More than a quarter of churches in Cornwall are failing to offer a Sunday service, The Telegraph says

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More than a quarter of churches in Cornwall are failing to offer a Sunday service, analysis by the Telegraph reveals today. Click here to read the full article.

Two weeks ago the Sunday Telegraph covered our dossier on churchgoers' - and the wider communities' - concerns about plans for radical change in worship patterns in Cornwall. These plans, known as On The Way, have been championed by the former Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev Philip Mounstephen, and the acting Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev Hugh Nelson (formerly Bishop of St Germans).

The paper said today that across 287 churches in the county, 78 had no forms of Sunday worship advertised on the last weekend of September - a total of 27 per cent.
Of those that did, just 114 advertised that Communion was being offered, considered by many Christians to be the most important sacrament.
Responding to the data, the Rev Marcus Walker, chairman  of the campaign group, Save The Parish, said: "It can come as no shock to anyone that if you reduce the number of priests, you reduce the number of services: if you reduce the number of services, you reduce the number of people going to church."
 A spokesperson for Save The Parish Cornwall said: " It’s good to see numbers being pulled from the church’s own source (A Church Near You). The Diocese may claim the numbers are wrong but they come from the C of E website."
The Diocese of Truro, asked for comment two weeks ago, said that the figures given by The Telegraph were inaccurate, but failed to provide alternative data.


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