Impact of Covid-19 on fragile churches : listening to the voices of lay people

The fragile church thesis was originally shaped by Lawson on the basis of qualitative research among rural clergy. A subsequent quantitative study demonstrated that, although the fragile church thesis was more strongly endorsed by rural clergy it was also endorsed by clergy serving in other areas. The present study conducted among 2,496 Church of England laity confirms that the thesis is not just in the mind of the clergy, but to a lesser extent in the mind of the laity as well. Once again the thesis is more strongly endorsed by laity living in rural areas than by laity living elsewhere. The current study points to serious investment in discipleship learning as a strategy for addressing the malaise underpinning the fragile church thesis and invites the rural church to rise to this challenge