Save The Parish - Cornwall

  Save The Parish Cornwall supporter Pam Dodd writes about the despair of ignored Cornish churchgoers (and non-churchgoers) "The chief danger that confronts the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, heaven without hell.” William Booth Founder of the Salvation Army  Someone once said something along the lines of “The Church of England exists for those who don’t go” or words to that effect. I’ve always understood it, up to a point, but it’s only since I’ve lived in Cornwall for the last 13 years that I have really heard, seen and felt it. Read on for the details. For the sake of argument, let’s do the unforgivable and include Cornwall in England. It’s accepted that Cornwall is either first or second in the “most rural county in the country” stakes. And not just rural, but a place which has only tenuous links with the rest of the country in so m...

Article in the New York Times asking the crucial question: when the Church of England has £10.3 billion in the bank, why are local communities being asked to take on a financial burden? Click here to read. Save The Parish Cornwall has a petition .calling for a moratorium on the Diocese of Truro's damaging On The Way plans.  Please sign by clicking on this link https://chng.it/L8KfGmrs6p

  Powerful Daily Telegraph article by Emma Thompson of Save The Parish.  The Church of England's bureaucratic approach risks destroying current forms of worship - resulting in the closure of many rural churches. Click here to read. "In Cornwall’s Lizard peninsula, bundling many Grade I listed churches, with others, into a single “parish” (for one vicar to “drag around”) could be the death knell for those buildings."  

We hand delivered our report ' Don't Turn Off The Lights, Bishops' to Lambeth Palace on Wednesday 21 December and recorded a video message for Archbishop Justin Welby.  Click here for the message. Our petition -  calling for a moratorium on the Diocese of Truro's damaging On The Way plans - is gaining momentum.  Please sign. Click here https://chng.it/L8KfGmrs6p    

And so it begins …  For the first time in more than 70 years there will be no celebration of the traditional and popular Christmas service of Midnight Mass in any rural village parish between the towns of Callington and Saltash in 2023. There are Midnight Masses in Callington and Saltash. But rural village churches - rather than town churches - are neglected.  T here are eight rural rather than town churches - Botus Fleming, Pillaton, St Mellion, Landulph, St Dominic, Calstock, Harrowbarrow and Gunnislake. None of these have Midnight Mass: traditionally three or four of them would have had done in the past. All bar Botus Fleming are in the Tamar Valley Benefice. If planned Deanery reorganisation takes place - as proposed by the Diocese of Truro - these seven churches would be merged with another three rural churches plus Callington. An 'oversight minister' would be in charge: no priests in parishes are planned. So there is little chance of the situation improving.  I...

We hand delivered our report ' Don't Turn Off The Lights, Bishops' to Lambeth Palace yesterday and recorded a video message for Archbishop Justin Welby. Click here for the message. Text of the letter is below - or click here to read.   20 December 2023 Dear Archbishop Welby Today we are hand delivering a report from Save The Parish Cornwall, calling for a moratorium on damaging and unpopular ‘On The Way’ plans. The report speaks for itself: it presents the testimonies of dozens of people across Cornwall who fear the changes are damaging and have little chance of success. Please listen to these people: people who want priests in parishes – not ‘oversight ministers’ and bureaucrats. Please consider the possibility that the Church Commissioners’ millions might be spent more usefully on vicars, not elaborate schemes for lay workers and mega benefices. The plans, micro-managed at every stage by the Bishop of St Germans, are being pushed through after minimal ...

 A review of Save The Parish's Alison Milbank's latest book  - The Once and Future Parish - in the Church Times.  Click here to read. To quote the reviewer Paul Avis:  'Reader, if, having heard vaguely of “Save the Parish”, you felt that it sounded rather shrill and alarmist, read this book, and you will think differently. Milbank’s arguments are not shrill, but measured and reasoned and supported by evidence. With many disturbing local examples, accompanied by eye-watering financial statistics of misspent funding, she exposes the assault on the integrity of the English parish, especially in the countryside, which is taking place under our noses, though veiled by disingenuous rhetoric to the contrary.'

An update from Alison Milbank, Professor of Theology and Literature at the University of Nottingham and Priest Vicar and Canon Theologian at Southwell Minster.  Please take note of the very good news - churches can now apply for grants from parish councils (details below) Leicester Save the Parish Meeting A number of us from the Steering Committee were in Loughborough Town Hall on 27th Nov, for a packed-out Save The Parish meeting to discuss Leicester Diocese’s reorganisation plans involving the bunching of parishes into large “Minster” groupings.  The link to our leaflet is here:  https://www.savetheparish.com/printable-leaflet/ and slides on the financial situation (which have a wider reference and might be of use to you) here: https://www.savetheparish.com/about/the-future-of-leicestershire-parishes-event/   The Wigan Debacle Please note from the leaflet what happened in a pilot project in Wigan; the 2023 independent report on Wigan is unarguable evide...

  Michael Victor’s timely article in The Church Times, with superb accompanying cartoon by Bill Caldwell , exemplifies the dire actions of dioceses across the country. Our only criticism should be that the bruisers outside the door don’t look as threatening enough as in real life. Click here to read Michael Victor's article. For centuries, the followers of Christ have been known as a flock of sheep, with Jesus the Good Shepherd and ordained clergy acting as His deputies. The analogy is becoming more and more apt as we discover that dioceses across England, led by their bishops and approved by the Archbishop of Canterbury, are behaving more and more like packs of wolves. Wolves, the traditional enemy of sheep,   encircle them, cutting off their escape to their folds - their churches. We should remember that ultimately, sheep are killed and eaten, taken to the abattoir before being devoured. Elderly sheep are easy prey for wolves, which will eat them but prefer the juicy meat ...

After the unexpectedly swift departure of the Rt Rev Philip Mounstephen, the Diocese of Truro is seeking a new Bishop. The Dean of Truro Cathedral, Fr Simon Robinson, is seeking people's views. It's important to respond.  After the debacle of the efforts initiated by Mounstephen to restructure the C of E in Cornwall (click here to read the response of congregations and communities across Cornwall to failures in process and consultation) , this is YOUR chance to express your views.  Cornwall needs a bishop who understands a Rural Diocese, and is prepared to listen to the people in the parishes as well as senior staff. Cornwall needs a Bishop who fervently hopes that people in all parishes, whether church goers or non attenders, know who their priest is and where he/she lives, in the community. Hopefuly there is enough a push and groundswell reaction to the On The Way fiasco to lead to the diocese reverting to being led by parishes, rather than Diocesan House Staff. Be...

 What does £88,000 pay for? more than one Save The Parish Cornwall supporter has asked recently.  The answer (if you put this question to the Diocese of Truro) is  - 'a clergy post'.  Cornish parishes are constantly being asked to contribute - via Mission and Ministry Fund (MMF) payments to 'clergy salaries'.  But to make an obvious point, if there are no clergy - as is increasingly the case in Cornwall as the acting Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev Hugh Nelson, rolls out plans for 'oversight ministers' in huge benefices - where exactly is the money going? And why should people in the pews continue to pay it? Click here to read an article in the latest edition of the Church Times written by a curious - and weary -churchwarden. As unease spreads about Church House plans - known as On The Way - which will result in radical restructuring of the C of E in Cornwall, Save The Parish Cornwall supporter Sue McClaughry has started a petition calling for a moratorium. Pleas...

As unease spreads about Church House plans - known as On The Way - which will result in radical restructuring of the C of E in Cornwall, Save The Parish Cornwall supporter Sue McClaughry has started a petition calling for a moratorium. Please click here to sign. Sue writes: The rural parishes across the whole of Cornwall are under threat, churches are at risk of falling into disuse and closure. There should be deep concern about the current and planned alterations to the practices of the Church of England across the Diocese of Truro. It is our belief that the process entitled On The Way which has instigated large scale changes in almost every parish in the Diocese is fundamentally flawed.  In many cases the plans will result in a reduction in clergy numbers, for example in one area there will be one priest overseeing 10 churches and 3 chapels, whilst in another two members of the clergy, one of whom will not work on Sundays, will be responsible for 23 churches. In these l...

An excellent article today in Anglican Ink on our dossier calling for a moratorium on the Diocese of Truro's damaging restructuring plans, known as On The Way. Cornwall’s flame of faith being deliberately doused by parish consolidation2/07/cornwalls-flame-of-faith-being-deliberately-doused-by-parish-consolidation-save-the-parish-charges/ The Diocese has reacted aggressively to the dossier and dismissed the concerns of churchgoers across Cornwall. The Bishop's Diocesan Council elected not to report on it to the latest Diocesan Synod .  Save The Parish Cornwall is calling for a  moratorium on these plans. Save The Parish Cornwall supporter Sue McClaughry has started a petition calling for this. Please click here to sign.

Proposed pastoral re-organisation in Powder deanery in the Diocese of Truro is proving controversial with many people anxious and angry about the prospect of ancient parishes being merged. The Church Commissioners have put out a call for comment / objections. If you go to this URL https://www.churchofengland.org/consultation and put “Truro” into the search box you will find "Proposals for pastoral reorganisation affecting benefices of St Just-in-Roseland and St Mawes; Gerrans with St Anthony-in-Roseland and Philleigh; et al, in the diocese of Truro.” The consultation period ends on 18 December. Anyone can comment and clearly it is important that people should do so. Pastoral re-organisations like these are aimed at creating 'super parishes' where traditional Parochial Church Councils lose their power and autonomy and the centuries' old power of 'the local' is eroded forever. Once these steps are taken, they are taken forever - so it is important to object soon...

The Diocese of Truro has approved a radical plan to use reserves to fund its ten-year Plan for Change and Renewal, ignoring wide-spread concern from churchgoers across Cornwall.  Click here to read the official report of the decision by the thinly-attended Diocesan Synod on 18 November 2023.  Save The Parish Cornwall's Martin Saunders argued strongly against this short-term approach, saying Church House's approach was 'profligacy' which would make it harder for future generations. Read on for the text of his speech.   A better title for this paper would be "Selling off the family silver" All that we are doing is that we are relying on the charity of our forebears to make life easier for ourselves at the expense of our successors. I repeat. All that we are doing is that we are relying on the charity of our forebears to make life easier for ourselves at the expense of our successors. The diocese have held dangling in front of us what they think to be lovely carr...