Some rural parishes will now be considered as 'Festival parishes'

Committee of the senior clerics of the Church of England is currently recommending opening rural historical churches only on Christmas and Easter as about 2000 rural churches now have less than 10 regular worshippers on Sunday.

Major report on the future of the 16,000 Anglican places of worship in England acknowledged that some of its historical churches in rural areas might no longer be sustainable as about 2000 rural parishes now have less than 10 regular worshippers and about half of them can't afford a 20 pounds offering.

The report further disclosed that parishes in England collectively spend about 160 million pounds a year on maintenance.

The committee of senior clerics and laity is recommending that the affected parishes should be considered as festival parishes which will only be used on important occasions like Christmas, Easter, weddings and funerals.

The idea, already piloted in a handful of dioceses, offers an alternative to the current choice between maintaining a church with almost no congregation and closing it completely.

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The panel, chaired by the Bishop of Worcester, Rt Rev John Inge, also backs a relaxation of other rules to reduce the burden on rural clergy who are often responsible for a large number of churches.

The report reads;

“We believe it could help relieve some of the pressures and time constraints on clergy and congregations where buildings are not needed for regular Sunday worship but have a continuing role in the life of the Church.

Since the 1980s, the average age of Church of England membership has increased very significantly,” the report admits.

Even with significant recruitment at the younger age levels over the next couple of decades, the overall level of church membership is likely to go on declining, at least for a while, given the current age profile.

This raises questions about sustainability.

Our 16,000 church buildings are a visible sign of ongoing Christian faith in communities throughout England as well as being an unparalleled part of our country’s heritage.

This report looks at how we can best support the thousands of local volunteers who care deeply for and about churches and offer wonderful service to their communities using their churches.

We believe that apart from growing the church there is no single solution to the challenges posed by our extensive responsibility for part of the nation’s heritage.

We hope therefore that this work will be a catalyst for discussion about how churches can be better cared for and used for the common good.”