Save The Parish - Cornwall

 Save The Parish co-founder Alison Milbank writes... This is a rather belated report on our 2025 conference.  Save the Parish welcomed over 120 people to           St James the Greater in Leicester for our conference on October 18th, on the theme, ‘A parish is for         life’. We are entering a new stage in our development as an organisation, as we have become part of the solution for the future flourishing of local ministry in the Church of England. The positive focus of the conference reflected this, though it comes after no fewer than four STP centrally supported events in Leicester diocese to protest against the radical removal there of local parish ministry.   This event was focused on reflecting on our gains in synod, which Marcus described, as well as the alliances with rural bishops in seeking to rebalance financial resources back to the parishes. Bijan Omrani, whose book about the Christia...

Dissenting voices emerged at today's Diocese of Truro synod over the eye-watering budget deficit planned for 2026 - nearly £4.5 million after a £3.4 million deficit in 2025. Supporters of the Diocese of Truro's 'strategy led' budget - which aims to support unproven and unfinished deanery plans created during the restructuring process known as On The Way - say that a total of £22 million of Diocesan reserves need to be poured into these plans over a ten-year period. On The Way envisages a model of Oversight Ministers managing teams of lay ministers and workers - often in large benefices - rather than priests in parishes. Others today counselled caution and called for firm evidence that the much-vaunted 'fruitfulness and sustainability' of this approach is provided before the financial situation of the Diocese is weakened yet further. Martin Saunders from Pydar Deanery regretted the fact that only 20 minutes had been allocated to such an important discussion.  T...

Stephen Billyeald, former Managing Director of Ryman Group plc and a member of Save The Parish's national Financial Scrutiny Group analyses the Diocese of Truro 2026 draft budget (click here to read the papers) . He writes:   Truro Diocesan Board of Finance (TDBF) has shown an operating deficit on Unrestricted Funds every year from 2021 to 2024 totalling £11 million over the four years. A deficit of £3.4 million is forecast for 2025 and £4.5 million deficit is budgeted for 2026. Restricted Funds have broken even at the operating level over the four years but the fund balance has declined by £5 million as a result of transfers to Unrestricted Funds. In the same period £3.1 million was received from the Archbishops’ Council as grants and over £3m was received from the sale of properties. Truro DBF has been kept afloat overall by grants from the Archbishops' Council and sale of properties. This situation is unsustainable. 2026 Budget The budget does not provide any evid...

  At last: an acknowledgement from the Diocese of Truro that its controversial plans for Kerrier Deanery are unworkable and more pastoral support is needed from clergy. An advertisement in today's Church Times seeks an 'Interim Pastoral Priest' intended to help to fill the inevitable gap left by just one Rural Dean and a Pioneer Priest overseeing more than 20 scattered rural churches. Click here to read the job description.    Click here to read the original Kerrier On The Way Deanery Plan (the Diocese has been unable to recruit several of the lay worker positions. The plan talks of 23 churches: the job description lists 21).  Key points follow.... Archdeacon Clive Hogger starts by introducing the highly controversial Oversight Ministry model which, he says is 'equipping the lay and ordained leaders and the people in the parishes to work together as a team'. Oversight Ministry is a concept introduced by the Diocese of Truro following its restructuring process known ...

 A welcome sign that controversial On The Way deanery plans can be adjusted, reshaped - and in some cases, torn up. A Penwith Deanery Plan Review Day will be held on Saturday 15 November at Paul Church Hall from 10am until 430pm. All are welcome but places should be reserved by emailing the Deanery administrator on  penwithdeanery@gmail.com Penwith's On The Way plan has been controversial from the start: click here to read about two earlier incarnations.   Many have been feeling despondent and unsure of the way forward - particularly in the west of the deanery.   Click here for more background on Saturday's meeting.   The agenda makes it clear that the plans have been hit by significant problems, to say the least -  around trust and relationships, working practices and agreeing priorities.  The aim is to build 'an action plan that is challenging, achievable, and genuinely owned, with clear success criteria.'    For the full agenda with ...

 List of Truro Diocesan Synod members - November 2025

Many thanks to Jonathan Harradine, from Penwith Deanery, who has drawn our attention to You Are Not Alone in Feeling Lonely , a recent report by Age UK . Mr Harradine is a Research Fellow at York University in the Health Sciences Faculty, which contributed to this report. Its message is particularly relevant as 'Oversight Ministers' - clergy overseeing ever larger numbers of parishes - become an increasing reality in Cornwall. Isolation leads to mental health issues: people need local contact, the report says. Click here to read it. "I think the insights in this report highlight the need for the Church to recognise that it is not supporting its parishioners and its communities adequately in this important area for our Health and Wellbeing,"  Mr Harradine says.  He believes it is particularly important to consider this ahead of the upcoming Penwith Deanery Planning Day (15th November) and the review of Penwith's On The Way Deanery Plan.  Local clergy recently ac...