built up again to a sustainable level.
The Welfare Fund is available to assist with medical costs that are a financial burden to the eligible person. More information is on the Welfare Fund page.
The Welfare Fund is available to clergy in the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia (and their surviving spouses) where a financial need exists. Anglican Financial Care is here to help and our aim is to do so in a caring and compassionate way.
Check out our FAQs or contact our team for help with any specific queries.
Clergy
You are eligible to apply to the Welfare Fund if you are an Anglican clergyperson residing in Aotearoa New Zealand or a country within the Diocese of Polynesia who:
OR
Clergy widows and widowers
You are eligible to apply to the Welfare Fund if you are the surviving spouse of a deceased Anglican clergyperson, and you are residing in Aotearoa New Zealand or a country within the Diocese of Polynesia.
If you want to seek assistance from the Welfare Fund, you need to complete an application form.
You will be required to provide personal information about yourself. This will include household income and expenditure, and what assets and debts you have. All information supplied to us is held in the strictest confidence and is not disclosed to anyone else.
You will also need to advise what it is you are seeking help with (reason and amount) and provide proof of the cost (e.g. receipt, invoice).
Send the completed form to us, along with supporting documents.
This is no fixed list of categories you can claim under. With a few exceptions (see “What can’t I get help with”), we will consider any reason for seeking financial help.
The most common reasons are to provide help with medical, dental and optometry costs, funeral costs, house maintenance costs and debt consolidation.
There are a few costs that the Welfare Fund can’t help with. These are:
Financial help is available to you by either a non-repayable grant or a loan (or a mixture of both).
If we offer you a loan, we will discuss the terms of the loan with you. Things we consider are whether to charge interest or not, what, if any, assets are available to secure the loan, and a suitable repayment plan.
Once we have received your completed application and supporting documents, we usually make a decision within three working days.
The main reason for a decision taking longer is if we have to gather further information from you (e.g. the form is missing information or the costs you are wanting help with are not clear to us).
Before putting in an application we are happy for you to contact us about making a claim.
The Welfare Fund is primarily funded from the income of a charitable trust called the Widows and Orphans Endowment.
We have all our documents and forms, ready for you to access here. and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
