1. Younger clergy have much more energy and enthusiasm than their older counterparts,
2. Younger clergy can reach the younger unchurched population and so will build a Church that is like them,
3. Clergy can most effectively reach those ± 10yrs of their own age, younger clergy are the only way to reintroduce those aged between 18 - 40 and so we need to lower the age of ordinands drastically from the current age (which was stated as being c.45),
4. If we recruit clergy at a younger age the cost of training will become lowered with regard to the number of years of ordained service received (simple maths as £10k for 15 years of ministry is dearer than £10k for 35 years), and
5. We need to recruit younger clergy so that they can become the next generation of senior clergy at a younger age - the theory being that preferment comes, at the quickest, after some seventeen years of ordination and so an ordinand of twenty-eight would be looking towards becoming bishop around their mid-forties if their career (a word at which I made my negative feelings known) matched their prospects and ambitions (the second word I struggled with).
The bottom line was that the Church is growing older and the only way to reverse this is to put more into dogcollars and let them loose to revive its (the Church's) failing fortunes.
So here's a marker in the sand, one that I will be returning to over the next few days (along with more on Ministry Development Reviews). I leave you with these five points (you may have more or others I have not considered) to reflect and perhaps comment (or prepare to comment upon).
Enjoy
