{"id":106324,"date":"2021-10-26T12:09:34","date_gmt":"2021-10-26T16:09:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=106324"},"modified":"2021-10-26T17:14:35","modified_gmt":"2021-10-26T21:14:35","slug":"the-guardian-view-on-the-church-of-england-the-numbers-are-not-adding-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=106324","title":{"rendered":"The Guardian view on the Church of England: the numbers are not adding up"},"content":{"rendered":"

What would you be, you wide East Anglian sky \/ Without church towers to recognise you by?\u201d Even when Sir John Betjeman spoke these lines during his 1974 BBC documentary A Passion for Churches<\/a>, they struck an elegiac note. Traditional religious practice in the Church of England was already in significant decline. Half a century on, Anglicans find themselves at a historic crossroads \u2013 obliged by dire financial circumstance and sparse congregations to rethink what the church is for, and where it should be.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are growing fears<\/a> that at next month\u2019s General Synod, measures will be taken to make it easier to close hundreds of parish churches, drastically reduce numbers of \u201cvicars on the beat\u201d and sell off assets to raise funds. Moving away from the traditional vision of providing for \u201cthe cure of souls\u201d in every parish \u2013 with a Sunday service at the local church its focal point \u2013 the Anglican hierarchy envisions a future mixed ecology<\/a> in which a variety of venues host groups of believers, some of which will be lay-led.<\/p>\n

According to plans drawn up in Manchester diocese, for example, a gradually reduced number of stipendiary clergy would provide support and oversight over new \u201cmission communities\u201d, which would absorb existing parishes.<\/p>\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The Guardian view on the Church of England: the numbers are not adding up https:\/\/t.co\/HVIviqnnei<\/a><\/p>\n

— Simon Sarmiento (@simonsarmiento) October 26, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n