Church of England: managerial avoidance

There is an excellent article by Jon Kuhrt in the current issue of the Church Times in which he, to my mind, accurately identifies the reasons why so many in the Church of England regard the 'phrase "managerialism" as code for all that the Church does wrong.'

Common symptoms include: 'clear expectations are established, proper structures are not in place, and ... robust action is not taken against those who ignore requirements.' In addition, there is a 'reluctance of clergy to accept their management position' - as they feel 'called to be priests, pastors and preachers, not CEOs of mini-corporations.'

Kuhrt speaks good sense about all this and has useful proposals to make which need to be heard and understood as in the Church of England we have 'consistently seen the bitter cost of poor staff management.' As someone who accepts that clergy have a management position, I read his article and can identify much of what he criticises in my own practice; an indication, I think, of how difficult it is to effectively manage in the Church of England with its current structures, processes and priorities.

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Bob Dylan - Early Roman Kings.