Cameron, Helen. 2003. “Decline of the Church in England as a Local Membership Organization: Predicting the Nature of Civil Society in 2050″. Grace Davie, Linda Woodhead, Paul Heelas (ed.), In Predicting Religion: Christian, Secular and Alternative Futures (pp. -119). Aldershot, U.K.: Ashgate Publishing
Cameron believes that the local church, a state-funded institution in some ways, will continue to see large-scale declines in “membership”. She uses Evers’s triangular model of society with “Volunteer Organizations” in the middle as her framework for understanding church membership’s future. (She notes its similarity to David Billis’s model, saying that he focuses more on the organization side, which is true.)
She believes that several different types of affiliation with the Church (which may be restricted to Church of England, but I believe it is more open to include the major recognized and state-sponsored denominations) will arise that are much different than “membership”.
What will become of local church membership [in the U.K.]? Because of the weight of tradition it seems likely that a proportion (if only a small proportion) of those who see themselves as affiliated to the Church will continue to do this through membership of a local church. These few will face the challenge of maintaining buildings and clergy with very limited resources. Those with other types of affiliation may well attend worship occasionally, but they will feel under no obligation to take part in the work of the local church.
- The number of people affiliated to the Church will continue to decline but denominations will start to encourage and count other forms of affiliation.
- Therefore, by 2050, of those describing themselves as actively involved in the church only about one-quarter will be members of a local church.
- By 2050, some people will claim their affiliation to the Church through para-church organizations that have clear branding and provide their affiliates with products and services. [Earlier cites examples of Alpha, Soul Survivor and ]
- by 2050, some people will claim their affiliation to the Church through campaigning organizations or by engaging in civic governance on behalf of the Church.
- By 2050, some people will claim affiliation to the Church through participation in an informal small group that may be networked to other groups with a similar shared experience.
Part of the problem may be that she does not differentiate between Volunteers and Members. This has been dealt with elsewhere (“Are Church Members Volunteers?” I believe is the title), which is summed up in a response by one of the parishioners to the researcher’s question if she was a volunteer here at the soup kitchen: “I’m not a volunteer, dear: I’m a member.”
The book may be worth getting.