A \u00c2\u00a3100m recruitment plan for the Church of England has been criticised as a raid on church assets that has not been properly thought out and amounts to \u201cspending the family silver\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n
The proposals, submitted last month, are intended to address what Andreas Whittam Smith, head of the Church Commissioners, calls a \u201crelentless decline in membership\u201d\u009d. Mr Whittam Smith has previously said this has resulted in the average age of Anglican congregations approaching 70.<\/p>\n
The commissioners manage the Church\u2019s historic and investment assets, worth slightly more than \u00c2\u00a36bn at the end of 2013. Mr Whittam Smith wants to use about \u00c2\u00a3100m of that to boost the number of ordained priests by 50 per cent.<\/p>\n
This is in addition to the \u00c2\u00a32m already approved to train senior clergy and potential leaders in a \u201ctalent management\u201d\u009d programme, a controversial proposal made in a report chaired by Stephen Green, the former chairman of HSBC and an ordained minister in the Church.<\/p>\n