Bishop Richardson
By Michael Ireland
Chief Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
NEWCASTLE ,UK
In the UK almost half of the population consider themselves part of the Church of England, while seven in ten described themselves as Christian in the last census.
Now a British Bishop is painting a gloomy picture of the future of the Church of England.
The Church of England bishop is claiming ‘Christian Britain is dead’ and warned the CofE could become extinct in the next thirty years.
The Rt Revd Paul Richardson, Assistant Bishop of Newcastle, said unless some of his colleagues get hold of the situation the Church will die out, according to a story broadcast on London’s Premier Radio.
Richardson believes declining church attendance and the rise in multiculturalism means the next generation will not grow up in a Christian society.
He told the radio station: “At this rate it is hard to see the Church surviving for more than 30 years though few of its leaders are prepared to face that possibility.”
Richardson also warned leaders must face up to this challenge and recognize that the disestablishment of the Church is inevitable.
Premier Radio said the General Synod, the Church’s parliament, will next month consider proposals to cut the number of bishops and senior clergy amid fears over finances.
The radio station says the Bishop’s comments will further stir the questions over the future of the Church. He said the Church had lost more than one in ten of its regular worshippers between 1996 and 2006, with a fall from more than one million to 880,000.
Bishop Graham Cray is in charge of finding new ways of worship for the Church. He says there are positive stories, which shows there’s still life out there yet.
He said: “There is a whole strategy about planting congregations amongst people who have no contact with a church and no history with a church and until Christians start involving themselves with them, no desire for church.
“My confidence is that the gospel still has power to win people and transform communities in Britain. Any church that involves themselves will see people come to faith and communities transformed.”
Cray said it was not the job of the Church to keep questioning the role of the CofE and not to keep looking at whether it is growing or declining, but to get on with spreading the Gospel.
| ** Michael Ireland, Chief Correspondent of ANS, is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB Europe, a British Christian radio station. Michael has traveled to Albania and the former Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany and the former Czechoslovakia, Israel,and Canada. He has reported for ANS from Jordan, China, Russia, Jamaica, Mexico, and Nicaragua. Michael’s volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department — Michael Ireland Media Missionary (MIMM) — of A.C.T. International at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can donate online to support his stated mission of ‘Truth Through Christian Journalism.’ |
