Letters: How to repair the Church of England

Save on bishops

Sir: The Church of England is once again missing the point if its financial crisis will result in the closure of parish churches and redundancy of clergy (‘Holy relic’, 6 February). Radical action is required, but the focus should be elsewhere.

A starting point would be to amalgamate the vast majority of dioceses. Why is East Anglia served by the C of E dioceses of Ely, Norwich, St Edmundsbury and part of Peterborough when the Roman Catholics manage more than adequately with a diocese for East Anglia? Time to unite and benefit from economies of scale.

But it should go much further: halve the number of bishops, diocesan and suffragan, and axe some of the non-jobs with fancy names which seem to proliferate in and around the centre. Monies saved should go to front line parish ministry, particularly in those towns and villages where the presence of the church is threatened. It is parish priests and not bishops who prepare people for marriage and minister to the dying. The best remain pillars of their communities. No doubt all sorts of excuses will be made for retention of the status quo. There will be endless discussions in this or that synod; still more focus groups; and there will no doubt have to be time for ‘prayerful reflection’ during retreats or sabbaticals. But action is required now. Just get on with it.
Neil McKittrick
Orton Waterville, Cambs

Emptying pews

Sir: As a weekly churchgoer outside of the Church of England, I was saddened to read of the clergy cuts that are being made by the C of E, though heartened by the considered responses from both Emma Thompson and the Revd Marcus Walker. The Revd Walker’s closing questions (‘All that is sacred’, 6 February) seem to strike at the heart of the issue: are the right people in positions of leadership, and if not then what will clergy and parishioners do about it?

The sad fact of the matter is that these questions have been asked before, and many have voted with their feet by leaving to join other Christian denominations.