Growth or decline in the Church of England during the decade of Evangelism: did the Churchmanship of the Bishop matter?

The Decade of Evangelism occupied the attention of the Church of England throughout the 1990s. The present study employs the statistics routinely published by the Church of England in order to assess two matters: the extent to which these statistics suggest that the 43 individual dioceses finished the decade in a stronger or weaker position than they had entered it and the extent to which, according to these statistics, the performance of dioceses led by bishops shaped in the Evangelical tradition differed from the performance of dioceses led by bishops shaped in the Catholic tradition. The data demonstrated that the majority of dioceses were performing less effectively at the end of the decade than at the beginning, in terms of a range of membership statistics, and that the rate of decline varied considerably from one diocese to another. The only exception to the trend was provided by the diocese of London, which experienced some growth. The data also demonstrated that little depended on the churchmanship of the diocesan bishop in shaping diocesan outcomes on the performance indicators employed in the study

Rural is different: rural is special

Those of us who live, work, worship and minister in the countryside know all too well that rural is different, that rural is special. Yet for us country folk there remain so many frustrations that secular policies may be driven by an urban agenda and shaped by urban perceptions. Health care provisions, public transport, post offices, and retail distribution, to name but a few vital areas, so often seem to be planned with the urban economy in mind. It is tempting, too, to imagine that even the church may be driven by an urban agenda, say in terms of emphases in recruitment, selection and training for ministry, in terms of the design of liturgy, in terms of theories about lay leadership, and perhaps even in terms of reader ministry

Psychological type profile of a church : a case study

This study responds to the challenge offered by Meunier (2012) to explore how psychological type theory and measurement may assist churches in the search for an appropriate leader (rector) by taking into account the psychological type characteristics of the church. A case study is provided from one Anglican congregation in England (N = 76), the members of which completed the Francis Psychological Type Scales during the course of a normal Sunday service. The overall profile of these 76 individuals demonstrated preferences for extraversion, sensing, feeling, and judging (ESFJ). The implications of this ESFJ profile are discussed for leadership expectations

Parental and peer influence on church attendance among adolescent Anglicans in England and Wales

Drawing on data from a survey conducted among 7,059 students aged 13–15 in England and Wales, this study examines parental and peer influence on church attendance among 645 students who identified themselves as Anglicans (Church of England or Church in Wales). The data demonstrated that young Anglicans who practised their Anglican identity by attending church did so primarily because their parents were Anglican churchgoers. Moreover, young Anglican churchgoers were most likely to keep going to church if their churchgoing parents also talked with them about their faith. Among this age group of Anglicans, peer support seemed insignificant in comparison with parental support. The implication from these findings for an Anglican Church strategy for ministry among children and young people is that it may be wise to invest in the education and formation of churchgoing Anglican parents

Five loaves and two fishes : an empirical study in psychological type and biblical hermeneutics among Anglican preachers

The sensing, intuition, feeling and thinking (SIFT) method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching has its roots in three fields: a theology of individual differences situated within the doctrine of creation, an application of Jungian psychological-type theory and empirical observation. The present study tested the empirical foundations for this method by examining the psychological-type profile of two groups of Anglican preachers (24 licensed readers in England and 22 licensed clergy in Northern Ireland) and by examining the content of their preaching according to their dominant psychological-type preferences. These data provided further support for the psychological principles underpinning the SIFT method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching

The psychological temperament of Anglican clergy in ordained local ministry (OLM) : the conserving, serving pastor?

This study draws on psychological type theory as originally proposed by Jung (1971) and psychological temperament theory as proposed by Keirsey and Bates (1978) to explore the hypothesis that ordained local ministers (OLMs) within the Church of England reflect a psychological profile more in keeping with the profile of Church of England congregations than with the profile of established professional mobile clergy serving in the Church of England. Data provided by 135 individuals recently ordained as OLMs (79 women and 56 men) supported the hypothesis. Compared with established professional mobile clergy there is a higher proportion of the Epimethean Temperament (SJ) among OLMs. Oswald and Kroeger (1988) characterise SJ religious leaders as ‘the conserving, serving pastor’. The implications of these findings are discussed for the evolving ministry of the Church of England

Still worlds apart: The worldviews of adolescent males attending Protestant and Catholic secondary schools in Northern Ireland

This study draws together two research traditions: John Greer's pioneering research among pupils in Protestant and Catholic schools in Northern Ireland and Leslie J. Francis's research concerning teenage religion and values in England and Wales. A sample of 1,585 13- to 15-year-old male pupils attending Catholic schools (n = 712) and Protestant schools (n = 873) completed the Teenage Religion and Values Survey. The present analyses highlight the significant differences in world views between the Catholic and Protestant adolescents across eight domains defined as: religious beliefs, paranormal beliefs, church-related attitudes, attitudes toward sex and family life, law-related attitudes, school-related attitudes, locality-related attitudes, and personal anxiety and depression. These data confirm that in many key ways young people growing up in these two religious communities are still living worlds apart

Prayer, purpose in life, and attitudes toward substances: a study among 13- to 15-year-olds in England and Wales

This study set out to examine the association between prayer frequency, purpose in life and attitude toward substances, among a sample of 2,563 13- to 15-year-old secondary school pupils in England and Wales. Multivariate models controlling for sex, school year and personality (as defined by the Eysenkian dimensional model) demonstrated that higher levels of purpose in life are associated with greater prayer frequency, and that more proscriptive attitudes toward substances are associated with both higher levels of purpose in life and greater prayer frequency. These findings are consistent with a model suggesting that prayer frequency promotes a more negative view of substances both directly and indirectly through cultivating a greater sense of purpose in life

Attitude toward homosexuality among Anglicans in England: the effects of theological orientation and personality

Disapproval of homosexuality (homonegativity) was assessed using a four-item summated scale in a sample of 7,295 readers of the Church Times who were regular worshippers at Anglican churches in England. The theological orientation of respondents was assessed on three scales measuring preference for liberal or conservative, catholic or evangelical, and charismatic or non-charismatic expressions of faith. Individual differences in personality were assessed using the abbreviated form of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised (EPQR-A). Scores on the homonegativity scale were generally high, indicating disapproval of same-sex intercourse, same-sex marriage and the ordination or consecration of practising homosexuals. After allowing for sex and age, the main predictors of homonegativity were the three measures of individual theological orientation, each having an independent and additive effect. All four scales of the EPQR-A predicted homonegativity to some extent, but the most important relationships were a negative correlation with the psychoticism scale and a positive correlation with the lie scale. In liberal catholic and broad churches, it appeared that those who were psychologically most susceptible to social conditioning were most likely to be homonegative, but this was not the case in conservative evangelical churches

Reading and proclaiming the birth narratives from Luke and Matthew : a study in empirical theology amongst curates and their training incumbents employing the SIFT method

Drawing on Jungian psychological type theory, the SIFT method of biblical hermeneutics and liturgical preaching suggests that the reading and proclaiming of scripture reflects the psychological type preferences of the reader and preacher. This thesis is examined amongst two samples of curates and training incumbents (N = 23, 27), serving in one Diocese of the Church of England, who completed the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Firstly, the narrative of the shepherds from Luke was discussed by groups organised according to scores on the perceiving process. In accordance with the theory, sensing types focused on details in the passage, but could reach no consensus on the larger picture, and intuitive types quickly identified an imaginative, integrative theme, but showed little interest in the details. Secondly, the narrative of the massacre of the infants from Matthew was discussed by groups organised according to scores on the judging process. In accordance with theory, the thinking types identified and analysed the big themes raised by the passage (political power, theodicy, obedience), whilst the feeling types placed much more emphasis on the impact that the passage may have on members of the congregation mourning the death of their child or grandchild