Future hopes for the Church of England

R.V.G. Tasker, a former Professor of New Testament at Kings College, London, once wrote that 'hope is a psychological necessity'.

Such is certainly the case at the beginning of a new year for those of us who are members of the Church of England as we face many uncertainties in matters of belief, finance and strategy. Thankfully 'hope springs eternal in the human breast' and, although there is much gloom on the horizon, most of us still find ourselves harbouring some hopes of better things to come.

Beginning at the highest level, I for one often find myself hoping that one day we can have our church without a Supreme Governor. Whilst we can be thankful for the example of our present Queen Elizabeth and her open Christian faith, the prospect of Prince Charles who is divorced and lives with the former wife of someone who is still living and who sees himself as 'the defender of faiths' rather than 'defender of the faith', the Protestant faith, can only bring the Lord and His church into dishonour and disrepute. If we must have an established church, could we not at least have one without the monarch as supreme governor? Such would seem to be the case with the Church of Scotland. At least if the church is headed by an Archbishop he can be removed if he denies the faith.

Loosening the ties

The whole concept of Parliament as the supreme governing body of the Church of England made little sense to John Keble in 1833 since Protestant Nonconformists, Jews and Roman Catholics had all just a few years before been allowed to hold office for the first time as Members of Parliament. It makes no sense at all at the present time since we now also have Muslims, Hindus and atheists who can and, in practice do, take part and vote in the debates on matters of Church of England doctrine and polity. Disestablishment would probably necessitate the removal of diocesan bishops from the House of Lords and, on the face of it, this might appear to be the loss of a Christian voice in Parliament. In practice, however, our present bishops spend very little time in the Upper Chamber and, when they do appear, they often remain disarmingly silent on key moral issues or else startle the public by supporting motions such as the adoption of children by gay and lesbian couples. Being freed from the Lords would give our bishops more time to engage in the work of the kingdom of God in their dioceses and perhaps provide an opportunity for Christian men and women of stature and with sufficient time available to be elected in their place. We can be both thankful and hopeful that Archbishop Rowan Williams has at least set his sights on loosening the Church of England's ties with the establishment. Indeed this is probably one of the reasons he has been chosen as Primate.

On the matter of episcopal appointments, I still hope one day to see our bishops elected in an open and democratic fashion, as is the case in other parts of the Anglican Communion where bishops are elected by licensed clergy and elected laity. As an incumbent in Canada I saw this system work well and it is one in which clergy and laity as a whole can take a prayerful and active part. Such a procedure has historic precedent in the practice of the early undivided Catholic church and the Acts of the Apostles (see Acts 1).

Additionally, many people are recognising that bishops, like the rest of us, get tired, lose their energy and run low on vision. There might, therefore, be real benefit in their being appointed for a limited period of time, as is the case with rural deans and team vicars. After all, this is common policy in industry and commerce where, because of the high demands and stress levels, senior management positions are often for fixed-term periods. One of the problems with our present ecclesiastical structures is that we ask too much of our bishops and, in particular, too many decisions are in their hands or cannot be made without their say so. Inevitably this results in poor decisions or no decisions at all.

Curbing financial wastage

A number of recent press reports have made it clear that the Church of England is facing major financial crises and that several dioceses are on the verge of bankruptcy. In just the last weeks of December, the Lichfield diocese stated that it might have to make use of groups of itinerant clergy to go out to the parishes at weekends in an effort to cope with this situation. Two areas of major financial burden are diocesan administration and theological education. There seems little doubt that many dioceses are top-heavy with officials, some of whom are costly and whose services are under-used. Could not several dioceses share departments of education, social responsibility, rural ministry, post-ordination and reader training? Additionally, could not some of these services be self-financing with officers contracting out their services to parishes on an hourly basis?

On the matter of theological education, the forward thinking of the Hind proposals should give us great hope that the church's money will be more wisely spent without diminishing the standard of clerical education. There is no doubt that theological colleges are very expensive and absorb a great deal of the church's sacrificial giving.

The proposal to limit colleges to just four or five will certainly be much better stewardship of money, but perhaps there is a more radical alternative to theological colleges? Could not clergy be trained by taking a diploma or degree in a university or college of Higher Education and then follow this with a one year Post-graduate Certificate in Pastoral Studies. During this time, ordinands could be attached to certain training parishes near their home areas where they could learn about religious haberdashery, ecclesiastical furniture and how to press the buttons at the crematorium. Such a form of education could be more like that of postgraduate teachers who take a three year degree followed by a one year Postgraduate Certificate which is largely school-based.

New strategy and mission

The Church of England has for far too long been clinging on to its outmoded geographical parochial system which was devised for and belongs essentially to a feudal, medieval rural society. In earlier times people were baptised, confirmed, married, worshipped, worked, received social security and were buried in their local parish. Nowadays people go outside their local parish boundaries for all or most of these things, including Sunday worship. People in 21st-century Britain make relationships in a series of extra-parochial networks so it is therefore vital that our church begins to think creatively and outside the parochial straightjacket. It is sad that almost all diocesan mission strategy is about propping up the ancient system by combining six to eight parishes under the care of one already anxious, overstretched clergyperson who, in consequence, often has little time for visiting or pastoral care. The recent comments by the Archbishop of York that parochial system is proving unsustainable in parts of the northern province is cause for hope because at last reality is being faced and some fresh and creative thinking can take place. Already there are a few signs of this beginning. The Bishop of London has endorsed some extra parochial places and the Bishop of Sheffield has allowed a number of cluster groups from St. Thomas Crookes to meet for Sunday worship in various parts of the city. The New Wine Network is also offering pastoral oversight and encouragement to new church plants which are not yet incorporated into the Church of England. The parochial system needs supplementing with a whole variety of fully episcopally endorsed initiatives such as Extra Parochial Places in schools and colleges, cell churches, cluster groups, chaplaincies, mid-week town-centre congregations, proprietary chapels, youth congregations, Sunday house-fellowships, Saturday evening congregations, late night services and discussion style meetings in pubs and wine bars.

Too much Anglican mission strategy is under the control of the bishop and diocese. There is a lot to be said for the system which operates in some other parts of the Anglican Communion whereby congregations which can pay their own clergy do so and have the right to appoint their own incumbents. They can then actively engage in evangelism and planting new congregations. Other churches which have insufficient money to support a full-time clergyperson would be designated 'mission congregations'. Their clergy would be appointed by the diocese and supported with diocesan funds. In this way the diocese would be blessing and strengthening what is effective. This procedure would also guard against pouring large sums of money into dying concerns some of which might perhaps be better closed down.

Fresh vision

At present the Church of England is still very largely in ecclesiastical maintenance mode, apart from some notable exceptions. This is more than obvious when we see the General Synod wasting hours of precious time debating such peripheral issues as clerical dress and clergy titles. We have to hope that our church will wake up to the fact that the heart of Jesus's mission was not about 'church' but about the 'Kingdom of God'. Many of our theologians are still overly-concerned with ecclesiology and remain unfocused on the kingdom and the world which Jesus loves and for which He died. The terms 'Kingdom of God' and 'Kingdom of Heaven' come well over 100 times in the New Testament, whereas the references in the gospels to 'church' are relatively few. Our greatest hope should be that somehow our leaders and our General Synod can get engrossed in strategies and debate that will lead more and more people to experience the presence of the king, live their daily working lives under the rule of the king, and impact society with the standards of the king.

Nigel Scotland is Field Chair, Theology and Religious Studies, in the University of Gloucestershire, where he has lectured since 1975.

Future hopes for the Church of England

Loosening the ties

Curbing financial wastage

New strategy and mission

Fresh vision

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