Non stipendiary

A non stipendairy minister in Church of England practice, is a voluntary auxilliary minister who is selected and trained on the same basis as other clergy but receives no payment for their ministerial activity. NSMs may be appointed to pastoral charge of a congregation under the supervision of another minister. In England Ordained Local Ministers are a non-deployable variant.

First advocated by Dr. Arnold, Head of Rugby School, in the early Victorian period, interest in NSM as a mode of ministry was largely cursory until the writings of Roland Allen who, as result of his experience as a missionary and also following visits to Canada, advocated the selection and appointment of men who were already recognised leaders amongst groups of Christians to be the ordained minister for such groups.

The first NSMs in the Church of England did not finally emerge until the mid-1960s when bishops began to ordain small numbers to alleviate the increasing crisis of supply of potential clergy.