The Church of England has dropped a centuries-old requirement for all churches to hold weekly Sunday services.
Its general synod, meeting in London this week, formally approved a change to canon law to relax the requirement for morning and evening prayer in every parish church every Sunday.
The change, which will also apply to services of Holy Communion, will mainly affect parishes with small and declining congregations in rural areas.
Most rural priests have multiple benefices, with some in charge of up to 20 churches, but were required to maintain regular services even if only a handful of worshippers turned up. » | Harriet Sherwood, Religion correspondent | Thursday, February 21, 2019
