British Democracy Forum - View Single Post - Whither The Future of the Church of England

Stephen Booth · 27-08-2008, 09:01 PM

The membership decline of the Church of England is in line with the decline in other mainstream Christian denominations like the United Reformed Church or the Methodist Church. The C of E schism(s) about women Bishops and homosexuality are only a small part of the total picture.

There is an interesting book by Michael Hampson, 'Last Rites - The End of The Church of England', Granta, 2006. This bemoans the rise of power of the Evangelical section of the C of E and the relative decline of the liberal and the Anglo-Catholic wings. It seems in the past the church leaders played the three factions off against one another, but now with the Evangelicals so politically powerful within it, and bankrolling a large part of the operation, they cannot be ignored.

Part of the picture is the 'Alpha Course' as a factor; where the more Charismatic / Evangelical parts of it are growing. A long (and in my opinion poorly written) book on this is Andrew Brookes, 'The Alpha Phenomenon', CTBI 2007. Which analyses the Alpha Courses in detail. This comes to it from a Postmodern "post-Christendom" PC-pluralism point of view, and understands the Alpha Course as a piece of slick marketing with the use of techniques. It also suggests there may be a relativistic effect - Alpha working best in London-type metropolitan, urban settings like Holy Trinity Brompton.

It was interesting to hear that as a result of the boycott of the Lambeth Conference by a large number of protesting Bishops [the GAFCON people], the Conference was in serious financial trouble, and money was being scrounged to pay for it from some other fund.

If the relative numbers of the different factions continue to shift in this way, the picture may look very different in ten or fifteen years time....

27-08-2008, 09:01 PM	#4 (permalink)
Stephen Booth Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Galgate, Lancaster Posts: 238 Party: None	The Evangelical Charismatic ascendency The membership decline of the Church of England is in line with the decline in other mainstream Christian denominations like the United Reformed Church or the Methodist Church. The C of E schism(s) about women Bishops and homosexuality are only a small part of the total picture. There is an interesting book by Michael Hampson, 'Last Rites - The End of The Church of England', Granta, 2006. This bemoans the rise of power of the Evangelical section of the C of E and the relative decline of the liberal and the Anglo-Catholic wings. It seems in the past the church leaders played the three factions off against one another, but now with the Evangelicals so politically powerful within it, and bankrolling a large part of the operation, they cannot be ignored. Part of the picture is the 'Alpha Course' as a factor; where the more Charismatic / Evangelical parts of it are growing. A long (and in my opinion poorly written) book on this is Andrew Brookes, 'The Alpha Phenomenon', CTBI 2007. Which analyses the Alpha Courses in detail. This comes to it from a Postmodern "post-Christendom" PC-pluralism point of view, and understands the Alpha Course as a piece of slick marketing with the use of techniques. It also suggests there may be a relativistic effect - Alpha working best in London-type metropolitan, urban settings like Holy Trinity Brompton. It was interesting to hear that as a result of the boycott of the Lambeth Conference by a large number of protesting Bishops [the GAFCON people], the Conference was in serious financial trouble, and money was being scrounged to pay for it from some other fund. If the relative numbers of the different factions continue to shift in this way, the picture may look very different in ten or fifteen years time.... __________________ Britain Out of Europe Now !