The Church can reconnect with people by ditching woke talk and focusing on moral guidance - Sarah Todd
Church attendance crumbled under the former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, falling by 25,000 a year since he took office in 2013. Maybe it would have taken a downward spiral whoever had the top job, but he certainly didn’t jolly the job along.
This parishioner lost all respect really for the church during covid. While, of course, there would be wonderful exceptions - who rallied around and did their best to support the elderly, vulnerable and sick in their communities - it seemed that many men and women of the cloth didn’t need asking twice to hang their cassocks up.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdOf course, they were probably only following the Government rules, but the number of people for whom their local vicar wasn’t available left a bitter taste.


The pandemic was a rum job and it’s left a legacy that isn’t very Christian. Try and attend some carol services now and it can seem to be all about pre-booking tickets or logging on to watch livestreams online. Something that seems somehow elitist and certainly not very inclusive.
As a nation we all have the images of our late Queen sitting alone at her husband’s funeral to remind us of that distance, both physical and spiritual, that Covid created.
The days of going Christmas shopping and hearing the bells ringing and turning up on the off chance of finding a pew can seem long gone.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThere is something fundamentally important about churches having open door policies; a warm welcome for all. No need to be dressed up to the nines, or part of some sort of inner circle that gets early access to tickets.
Some commentators have described Welby as wokeness personified and there is truth in this, with him often during his tenure seeming to be more interested in political correctness and commenting on Government policy than matters more befitting a man of the cloth.
From Universal Credit benefit payments to Brexit and plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda he never seemed to be capable of keeping his nose out.
Looking back, it was so wrong for him to be encouraging people to feel guilty over subjects such as the Black Lives Matter movement and historic links to the slave trade, while sitting on his hands over crimes committed by a man he knew in an institution he was leading in the here and now.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdBut that’s history now and time will tell whether our county’s Archbishop of York gets to become a temporary custodian of the top job.
Whoever takes the permanent post needs to be inspiring and appealing. If they are a woman that’s fine; but so long as they are the best person for the job rather than simply a token.
We need somebody who is modern but not wishy-washy woke.
Somebody who might give an opinion about all the daft money being spent over the past few weeks in the run-up to Christmas, who might be brave enough to suggest that thinking of others and simple things like spending time with people are worth more than expensive gifts.
Maybe having an opinion on subjects such as young children having mobile phones, or girls barely out of their teens spending money on plastic surgery. These are modern issues and ones where a little bit of well-meaning moral guidance couldn’t do any harm.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWelcoming couples into churches for marriage ceremonies is wonderful, but the Archbishop of Canterbury on this correspondent’s Christmas wishlist would maybe hint that there is no need to spend a fortune on the ceremony.
That a life together is about much more than professionally taken Instagram photographs. Expressing some sort of moral compass must surely be a good thing.
Not preaching that it’s their way or the highway, but letting families know that there are people rooting for them as they try to negotiate their way and find a balance through the maze of modern life. Not sticking their oar in on the political scene but giving a friendly nod to the everyday hurdles being faced by everyday people.
Does having any faith matter in today’s world? Perhaps not, but looking at the people pushing and shoving in the shops at the weekend is there a piece of humanity’s jigsaw missing. Maybe securing the latest designer handbag at a reduced price fills the void?
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.