by James Burnell-Nugent, The TimesThe Crown Nominations Commission needs to put forward a genuinely pro-parish successor to Justin Welby or thousands of churches will be at riskThe Crown Nominations Commission, tasked with choosing the next Archbishop of Canterbury, is expected to make its recommendation this week. The Church of England hierarchy talks a good game on parishes but the evidence shows that, unless there is a significant policy shift, small and rural churches are doomed. They proposed that 1 per cent of the asset value of the Church Commissioners’ £11.1 billion endowment should be apportioned each year directly to parish ministry. The commissioners can surely afford £110 million per annum for the endowment’s intended purpose: supporting poorer parishes. Yet the plan was foiled by a wrecking motion and absurdly alarmist speeches from senior Church Commissioners.