If only church leaders had listened to front-line priests - Times 30 August 2023

 Britain is no longer a Christian country, say frontline clergy in an article published by The Times today.

Click here to read. The Times selected 5,000 priests at random from among those with English addresses in Crockford’s Clerical Directory of Anglican clergy and received 1,436 responses, analysing data from the 1,185 respondents still serving.

The survey uncovered high levels of stress among priests, many of whom feel over-stretched. They fear that the church’s efforts to arrest the decline in attendance will fail and this may ultimately lead to its “extinction”.

Professor Linda Woodhead, head of the department of theology and religious studies at King’s College London, said: “It’s extremely important to hear the clergy’s views. It’s hard to carry out these surveys which is why we have very few of them, and it is very interesting.”

She added: “This survey shows the clergy take a more moderate position than their leaders. [Frontline priests] are more in touch with their congregations and ordinary people. If they had been listened to more by leaders . . . the church might be in a better place today."

Certainly in Cornwall the Bishops' efforts to roll out radical restructuring plans known as On The Way have proved unpopular and divisive. Local clergy say that the Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev Philip Mounstephen, (soon to leave and become Bishop of Winchester) failed to listen to experienced clergy and significantly failed to get to know Cornwall before he rolled out the programme. 

Instead consultation around the plans was minimal and communications poor. In Kerrier Deanery, where one of the most radical plans is due to take place (23 churches under one rural dean) many local people are still in the dark about what awaits them. Click here to read more.