The growing desire within the Church Of England for some form of corrective action to the lack of lay participation is illustrated by an account of a debate in the Church Congress in the eighteen-sixties during which Bishop Bloomfield argued for the need to find people who could help the Anglican Church to respond to the declining numbers caused by non-attendance and the growth of non-conformist congregations. In addition the Rev Massingherd called for a means for attracting back Weslyan Local Preachers who would have remained within the Anglican communion if a suitable ministry was available to them.

The growth in Non-Conformists and declining Anglican attendances during the period 1851 to 1880 was followed by a decline in overall church attendances from the end of the nineteenth century. There was also competition between the denominations in building churches, which led to an imbalance between church plant, clergy numbers, and the distribution of a growing population which was moving from rural into urban areas. Thus the need for Readers was also driven by the inability to match the clergy resources with a growing population.