The Church of England is considering plans to spend millions of pounds expanding its network of church schools in a bid to revitalise the Christian faith.
As part of a review that has been launched by Andreas Whittam Smith, chair of the Church Commissioners' assets committee and founder of the Independent newspaper, senior clergy have been asked to decide how the Church's finances should be directed in the years ahead.
The Church allocates about £10 million a year to spreading the Christian faith in UK parishes - or for the 'cure of souls' as this work is described by the clergy.
Now Canon Peter Bruinvels, a Church Commissioner, has drawn up a plan - backed by the Church's two archbishops - for using this fund to increase the number of church schools. 'If we don't want the Church to die, we need to target the young,' Bruinvels said.
The Church of England stopped building schools in the 1950s. Since then, church attendance has dropped dramatically in an increasingly secular society.
'We should be in our schools,' said Bruinvels, a former Conservative MP. 'They are today's and tomorrow's future. It's all about frontline evangelism. As we close churches we need to help schools. The Church has got to put its money where its mouth is.'
The plan would see schools converted to church schools, new church schools built and existing ones expanded. The programme would complement an existing initiative to build 100 more church schools over five years.
There are about 4,500 church schools in the UK, mostly in the primary sector. They tend to perform above average in national tests and examinations and some parents move homes to ensure that their children qualify for entry.
But parents could also have reservations about sending their children to a school that places a strong emphasis on Christian worship in assemblies and regular religious lessons.
Bruinvels said: 'Church schools provide a moral lead and offer stability and discipline. Most parents believe in this ethos."