Bishop's fears for society
The Bishop of Stafford has warned that the foundations of British society are in danger of collapsing – because families no longer make time to talk or eat meals together.
The Right Reverend Gordon Mursell says the art of conversation which is vital to family life has been replaced by texting and emails.
He has warned the church too could become a "lifeless, dangerous and useless distraction" if it fails to respond to the threat.
The outspoken Bishop earlier this month attacked the "little England mentality" and criticised Britons' attitude to foreigners.
In his latest speech, delivered at a sermon in Güstrow Cathedral in north-east Germany on Saturday afternoon he criticised the number of youngsters not in work or education and pointed to the fact many families no longer eat meals together.
He said: "22 per cent of our teenagers, aged between 15 and 19-years-old, are not at school or college. In the United States the figure is 21 per cent and in the rest of Europe the figure is 15 per cent.
"In Britain, 33 per cent of our children hardly ever eat a meal with their parents but in the rest of Europe the figure is 17 per cent."
He attacked modern technology saying: "Children do not talk to grandparents or even parents. The art of talking together, of having a good social conversation, has been replaced by texts and emails. People do still talk together, but nearly all the talking is done electronically, and almost all of it is carried out between people of the same age and background."
He added: "The Church, in England and in many other parts of Europe, has often become a kind of institution, a structure of authority and power closely linked to the government and the established structures of society around it."
He warned that unless the church focussed on being a movement looking forward instead of being "preoccupied with its own structures" it would become "lifeless, a dangerous and useless distraction."
The Bishop was in Germany to mark the 20-year partnership between the Church of England's Diocese of Lichfield and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mecklenburg.
