Emma Thompson thinks that the CofE is facing an existential crisis, manifesting itself in fewer bums on seats and a chronic lack of volunteers. Many dioceses are compounding and accelerating this crisis by making financially unnecessary clergy cuts and merging parishes – creating an intolerable workload for the remaining clergy.
More vicars in the churches and fewer large benefices would lead to stronger communities and stem the fall in church going. It is happened before when the Victorians increased the…
Emma Thompson considers the type of person the new Archbishop of Canterbury should be and argues that the Church “needs a parish-facing, pastoral Archbishop” who is willing to scale back the “bishops, bureaucracy and bluster.”
CHURCHES are more likely to close in low-income areas than wealthier ones, a new report from Church Action on Poverty suggests. To reach more people in these communities, churches —…
The Rev Dr. Paul Avis reviews the Once and Future Parish. The parochial Church of England invites participation in the means of grace and aims to turn seekers into eucharistically…
WE require a wider purpose and a broader vision. A rethinking of cura
animarum — the cure of souls — provides a good foundation. Although it has an
ancient and archaic ring, it is a surprisingly contemporary idea. Its origins are
Roman and about authority in a particular place; but its expression comes from the
Saxon idea of the Church’s underpinning the formation of the nation, as a function
of the spiritual, moral, and material welfare of the people.
“The 2021 Governance Review Group report recommended “a new piece of work to explore the reform of the General Synod and Synodical government”. Even if reform is what it takes, I long for us to move away from decisions behind closed doors — for the Synod to be able to discern openly together the common will for the Church as we look to the future. Then we can all agree to put our money where our mouth is rather than find that money has already been promised, and our part as elected representatives is merely to welcome it, whether we want to or not.”