St Austell On The Way deanery plan
Just to refresh everyone's memory - click here to read St Austell On The Way deanery plan. This plan has been described by some involved - powerless to prevent what they clearly saw were ill-advised moves - as a 'disaster'.
St Austell was one of the first Cornish deaneries to embark on the controversial 'On The Way' process, driven forward by the Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev Philip Mounstephen. On The Way, which envisages developing out a 'mission church' model in deaneries across Cornwall, started to be rolled out strategically by the Epipiscoal College early in 2021, in deaneries - geographically isolated from each other - across Cornwall. In Kerrier, Penwith, East Wivelshire and St Austell - the first deaneries to undergo the On The Way planning process, churchgoers concerned about developments were told that they were 'the only ones' posing problems. Others had found the process relatively easy, they were told. They should put aside their misgivings and vote through the Bishops' favoured plans.
While all this has been going on - and it has now reached deaneries across Cornwall - the Bishops - both of Truro and St Germans - have bafflingly insisted that the process is 'bottom up' not 'top down'. This despite minutes from the On The Way process that show that the Bishop of St Germans, the Rt Rev Hugh Nelson, was involved at every stage, micro-managing developments and advising- click here to read. The plans were in no way 'blue sky thinking' from a grass-root level. Budgets - and targets - were set by the Bishops. Everything depended on individual churches' MMF (Mission and Ministry Fund) contributions, set by the Diocese - and money that the Bishops judged could be channelled in from the Church Commissioners' Strategic Development Fund and Lowest Income Community Fund (LICF). Nothing was left to chance: nothing was spontaneous.
Deanery representatives in Penwith deanery, and in St Austell, were read a letter - they were told from the Bishop of St Germans - saying that he would vote the preferred plan through anyway - if they did not. In many deaneries, the 'vote' for the plans was extremely close and has divided church communities.
In Kerrier, where there is a highly controversial plan for a 'mega benefice' - 23 churches overseen by one rural dean - the On The Way plan was only narrowly passed in a secret ballot on 23rd September 2022 - with 14 for the plan, 11 against and three abstentions.
The On The Way process has bitterly divided other Cornish deaneries - At Save The Parish Cornwall meetings, churchgoers from St Austell deanery made the following points in October, when they finally had the chance to meet people from other deaneries, as concerned and anxious as they were, at a Save The Parish Cornwall meeting in Penzance.
"St Austell The On The Way plan was passed some time ago and now parishioners are pushing back against it: it has been a disaster. Individuals had written to the Bishop to say the Diocese had no idea how to consult and manage change. Deanery synod members had been told: if you don’t accept the plan we’ll push it through anyway. There is now a general realisation that the plan is bad.
St Austell was one of the first – if not the first – On The Way plan to be passed. There is also a Transforming Mission scheme in the deanery, which is large with 17 parishes, only 4 of which pay MMF in full. The plan was driven by the Bishops and there was not sufficient consultation. It was presented by the ‘Leadership Team’, not discussed. The deanery is now divided into East and West. Goran PCC voted 100% against apart from one churchwarden. This has made it difficult. One parishioner wrote to the Bishop to say the Diocese has not consulted properly and that he ought to resign and apologise. The Diocese had said throughout – unless you vote for the plan, we will push it through.
Overall the sums don’t make sense and diocesan accounts are almost impossible to understand. There is a lack of transparency – particularly over Transforming Mission finances. Huge amounts of money are being spent on Transforming Mission with no sign of success, while cuts proceed elsewhere.
Comments