Recently, the BBC published a survey stating that almost two-thirds of those running England’s Anglican cathedrals are concerned about their finances. This follows hot on the heels of the Church of England publishing their attendance statistics for 2014, where it is revealed that the number of people attending Church of England services each week has dropped below 1 million for the first time ever.
Amongst many other not-so-quotable statements about the decline in attendees, the Bishop of Norwich, the Rt. Revd. Graham James, commented: “We lose approximately 1% of our churchgoers to death each year”.
Although this is very sad news, there must surely be a link between the two stories; a decrease in attendance and a concern of finances. But what can be done, apart from congregations trying their hardest not to die?
After pondering this conundrum for a while, I think I’ve come up with an almost infallible solution that will guarantee larger congregations and also generate a bit of extra cash as well. And my idea, unusually for me, began with a bishop.
Anthony Phillips 