Facing a mega benefice? Contact your patron for help
As radical plans for a giant new benefice in Kerrier are put out for consultation - it's important to start making your views known. (Click here to read the Pastoral Reorganisation plans proposals for Kerrier. The deadline is the start of September.).
A mega-parish is defined as a grouping of typically 15-25 parishes, or former parishes, into either a single large benefice of parishes, probably with a Joint Church Council rather than individual Parochial Church Councils (PCCs), or into a single parish with just one PCC. In the latter case the individual churches would lose their status as a parish with their assets, rights and responsibilities of a PCC.
The patron of your parish could be an important ally: please think about contacting him or her. Patrons have the power to object.
Click here to read Save The Parish's fact sheet on the role of patrons and pastoral re-organisation.
- Local trustees or an individual with local knowledge will be keen to stress the need for local (rather than centralised) leadership
- Patronage societies may be concerned about changes in churchmanship in a mega benefice
- All patrons should be concerned that the evidence from elsewhere in the country shows that mega benefices/parishes cause decline. Click here to read an article by Save The Parish nationally. This article seeks to explain why the so-called mega-parish is deeply damaging to the fabric of the Church of England.
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