Write a letter to oppose Parish Re-organisation plans - and here's a template to help

Writing to record your objections to the radical On The Way plans backed by our Cornish Bishops might seem daunting. But Save The Parish has many resources to help. If you are keen to pick up your pen, a supporter has recently drafted up this template which might help. It has all the background and can be adapted and amended to your church's circumstances.

"The Diocese is confidently giving the impression that the Parish Reorganisation in this area, and others, is a done deal. This is not the case.

Any plan for Parish Reorganisation has to be submitted to the Church Commissioners for approval. Once received they will ask PCCs for comment. Whilst we should certainly state our views at that stage, any concerns or objections will carry more weight if they have been previously raised with the Bishops. So if you have concerns you should certainly be writing to Truro now and if you feel your concerns have not been adequately addressed you should reword and resend your letter. It is not too late.

Furthermore should you choose to share your letter with other friends, acquaintances or members of the PCC, they can also write to support what you say. The more letters of concern that can be recorded and referred to once the Church Commissions are involved the better.

There are two areas of the On The Way plan that are weak, one is the financial details and the other is the issue of consultation. My understanding is that Save The Parish are looking into the finances in some depth but with regard to consultation we have to make our own case.

The Diocese will aim to say that they have fully consulted with the parishes throughout this process and that is has been driven from the grass roots, this is clearly not the case but proving it might be difficult. The Bishops have now started visitations to the Deaneries. These are part of the process of consultation which will be recorded by the Diocese and favourably minuted; the write up in the latest news sheet about the Bishops' recent visit to Trigg Major does not record any of the negative feed back or awkward questions which were asked at the meeting. It is important that those of us who attend these meetings should write up a record of the events and questions that arose.

We are seeing first hand the issues that are occurring as a result of OTW, but we are not alone, many priests are leaving ministry in Cornwall and posts are going unfilled, it is not surprising given the workload that clergy are being expected to handle. If we are to stand any chance of making a difference we need to highlight the weaknesses in the Deanery Plan now."