The Church of England (CofE) is heading for “financial disaster” unless it takes “radical” action including reducing the number of dioceses, according to a new academic report.
Wasted Money in a Diminishing Church has been written by Canon Robin Gill, Emeritus Professor of Applied Theology at the University of Kent and Professor John Craven, who was a member of the Archbishops’ Council from 2006 until 2013.
They argue that in the 19th Century, there were 22 dioceses, while today there are 42, including the Diocese in Europe. On average, each diocese has 16 deaneries and 300 parishes and the report believes “dioceses are too remote to make detailed decisions about ministry at local level”. The authors would like to see suffragan/area bishops and archdeacons have a part-time local role providing ministry within a deanery, to “ensure that senior managers remain aware through first-hand experience of the issues that arise in local contexts”.
The report, which has been published by the Centre for Anglican History and Theology at the Universities of Kent and Christ Church Canterbury. also recommends reducing the number of diocesan bishops to 30.
The CofE has around a thousand more staff than in the 19th Century, including 220 in safeguarding, but it claims that while more money is being spent on administration costs, less is being allocated to supporting parish clergy. In claims similar to those recently made by the Save the Parish group, the authors say: “As clergy are spread ever more thinly in urban and rural areas, services are less frequent, congregations are getting smaller, and less money can be raised in church collections from people who wonder what they are getting for their money.”
The report calls for the Church to commit to making parish priests, “not bishops or diocesan administrators”, a “first priority”.
Other recommendations include a “considerable reduction in the numbers of managers and administrators” and a “reduction of at least three-quarters in the money allocated nationally to strategic investments”.
In a statement to Premier Christian News a spokesperson for the Church of England said: “This wide-ranging and thoughtful report is a welcome contribution to ongoing conversations within the Church of England about the challenges and pressures we face.
“It rightly acknowledges that the world has changed 'fundamentally' since the Reformation and that we are living through a period of rapid change.
“As the report notes, there are already good examples of successful sharing of resources at a national level. Dioceses have also made strides in sharing roles and services regionally in recent years.
“As seen with the reorganisation which brought three dioceses together into a new diocese earlier this century, structures are regularly kept under review. Larger scale restructurings, even within a shared region, are a major undertaking.
“The report singles out the growth in safeguarding staff in dioceses as its primary example of an apparent growth of ‘administrators’. These new posts – bringing expertise in child protection and policing – are vital in helping ensure the most vulnerable people within our communities are safe.”
The Times reported last week that 12 of the 42 diocesan bishop roles are currently without a permanent incumbent.