Commenting on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s statement that Church of England schools can move away from religious selection, Jonathan Bartley, co-director of the Christian political think-tank Ekklesia, said:
“When you do the maths, there are simply not enough children from church-going families to fill all the places in church schools. There are many, many Church of England schools that now do not discriminate in admissions.
“The argument that you have to have a discriminatory admissions policy in order to maintain your ethos demonstrably makes no sense.
“The position the Church has held in the past is simply not tenable any more – either practically, or in terms of a clear Christian ethic based on love of neighbour, especially the most vulnerable.”
Ekklesia is a co-founder of the Accord Coalition (http://accordcoalition.org.uk/), which brings together religious and non-religious organisations and individuals to work for the reform of faith schools, and for policies which ensure that state-funded schools are open to all.