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served by recognising them as such. The Church already employs university and hospital chaplains per se, and it was occasionally learned from interviews that other incumbents hold similarly specialised chaplaincies on a less formal basis. (iii) Product distribution. Should people come to the Church or the Church go to the people? We have already learned in Chapter 2 that this problem is recognised and that some efforts are being made to provide places of worship in areas of known or probable demand. The programme is constrained by both legal and financial difficulties but could be assisted by better market intelligence. (iv) Market development. This is an area which is more likely to be sensitive, but even the Church does not abhor completely such techniques as external advertising and even doorstep canvassing. 3.5.4.2 No clear objective
All of these divisions have at least prima facie application to the Church, but when, in 1975, McAulay (T8) made a special study of
marketing the Church of England she had appreciable difficulty in finding adequate data, and much of what she did find had a disconcertingly large margin of approximation. She abandoned attempts to write on consumer motivation because the only study available was "so small as to make it almost meaningless" and commented ruefully "Aside from the lack of basic information there seems to be no clear objective in the Church. What is it they are trying to promote? Is it theology, belongingness, social services, church attendance, etc?" (T8) No-one
could tell her. No-one had thought along those lines. After four centuries the Church of England is not only atrophying |