So where are we now? The current state of play in Penwith deanery
The Diocese of Truro's major restructuring and clergy-cutting exercise On The Way is felt nowhere more keenly in Penwith, one of the first deaneries to vote through an unpopular and challenging restructuring plan. The Episcopal College recently failed to recruit a Rural Dean responsible for a new 'split' deanery into East Side and West Side and oversee parish re-organisation : only one application was received. What are the proposals on the table? How and why has this situation developed? Our Bishops, sadly, share the view of others in the hierarchy of the Church of England that there is little future for parishes as a means of delivering the Gospel. Key to this has been a national paper called the 'Mission and Pastoral Measure' which argued that congregations with an average congregation of 20 or fewer were unviable. A way forward was proposed - concentrating clergy and financial resources in 'Transforming Mission hubs in some cities and towns. (In Cornwall,