Is the Church of England on the brink of collapse?

Feb 8, 2021 by

Is the Church of England on the brink of collapse?

by Ian Paul, Psephizo: Last weekend, Nicholas Hellen, journalist at the Sunday Times, published a short piece in which he leaked an internal discussion document and used it to suggest that there is a central plot afoot to undermine the parish system of the Church by cutting the numbers of clergy. Hellen put a number of things together, which added up to a dramatic headline: Church to cut paid clergy as a fifth of flock wanders off (The article is behind a paywall, but you can read it all in...

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Accession Service – 6th February 2021

Feb 6, 2021 by

Accession Service – 6th February 2021

from The Prayer Book Society: The Revd Dr Daniel Newman leads us in prayer and thanksgiving on the sixty-ninth anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen’s Accession to the Throne, Saturday 6th February 2021. Form III of the Prayer Book’s Accession Service is used, with sung Te Deum and responses. The service was recorded at St Andrew’s Church, Sherborne St John, in the Diocese of Winchester. You can follow the order of service in the Book of Common Prayer or on the Church of...

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Holy relic: what will be left of the Church of England after the pandemic?

Feb 4, 2021 by

Holy relic: what will be left of the Church of England after the pandemic?

by Emma Thompson, Spectator: A clergyman admitted to me that he’d recently burst into tears. He’d received an email from his diocese in this latest lockdown ‘strongly urging’ vicars to close their churches. He has an elderly working-class congregation in a poor area. Coming to church was ‘the one thing keeping them going’. Local vicars like him represent the best of the Church of England. They are loving, kind, and they know their flock. Before the pandemic, the C of E had seen attendance...

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Living In Love And Faith: the roadmap to the extinction of the C of E

Feb 2, 2021 by

Living In Love And Faith: the roadmap to the extinction of the C of E

by Judi Sture, Virtueonline: So — in November 2020 we finally received the Church of England’s Living In Love And Faith report, book and ‘resources’. But does any of this help us to see a clear way forward? Or does it simply muddy the waters further, while advertising itself as a remedy for confusion? Is it in fact the beginning of the end? The following comments are made about the way in which the Church is using the Living In Love And Faith project as a means to...

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Church to cut paid clergy as a fifth of flock wanders off

Jan 31, 2021 by

Church to cut paid clergy as a fifth of flock wanders off

by Nicholas Hellen and Caroline Wheeler, The Times: The damage inflicted on the Church of England by the pandemic is revealed in a leaked internal document which warns up to 20 per cent of its regular worshippers may never return. It calls into question “the sustainability of many local churches” and the continued financial subsidy given to 5,000 loss-making parishes out of a total of 12,000. The document also warns that most dioceses intend to “prune [the] number of clergy and diocesan...

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Covid: Church of England services hit by pandemic

Jan 18, 2021 by

Covid: Church of England services hit by pandemic

from BBC News: More than half of the Church of England’s 14,000 parishes will not open for Sunday services later, as places of worship are hit hard by Covid-19. Many of the Church’s clergy are shielding, while some parishes have decided it is not safe enough to admit worshippers. Most mosques in London did not open for Friday prayers. The Catholic Church in England and Wales says parishes that are able to follow guidelines will still open. Despite coronavirus restrictions, places...

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