Church of England reduces use of term "church" to modernise, study finds

Church of England

The Church of England is increasingly dropping the word “church” in an effort to stay “relevant and modernised”, a new study suggests.

According to a report, the Anglican Church is increasingly avoiding the term "church" when referring to the establishment of new worshipping communities and congregations.

The Centre for Church Planting Theology and Research examined the terminology used by 11 dioceses to describe newly formed churches.

Traditionally, the creation of a new church group is called a “church plant.” However, the report found that although 900 new churches were started by these dioceses in the past decade, none used the term “church plant” as the primary descriptor.

Instead, six dioceses primarily referred to these new projects with terms related to “worship,” two used “congregation,” and seven preferred “community.”

Dr Giles Fraser, vicar of St Anne’s, Kew, in an interview with The Telegraph said: "This apparent reluctance to use the word “church” reflects “a misplaced desire to be relevant and modern-sounding”.

In an article on UnHerd, Dr Fraser said that it was as if, “the Church has given up on church.

Not since Prince became Squiggle has there been such a daft revision.”

The report found that 10 of the 11 dioceses studied “used the language of ‘culture change’ to describe the place of new things within the dioceses.”

Dr Foulger suggested that the Church of England might be moving away from using the word “church” as part of a cultural rejuvenation.

He said that the word “church” was not comprehensive enough “to describe what it is that these dioceses have been starting”, adding that the phrase “new things” might be more appropriate.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Church of England said: "One reason why the word “church” appears less often in description of “new worshipping communities” is that these forms of worship can exist outside of traditional bricks-and-mortar churches."

In his report, Dr Foulger acknowledged that this change in language by the Church is “forcing us to redefine what we think a church is in the Church of England”.

He also recognised that the debate had “left certain parts of the Church – for whom fidelity to ecclesial forms and practices is central – feeling outside of the planting conversation”.

Since 2014 the Church Commissioners have awarded £82.7 million to dioceses to be used for the purpose of starting new churches and religious communities.

This investment is set to continue. In 2021, the Church of England announced plans to establish more than 10,000 new worshipping communities over the next decade.

A spokesman for the Church of England defended its funding record in parish churches, stating that “significant investment has supported parish renewals, front-line ministry roles, and children’s and youth workers across various church traditions”.