Of all the Task Group reports being published this week it is perhaps Resourcing the Future which is least easy to understand from its title. So let me explain what it is about and how we reached our recommendations.
We started with all the research findings contained in the Anecdote to Evidence book published a year ago. That pointed to a declining and ageing Church of England population. Projecting the findings forward made us see the real threat to the presence of our Church, not only in every community but in large parts of rural and urban England.
Each of us has a personal Christian mission to help the Word of the Risen Christ reach out. In other words, we need to change this trend and start securing growth ”“ not just in some places as at present, but with a more uniform pattern across the country.
And we had a long hard debate about what we mean by growth.
From the report:
“Newer forms of church are a growing feature of the Church of England but diocesan resources, thinking and effort are still largely devoted to the ‘stipendiary clergy + parish’ model of church.”
Yes, because that model has been proven to work. But it only works if the clergy and lay leaders are committed to orthodox Christianity. Since so much of the CofE doesn’t seem sure what it believes, that model won’t work for them, and neither will anything else.