The Church of England is punishing the people who keep it alive

A new report has highlighted that, by spending money on administrators and fashionable projects, the Church of England is punishing the very people who keep it alive. “Wasted Money in a Diminishing Church”, by Canon Robin Gill and Prof John Craven, recommends “an explicit recognition that every proposal for spending income from historic assets eventually requires greater contribution from parishioners”. It warns that “radical thinking” is necessary to attack a cycle of decline which has left many parishioners and clergy “deeply dispirited”. The report’s statistics certainly make depressing reading. The Church has increased its administrative staff by nearly 80 per cent in 20 years while the number of parish priests has almost halved . Churchgoer and donor numbers have fallen, with the natural consequence that parish giving has fallen in real terms. Where is the logic in running a charity which increases its administrative costs relentlessly while the donor base is shrinking? This is a fatal flaw. Continuing on the current course, and praying, is not an option to solve this key strategic problem. It simply defies psychology to expect donors to keep giving when so much funding is being redirected away from the front line. Some of the causes being supported appear to be on the fringes of, possibly even beyond, the charitable purpose. Whatever you feel about the merits of any of the projects the Church spends its money on – and falling donations imply a negative reaction – urgent action needs taking. The authors call for an “explicit national commitment that ‘parish priests, not bishops or diocesan administrators, are our first priority.’” Hear hear. Salisbury has announced that it is cutting its vicars from 155 to 120. The Rev Charlie Thomson, a Wiltshire vicar, speaks of fighting to prevent the cutting of a clergy post in his parish of three churches. This is despite the congregation having quadrupled in the past five years – and having paid 40 per cent more in parish giving. Those of us in the “downstairs church” cannot help resenting the swelling band of administrators who impose a tax on success to pay for their own jobs. They also leverage their power to request donations from parishes; online research indicates that 34 dioceses attach some written consequence to non-payment. For example, Manchester, Coventry, Worcester and Exeter impose eligibility tests on grants or loans. Other places threaten withdrawal of clergy posts or “viability reviews” (code for closing churches). This means that the poorest parishes who cannot afford to pay are being punished instead of supported. People in small, poor and rural communities are terrified by the prospect of losing their vicar, or having a full-time vicar post for six churches cut to a half-time post which converts a difficult job to an impossible one. Fear is highly demotivating. People who clean buildings, organise the services, raise the money, visit the sick and sustain their communities are increasingly overstretched. There is not only revolt amongst the donors but fatigue amongst the volunteers. The Telegraph has been calling for support for the parishes since October 2020. The campaign group Save the Parish was formed in 2021. It seems so blindingly obvious to people with business experience that the Church’s spending policy is wrong, that it is turning off the people who know how to run anything. Those with knowledge and experience dislike the battle of having to repeat their advice. Volunteers as well as donors are walking away. This is a double loss. As the report notes, parish priests are being overburdened. Amongst the report’s key recommendations is a call to “make a career as a parish priest attractive financially and professionally”. Retired priests are increasingly expected to take services in vicarless parishes, describing their lot as to be “used as cannon fodder”. Meanwhile, those in the “upstairs church” determine spending priorities. The Church’s priorities have become inverted. Its leadership openly declares that small congregations are unsustainable: an unaffordable luxury. No. They are the institution’s reason for existing. The Anglican model is for the Established Church to provide a “Christian presence in every community”. Yet a recent Policy Exchange report titled “The Rural Penalty” warns against making healthcare services inaccessible to rural communities; the same applies to the Church. The increase in administration is clearly self-imposed, not brought about by external circumstances. The tragedy is that it is all so financially unnecessary. This is an own-goal of staggering proportions. It needs leadership and determination. Emma Thompson is a church volunteer and member of Save The Parish