Draft Diocesan accounts show ten per cent drop in clergy numbers
The Diocese of Truro continues with plans to slash clergy in a movement towards a 'mission church' model and 'oversight ministry'. Its 2022 accounts - due to be approved at the Diocesan Synod on Saturday 20 May 2023 - show a ten per cent drop in clergy numbers from 60 at the end of 2021 to 54 a year later. Click here to view the accounts. Confused by the jargon? You are not alone. Cornwall's two Bishops, the Rt Rev Philip Mounstephen Bishop of Truro, and his suffragan the Rt Rev Hugh Nelson, Bishop of St Germans, are backing plans to drive through a new vision for the church in Cornwall. This involves an end to the centuries old tradition of vicars in parishes having a 'cure of souls' - and the introduction of a new working method i.e. one central church, well-funded and usually in an urban area, with outlying 'hubs' in surrounding areas. The vicar running the central church will no longer be called a vicar or priest - but an 'oversight ministe