There will be a day conference on this subject, held on Friday 24 February, at Whitelands College of the University of Roehampton.
Further details of the conference are available here, including a draft programme. Speakers include:
– Questioning Church Growth and Decline in the Anglican Communion: David
Goodhew (Cranmer Hall, St Johns College, Durham University)
– Nigeria: Dr Richard Burgess (University of Roehampton)
– USA: Dr Jeremy Bonner (Durham University)– South America (Rt Revd Maurice Sinclair)
– Congo (Dr Emma Wildwood, Cambridge University)
– South Africa (Dr Barbara Bompani, University of Edinburgh)
– Ghana (Rev Dr Daniel Eshun, University of Roehampton)– South America (Rt Revd Maurice Sinclair, retired)
– Congo (Dr Emma Wildwood, Cambridge University)
– South Africa (Dr Barbara Bompani, University of Edinburgh)
– Ghana (Rev Dr Daniel Eshun, University of Roehampton)– England: Professor David Voas (University College, London)
– Theology, Growth and Decline: the Rt Revd Graham Kings (Mission Theologian,
Anglican Communion)
The conference is based upon a recently published book of the same title, edited by Professor David Goodhew, details of which – including a full table of contents – are shown on the publisher’s website here.
Having Jeremy Bonner as the person discussing church growth in the US is problematic. Bonner served as the church historian for ACNA in the law suits on church property in US. and is an ACNA partisan. He belonged to the Cathedral congregation in Pittsburgh when that Cathedral tried to serve both TEC and ACNA, but he was NOT neutral. He is not a credible source on TEC.
I hope you’ve actually read the chapter on which my presentation will be based, Dr. Gundersen. It largely reflects the conclusions of Kirk Hadaway – TEC’s recently retired Officer for Congregational Research – who’s hardly an ACNA partisan. Statistics – while open to interpretation – also have a habit of speaking for themselves. The fact of decline isn’t in doubt; what’s at issue is whether we’re talking about secular decline or something else. I tend to incline slightly more towards secular decline, not least because ACNA, while growing, has absorbed no more than a quarter of the departures from TEC… Read more »