I give England until the end of 2025 at the latest before it is no longer recognizable. Don't laugh; I give the U.S. until the end of 2027 at best, but that is a whole other column.
The Church of England has apparently joined the pronoun movement. Of course, none of this should come as a surprise to anyone, but it is still a shame. According to a report in the Telegraph, the Church has decided to stop using the word "church" in order to be more modern. I don't know what word they will use. Lodge? Club? Association? The Loyal Order of Water Buffalos?
By all indications, the church is keeping its official moniker as "The Church of England." That is understandable; a lot of letterhead would need to be thrown out and logos redesigned. From a cost-benefit standpoint, it makes sense. But going forward, churches will be referred to as "communities."
According to a study by the Centre for Church Planting Theology and Research, which examined six of eleven dioceses in the Anglican Communion, churches are increasingly dropping the word when exploring the idea of creating new congregations. They are also known as churches, by the way.
When discussing new "church plants," which is a fairly common practice in the U.S., none of the 900 new churches started by the Church of England used the word "church plant."
The report’s author, Rev Dr. Will Foulger, vicar of St Nicholas in Durham, found that six of the 11 dioceses used the language of “worship” in their main descriptor of new church projects, two used “congregation,” and seven used “community.”
The Telegraph interviewed Dr. Giles Fraser, vicar of St Anne’s, in Kew. Fraser called the effort “a misplaced desire to be relevant and modern-sounding.” In an article in UnHerd, he commented, "The Church has given up on church. Not since Prince became Squiggle has there been such a daft revision.”
Dr. Foulger suggested that the Church of England might be moving away from using the word “church” as part of a cultural rejuvenation.
He said that the word “church” was not comprehensive enough “to describe what it is that these dioceses have been starting,” adding that the phrase “new things” might be more appropriate.
"New things?" I can't imagine waking up on a Sunday morning and getting ready to go the "new thing."
A church spokesman told the Telegraph that the change is being effected because "forms of worship can exist" outside church buildings.
The Diocese of Worcester, meanwhile, has embraced outdoor worshipping, with members of the churches in the Teme Valley South replacing church services with countryside walks, stopping for Bible reading and prayer along the way.
“These communities often meet in existing church buildings, attracting additional worshippers alongside traditional congregations, but they are as much ‘church’ as any other form of worship,” a Church of England spokesman said.
There is some truth in the idea. Our word "church" comes from the Greek word ekklesia, which means gathering or community. That said, given the current state of affairs in England and the U.S., for that matter, it is small wonder that the powers that be seek to remove the old symbols, the old places, and the old words that help define a people and a country.
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