The Church of England, beset by fears of scarcity and chasing a vision of \u201csomething bigger and better\u201d, should look to the experience of the Church in Iran, which has survived being stripped of everything that it possessed, the Bishop of Chelmsford, Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, told a Church House webinar this week.<\/p>\n
Finances and buildings were \u201cboth a huge gift to us but also a great curse; they are like nooses around our necks\u201d, she said. \u201cAnd I think if something were to happen, and they were all to be swept away, we would find at that point new life coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her comments were made during the first in a series of webinars exploring the Church\u2019s Vision and Strategy for the 2020s: \u201cHas strategy eaten theology for breakfast?\u201d Introducing it, Dr Nick Shepherd, a senior vision and strategy consultant at Church House, acknowledged the existence of concerns about the salience of strategic terminology and planning (Comment, 1 July 2022).<\/p>\n
Dr Francis-Dehqani offered episcopal solidarity with such concerns in June (News, 8 July 2022), when, in an address to her diocesan synod, she warned against \u201cputting too much emphasis on our human powers \u2014 that if only we try hard enough and pull together well enough and all follow the same programme, then we can solve the problems and challenges and ensure the future survival of the Church, either much as it has been in the past, or preferably producing a shinier, bigger, better version.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see it [growth] as our primary Christian calling, which is actually about valuing what is small and fragile and vulnerable, and I think the language has put a lot of pressure on some of our clergy and lay leaders, who then feel they are failing.\u201d https:\/\/t.co\/2q5pw7WWRo<\/a><\/p>\n — Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 26, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n