The Revd Dr Andrew Atherstone, Welby\u2019s biographer, says Church growth is the \u201d\u02dcgolden thread\u2019 that ties all the reforms together. Welby, he says, wants people to see that decline is \u201d\u02dcnot inevitable\u2019. In Africa and China churches are booming. \u201d\u02dcGlobally, church growth is normal,\u2019 he says. Welby, he suggests, is \u201d\u02dcvery optimistic about turning the Church of England around\u2019.<\/p>\n
Yet Atherstone admits that Welby\u2019s tendency to focus on numbers \u201d\u02dcmakes some in the C of E nervous\u2019. One Church observer says the reason clergy are panicky about the reforms is that they seem \u201d\u02dcvery bottom line \u201d\u201d if you can\u2019t get more punters in then you\u2019ve failed\u2019.<\/p>\n
Atherstone suggests Welby wants the Church to be more entrepreneurial. The change to dioceses\u2019 funding is intended to encourage that. Instead of the old model of one vicar looking after his medieval parish, the idea is to fund projects that no one has yet tried. Welby, says Atherstone, thinks the Church is too \u201d\u02dcsafety-conscious\u2019, smothering start-ups in paperwork.<\/p>\n
Critics, on the other hand, say the reforms are merely depressing the workforce. Talented young clergy are \u201d\u02dcin despair\u2019, they say \u201d\u201d head office doesn\u2019t seem to grasp what their ministry is really about.<\/p>\n