“Review Their Unused Land and Property”: The Episcopal Church Tells Its Dioceses to Consider Affordable Housing

• The Episcopal Church’s General Convention adopted resolution 2024-D057 on June 26, 2024
• It reaffirms housing as a human right
• It commits the church to advocate for vouchers, public funding and an end to source-of-income discrimination
• It encourages dioceses and congregations to review unused land for affordable homes

Church statements on housing often stay at the level of principle. In June 2024 the Episcopal Church in the United States went further. At its General Convention, it adopted resolution 2024-D057, “Advocate for Housing Solutions”, on June 26, 2024. The resolution was proposed by Laura Russell through the House of Deputies Committee on Social Justice and United States Policy.

The resolution opens by resolving that “The Episcopal Church reaffirm our call for Housing as a Human Right (2018-C041) by advocating for expansive solutions for the rising cost of housing in the United States.”

It commits the church to support federal housing vouchers as an entitlement, government funding for affordable housing, routes into housing for vulnerable groups, and the elimination of source-of-income discrimination, where landlords refuse tenants because of how they pay their rent.

Most significantly for church property, it turns the spotlight on the church’s own holdings: “The Episcopal Church encourage Dioceses and congregations to review their unused land and property as a potential pathway to more affordable housing units.” It also encourages them to assess local housing needs and work with community organisations on homelessness and housing insecurity. A General Convention resolution does not force any parish to build, but it gives clergy and vestries who want to explore housing a clear mandate from their own church to start the conversation.

The Anglican Church in Jamaica belongs to the same worldwide communion, and its dioceses hold land in almost every parish. A similar resolution from a Jamaican synod or from the Jamaica Council of Churches, calling on each congregation to list its unused land and consider housing, would be a clear first step. For Jamaican Anglicans and Episcopalians in the United States, this resolution shows how a denomination can move from preaching about housing to looking at what it owns.

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