Shutdown of churches and ban on weddings during Covid crisis has cost Church of England ‘£150MILLION’ and could trigger a cull of parishes

Dec 28, 2020 by Jill

by Steven Doughty, Mailonline:

The shutdown of churches and the ban on church weddings and funerals has plunged the Church of England into a £150million crisis.

Highly-placed sources suggest it lost £150million in donations alone during the months when collection plates went unused and fees for special services such as weddings, funerals and christenings dried up.

And it is feared the Covid shortfall may have been much higher. The losses have prompted plans for sweeping money-saving reforms.

Among those discussed have been a cut in the number of bishops from more than 100 to as few as ten, and a redrawing of parish boundaries to reduce their number from 12,500 to 9,000.

The squeeze on finances was tightening before the pandemic but the closure of all churches from lockdown in late March until early June – a decision taken by Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, that was strongly opposed by many – led to an unprecedented fall in income that may never be recovered.

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See also: If the Church of England worships online, how can its historic buildings survive? by Simon Jenkins, Guardian:

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