Clergy are not ‘stupider than ever’, they’re just trying to do it all

An article in The Telegraph has alleged that the art of the inspirational sermon is under threat. But Rev Jamie Sewell says we must be careful not to allow own prejudices to cloud our judgement

Apparently, Church of England clergy are getting stupider. At least, that’s the implication of a recent article in The Telegraph, lamenting the decline of inspirational preaching. Following a letter to the newspaper, in which a reader claimed that he “cannot recall an inspirational sermon since the 1980s”, the newspaper spoke to three CofE priests, including Rev Fergus Butler-Gallie, who made the extraordinary suggestion that “clergy are stupider than they’ve ever been.” 

As a serving Anglican priest, I found the accusation both irritating and confusing. Not because I believe clergy are above criticism, but because I genuinely struggled to understand what was being measured. Stupider by whose standards? Compared with whom? And on what evidence? 

I’ve been involved in Christian ministry since I was 16 years old. I’ve been through the CofE discernment process, theological training and curacy. It’s a thorough journey involving years of study, formation, assessment and practical experience. Strangely enough, nobody ever turned up at my church with an intelligence test. Perhaps I missed the memo. 

Of course, academic qualifications don’t automatically make someone intelligent, just as intelligence doesn’t automatically make someone a good preacher. But if we’re going to declare an entire generation of clergy intellectually inferior to their predecessors, surely we ought to have something more substantial than personal impressions to support the claim. 

Personally, I…