SHORTAGE OF CLERGY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 38, 14 February 1931, Page 8

SHORTAGE OF CLERGY.

"A crisis of the first magnitude"'is how the latest issue of Crock ford's Clerical Directory describes the increasing shortage of. clergy for the Church of England. For some years past the editor has been giving figures to show how serious the position is. The number of candidates to-day is about half what it was in the 'eighties, and even then it was considered that 750 was too small to meet the needs. of the Church. In 1925 the number had dropped to 350; in 192G it stood at 354. Fourteen dioceses showed a total increase of 73, and twenty-four showed a total decrease of 69. The average age of the clergy is nearer 60 than 50, and the annual loss through death or retirement is about 550. This loss is bound to increase rapidly in the next ten years. The backbone of the Church is being slowly broken by the fact that men to do. the work are not forthcoming. The whole parochial system is threatened. It is estimated that at least 1200 new men a year will be required for the next ten years, and 700 a year after that, and the. present recruitments are only about 350. The editor of "Crockford" says that very soon anything which may fairly be called the Church of England will have ceased to exist, and its place will have been taken by the spastnbdic activities of a denomination. With the decline in numbers has gone a still more serious decline in educational attainments. The great .public schools, such as Eton, Winchester and Rugby, supply only a fifth of the numbers they did forty years ago. The secondary schools hardly supply any candidates at all. The policy of the bishops at present is to tap that section of society which receives its education at the elementary schools. As the training of these candidates has to be paid for out of Church funds, it is naturally made as inexpensive as possible, and the tendency is to remain satisfied with the training given by a non-graduate theological college, which does not involve a university degree, or only does so in what must be termed an inferior manner. The general situation is going from bad to worse. The Church of England at one time was noted for its scholarship. To-day scholars are rare, and great public orators are almost non-existent. The Church Assembly in its zeal for reform has seriously threatened the independence of the clergy, and this has had a most damaging.effect in restricting the number of those offering for the ministry. The Bishop of Durham says: "Independence is the vital principle of the Christian ministry. Imperil that, and you strip the ministry of the Church of England of its noblest and most distinctive characteristic. The appeal for ordination candidates withers on your lips." The'classes which used to supply ordination candidates are too impoverished to pay for the prolonged schooling and university training which were at one time deemed essential, and those who can afford to pay desire something more lucrative for their sons. Effectives have dropped since the war from 21,000 to 16,500,- and the annual loss is steadily growing. It will continue to grow unless the Church takes steps to improve the status and the financial position of those who serve it. —ANGLICAN.