Summer update: Save the Parish Conference and General Synod - Part 1
An update from the Rev Marcus Walker, Chairman, Save the Parish "As you will have been aware, we held our second York conference last month, the day before General Synod began in York (to make it easier for friendly and interested members could come and listen). The theme this year was 'The Parish: the church in action' and I was delighted to open proceedings with a short rallying speech on the way in which our campaign has changed the way our leaders in the church talk about parishes and parish ministry. You can find our press release on the conference here . Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central was our first speaker and set out the enormous importance of the parish church as the centre of mission, worship and community; a place where all can gather together and see needs met. She went on to say that it is hard to see how the centralisation of the church’s decision-making, including that of property ownership, can deliver the necessary understanding or priorit