The Church of England could be running out of ministers as it faces up to its predicament of an ageing clergy.
About 25% of its ministers are over the age of 60.
The number of people being ordained has begun to rise over the last four years, but only 13% of its ministers are younger than 40.
“This is not sufficient to redress the gathering effect of clergy retirements predicted over the next 10 years,” said Julian Hubbard, the C of E’s director of ministry.
He added that “at present rates of ordination this trend will have a material and growing impact on the number of those available to serve in ordained roles across the dioceses.”
The latest figures from the Church also show that the clergy remains predominately white and male. The proportion of black and ethnic minority clergy crept up from 3% to only 3.4% from 2012 to 2015 despite efforts to increase their numbers.
Female clergy representation has increased but only by 3% in the last four years, reaching 27% by 2015.
Existing clergy are often obliged to fill in the gaps because of the shortage. Nearly 30% reported that they take on extra duties and the Church believes the true percentage is higher.
Consequently, it has been promoting greater involvement among lay leaders to overcome the clerical shortage.
Last year the C of E had 20,440 ordained clergy, an overall drop from 20,650 in 2012. The total number of paid clergy dipped to 7,661 last year.
