Save The Parish - Cornwall

An update on Carnmarth North deanery plan , circulated on 29 July 2022. Click here to read.

 A powerful article in the Times on Saturday 23 July by British academic and theologian Martyn Percy on the Church of England's current troubles. It will be hard to reverse decline, he writes.   Click here to read. He writes about a visit to a Diocese with a long coastline and a tradition of tourism. He meets the new recently appointed leader of the 'enabling team', charged with rolling out the new Mission Action Plan for the diocese.  Could this be here? 

A tweet this morning by Robert Thompson ( @Rgt71Robert) , Vicar of St Mary & St James, London NW6 suggesting that 'consultation' about the Church Commissioners' Strategic Development Funding spend is as deeply flawed elsewhere as it is in Cornwall. He writes: Thanks to those many clergy who contacted me about my tweet on these successful SDF bids They have been called ‘vanity projects’ & forms of ‘money laundering for particular networks’ & it is clear that the ‘consultations’ instead of leading any change of plans, partnership or co-creation, were simply an information events about their imposition on others. There is also a clear disquiet about the lack of any meaningful listening from Senior staff in the Episcopal Areas affected & the Diocese. The entire process has simply exacerbated low levels of trust & clergy morale. The questions ordinary parish clergy are asking are 1) why can they & their parishes be invested in rather than we continually p...

 The Carnmarth North deanery synod to approve its On The Way  cost-cutting plan has failed to meet Episcopal College approval - for reasons that remain unclear. Last month a shambolic synod approved the plan - despite an admitted lack of consultation with congregations previously.   Click here to read the original plan. Rural Dean Caspar Bush circulated an email yesterday saying the original plan had been rejected by the Episcopal College over the MMF (Mission and Ministry Fund) budget deficit it envisaged. This despite the fact that the Bishop of St Germans, the Rt Rev Hugh Nelson. micro-managed the development of the plan from the start. A deanery synod to approve the revised version is scheduled for 8 September 2022. Rev Bush's email reads: To: Carnmarth North Deanery Synod reps and other interested parties This email is to update you on On the Way, and to set a new date for our next Synod. We apologise that once again it has been necessary to postpone this Synod...

As the Diocese of Truro's housekeeping exercise  On The Way  moves forward, both the Bishop of Truro and the Bishop of St Germans repeat regularly that there is 'no plan'. Deaneries will discern the way forward through prayer and discussion, they say. Both Bishops have repeatedly said this process is 'bottom up' rather than 'top down'. In fact anyone who has been involved in On The Way discussions knows that this is not, in fact, the case.  Leadership teams report regularly to the Bishop of St Germans who 'responds' to suggestions. Another oft cited mantra is that 'there is no plan'. In fact, there is - of course - a plan - a plan for the Church Commissioners' funding to go towards 'Transition funding' and Low Income areas (through the Low Income Community Fund) i.e. the Transforming Mission benefices.  This report published in 2021 by the Archbishop's Council states that clergy stipends are met by parish giving and fees and c...