Top cleric says Church of England risks becoming a ‘suburban sect’
by Harriet Sherwood, Guardian:
One of Britain’s senior theologians has warned that the Church of England is in danger of becoming a narrow sect “driven by mission-minded middle managers” who are alienating clergy, congregations and the general public.
Martyn Percy, dean of Christ Church, Oxford, writes in the afterword of his latest book, The Future Shapes of Anglicanism, that church leaders’ strategy is moving towards “centralised management, organisational apparatus and the kind of creeping concerns that might consume an emerging suburban sectarianism, instead of a national church”.
His far-reaching criticism comes as the Church of England presses ahead with a major reform programme, which includes diverting funds away from struggling rural parishes – traditionally its backbone – to new evangelical churches in city centres.
Other controversial elements of the Renewal and Reform programme include MBA-style management courses for bishops and other senior officials, the identification and fast-tracking of talented young clergy into leadership positions, and an emphasis on “church planting” – the establishment of new urban churches directed at young families and students.
The programme is an attempt by Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, and other leading figures to reverse the church’s dramatic decline. Forecasts earlier this year suggested numbers attending Church of England services regularly would continue to fall for another 30 years to about 1% of the population.
Renewal and Reform has created discord within the church, although a motion welcoming the programme was overwhelmingly carried at last month’s synod in York. But some critics claim there is little room for substantial debate on the programme.
According to Percy, the strategy is fundamentally flawed. “It will take more to save the Church of England than a blend of the latest management theory, secular sorcery with statistics and evangelical up-speak,” he writes.
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