“But this rubbish is merely the tip of the iceberg. Let’s stand it up with some figures. In 1959, there were 13,075 stipendiary clergy and 250 diocesan support staff in the Church of England. In 2022, there are 7210 stipendiary clergy and 6500 diocesan support staff. There is the problem — oh, and the numbers in church dropped from two million to 700,000 during that period.”
“That vision of the Anglican Church as an inclusive institution, open to everyone and the priest’s cure of souls extending to everyone in his or her parish, no matter what…
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…
There are two institutions: the Rev Dr Jekyll of parish volunteers and clergy, and the Rev Mr Hyde at the top. Read the original report here
“Even the Church of England’s 2021 paper GS 2222 acknowledged (para. 35) that “Anecdotal evidence from Wales suggests a super-parish type model has not worked well.” It added “but there is an absence of hard data.” Where is there any empirical evidence that mega-parishes are more viable and sustainable than the local parish system?”
Emma Thompson calls on the Church to take note of their own reported failures in amalgamating parishes and removing clergy from the front line. Many people from all walks of…
This New in the North report was commissioned to give a sense of developments with new worshipping communities in 2023 and to inform discussions about helpful next steps. They found…