Young Ordinands needed to Save the Ageing Church

Hosted by the Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS), the Younger Ordinands Consultation was held last week. At the CPAS centre in Warwick, local church members from 30 dioceses, gathered in an attempt to find solutions to the ageing churches. Diocesan officers, training college staff, ordination candidates and senior diocesan staff as well as a number of related networks and agencies, including New Wine and Reform, were also present on the conference.

The "ageing churches" phenomenon has not only been observed among the congregations, but it is also a problem in the Church’s ministries. Some of the Church leaders commented that the "greying ministry" is part of the reason behind the ageing congregations.

Rev Ruth Jackson said, "The ageing of our clergy means that we are inadvertently modelling a church where there is no place for the young."

The 26-year-old curate of St Michael-le-Belfry in York said, "In the light of an average ordinand age of just over 50, it is little wonder that the Church is losing young people the fastest."

To tackle the ageing churches phenomena, the very first step would be recruiting younger ministers. The meeting was aimed at producing an "appropriate recruitment policy for the Church".

According to the CPAS Ministry Adviser, the Rev Simon Heathfield, the Church has implemented an "informal vocational policy" for a long time, where alumini from the "University of Life" were welcomed into ministry. Now, it is time for the Church to be a more pro-active recruiter.

While many may worry that the important role played by senior ordinands will be easily replaced by the younger ordinands, Ven Gordon Kuhrt, the Director of Ministry Division of the CPAS, emphasised that this is not the case.

As the Bible has suggested, there are many different roles and gifts given by the Holy Spirit within the Church - the body of Christ. Some are teachers, some are apostles, some are prophets and some are deacons. The culture of the world changes from time to time, the Word of God would have to be delivered to people from different walks of life in an appropriate context such that it can reach out further.

Recent research by The Times newspapers shows that 55 percent of twentysomethings have never been to a religious service, beyond baptisms, weddings and funerals. Yet 53 percent still believe in an afterlife and another 10 percent are willing to entertain it as a possibility.

The Bishop of London even announced after the last Lambeth Conference, "We need to be in nightclubs connecting with the youth." The Church now is in desperate need for young ministers to create more diversified and vivid ministries in the Church to quench the spiritual thirst of youngsters. Improving the recruitment of ordinands has already become an important step to change the face of the church.