Church of England cannot carry on as it is unless decline ‘urgently’ reversed – Welby and Sentamu
Church of England should put faith in Facebook and Twitter to help reverse dwindling congregations, say Archbishops Justin Welby and John Sentamu.
The Church of England will no longer be able to carry on its current form unless the downward spiral its membership is reversed “as a matter of urgency”, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have warned.
It could face a dramatic shortage of priests within a decade as almost half of the current clergy retire, according to the Most Rev Justin Welby and Dr John Sentamu.
Meanwhile dwindling numbers in the pews will inevitably plunge the Church into a financial crisis as it grapples with the “burden” of maintaining thousands of historic buildings, they insisted.
But the two archbishops also called for the Church to invest more in building up its presence on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter to get its message across online as part of a “major programme of renewal and reform”.
Their blunt assessment of the Church’s prospects came in a paper for members of its ruling General Synod, which meets in London next month, setting out the case for an overhaul of finances and organisation to turn its fortunes around.
Typical Sunday attendances have halved to just 800,000 in the last 40 years – although the Church has previously claimed the decline has been levelling off in recent years.
Income from donations in the offering plate has risen slightly in the last few years as declining congregations dig deeper.
The two archbishops gave their backing to a series of reports calling for administrative changes in the Church to be debated by the Synod next month but added: “Renewing and reforming aspects of our institutional life is a necessary but far from sufficient response to the challenges facing the Church of England.”
They went on: “The urgency of the challenge facing us is not in doubt.
“Attendance at Church of England services has declined at an average of one per cent per annum over recent decades and, in addition, the age profile of our membership has become significantly older than that of the population.
“Finances have been relatively stable, thanks to increased individual giving.
“This situation cannot, however, be expected to continue unless the decline in membership is reversed.
“The age profile of our clergy has also been increasing. Around 40 per cent of parish clergy are due to retire over the next decade or so.
“And while ordination rates have held up well over recent years they continue to be well below what would be needed to maintain current clergy numbers and meet diocesan ambitions.
“The burden of church buildings weighs heavily and reorganisation at parish level is complicated by current procedures.”
They said the Church’s current arrangements for deciding each diocese’s allotment of clergy and cash are increasingly viewed as out of date and widely ignored, adding: “There is no central investment in reaching out into the digital and social media world.
“If the Church of England is to return to growth, there is a compelling need to realign resources and work carefully to ensure that scarce funds are used to best effect.”
Last year The Rt Rev Christopher Goldsmith, the Bishop of St Germans, in the areas was facing a “death spiral” unless parishioners put more money in the offering plate.
Credits: Daily Telegraph article by By John Bingham, Religious Affairs Editor.
`Photograph: New Statesman
Cornwall, warned that the church in the areas was facing a “death spiral” unless parishioners put more money in the offering plate.
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