ORDINAND numbers have fallen by 38 per cent since 2020, the General Synod was told this week. Diocesan and course and college staff, when asked to call possible aspects behind the decline, had referred to “local clergy well-being” first.
This autumn, an estimated 370 ordinands are expected to start training. In 2020, the entire stood at 591 — the best number for 13 years (News, 2 July 2021). This followed a drive under the Renewal and Reform agenda to grow ordinand numbers by 50 per cent compared with the 2013 figure, from a median of 500 every 12 months to 750 (News, 23 May 2016).
The goal was to secure a “stable pool” of 7600 full-time clergy, factoring in retirement projections (in 2015, it was reported that 40 per cent of clergy were as a consequence of retire throughout the decade). The Ministry Council has forecast that the Church needs 630 recent ordained ministers a 12 months to attain the outcomes within the Vision and Strategy projections (News, 14 July 2023).
In a written response to an issue, the Bishop of Chester, Dr Mark Tanner, who chairs the Ministry Council, reported that the National Vocations Team, along with the lead bishop for renewing ministerial vocations, the Bishop of Stockport, the Rt Revd Sam Corley, had held a series of six Renewing Ministerial Vocations Conversations in York, London, Cambridge, Bristol, Leicester, and Manchester.
More than 100 people had attended the conversations, representing 37 dioceses and 14 theological-education institutions (TEIs), with a variety of delegates including directors of mission and ministry, leaders of lay ministries, diocesan directors of ordinands, principals, and tutors. More than 60 various factors had been identified, “which contribute to the present, complex vocational picture across the Church”.
All participants had been asked to identity the three most influential aspects affecting vocations. Out of a complete of 354 votes solid, the highest aspects identified were: local clergy well-being (71); demographic changes in society (28); lack of diocesan resources for vocations outreach work (24); institutional suspicion (23); LLF — substance and tone (21); and the clergy stipend/package (21).
Another clear theme, he said, was that, “whilst numbers of candidates for longer programmes for licensed and ordained ministries had reduced, many dioceses have found that shorter, more focused training and formational programmes for lay ministries were strongly supported, and, in some cases, oversubscribed.”
During a presentation on the Archbishops’ Council’s budget, the chair of the Finance Committee, Carl Hughes, told members that “all studies indicate significant mental-health issues and financial anxiety amongst clergy” (News, 22 February). Clergy stipends had not kept pace with inflation, especially since 2021 (News, 31 May). His “biggest concern” was “how attractive, from a financial perspective, the stipend is for ordinands once they’re in full-time ministry.” Asked about posts for ordinands after formation, he said that the emptiness rate across the country indicated that this “isn’t currently a problem”.
Mr Hughes confirmed that a review of the financial condition of TEIs was also under way. Two-thirds of ordinands were at one third of the 22 TEIs. The Revd Professor Morwenna Ludlow (Exeter), raising concerns about how the worth of TEIs was measured, urged the Archbishops’ Council to remember that they were “places where vital theological work is finished, which enriches the mission of the Church more broadly”.
The Archdeacon of London, the Ven. Luke Miller, said that, after the “big drive” under Renewal and Reform, numbers of ordinands might reflect may a “falling off” from a peak.
Commenting on social media, the DDO in Leeds, Canon Derek Walmsley, observed: “We can’t really ask the missing candidates why they didn’t come forward. We can only speculate.”
