New body may close, merge, dioceses

Ed: The actual title of this item is rather misleading!

Analysis: changing the way the Church of England chooses bishops
Monday, 18th June 2007. 4:42pm

By: Jonathan Petre.

WHAT are bishops for, and do we need so many of them?

This question, or a more colourful version of it, has often popped unbidden into the thoughts of exasperated parish clergy.

Now, however, it also appears to be a topic much on the minds of the bishops themselves. The looming prospect that dioceses and bishoprics could face a Beeching-style axe is concentrating minds wonderfully, it seems.

Under legislation expected to receive Parliamentary approval and Royal assent this summer, a national body will be given sweeping powers to recommend the closure or reorganisation of dioceses and the scrapping of suffragan or assistant bishop posts. Read more