The dismal futures facing the Church of England and the Episcopal Church

What shall become of the Church of England with her brand new Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally or, as the estimable William Tighe has titled her, L’Archflaminica (the definite article added by your Tatler, with apologies to the good professor)? Things don’t look good.

Despite their shared heritage, the Church of England (C of E) and the Episcopal Church in the US have far different futures facing them, neither happy ones.

As per Wikipedia:

“The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies.” It is officially headed by the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Charles III.

In short, the C of E is a state institution. Though attendance at that institution has fallen drastically over the years and continues to do so, at the pleasure of the monarch she will continue to be funded, so long as there is an England. To this blogger, the greater possible threat to the C of E, at least her “physical plant,” may well be a “guest religion” in England, whose numbers increase  by leaps and bounds. Should its leadership begin eying enviously all those empty churches, they could make the not unreasonable argument the buildings would be put to far better use by their religion. Perhaps a future Archbishop monarch will agree and the Church of England will slowly, but slowly disappear, or become a greater non-entity than she already is.

The best and most concise description of the possible end of the Church of England might be by a poem by one of her most devout members, Mr Eliot, in the oft-used closing lines, used by many, including this blogger, for whatever suits their purposes, no matter how far afield, his The Hollow Men.

         For Thine is the Kingdom

For Thine is

Life is

For Thine is the

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

A foreshadowing? St Mark’s Parish, converted in 1980 to New Peckham Mosque, Cobourg Road, London SE5

—

The C of E’s American counterpart, the Episcopal Church of the United States of America, faces extinction, in that, not enjoying royal favor, she must depend mostly on her worshippers for offerings and bequests in various forms. They are not likely to come from members who have left the church. Their number is increasing, owing to the church’s never-ending pursuit of wackiness, including the elimination of strictures pertaining to many personal morals that the Holy Catholic Church (nor the “guest church,” for that matter) has not budged an inch in her teachings .

In short, when Episcopalians choose to stay at home Sunday  mornings, or to hit the links, they will, if not immediately, eventually quit funding the church. There are too many other, more enticing options. That, in time, will lead to the end of the Episcopal Church.