It doesn't have to be this way. An alternative to diocesan plans....
The main issue Save The Parish has with the Diocese of Truro's plans is that we believe they are addressing the wrong question from the wrong perspective - too often misusing wrong information to justify their actions.
In effect, the Bishops of Truro and St Germans publicly argue that they are making a
‘business case’ for ‘growing’ the church in Cornwall.
But no genuine company seriously trying to turn round a struggling
business model has ever succeeded by axing their sales staff, closing down
outlets, and effectively telling customers to change their buying habits
because they don’t know what’s best for them.
In this case, STP believes that this is what is happening to
the vicars and their parishes and churches, and churchgoers and local communities
in Cornwall.
What the Bishops want
Our Bishops are set on a certain ideological trajectory i.e.
developing a ‘mission church’ model at the expense of rural parishes and in
doing so are burning through its (OUR) financial assets. They will also be bankrolling this particular
agenda by channelling Church Commissioners’ funding (e.g. the Lowest Income
Community Fund) towards ‘support workers’ in the new On The Way deanery plans.
There has been minimal consultation in developing and rolling
out these plans. The C of E’s own data indicate that growth results when
priests are in parishes. The Diocese of
Truro has no data that its preferred model i.e. cutting clergy numbers while
funding ‘support workers’ results in growth.
Sadly, the Church of England’s own national research
repeatedly reveals that the Diocese of Truro’s business model has/is failing
badly elsewhere in the country e.g. Wales
SO WHAT DO WE SUGGEST?
We are calling for a moratorium on the On The Way process initiated
by the Episcopal College and pushed through without consultation. Why? Because across
Cornwall, we have found people alienated and confused by
- the process (lack of local consultation – high-handed ‘management consultancy’ jargon)
- plans often involving parish re-organisation which have bene endorsed by the Bishops, whether or not they ‘make sense’ or not. Again and again we have found that there has been no proper consultation: the process has been ‘top down’ not ‘bottom up’. The Diocese had a duty to present ‘both sides’ of the options: there is not evidence that they have worked closely to do this with deaneries developing their plans.
- A lack of knowledge about the real state of diocesan finances - the use of Church Commissioners funds and diocesan reserves – as well as high Church House costs. Many people are unaware that the Episcopal College favours resource church models – i.e. Transforming Mission schemes - with resulting cuts in clergy and increase in ‘support workers’.
Many people do not know that in 2020 income was £6.97m, of which £3.02m was
from parish giving (MMF) which covers the cost of ministry – but not ‘Head
office’ costs which were £2.72m.
WE ARE CALLING FOR
- An honest audit of the Transforming Mission projects which are swallowing up diocesan reserves (as well as Church Commissioners' money). Money is being poured into these failing schemes, simply because they fit our current Bishops' vision of what church should be. So far, the Diocese has failed to provide this audit and there is no evidence that they work and are bringing in new funds and worshippers.
- A re-assessment of how the Church Commissioners’ funds (the Strategic Development Fund and the Lowest Income Community Fund) are being channelled into these schemes in Cornwall. There is no evidence as yet that their current allocation - to Transforming Mission projects – has led to growth.
- Deaneries to lodge their dissent towards the plans that have been developed painfully yet without proper consultation (in particular where huge - and irreversible – parish re-organisation is involved) as when people voted for these plans, the diocese did not present ‘both sides’’ of the story – and they had an obligation to do so.
We are asking people instead to resist the implementation of these radical plans and to call for an open, honest and transparent discussion about the way forward - taking Cornish people's views into account.
- STOPPING Parish mergers into ever larger mega-structures
- RESISTING Joint Councils. PCCs can lodge their opposition to this. The power of local PCCs should be encouraged, not diminished
- INCREASING ordinand training and the deployment of curates to struggling parishes
- REDISTRIBUTING the financial contribution from the Church Commissioners in Cornwall – either directly relieving parishes of some of their funding obligations or in direct support of parishes
- INSISTING ON The presentation of a clear business case for every initiative to ensure the benefits justify the costs – and actions
- INTEGRATING of the Strategic Development fund into the parochial system, taking into account local churchmanship
- ALLOWING PCCs to retain their own endowment funds from legacies, sale of their own property and all forms of giving
- INSISTING ON Dioceses matching best practice int charity sector by not spending more than 15% of revenue on support, administration and advisory costs.
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