THE Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is backing a guerrilla-style war against secularism with a £9 million programme of underground churches.

He says that the Church is at a watershed and, despite its recent problems with homosexual ordinations and cash shortages, it is “poised for growth and renewal”.

The new “mission-shaped church” will be funded by £5 million cuts in the hierarchy of suffragan and diocesan bishops. The other £4 million would come from other commissioners’ funds.

New concepts being considered include base ecclesial communities, a form of worship imported from Latin America, “café churches”, “cell churches” and “seeker services”. What these forms of church have in common is that none meets on Sundays.

The proposals, to be debated by the General Synod in Westminster next month, are disclosed in Mission-shaped Church, a report by a working party chaired by the Bishop of Maidstone, the Right Rev Graham Cray, a suffragan in the Canterbury Diocese.

Meanwhile, under-used churches could soon be permitted to sell off parts of the nave or crypt to coffee shops such as Starbucks or bars such as All Bar One in order to raise funds. Even nightclubs have not been ruled out under plans to change Church law through the Pastoral (Amendment) Measure at the synod, thus enabling parishes to lease parts of their buildings to commercial enterprise.

The only stipulation will be that “the church building will continue to be used primarily as a place of worship” and that the development must be “consistent” with the Church’s use as a place of worship.

The change could ease the financial difficulties that have left many parishes struggling to pay clergy stipends and pensions and to keep buildings in good repair. Churchgoers will soon have to find an extra £5 million a year to pay for bishops after the Church Commissioners divert this cash to missionary endeavour in an attempt to stem the relentless decline in congregations.

Until now, it has been necessary under law to declare a church redundant before its use could be changed. Former churches have been converted into cafés, restaurants, flats and houses, but it is the developer, not the Church, that has profited most.

Latest attendance figures show a 4 per cent decline in Sunday adult worshippers to 835,000.

One proposal in Mission-shaped Church is for Church Commissioners to cut £5 million from the amount given for bishops’ stipends and expenses and £500,000 from that given to cathedrals. Cash saved would go to a fund to fight the “haemorrhage” of declining attendance by investing in new forms of church worship.

As the over-stretched parishioners in the pews would then have to find the £5.5 million to pay for the bishops and cathedral staff, on top of the pension, stipend and church roof money they are paying, it is probable that cuts in bishop numbers would swiftly follow.

Not surprisingly, many bishops, who enjoy lavish lifestyles with chauffeurs, gardeners and large rent-free palaces, oppose plans that would threaten their “independence”.

The report recognises that the West has become a post-Christian society. It says: “The emergence of a network and consumer society coincides with the demise of Christendom.” Many of the new forms of church, such as the “new monasticism”, where members live dispersed in society, but embrace rules of simplicity and purity, bear some comparison with the early Church.

The report says: “The rebirth of centuries-old ways of church and of Christian spirituality is a cause for celebration. It also helps to demonstrate the importance of offering the widest possible range of ways through which people can explore and experience Christian community, church and worship.”

In the report’s foreword Dr Williams says that he has been “surprised and deeply heartened” by the widespread sense that the Church is poised for growth and renewal. He argues that there are other ways that a Church can exist besides the traditional map of “territorial divisions”The new forms of church would be inspired and led by rural and urban lay Christians seeking ways to make the Gospel relevant to young people.

Ways to worship

Alternative worship communities: Post-modern, ambiguous, meditative, may be attached to symbols of antiquity such as incense and Gothic arches. Young adults on weekday evenings.

Base ecclesial communities: Gospel of liberation for the poor and marginalised. Groups of about 12 meet in houses.

Café church: Teenagers and young adults gather around small tables with drinks and nibbles, and sit and “share”. Worship is informal.

Cell church: Seven-day church system using cells as the building blocks of a community. Cells can have tasks such as study or care as their priorities, and are charged with multiplying.

Seeker church: Started in Chicago. Targets the spiritual seeker, but difficult to emulate because it needs at least 50 people to sustain a regular programme of events.

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