The Church of England is "one
generation away from extinction", the former Archbishop of Canterbury
has warned, reports the Daily Telegraph on Ucanews.
Lord Carey, 78, said churchgoers should be "ashamed" of themselves
for failing to invest more in young people and called for urgent action
before its too late.
The outspoken Lord said that unless more was done
to attract new worshipers then every one of the 43 CofE dioceses across
the world could be wiped out within 25 years.
He also expressed fears that the modern church was too old fashioned
and "not the most exciting place to meet new people".
The retired
Anglican bishop was making a keynote speech at Holy Trinity Church in
Shrewsbury, as part of the Shropshire Churches Conference 2013.
Addressing more than 300 church-goers he said: "I am convinced that
churches can grow, must grow and should grow. But to sit in a cold
church, looking at the back of people's heads, is perhaps not considered
the most exciting place to meet new people and hear prophetic words. So we have a problem getting people to church because it is not something that is natural to people in their lives nowadays."