Church Times article: Angela Tilby looks to the parishes for green shoots
Angela Tilby was heartened to see 400 children, completely at home in their parish church, rehearsing the story of Holy Week and Easter, and clearly both enjoying themselves and aware of the solemnity of the events that they were recalling.
She suggests that rather than looking for novel forms of church the CofE should refocus on the mission on the parish. A school can be a as the place of outreach, nurture, and welcome for the CofE and the church becomes the centre of its community.
I wish that the strategists and centralisers and managerial functionaries of the Church of England could recognise that, where there are parish clergy engaging well with church schools the next generation of Christians will rise to the fore. Scrap the mission modules in theological education, and prepare ordinands for getting stuck in to where the green blades are already arising.
