「逆境的な市場の中で」（Giles Fraser）

アングリカン*1はグローバルな宗教共同体という側面と英国の国教（Church of England）というローカルな側面という両義性を有している。以下は、そのローカルな側面の話。

Giles Fraser*2 “The Church of England is actually holding up pretty well in an adverse market” http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2014/nov/14/church-of-england-holding-up-well-in-adverse-market

英国国教会は１年に１％信者が減少している。しかし、英国国教会の聖職者でもある Giles Fraser氏は「逆境的な市場の中で」けっこう頑張っているんじゃないかという。毎週教会に行く英国人は保守党と労働党と自由民主党（Lib-Dem）の党員数を合わせた数よりも多い*3。また毎日曜日に教会に行く人はサッカーを観に行く人よりも多い。労働組合の組織率や紙の新聞を読む人に比べれば、その衰退ははるかに緩やかである。

About a million people go to a Church of England church each week. It’s not the glory days of the church, admittedly. But just compare: the membership of the Conservative party is just 134,000 and has been very nearly halved since David Cameron took over. Membership of the Labour party is higher, at about 190,000. And the Lib Dems have just 44,000. But add them all together, and even throwing in Ukip for good measure, and you still don’t have half the number of people who go to church.
More people go to church on a Sunday than go to Premier League stadiums on a Saturday. And remember: we are just talking about the Church of England here. Since 1979, membership of trade unions has fallen off a cliff. And, if you are reading this column in printed form, you also are a dwindling breed.
My personal reading of the church’s apparent decline is that it is holding up pretty well, despite seriously adverse market conditions – namely, a society that increasingly prefers the personal autonomy of bowling alone, liking its social connectivity online rather than in draughty church halls, and is generally far more suspicious of religious belief per se. Of these two reasons, the first is by far the more significant – which is why the atheists’ organisations can probably hold their AGMs in a phone box.
Yes – to continue the business metaphor – there is a problem with the delivery of universal service provision. And some consolidation is inevitable. But I still believe the fundamentals of the business are sound.

「教会」の強みについて；

(...) for a great many people, it is still the place where a certain sort of moral seriousness can be found – where I can sit alone or with others and contemplate the meaning of things, and my place in it, from the widest possible perspective. And the need for this is never going to go away.
Moreover, churches – like live theatre – cannot be successfully replicated online. Churchgoing is about the solidarity of sitting in the same pew, being involved in the same liturgy, trying to get on with people with whom you don’t have anything else in common. We have survived every conceivable war, crisis, scandal, collapse and disillusionment. OK, we may not have the money to keep the heating on all the time. But don’t expect the “for sale” sign to go up any time soon.

途中で、Philip Larkinの詩”Church Going”が援用されているのだが、Philip Larkinについては、例えば、

“Philip Larkin” http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/philip-larkin
“Philip Larkin 1922-1985” http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/philip-larkin
“Philip Larkin” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Larkin

を参照のこと。 ”Church Going”は

http://www.artofeurope.com/larkin/lar5.htm

など。

*3:http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN05125/membership-of-uk-political-parties また、保守党の党員数はデヴィッド・キャメロンが党首に就任して以来半減している。