Over on the video blog, Rod Webster, vice president and general manager of the Church Insurance Companies, lays out some depressing statistics about the decline of the Episcopal Church. Have a look, and let us know how you think the church should respond.
John Chilton, in a comment on the video blog, calls attention to the excellent point that Webster makes about the energy that declining parishes require from their bishop and his or her staff:
At the 2:30 mark he speaks about the time and resources that go into churches in the last years of their existence. (In particular the drain on bishops and diocesan staffs that alternatively could be spending time focused on growing healthy parishes.) It struck me that it’s very much like the problem of the US health care system where so much is spent on keeping people alive in the last months of their lives (and add to that the poor quality of life).
We’re are rich denomination, but we can no longer afford to be soft hearted without also being hard headed when it comes to good use of resources.
Should we be closing more parishes, spinning of smaller ones. What is the best way forward?