Let us pray over this: A new survey finds 16 percent of the Church of England’s licensed ministers are unclear about God, and 2 percent think God was created by man.
The survey of 1,500 Anglican clergy in England, Scotland and Wales conducted by the international market research agencyYouGov, suggests the church’s leadership is confused about the nature — even the very existence — of God.
Older clergy were more likely to hold unorthodox beliefs than younger clerics. Nearly 90 percent of those ordained since 2011 believe in God compared with 72 percent of those who became priests in the 1960s.
There are about 19,500 licensed ministers in England’s established church whose supreme governor is Queen Elizabeth II.
Interpreted nationwide, the YouGov survey shows there are around 390 licensed ministers who do not believe in God and as many as 3,120 who are unsure about the existence or nature of God.
The church’s governing body, the General Synod, does not take action against such views and clergy are left relatively free to deviate from doctrine without punishment.
