Save The Parish - Cornwall

 What does £88,000 pay for? more than one Save The Parish Cornwall supporter has asked recently.  The answer (if you put this question to the Diocese of Truro) is  - 'a clergy post'.  Cornish parishes are constantly being asked to contribute - via Mission and Ministry Fund (MMF) payments to 'clergy salaries'.  But to make an obvious point, if there are no clergy - as is increasingly the case in Cornwall as the acting Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev Hugh Nelson, rolls out plans for 'oversight ministers' in huge benefices - where exactly is the money going? And why should people in the pews continue to pay it? Click here to read an article in the latest edition of the Church Times written by a curious - and weary -churchwarden. As unease spreads about Church House plans - known as On The Way - which will result in radical restructuring of the C of E in Cornwall, Save The Parish Cornwall supporter Sue McClaughry has started a petition calling for a moratorium. Pleas...

As unease spreads about Church House plans - known as On The Way - which will result in radical restructuring of the C of E in Cornwall, Save The Parish Cornwall supporter Sue McClaughry has started a petition calling for a moratorium. Please click here to sign. Sue writes: The rural parishes across the whole of Cornwall are under threat, churches are at risk of falling into disuse and closure. There should be deep concern about the current and planned alterations to the practices of the Church of England across the Diocese of Truro. It is our belief that the process entitled On The Way which has instigated large scale changes in almost every parish in the Diocese is fundamentally flawed.  In many cases the plans will result in a reduction in clergy numbers, for example in one area there will be one priest overseeing 10 churches and 3 chapels, whilst in another two members of the clergy, one of whom will not work on Sundays, will be responsible for 23 churches. In these l...

An excellent article today in Anglican Ink on our dossier calling for a moratorium on the Diocese of Truro's damaging restructuring plans, known as On The Way. Cornwall’s flame of faith being deliberately doused by parish consolidation2/07/cornwalls-flame-of-faith-being-deliberately-doused-by-parish-consolidation-save-the-parish-charges/ The Diocese has reacted aggressively to the dossier and dismissed the concerns of churchgoers across Cornwall. The Bishop's Diocesan Council elected not to report on it to the latest Diocesan Synod .  Save The Parish Cornwall is calling for a  moratorium on these plans. Save The Parish Cornwall supporter Sue McClaughry has started a petition calling for this. Please click here to sign.

Proposed pastoral re-organisation in Powder deanery in the Diocese of Truro is proving controversial with many people anxious and angry about the prospect of ancient parishes being merged. The Church Commissioners have put out a call for comment / objections. If you go to this URL https://www.churchofengland.org/consultation and put “Truro” into the search box you will find "Proposals for pastoral reorganisation affecting benefices of St Just-in-Roseland and St Mawes; Gerrans with St Anthony-in-Roseland and Philleigh; et al, in the diocese of Truro.” The consultation period ends on 18 December. Anyone can comment and clearly it is important that people should do so. Pastoral re-organisations like these are aimed at creating 'super parishes' where traditional Parochial Church Councils lose their power and autonomy and the centuries' old power of 'the local' is eroded forever. Once these steps are taken, they are taken forever - so it is important to object soon...

The Diocese of Truro has approved a radical plan to use reserves to fund its ten-year Plan for Change and Renewal, ignoring wide-spread concern from churchgoers across Cornwall.  Click here to read the official report of the decision by the thinly-attended Diocesan Synod on 18 November 2023.  Save The Parish Cornwall's Martin Saunders argued strongly against this short-term approach, saying Church House's approach was 'profligacy' which would make it harder for future generations. Read on for the text of his speech.   A better title for this paper would be "Selling off the family silver" All that we are doing is that we are relying on the charity of our forebears to make life easier for ourselves at the expense of our successors. I repeat. All that we are doing is that we are relying on the charity of our forebears to make life easier for ourselves at the expense of our successors. The diocese have held dangling in front of us what they think to be lovely carr...

Truro's Bishop's Diocesan Council (BDC) will not report to the Diocesan Synod tomorrow (18 November 2023) on Save The Parish Cornwall's request for a moratorium on controversial On The Way restructuring plans, the acting Bishop of Truro has said. Instead - in a highly unusual and controversial development - the BDC will rely on social media outlets to communicate its discussions last month. "The BDC meeting on 17 October considered a wide range of agenda items, of which the call for a moratorium to the implementation of Deanery plans and the connected Diocesan plan was one," the Rt Rev Hugh Nelson wrote in an email on 16 November 2023 to Save The Parish Cornwall (STPC).   Bishop Hugh, who signed off a confrontational and dismissive statement on 30 October 2023 on social media outlets in response to STPC's request, went on to refer to his 'report': "As you point out, the subsequent report, which was shared publicly, makes clear that BDC receiv...

A moratorium is possible, Bishop Save The Parish Cornwall's Andrew Lane has some constructive suggestions for the acting Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev Hugh Nelson There is no disguising that 'On The Way' has been a distinctly poor example of public 'consultation'.There are now deep rifts in the Church particularly between the Diocese and the laity, there is despair and most disturbingly a great deal of distrust. We have to fix this. The former Bishop of Truro, the Rt Rev Bishop Philip Mounstephen has presided over this mess and has now shimmied off to new and unsuspecting pastures. This has left Bishop Hugh with a lot on his plate - for which we could all feel some sympathy - but it also affords him a great opportunity to heal division and right the sinking ship. To start at the beginning, what would have be the best way to conduct an On The Way process that would have involved all interested parties and stood the best chance of a successful outcome?  Act...