Julian Mann points out that clergy cuts and the 26 bishops in Parliament may not go together once more MPs become of aware of how the hierarchy of the Church of England is rearranging the makeup of the Church without democratic approval either in Synod or in Parliament. How long will the bishops stay in Parliament once MPs become aware of how they are restructuring the Church of England without a proper democratic mandate.
THE evaluation of a project to transform Wigan into a “missional powerhouse” — which entailed the grouping of 33 churches in a single benefice — has reported mixed success after seven years and the spending Read more…
Ken Costa suggests that the Gen Z and millennials have not turned their back on spiritualism but are seeking different approaches. Including them in any future changes in either capitalism or religious matters would be Read more…
Gabriella Swerling writes that ‘brutal cuts’ to the number of priests in the Truro diocese is leading to a decline in normal church life. She and STP Cornwall produce some analysis of the effects of Read more…
1 Comment
Marcus · 29 May 2023 at 6:20 pm
While parish clergy are cut year on year, no such thing is happening among the bloated ‘senior staff’. No fewer bishops than there have been in decades and MORE archdeacons (a way of sneaking ‘managers’ in by the back door as episcopal numbers are controlled centrally). The CofE’s response to decline in congregants and parish priests is to appoint more managers… Then there’s the bloated lay staff of many pointless officers for this, that and the other – many of whom make not a ha’p’orth of difference (ditto snr clerical staff).
Wholesale reform is needed. At least a third of senior clergy and lay staff could go without anyone on the ground noticing, money for whom should be spent on keeping priests in parishes (the biggest generators of giving). The CofE is a self-generating bureaucracy; such cutting of fat would rid it of much of the pointless dross it engages in and concentrate work on the essentials – the locus of conspicuous decline.