Kerrier flock may have 'felt insignificant', says Rural Dean
"Through the process of the 'On The Way' plan I do realise that some of you may have felt insignificant," writes the newly appointed rural dean Rev Heidi Huntley in West Kerrier's The Link magazine. "You may even have wondered where God is in all of this."
Consultation - and communications - around Kerrier's controversial plan, which involves creating a giant benefice of 23 churches - has been minimal and discussions have been heated. In the plan, Rev Huntley, who arrived in Cornwall earlier this year from Royston, Hertfordshire, will oversee the proposed new benefice with the help of just one other ordained clergy member - a pioneer minister who will not work on Sundays - and a team of lay workers. Click here to read more about Cornwall's Bishops' On The Way plans for changing the face of the Church of England in the Diocese of Truro.People involved closely in the development of Kerrier's plan - one of the first to be developed in the county - say that discussions around it took place during the Covid lockdown, many on Zoom.
"The initial vote was one in total ignorance," said one Synod member. "And we didn’t know whether we were voting on behalf of PCCs, or as individuals."
In the many months since, discussions have been heated as the Diocese insisted that the plan proceeded despite the increasing reservations of many. ('This is your plan," Archdeacon Paul Bryer repeatedly insisted when doubts were raised.)
As the Synod voted earlier this month to proceed with the plan - despite earlier doubts - and create a Community Interest Company (CIC) to employ a team of new lay workers, several Synod members said that they were exhausted. Any plan was better than no plan.
Rev Huntley, writing in The Link, says that she will not ignore her responsibility for the 'cure of souls in Kerrier Deanery'. But simultaneously she acknowledges a potential difficulty. Understandably - nearly 34,000 people live in Kerrier. Of Rev Huntley's 23 churches, 14 are Grade 1 listed. Of the area's 20 primary schools, five are Church of England. There are two secondary schools and nine care homes. This is a big ask for one priest. The area from the west of Helston across the Lizard may - perhaps - look small on a map. But as the Kerrier Deanery On The Way plan itself admits - 'Although distances between places in Kerrier look short, they often take more travel time, due to narrowness of lanes, need to reverse to allow oncoming vehicles to pass, slow tractors etc').
"I may not yet know each one of you well, but at my Licensing I promised to take on the Cure of Souls in Kerrier Deanery and that means I will care for you all," Rev Huntley writes. "Naturally I can't do this alone, but I can with God's grace and your prayers..... I don't believe He wants to see his Church fail in Kerrier or anywhere else, but I do believe he's asking us to take a leap of faith and trust him as we move forward."
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