Save The Parish - Cornwall

The next Archbishop of Canterbury must be pro-parish churches, Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent writes in The Times this week ahead of the imminent announcement of Justin Welby's successor.  The Crown Nominations Commission needs to put forward a genuinely pro-parish successor to Justin Welby or thousands of churches will be at risk Click here to read the full article. 

As the annoucement of the next Archbishop of Canterbury approaches, Madeleine Davies asks in the Church Times whether it is time to review the drift towards managerialism Click here to read.

This week's local press in Cornwall picks up the current controversy over Transforming Mission - in Camborne and elsewhere in Cornwall . Headline: 'Campaigners want more transparency over church project' »A MISSION to attract more worshippers to Anglican churches has become an embarrassment to the Diocese of Truro, a campaign group has claimed. Save the Parish Cornwall (StPC) levelled the accusation following a meeting at which churchgoers from around Camborne attempted to find “a constructive way” out of the controversy caused by the Transforming Mission (TM) project. The plans for TM in the Camborne area envisaged expenditure of £750,000 between 2019 and 2025. The Church Commissioners have met 60% of its costs and the diocese has contributed 40% from its reserves, but StPC says there has been a lack of transparency. TM has also been rolled out in Falmouth, St Austell, Liskeard and Highertown. The diocese has agreed to an independent review of its finances, due...

An engaging, frank and persuasive video from the new Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev David Williams, reflecting on his first months in Cornwall (he arrived in May 2025). "It's been more exciting than I ever dreamt possible," he says in a film published on the Diocesan website ahead of a Clergy Recruitment day later this month. But it's also been tougher than he expected. "Every night I go home energised by the people I’ve met and the places I’ve visited," he said. "A profound sense of thankfulness for this place and the people of Cornwall. But it’s also been tougher than I could have imagined. That twin impact, those two impressions, I think are quite important to hold together. You will find more of God than you imagined but you'll find a challenge you weren't expecting." Has anything surprised him? "I have been surprised by the warmth of the welcome in almost every place I've been. As perhaps in many other places but maybe it...

  Saturday 18th October 2025 St James the Greater, 219 London Road, Leicester, LE2 1NE Programme 11.00  Coffee and registration (in the church) 11.30  Rev’d Marcus Walker: welcome and review of the year 12.00  Bijan Omrani: the Christian roots of national and parish life 13.00  Lunch (in hall, which has lift access if needed) 13.45  Panel:  What makes churches thrive? Chaired by Prudence Dailey 14.30  Practical issues: preparing for General Synod elections; how to start a local group 15.00  Bishop Esther Prior: A Parish is for Life 15.45  Rev’d Marcus Walker: The way ahead 16.00  Tea 16.30  Evensong for St Luke’s Day: preacher - Rev’d Ruth Schofield 17.00  Drinks If you have any questions please email milbankalison@gmail.com or ring 07738873279.   

Abigail Kirby-Harris (representing Trigg Minor deanery) had intended to speak at length at yesterday's Diocesan Synod discussions on Oversight Ministry but sadly was prevented from doing so as - unexpectedly - the morning's schedule was curtailed and an early lunch announced without explanation. Abigail had been able to make a few remarks on Oversight Ministry before the session closed - as did other Save The Parish supporters: click here to read. But she had consulted her PCC (Parochial Church Council) and was planning to say much more on their behalf. She was frustrated - to say the least - not to be able to deliver the short speech due to the abrupt and unexpected end to the morning session. Abigail understands that the Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev David Williams, having been informed about the situation by Diocesan Secretary Simon Cade, has asked to see a copy of Abigail's speech. We reproduce it here in full. "I understand that the Save the Parish Cornwall websit...

The new Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev David Williams, has spent his first months on the road listening to churchgoers but appears not to be taking heed of pleas for more priests in parishes: the case was strongly put today at the Diocesan Synod for Oversight Ministers in large benefices.   Save The Parish supporters from across Cornwall – and beyond the Tamar – have expressed their grave doubts about this direction of travel which has failed spectacularly in other parts of the country. At the Synod, Bishop David’s head of ministry, Isaac McNish, put forward a case for continuing to roll out the Oversight Ministry model   - started during the Diocese’s radical restructuring programme known as 'On The Way'.   The plan is for Oversight Ministers to be for the most part administrators, managing teams of lay workers, ministers and readers who are responsible for pastoral care as well as taking services when necessary.  Mr McNish painted a picture of four imaginary churc...

"It is a brave man (or women) indeed who applies for the job of Oversight Minister.   Apart from having to spread his services thinly among many Churches his only means of trying to implement the aspirations of those above is persuasion – he has no sanctions.   PCCs are made up of a complex mix of people whose only essential qualification is a willingness to volunteer. The phrase   “herding cats” springs to mind. In the case of my own Deanery – East Wivelshire – two of the three Oversight Ministers have just resigned after about a year in the job. "  John Kennaugh Keen readers of this blog will remember a thought-provoking post back in March this year by a Church Treasurer in east Cornwall .  What is going on? John Kennaugh asked.  Six months on, John has written another article - 'What happened?' - this time about bureaucracy and Oversight Ministry, which will  be debated at this coming Saturday's deanery synod. In 1955 ,   a chap called Pro...

  Falmouth Packet 3 September 2025   

The five churches in Camborne Cluster: Camborne, Crowan, Tuckingmill, Treslothan and Penponds. A meeting of churchgoers from churches around Camborne - dissuaded by senior figures in the Diocese from meeting at Camborne Church - filled a community hall nearby last night in an effort to find a constructive way forward from the controversy sparked by expensive mission plans for local churches.  The meeting - which started and ended with prayers and a hymn - was prompted by concerns about a lack of transparency over the Transforming Mission programme in Camborne and surrounding churches, funded by the Church Commissioners(60%) and Diocese of Truro reserves (40%).  The multi-million pound programme, which initially envisaged a spend of more than £750,000 in Camborne between 2019-2025, has also been rolled out in four other Cornish towns (Falmouth, St Austell, Liskeard and Highertown). It originated as a well-meaning attempt by the Diocese to reach ‘missing generations’ and invigor...

Extract from paper for discussion at Diocese of Truro Synod, September 2025 We - and other churchgoers across Cornwall - had hoped that the advent of a new Bishop of Truro might halt the onward march to Oversight and Lay Ministry in large groupings of parishes.  The concept was introduced during the controversial On The Way deanery restructuring  programme championed by the former Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev Philip Mounstephen, and his suffragan Bishop, the Rt Rev Hugh Nelson.  Sadly, in the years since, there have been many examples of Oversight Ministry proving just too much for those charged with it - impossible administrative loads resulting in physical and mental exhaustion. However ... a paper due to be discussed at next month's Diocesan Synod offers complete endorsement and suggests full steam ahead with Oversight and Local Ministry - despite high profile failures. Click here to read.    The model enables 'incumbent status stipendiary priests to lead...

Diocesan Communications Officer Kelly Rowe has requested both a printed and online correction to the article that appeared in yesterday's Falmouth Packet, which misleadingly said a third full-time stipendiary priest had been recruited in Kerrier Deanery. The article took local PCCs (Parochial Church Councils) by surprise.  Contacted by Save The Parish Cornwall about the apparent change in clergy provision, Kelly Rowe said in an email that a priest had not, in fact, been appointed: "I think this story might have got ahead of itself. As far as we are aware, we have agreed the appointment of a third stipendiary priest but have not yet advertised the post. I am guessing that the person would not be in post until the end of the year, more likely early next year. The deanery is currently in the throes of radical  and controversial pastoral reorganisation - with a giant benefice of 23 churches proposed under just one rural dean.  Kelly Rowe  went on to confirm th...

The controversial Kerrier Deanery plan, bringing together 23 churches under one rural dean, has been updated. Click here to read. This is useful background for those preparing to object to current proposals to create a mega benefice in the deanery.  The new introduction to the plans says it incorporates .... " all recent revisions approved through the appropriate governance processes. To enhance clarity and transparency, an overview table at the beginning of the document outlines each change request, including the nature of the change, the date of approval, and links to the relevant section it affects. Change requests have been noted alongside the original text and are clearly highlighted with a red underline for ease of reference with a link back to the change request table. Corresponding endnotes provide further context and justification if needed, ensuring a clear audit trail. These updates reflect ongoing developments and alignment with strategic priorities. "  The Pastor...

 Since the new Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev David Williams, published proposals for pastoral reorganisation in Kerrier deanery, west Cornwall, last month we have received many questions from people who are concerned about the plan and would like to know how to object.  This pastoral reorganisation, with its proposal for 23 churches under one rural dean, has attracted negative attention both locally and nationally. We publish the below ('Vote Red to Stop') as an inspiration. This letter was circulated to PCCs in Framland Deanery, Leicestershire, facing similar proposals for centralisation. It was drafted up by concerned Save The Parish supporters, keen to do what they can to stop damaging - and irreversible - proposals Email to all Red and Amber voters in Framland, August 2025 Your PCC will have received the draft proposals for minster communities in the Framland deanery for comment.     If we wish to survive as rural churches, it is very important at this sta...

 Since the new Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev David Williams, published proposals for pastoral reorganisation in Kerrier deanery, west Cornwall, last month we have received many questions from people who are concerned about the plan and would like to know how to object.  This pastoral reorganisation, with its proposal for 23 churches under one rural dean, has attracted negative attention both locally and nationally.  Click here to read the updated Kerrier Deanery Plan . Here are three dozen reasons why large groupings of parishes are unnecessary and unwelcome...  These come under four headings. To read the first (Legal) click here  , the second (Evidence) click here  and the third (Finance) click here.  The fourth heading is Pastoral.  A paper by Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent     Summary:  From the teaching in the Bible, through the bishop’s ordination sacrament, to today’s huge demands for social and mental care, th...

 Since the new Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev David Williams, published proposals for pastoral reorganisation in Kerrier deanery, west Cornwall, last month we have received many questions from people who are concerned about the plan and would like to know how to object.  This pastoral reorganisation, with its proposal for 23 churches under one rural dean, has attracted negative attention both locally and nationally.   Click here to read the updated Kerrier Deanery Plan . Here are three dozen reasons why large groupings of parishes are unnecessary and unwelcome...  These come under four headings. To read the first (Legal) click here  and the second (Evidence) click here . The third heading is Finance.  A paper by Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent   Summary:  Challenge how the financial management of your diocese compares with other dioceses across the country.  Is the funding organised to generate the maximum amount to pa...

 Since the new Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev David Williams, published proposals for pastoral reorganisation in Kerrier deanery, west Cornwall, last month we have received many questions from people who are concerned about the plan and would like to know how to object.  This pastoral reorganisation, with its proposal for 23 churches under one rural dean, has attracted negative attention both locally and nationally.   Click here to read the updated Kerrier Deanery Plan . Here are three dozen reasons why large groupings of parishes are unnecessary and unwelcome...  These come under four headings. To read the first (legal) click here. The second heading is: Evidence  A paper by Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent   Summary:  The Church’s own studies and their experiments on the ground all conclude that merging parishes and reducing clergy numbers drives decline.  It is the wrong response and it is time to stop planning for this...

 Since the new Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev David Williams, published proposals for pastoral reorganisation in Kerrier deanery, west Cornwall, last month we have received many questions from people who are concerned about the plan and would like to know how to object.  This pastoral reorganisation, with its proposal for 23 churches under one rural dean, has attracted negative attention both locally and nationally.    Click here to read the updated Kerrier Deanery Plan . Here are three dozen reasons why large groupings of parishes are unnecessary and unwelcome...  These come under four headings. The first: Legal.   A paper by Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent   Summary:  The Pastoral Reorganisation Code of Practice is a gold mine of the rights of PCCs.  Read it and use it!  And do not give up your PCC, otherwise you will not have any of these rights.  Dioceses have to operate within the law.  ...