Lord Carey - "the Church Of England Will Extinct In One Generation"

[sp1814]

Hyperbole or prophecy?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10457520/Church-of-England-will-be-extinct-in-one-generation-warns-ex-archbishop.html

What can the CofE do to attract more young people?

Is it's problem that it's outdated? Or that it's trying to be too 'modern'?

Or something else?

[pixie373]

It's totally outdated, although i think it will take more than a generation for them all to close down.

[sp1814]

pixie373

Me neither. Okay, it may be going through a period of unpopularity (or perhaps 'de-popularity'), but that might be down to the fact that as a nation we don't gather together as much as we used to. All the big institutions which saw peak membership during the middle part of the last century have seen membership decline - the WI, scouts, trades unions, political party membership, football club membership, social club membership.

Perhaps the same malaise is affecting the church and eventually it will 'bottom out'?

[ludwig]

People are generally not brainwashed into the CofE from birth as they are with some other religions, so given the choice, they don't see it as having any relevance to their lives.

[FredPuli43]

It is certainly heading that way. My two adult children attend C of E church regularly, and with faith, but they don't seem typical (so much for having an atheist father and a lapsed Catholic mother! Where did we go wrong?). I think the problem is deeper. A good many young people don't believe in a god, and those that countenance the idea don't see any point in turning up at a church. And some of those that do, don't do so for reasons of faith; a friend's 15 year-old goes to meetings of one sect because the free food is better!

[pixie373]

Well, it's not necessary. Teenagers have Facebook to organise their social lives, people are too educated now to believe supernatural explanations and not everyone hates women. So i think it will die out fairly quickly.

[emmie]

i think he may well be right, however one should be worried what religion will replace it.

[emmie]

the following is down significantly over the last few years, and even if people put CofE on the census form or other forms for their religion, i doubt they are practising, more for forms sake. The churches do not have significant numbers in attendance and the powers that be have shot themselves in both feet over the prevarication on women in the church.
Not only that its the establishment that has seen the biggest changes, Royalty, The Church, Politics, all had their place in peoples lives, now a lot of trust that people had, for whatever reason has gone, to be replaced with a more distrusting nature on those three mainstays

[emmie]

they may not close, just be taken over by other religion denominations.

[sp1814]

emmie

But the same can't be said of the Catholic Church. Apparently it's seeing a boom in attendances - paradoxically...because of immigration!

[sp1814]

emmie

I knew I'd seen something about this...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11067661

[sp1814]

And the Poles (although that was news to me!)

http://www.polish-migrants.co.uk

[FredPuli43]

Yes, sp, Poles and other immigrants are practising Catholics. An oddity is that orthodox Judaism seems to be booming. Marriages performed under strictly orthodox rite constitute nearly 40 per cent in some areas. It may be that this is a fashion, that those married under it will not prove to be strictly orthodox in their married lives, but it is interesting nonetheless.

[Khandro]

The main problem with CofE is that the participants don't actually do anything except go to church and feel self-satisfied, other branches of Christianity actually DO something within the larger society; The Salvation Army (God bless them!) are now, as I write, giving succour to the needy all over the world, the churches of Catholicism, Islam and more have some relevance. Actions speak louder than words every time. Tea and biscuits at the vicarage with a collection for an obscure African village isn't enough.

[sandyRoe]

Doesn't the CoE have the Church Army? I thought they helped the homeless among other good works.

[mikey4444]

Not just hyperbole but complete b0ll0x. They should close down at least 50% of their churches, all the ones that have 6 people turning up to morning service and start serving the community, in the way that the person they call Jesu would have done. The church shouldn't be about vestments sewn with real gold thread, hugely valuable gold and silver candlesticks, or dozens of Bishops with a full quota of servants..... Its about people, not bl00dy money.

[sp1814]

Confused now - I thought the Salvation Army was aligned to the CofE???

[jno]

replace communion wafers with crystal meth like the Methodists?

(Well, okay, one Methodist.)

[askyourgran]

Christian children ie. CofE don't seem to be introduced to the Church as they used to be. We were sent to Sunday school on Sunday mornings, we had Religious instruction lessons at school. Our rewards for attendence would be childrens bibles and then later a proper Holy Bible (which I still have). Girl Guides Scouts Cubs and Brownies were all attached to the Church and events fetes bazaars pantos etc were arranged around the Church. But that is now out of the window, or off the curriculum now that schools are multifaith. It is partly the parents doing for not showing that interest, and the Church for not appealing to the parishioners. Our local parish church is doing OK, it's maintenance is good. They have mothers and childrens mornings, the Alpha course, Church weddings etc. One local church has closed down due to lack of money and attendence. The writing has been on the wall for some time for the CofE, the rise of Islam here, the continued faith of the Jews and Catholics have always been the stronger faiths imo. And the CofE is dragging it's heels.