aging
Our churches know what it is to minister across rural and coastal communities where distance, transport, aging populations, poverty, isolation and limited resources create very real challenges.
With congregations aging and shrinking (as the media are often quick to point out), this is a clear priority.
A decline in giving from aging and shrinking congregations has combined with rising costs, especially around utilities and building maintenance and repair, to make balancing the books while paying parish share more difficult than it has ever been before.
and Diocesan Synod, I’ve seen the pressures churches face: financial issues, aging buildings, stretched clergy, volunteer fatigue, and changing attendance.
We also have aging volunteer workforces and an increasing reliance on them.
Married to Amanda, we have three adult children and a large, aging greyhound-saluki lurcher, called Theo.
The worry and burden faced by an aging and in many cases, declining church population is unsustainable.