Women priests will save the Church of England from sinking in the future, researchers have said.
The findings by the University of Manchester come in the wake of comments by the Archbishop of Canterbury that the ordination of women had not "transformed or renewed" the Church in "spectacular ways".
David Voas, a senior researcher at the university, said statistics from last year's English Church Census showed that nearly half of all priests ordained in recent years have been women.
He said: "Close to a quarter of male parish priests are 60 or older, and their average age is 54. Without women, the pulpits would become as de-populated as the pews in the years to come."
In a recent interview in the Catholic Herald, the Archbishop, while emphasising that he still believed the Church of England had been right to create women priests, was quoted as saying: "I don't think it has transformed or renewed the Church of England in spectacular ways. Equally, I don't think it has corrupted or ruined the Church of England in spectacular ways."
Dr Voas said the apparent lack of impact of women clergy was not surprising.
He said: "The Church is far from being an equal opportunity employer. Women are not yet allowed to become bishops and they are far more likely to be "second class" clergy.
"Most of the men who became priests in 2005 went into paid 'stipendiary' ministry, while most of the women are in voluntary posts - 'non-stipendiary or ordained local ministers'."
He added that the Anglican Church was not alone in giving women less desirable jobs.
The census found no women at all leading churches in the largest category - those with 300 or more attending on a typical Sunday.
