Church of England parishes are ‘in crisis’

The way forward for many Church of England parishes is unsure as they struggle with crumbling buildings, declining attendance, and a fall in clergy numbers.

Civitas’ latest report, Restoring the Value of Parishes, says that many parishes are “in crisis” and accuses the Church of England leadership of “neglecting” them.

It calls the decline of the parish church “a tragedy” and says that their survival is under threat unless motion is taken to strengthen and support local clergy and congregations.

“Both spiritually and socially, parishes are an integral a part of English life. Yet we’re losing them at a rapid rate,” it says.

The report argues that while a number of the current crisis is resulting from cultural and spiritual changes in increasingly secular Britain, a “major role” has been played by the Church of England’s own management decisions.

These include the creation of ‘mega-parishes’ during which large numbers of parishes are merged together under only a number of clergy. 

The report is critical of what it sees as a growing central bureaucracy, with the Church of England now employing one administrator for each three and a half priests, lots of them in safeguarding, communications and human resources roles. 

It questions whether all the posts are needed, especially what it calls “politicised roles”, which include racial and social justice advisers, LGBTQI+ officers and NetZero officers.

“These have received pushback from parishioners, whose own donations go towards funding the diocese as a part of the parish share,” the report said.

“Some are even withholding from donating in protest of what they imagine to be an ideological capture of the Church.

“In seeming to prioritise bureaucrats over shepherds, and politics over spirituality, a sense of distrust towards dioceses has grow to be widespread.”

At a time when the Church of England is struggling to draw latest ordinands, these aspects may act as an additional disincentive, Civitas said.

“Those who do feel called to the priesthood could also be dissuaded by the unprecedented demands on clergy which have include parish mergers, along with worsening work conditions and financial insecurity – all of that are consequences of the Church’s increasingly managerial structure,” the report reads.

“While it has long been the case that clergy receive a modest stipend quite than a salary, and are ‘post-holders’ quite than employees, parish ministry used to come back with certain advantages which have since been revoked.”

The report goes on to specific scepticism towards tens of millions of kilos being spent on experimental mission initiatives with mixed results, as an alternative of saving local parishes.

“Both the expanding diocesan bureaucracies and latest funding models are a part of a managerial turn throughout the Church of England which has led ambitious latest projects to be prioritised over support for existing congregations,” it says. 

It adds, “At the center of the issue is the indisputable fact that parishes have grow to be disempowered throughout the Church of England.”