In today's fast-paced media and social media environment, it's easy for information to be distorted or misunderstood. To help provide clarity, we’ve gathered some recent claims about the Church of England that have been circulated in the media or on social media, along with a brief explanation to offer proper context.
Q. Is the Church of England rebranding and dropping the word ‘church’?
No. A recent report from an external body looked at new initiatives mostly created by parish churches – ranging from new youth groups and sport outreach clubs to new congregations, some of which do not meet in a church building. The report noted that they do not always refer to what is happening as creating new churches but are using a variety of alternative terms.
Some people have claimed this means the Church of England has plans to drop the word ‘church’ or is rebranding itself. It does not.
Q. Is it true that the Church of England has closed more than 400 churches in the last decade and that there is an ‘accelerating trend’?
This figure, often repeated, comes from a newspaper article written in 2022. However, our figures show that there were in fact just over half that many (209) consecrated churches closed during the period in question (2010-2019) – continuing a downward trend in closures. Contrary to the impression given, the number closed in that decade was the lowest for the last 50 years.
During the last decade, the Church of England has also reopened some formerly closed churches and acquired some new church buildings, reflecting changes in the population and changing ministry needs. These include St Mark’s in Coventry, Nelson Street Church in Rochdale, River Church Ipswich, St Swithin’s Church in Lincoln and St Margaret’s Church in Portsmouth among others.
Q. Did the Church of England help the Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi gain asylum in the UK on the basis of a conversion to Christianity?
No. Abdul Ezedi is not known to have had any connections with the Church of England. He was baptised at a Baptist Church in South Tyneside.
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