The interplay of the national and the local and the strength that the Church of England still has in its atrophying muscles should be a cause of serious hope to those leading the national church. But, as Christ says, \u201cwhere your treasure is, there will your heart be also,\u201d so if we\u2019re going to build on these strengths, we need to make a conscious decision to invest in them.<\/p>\n
The local is our strength. Churches at the centre of their communities, priests at the centre of their churches \u2013 with the time to devote to their communities. The CofE knows this \u2013 three reports have been commissioned into why some churches grow and some shrink and all three came back with the same answer.<\/p>\n
As one, From Anecdote to Evidence put it: \u201cThe findings show that single church units under one leader are more likely to grow than when churches are grouped together\u2026There is a strong negative trend between the more churches amalgamated together and the likelihood of decline.\u201d <\/p>\n
Communities across the country are concerned that the old model of Anglican Christianity is slowly dying \u2013 and often for paltry sums of money, unable to be raised at a local level but easily available at a national level where the Church of England sits on \u00a310 billion of assets. Where your treasure is, there will you heart be also: let\u2019s put our money in our parishes, for that is where the real beating heart of the CofE is found. (And let\u2019s celebrate the fact that we no longer have a recruitment crisis \u2013 we are now ordaining more new priests than we have clergy retiring or quitting early.)<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a> (subscription or registration).<\/p>\n "The Church of England has done us all proud over the last ten days. The Established Church has found its step and remembered its calling to be the focal point of communities \u2013 nationally and locally" | Writes @WalkerMarcus<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/GCRBdp2K61<\/a><\/p>\n — The Telegraph (@Telegraph) September 19, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n