Save The Parish - Cornwall

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...

  Britain is no longer a Christian country, say frontline clergy in an article published by The Times today. Click here to read. The Times selected 5,000 priests at random from among those with English addresses in Crockford’s Clerical Directory of Anglican clergy and received 1,436 responses, analysing data from the 1,185 respondents still serving. The survey uncovered high levels of stress among priests, many of whom feel over-stretched. They fear that the church’s efforts to arrest the decline in attendance will fail and this may ultimately lead to its “extinction”. Professor Linda Woodhead, head of the department of theology and religious studies at King’s College London, said: “It’s extremely important to hear the clergy’s views. It’s hard to carry out these surveys which is why we have very few of them, and it is very interesting.” She added: “This survey shows the clergy t...

A candid admission by Kerrier's new Rural Dean that some of her flock may have been made to feel 'insignificant' during the On The Way process is the latest sorry development in the saga. "Through the process of the 'On The Way' plan I do realise that some of you may have felt insignificant," writes the newly appointed rural dean Rev Heidi Huntley in West Kerrier's The Link magazine. "You may even have wondered where God is in all of this." Consultation - and communications - around Kerrier's controversial plan, which involves creating a giant benefice of 23 churches - has been minimal and discussions have been heated.  In the plan, Rev Huntley, who arrived in  Cornwall earlier this year from Royston, Hertfordshire,  will oversee the proposed new benefice with the help of just one other ordained clergy member - a pioneer minister who will not work on Sundays - and a team of lay workers.  Click here to read more about Cornwall's Bish...

 Kerrier deanery synod has voted for a mega benefice, uniting 23 churches under a single rural dean.  The synod on Thursday 3 August 2023, voted by 23 votes to four for the proposals which have attracted critical attention and widespread concern on both sides of the Tamar. Many question how one rural dean could properly oversee such a wide area - and point out that such benefices have failed elsewhere. The draft proposals for the re-organisation were described last week by a member of the Synod (who voted against them) as having 'potentially dire consequences for small rural parishes'. Click here to read the proposals which need the approval of the patrons of the various parishes (though the Bishop of Truro has the casting vote. The summary reads: These draft proposals provide for the union of the six benefices of Constantine, Helston and Wendron, Menegae, Mullion and Cury with Gunwalloe, St Keverne, St Ruan with St Grade and Landewednack, and West Kerrier. It provides for th...

Kerrier Deanery's plans for a radical restructuring plan envisaging a giant benefice with 23 churches coming together under one Rural Dean have caused shock waves not just locally but beyond the Tamar. And clearly - to judge from the newly appointed Rural Dean Rev Heidi Huntley's article in West Kerrier's July parish magazine - elements of the 'On The Way' plan have come as a great surprise to local residents too.  Some people aren't quite sure what is going on, she suggests.  And, she adds, it's been a 'bit of a shock'  - to put it mildly - to hear that the second priest to be employed in the deanery (through Church Commissioners' funding - the Rev Susie Templeton - won't be working on Sundays....  So much for the 'consultation' process that allegedly took place about the re-structuring, part of Cornwall's Bishops' On The Way plans for reshaping church in the county. Rev Heidi writes: Dear friends It’s come to my attenti...

We have uploaded as many plans as possible so that people in different parts of Cornwall can find out what's going on elsewhere. Up to now, this has not been the case. The Diocese has rolled out the On The Way process on a piecemeal basis so that many people have been completely unaware what has been going on in neighbouring deaneries. Some have voted for plans in which they have no confidence - simply because they have been told that there was no choice. They were told that the Bishop of St Germans, the Rt Rev Hugh Nelson, would approve the plans if they didn't. Powder Deanery Plan Click here to read   Trigg Minor Deanery Plan Click here to read Kerrier Deanery Plan Click here to read This plan was passed by the narrowest of margins .At the meeting of the Kerrier Deanery Synod on 23 rd  September 2022, at which the Deanery Plan was presented for approval, the secret ballot as recorded in the Minutes was:   For the Plan:      14 Against:  ...

Mullion Church is in the heart of the village – the largest on the Lizard peninsular - and central to life there. Outside is a tree festooned with blue and yellow ribbons in support of the people of Ukraine. By the gate is a noticeboard filled with news of village activities.  On the cover of a 2023 calendar for sale at the local café? A photograph of the church.  Yet Mullion Church's future and priest is at risk through Kerrier's controversial OnThe Way deanery plan which will see a huge super parish stretching across the deanery under just one rural dean (currently being recruited). Chillingly the plan (page 17) says God has been saying in the On The Way process 'We don't need lone leaders but a team of lay and ordained leaders'. In fact good parish priests are not and never have been lone leaders. They build up a team from their church congregation and sometimes the wider community and together serve the whole parish. Save The Parish Cornwall has received a po...

  An item to lift the heart in the church listings in The Cornishman (3/11/22).   Germoe Church is holding a meeting for churchgoers and members of the wider community on the controversial plans envisaged in Kerrier deanery's On The Way plan. The meeting will be on 14 November at 630pm in the church hall. This will give everyone a chance to air their views - those who do not attend church (but still value its presence in the community) as well as those who have worshipped there for years.  Click here to read the plan. Momentum is building elsewhere. We understand other churches in Kerrier - and other Cornish deaneries - are similarly calling special meetings to re-examine the controversial plans. In Kerrier, at least one other Parochial Church Council (PCC) has already met to record its opposition to the plans.  Kerrier faces radical changes: a 'super parish' with just one Rural Dean covering 23 parishes. The plan  was voted through by the narrowest of ...