The Church of England will rent out churches with dwindling congregations instead of selling them, in the hope that divine intervention will bring back worshippers at some time in the future.
The proposal is intended to reduce the number of redundant churches that are sold and converted into flats or offices and increase the number hired out for use as nursery schools, museums, arts centres and community centres.
Since 1969, more than 1,700 Church of England churches have closed for Anglican worship. More than 500 have been demolished, more than 400 have been converted into housing and about 60 have been turned into offices or shopping centres. In 2022 alone, 15 were “disposed of for residential use”.
