A message from Save The Parish national steering Committee member Admiral Sir James Burrell-Nugent:
Our Spring Conference on "Campaigning" was a great success, with a record number of attendees. We have had excellent feedback and many requests for transcripts of the speeches.
The keynote address was given by Bishop Andrew Rumsey, Bishop of Ramsbury, entitled "Common Ground? The Past & Future of the English Parish." Notes of his address are here.
Chris Loder MP then spoke on "How to make best use of your MP." The most important point he made was that we must all write to every general election Parliamentary candidate in our constituency asking for support for Save The Parish. The more of us that write, the more traction we will get. Ideally then your winning candidate will have given their support in writing before they are elected and get busier. Notes of his talk are here.
Andrew Orange, an STP General Synod member, then spoke on "PCC Amalgamations: Why they are wrong, and how to resist them." There is excellent practical advice in his talk - his most important point being not to surrender your PCC because you will lose all your rights to oppose, or even influence, unwelcome schemes for the future of your parish and its church. Please also do not agree to the suspension of your patron's rights to appoint a new vicar. Andrew's full text is here.
I gave a short talk on "Top Tips for Campaigning". The first of my top three was to be clear about your campaigning aim (e.g. not to be merged with another benefice). If possible get it agreed unanimously by your PCC and stick to it. Secondly, concentrate your team on that aim and focus all your campaigning resources on it. Do not get distracted by side issues. And thirdly, don't waste effort. Your team is probably small and all volunteers, so fit the tasks to their skill sets and remember you cannot afford to waste any of their valuable time.
Finally The Rev'd Canon Professor Alison Milbank sent us all forth with a talk on "What Good Looks Like and How to Campaign Positively for the Parish System." Her talk was a gold mine of useful language and advice which supporters might find helpful in phrasing correspondence with their diocese or in formal representations. Her full text is here. I hope you enjoy her "PARISH: P is for Permanence and Pastoring; A is for All; R is for Rooted; I is for Identity; S is for Sacred; and H is for Heart".
Concurrently, The Rev'd Canon Angela Tilby, member of the Save The Parish Steering Committee, wrote a compelling article in the Church Times, where she has a regular column. Her topic was "Sheep Need Shepherds, not Managers." Again there is useful material in there if you feel you are being forced into accepting the managerial nature of oversight ministry, rather than local pastoral ministry. A version of her wise advice written especially for our website is here.
I hope you can see from the above that there is a rich seam of valuable information and advice on our recently-refreshed website. If you would like to write an essay for our website, please get in touch at help@savetheparish.com. If you want to tell our web-watchers about what is happening in your parish - good or bad - then please submit a Parish Story here. | 
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