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The next step up is to the diocese, a grouping of deaneries
whose synods elect members - on a similar proportional basis - to
the diocesan synod. This is presided over - ex officio - by the
Bishop who himself is appointed by the Crown and as such ranks as
the senior clergyman in the diocese. In his duties the Bishop may
be assisted by one or more suffragan bishops (although there are none
in the Bradford Diocese), a provost (one in Bradford - responsible
for the cathedral), and two or more archdeacons (two in Bradford),
all of whom are clergymen holding their appointments on an exclusive
basis (i.e. they are not ordinarily also parish priests). There will
also normally be a full-time diocesan secretary with a small staff
operating a diocesan office, and the diocesan synod will normally
delegate functions to various committees of which one will be the
Diocesan Board of Finance. This is the lowest level at which we
find skilled, full-time financial management becoming generally
available.
The dioceses are grouped into provinces and the provinces
combined at national level. Provinces have no financial functions
and can therefore be ignored, but at national level the General Synod,
and their subsidiary, the central Board of Finance, have various
financial functions and employ a full-time staff ('Church House') to
carry them out. We need not concern ourselves with the details of
these, beyond noting that the net cost is recouped from the dioceses
on a basis of their 'Actual Income' (i.e. the figure for total income
as it appears in the annual published accounts) and that there is no
apparent desire among the dioceses that it should be changed to anything
else. The existence of Church House provides a means of coordinating
affairs in the dioceses and of disseminating information of general
interest, but this would appear to be a facility far from fully utilised -
