dwindling congregations c of e

If an increasingly redundant church does not have a go-ahead vicar willing to countenance secular uses then the bishop should ease him or her out.

I discount it because it is a neurological/psychological aberration.

We're fortunate: our local (Roman) Catholic church is packed every Sunday with over seventy different nationalities. Frequently standing room only even with two different Masses. Lovely lively, friendly congregation...

Here in Germany everything is strictly divided into Catholic and Protestant. Each town and usually each region is either one or the other. We live in a Catholic village in a Catholic area. There is a minority protestant community here, but the next village along doesn't even have a Protestant Burch.

Apparently on one recent Sunday, the protestant minister found she was preaching to an empty church! The Catholic church is usually slightly better attended. But it's mainly older ladies and nowadays it's not even full even at Christmas and Easter, unlike, say, five years ago.

However, more and more activities are now organised ecumenically and there is no animosity between the two congregations. Last weekend, for example, we celebrated an ecumenical outdoor service as part of the village fair, which was very well attended and has become a popular tradition.

Congregations are dwindling, not least because of child abuse scandals which have affected most parishes, and the churches will have to put in a lot of work and sell off a lot of property to keep their heads above water. They are such an integral part of society here that they can't possibly simply be scrapped altogether.

Many beautiful ancient churches in rural villages have few services, few parishioners and the buildings are unsuitable for any activities, especially in winter. Some have become ‘Festival churches’ , open for Christmas, Easter, Harvest. They still cost money to maintain, even if they are not heated or have no electricity or water. A few have been taken over by heritage trusts, to preserve the buildings. It is sad that they are no longer needed, but should they just be pulled down or left to go to ruin? I hope not, but I don’t think the state can afford to take them on as monuments.

I had a lovely chat with some church volunteers whilst in Scotland a few weeks ago. Their lovely old church has has various alterations done, which makes it a versatile, well heated space, for many and varied community activities, including for religious activities. They had a grant towards the work.
Great idea and the way forward me thinks. So many empty underused buildings for much of the time. Helps with costs too.

I have long wondered why this should be given the fact that we profess to be a Christian country, especially when sounding aghast at the number of Muslims in the country now. I constantly read posts on social media platforms from people who are worried that we’ll have Shariah law here soon, yet those same people wouldn’t dream of attending church regularly. It’s a puzzle to me.

Our village church has a regular congregation of around 25 -30 people, the other church in the Benefice has twice that but is in a town. Both churches broadcast their services live to those at home who, for all sorts of reasons, are unable to attend in person. Both churches are very involved in their communities with a weekly coffee morning, knit and natter groups and much, much more.

profess to be a Christian country
According to the 2021 census for England and Wales, for the first time fewer than 50% of the population professed to be Christian.
There were 6% of Muslim faith so I doubt we shall have Shariah Law just yet!

There was a trombone player busking somewhere near the weekly market. Sitting there drinking my coffee at the council run community cafe, I recognised the hymn “How great thou art” and was taken back to my childhood. Morning assembly at my combined Infant and Junior School back in the 40’s consisted of three hymns and a few announcements. 15 hymns a week for some years and I still remember the words to all of them. A young couple nr me started saying what a beautiful tune he was playing but they didn’t recognise it and that it must surely be a newcomer to the charts.
Enough said.

some might find this interesting, www.mumsnet.com/talk/AMA/4862724-im-a-vicar-ask-me-anything?page=8&reply=128217352

but the head honchos do seem to get things wrong,
which is off-putting, to say the least.
look up Jasvinder Sanghera, for a recent example. they dissolved the independent safeguarding group basically because it was trying to be too independent, and giving too much attention to victims/survivors of abuse.

different needs, some need a friendly community, some need moral guidance, some need church rituals, some need a place for calm and reassurance, some need a reasonable myth devoid of supernatural going on such as miracles

If it is any consolation at all: all church congregations are dwindling in most parts of Europe.

There are many reasons for this, but basically I suppose it is due to the fact that both our parents' generation, ours, and our children's have tended not to take religious belief very seriously, and certainly not to go out and try to get people in to church!

You hear all the time "religion is a private matter" and when too many people abide by that saying, which they most assuredly cannot find in any religious text I have ever seen or heard of, then you cannot expect congregations or vocations to grow.

If any church is to survive and grow we need to take seriously Chirst's commandment to go forth and preach in His name.

Caleo

different needs, some need a friendly community, some need moral guidance, some need church rituals, some need a place for calm and reassurance, some need a reasonable myth devoid of supernatural going on such as miracles

And some want to meet with other Christians for worship and prayer.

Grandtante I think many don't want to be seen as forcing their beliefs on others. I will offer to pray, invite to church but that's it.

That’s no longer a church. I don’t know what it has become - maybe a good book club?

The reasons you have given for its demise are sorrowful. Unless you can bring in and recruit younger members (good luck with that!) this congregation is pretty much over.

I’m sure you’re grieving what was a stable, spiritual, grounding ritual for your life. I have not attended church in 22 yrs but it has not diminished my beliefs and the power of prayer - I live my life on a “wing and a prayer” everyday and still feel connected to my faith. You’ll be satisfied too if you have to go that route.

Nothing wrong with a book club! 🙂
USA Gundy

If you look around, the churches that openly speak the Gospel , the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ and of his gift of grace and salvation are thriving.
The good news is attractive.
These type of churches , sometimes termed evangelical , are growing all over the country. Ours is thriving with members of every age , different nationalities , young men etc
Sadly , those more traditional churches such as the old Cof E , that stick to liturgy and rote aren't doing well.
Often the preaching in such churches has little or nothing to do with Jesus ,God or anything else.
Many older people do enjoy the comfort of the service they have attended for many years and hate any change.
Sadly ,as they age ,they are not replaced because the cultural norm is no longer that everyone should attend church on Sunday.

Our local Roman Catholic church is full to bursting every Sunday. It no doubt has something to do with an excellent primary school in the vicinity 😂

Mallin

There was a trombone player busking somewhere near the weekly market. Sitting there drinking my coffee at the council run community cafe, I recognised the hymn “How great thou art” and was taken back to my childhood. Morning assembly at my combined Infant and Junior School back in the 40’s consisted of three hymns and a few announcements. 15 hymns a week for some years and I still remember the words to all of them. A young couple nr me started saying what a beautiful tune he was playing but they didn’t recognise it and that it must surely be a newcomer to the charts.
Enough said.

Our choirmaster translated it into German and arranged it and we actually sang it last Sunday. It even got spontaneous applause - the service was very informal as it was on the fairground and an ecumenical service so not structured in the usual way.

When we first started learning it I found a YouTube video of Elvis singing it and sent it into the choir WhatsApp group. I am not a fan of Elvis but his version is very moving.

our local medieval church has choral evensong on the second Sunday at 3pm, rather than the traditional 6pm which we would all be delighted to attend rather than have the afternoon cut in half
there does not seem to be any pastoral care although five missions in underdeveloped countries
I am old enough to remember moving to a new house and the vicar calling wihin days to welcome us, off to Sunday school we duly went.

An attractive vicar, rector, local smiley church wardens, choir,
would ensure our devoted participation in Church. The commercialisation, push to online, indifference to local concerns and hostile notices on the boards means that once the handful of very elderly ladies attending afternoon church die off, our beautiful historic church will be increasingly redundant.
A happy, loving, embracing vicar with local connections and preferably a young family would be so well received, make such a difference, alas, as has been said here already, we are stuck with a lacklustre incumbent.

'Often the preaching in such churches has little or nothing to do with Jesus, God or anything else' I take exception to your sentence Mirren . My DH has been a vicar for the vast majority of his working life. He is not an evangelical. He took considerable time and effort to write sermons while following the C of E's lectionary for the weekly readings. All traditions have their riches and we need to open our eyes to what other Christian denominations have to offer. God cannot be put in a box! No one has all the answers.
Most priests/ ministers are very hard working. If they are not preaching about God as revealed in Jesus Christ what are they talking about Mirren?

The Bible says, “Building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost” —Jude 20. Speaking in tongues stimulates faith and helps us learn how to trust God more fully. For example, faith must be exercised to speak with tongues because the Holy Spirit specifically directs the words we speak.

I moved to a small village with CofE Church and started to attend weekly, as I used to where I lived before. Unfortunately, the Church was"run" by one particular churchwarden. She has single-handedly destroyed the church, making families and newcomers, such as myself, feel unwelcome, refusing offers of help where needed and generally making people feel that church isn't the place to be. I eventually stopped going after an incident with a young mother who needed a little help and friendliness at the Remembrance Service. The church was, soon after, put into the equivalent of special measures with an outside church taking over. The congregation is literally dying off. This particular churchwarden has finally been replaced, but the damage done is so great that a recent special afternoon family activity church had an attendance of zero. It will take a huge effort to get the church back on it's feet.

Grandetante, you say "religious beliefs are dwindling" . Some religious beliefs such as the Christian moral tenet , the Golden Rule to do as you would be done by, are as strong as ever. However as long as ministers continue to preach Christianity based on miraculous events there will be few believers among educated classes. People like me are crying out for reasonable religion!

What do you mean Caleo please ?

Well they could always give the ancient churches back to the Catholics.....