from Christian Today
Church of England vicars are becoming an “endangered species” according to Save the Parish, which has just produced a major report into the current state of pastoral ministry within the Church.
The report follows a consultation in March attended by clergy, theologians, theological educators, church officials and other stakeholders.
Stipendiary clergy numbers within the Church have been declining since the 1960s. In May of this year the number of stipendiary clergy was 6,682, compared to 2,440 self-supporting ministers. The report also stated that the majority of active clergy are actually retired ministers who hold a PTO (Permission to Officiate).
The report highlighted three main issues in the wellbeing of clergy centred on the issues of vocations, training, and ongoing support and retention.
On the vocational front many potential clergy have little understanding of the traditional beliefs and practices of the Church of England. The Church itself was also criticised for failing to properly resource clergy, for failing the value of the priestly ministry, and for saying it wants more ordained ministers while in some places cutting clergy numbers.
Training for clergy was also criticised for being “functional and managerial”, with a noticeable lack of theological content in general and Anglican theology in particular. Additionally, the lack of resourcing was also raised and a lack of training in the early years of ministry.
On retention and support, many clergy were described as being “deeply unhappy”. The report continues, “They feel undervalued, under-resourced, overworked, frustrated and vulnerable.”