Confidence in Leadership

Abstract

This chapter examines responses to items in the Church Times surveys related to the level of confidence in local clergy and diocesan bishops, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishops’ Council and the General Synod. The controversies that preoccupied the Church of England at the start of the century added pressures to those who led or represented the Church at national level, making the process of change fraught with pain and divisions. The chapter first outlines briefly how governance works in the Church before exploring how confidence varied between local and national leaders, and between individuals and institutions. The levels of confidence are compared to levels of trust in other professions in the UK, and reasons for differences between groups within the Church and between the two surveys at discussed. The chapter ends with a discussion of how confidence in the leadership of the Church of England might be fostered in the years ahead.