Church of England attacked over plans to ‘raid assets’

The Church of England has been accused of raiding its assets in an attempt to address declining attendance, with a £100 million recruitment plan that has also been criticised for lacking a “proven” growth strategy.

The criticisms come after the church’s General Synod overwhelmingly supported a motion for its Church Commissioners, who manage the Church of England’s £6 billion assets, to sell investments in order to recruit some 50 per cent more clergy.

Eve Poole, a former employee of the Church Commissioners, last week told the Financial Times: “My concern is that I think this is a back-of-the-fag-packet solution … These are big numbers. It’s quite a raid on assets without much due process.”

Meanwhile Linda Woodhead,  right, professor of the sociology of religion at Lancaster University, wrote to William Fittall, the outgoing Secretary General of the General Synod, asking to see the “proven growth formulae” which Church Commissioners had claimed in a statement was in place. Responding, Mr Fittall conceded that the phrase “established evidence about growth” would have been preferable to “proven growth formulae”.

Professor Woodhead said: “There is a danger … that the Church is moving from complacency to blind panic … Although Mr Fittall was courteous enough to reply, he was unable to supply any evidence for thinking that the plan will reverse church decline. I wrote in the hope that the Church will think harder and consult more widely before proceeding.”

The plans were defended by Sir Tony Baldry, the Conservative MP for Banbury who represents the Church Commissioners in Parliament. He said that while  “specific funding criteria” have yet to be decided on, money would only be released for “focused, evidence-based projects”.

Andreas Whittam Smith, the First Church Estates Commissioner, said there were “terrifying” facts about its membership.

Around one million people attend Church of England services on Sundays, around half the level of attendance in the 1960s.

A Church of England spokesman said: “To suggest there has been no thinking nor evidence around church growth would be misguided.”