THE old saying “A parish can be no better than its priest” is open to doubt. What is not open to doubt is that the Church of England is facing something of a crisis in clergy numbers.
In 2020, there were 591 ordinands, dropping to 370 in 2024; in the summer of that year, the General Synod was told that numbers had dropped by 38 per cent since 2020 (News, 12 July 2024). Parishes advertising a vacancy frequently get no replies, while the number of interregnums grows daily (Comment, 13 December 2024). Countless churches depend for regular ministry on non-stipendiary (NSM) or retired clergy. The ordination of women in 1994 was welcome for many reasons, but we must also not forget that it delivered the Church from an even greater clergy crisis.
Most serving priests will have been asked “What made you become a priest?” with the expectation there will have been a mysterious divine call delivered by private prayer and worship.
There is no reason, however, why such a call cannot also come through modern PR and planned human strategy. Diocesan vocations officers have always done all that is possible to encourage appropriate candidates, and techniques include: encouraging bishops to draw consistent attention in their preaching and writing to the need for ordinands; widely advertised quarterly seminars in every diocese on the work of a priest; parish clergy regularly encouraged by the bishop to “sow seeds” with possible candidates; frequent “Is God calling you?” box adverts in church publications; and more parish preaching on the work of the clergy.
This clergy shortage poses significant dangers. In some instances, a parish may receive only one applicant for a post, resulting in the choice of facing a further long interregnum or appointing this candidate. When the latter course is taken, disastrous results can follow. The old lesson that no appointment is better than the wrong one is easy to overlook.
MORE significantly, the basic parish system is undermined by a shortage of priests. My parish, like many others, has one Priest-in-Charge, who is supported by a small team of NSMs and retired clergy, serving 12 rural parishes.
Places such as the diocese of Leicester have introduced schemes making possible even larger multi-parish arrangements served by one priest (News, 28 March). Such developments only underline the fact that the old concept of the priest as the “persona” known by everyone in the parish has long become a pipe dream. Nor can we forget that one priest serving many parishes can result in depression and exhaustion for that priest.
Perhaps the biggest danger posed by the clergy shortage is the obvious temptation to lower initial selection standards: a disastrous move. As the Revd Fergus Butler Gallie put it so colourfully earlier this year in The Times, “If you put in people who are quite frankly ****** then you are not going to get people coming to church.”
Being a parish priest is like being conductor of an orchestra. There must be a clear vision of the work being performed, and this calls for a prayerful spiritual person able to teach the flock and attract new members. They must ensure a clear sense of direction and strategy, while ensuring that each member of the parish orchestra plays a full part in the performance, and this calls for both “people skills” and teamwork.
The task of those who select ordinands both at diocesan and national level is not enviable. Assessing potential is difficult. Selectors who feel that a candidate lacks the potential skills to conduct a parish orchestra will know what to do: they must continue not to select unsuitable candidates, despite a shortage of clergy. High expectations will always attract good candidates.
THE availability of fewer clergy also appears to have resulted in a rapid change in the focus of the Church, a fact about which views will differ. In the past, the diocese was viewed as a slim body serving the parishes, where the real work was done. Now, a new wave of mission priests based in the diocesan office are being recruited in many places, to work alongside their parochial colleagues, perhaps especially with mission in multi-parish situations, where the load is heavy.
This extension of diocesan involvement changes the face of the Church in line with modern management, putting the diocese at the centre. The language used is distinctively secular, for example, where a diocese seeks a mission priest to be “a Diocesan Programme Manager . . . with a passion for change to establish, support and navigate the resource intensive phase of strategic development”. The modern version of “fishers of men”?
To continue with this secular language, any company with a clear shortage of significant staff takes rapid action to address the matter. The Church must explore all possible ways of giving wide publicity to the need for more clergy. Such publicity will cost money. Further finance will also need to be found cover the training and expenses of additional ordinands.
The Very Revd Dr Michael Higgins is a former Dean of Ely and a former selection secretary at Church House.
The Church Times Jobs section remains the best way to reach potential applicants. Find out more here.
