Jasmine Baehr
August 16, 2024 at 6:55 PM
The Church of England is apparently dropping the word "church" in the hopes of drawing in more crowds, according to a recent study.
The study, called "New Things: A theological investigation into the work of starting new churches across 11 dioceses in the Church of England," was conducted by the Centre for Church Planting Theology and Research in Durham.
The qualitative study inspected language used by 11 Church of England dioceses to describe their new churches.
Traditionally, new churches are referred to as "church plants." In this study, the Centre for Church Planting Theology discovered that even though more than 900 new churches were established by 11 dioceses in the past 10 years, none of them used the word "church plant" or "church."
"Not one diocese used the term ‘church’ in their main descriptor. ‘Church plant’ is not used by any of the 11 dioceses. Only one diocese used ‘fresh expressions’ of ‘pioneering’ in its descriptor," reads the study's conclusion.
A sign welcomes visitors and congregation members to St Mary's church in the West Sussex South Downs village of Slindon, on 9th August 2024, in Slindon, England.
The study refers to these not-quite-church-plants as "new things," as there was no specificity offered as to what these "things" are.
"That the term ‘church’ is not used, in favour of other terms (community, congregation etc.) is worthy of theological reflection. We explore whether the question, ‘what is church?’ is worth asking."
Six of the 11 dioceses preferred the language of "worship" as their main descriptor for new church projects. Seven used "community," and only two used "congregation," according to the Reverend Dr. Will Foulger.
Foulger is the main author of the report as well as the vicar of St. Nicholas' Church in Durham, England.
The study refers to these not-quite-church-plants as "new things," as there was no specificity offered as to what these "things" are.
"That the term ‘church’ is not used, in favour of other terms (community, congregation etc.) is worthy of theological reflection. We explore whether the question, ‘what is church?’ is worth asking."
Six of the 11 dioceses preferred the language of "worship" as their main descriptor for new church projects. Seven used "community," and only two used "congregation," according to the Reverend Dr. Will Foulger.
Foulger is the main author of the report as well as the vicar of St. Nicholas' Church in Durham, England.
A general view of St Cuthbert's Church in Billingham, County Durham. It is believed that a church has stood on this spot in Billingham since 845 AD in the Saxon era. It is described as the ''mother church'' of the town and it is located on Billingham Green. However, due to a lack of funding and a decline in its congregation, the future of the church is under threat. As seen in Billingham, County Durham, on July 8, 2024.
The vicar of St. Anne's in Kew, Dr. Giles Fraser, expressed to the Telegraph that the sudden drop of the word "church" shows "a misplaced desire to be relevant and modern-sounding".
Dr. Foulger admitted in his study that these new language changes are "forcing us to redefine what we think a church is in the Church of England".
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