Posted on 01/13/2015 7:45:24 PM PST by marshmallow
London (AFP) - The Church of England must face the "urgency of the challenge" of dwindling attendances, an ageing clergy and uncertain finances, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York have said ahead of a meeting of the body's leadership next month.
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, also said the Church must raise its social media and digital presence if it is to grow.
"The urgency of the challenge facing us is not in doubt. Attendance at Church of England services has declined at an average of one percent per annum over recent decades and, in addition, the age profile of our membership has become significantly older than that of the population," they said in a joint statement.
"Finances have been relatively stable, thanks to increased individual giving. This situation cannot, however, be expected to continue unless the decline in membership is reversed."
The Church of England owns thousands of old buildings, but with falling visitor numbers, the burden of their upkeep "weighs heavily", Sentamu and Welby said.
Only 785,000 people attended services on a usual Sunday in 2013, with an average of six adults for every child attending, Church statistics show.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Could give them back to the Catholic Church from whence they were built and paid for originally.
Fall away from Christ’s teaching and expect to go extinct. God has no time for those who profess His name with their tongues and spit on His teachings in the next breath.
Women bishops were the final straw clown out of this ridiculous clown car of liberalism.
Many evangelical and charismatic churches are filled to the brim and building bigger venues.
I wonder why. Could it be the rampant homosexuality, the mushy political correctness, or is it the lack of real content in their teachings?
The Church of England has become nothing more than a homosexual social club.
“Straw clown” - love it!
No, not in England, to my knowledge.
“Concocted protestant denomination.” Yep, there it is. Those nuns obviously taught you well.
Every schism eventually fizzles out, while the Catholic Church continues until the end of time.
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And the "Christian Broadcasting Network" (and many other published sources) say the "Mormons" are the fastest growing religion in America.
If Catholics, Protestants or Jews sent almost all their young people on self-funded, two year missionary trips, they’d be growing like a weed, too.
It’s almost impossible to be taken off the membership rolls of the Mormon church once you are on it.
Very few Mormon missionaries ever convert someone to their faith; and many of their missionaries begin having doubts about their own faith because they are exposed to Christians who know the truth about Mormonism.
The pressure to conform is so great, many of them pretend to believe rather than admit they no longer believe.
Maybe, but probably not the Anglicans. They don’t seem to believe in anything these days.
Why not try actually preaching the true, Biblically orthodox gospel?
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Well, we can't read people's minds, and we cannot be sure who believes what, but most likely that same thing could honestly be said about any church and any religion. There is a wide spectrum of levels of belief and unbelief within all of them.
Exactly. I fail to see how liberal religion would appeal to anyone. Bible-believing Christians do not want it. And why would a liberal be motivated to get up on Sunday morning and support a congregation with his time and money that preaches what he already hears 24/7 from the liberal gov’t/media complex anyway?
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