Save The Parish - Cornwall

The Vacancy in See Committee will meet tomorrow (22 February) when representatives will be elected. The Crown Nominations Commission will then meet on 6 September and on 15 & 16 October 2024. This Committee has a vital role: appointing a new Bishop of Truro, capable of healing the enormous divides and disappointment created by the previous Bishop's On The Way restructuring plans.  Any person wishing to comment on the needs of the Diocese or the wider church or who wishes to propose candidates for our next Bishop should write via email, by 15 March 2024, to: Canon Stephen Knott Archbishops’ Secretary for appointments & Mrs Helen Dimmock MBE Ecclesiastical Secretary to the Crown and Lord Chancellor stephen.knott@churchofengland.org helen.dimmock@cabinetoffice.gov.uk Any letters received will be shared by the two Secretaries.

Alison Milbank - a founder member of Save The Parish nationally and Professor of Theology and Literature at Nottingham University - will speak at Save The Parish Cornwall's next meeting on Tuesday 5 March at 2pm at Penzance Heritage Centre. Please do come along - she'll be delighted to answer questions. The title of her talk: “Getting Your Courage Back: A Vision for the Parish of the future."   Key to Alison's thinking is the need to keep priests in parishes  - and for congregations, and communities, to regain confidence (and courage). It's a positive and encouraging message. Her recent book - The Once and Future Parish - is reviewed here  https://scmpress.hymnsam.co. uk/books/9780334063131/once- and-future-parish All are very welcome.  Email savetheparishcornwall@gmail.com if you would like to know more. Penzance Heritage Centre is on the site of the former Penzance Library building at 62 Morrab Road, Penzance TR18 4AP

More disquiet over the links between the Post Office's former CEO Paula Vennells and Archbishop Justine Welby. The Queen's former Chaplain, Rev Canon Jeremy Haselock, is calling for the Archbishop to resign over his apparent lack of judgement in shortlisting Vennells as a possible Bishop of Londo n. Click here to read.

The Diocese of Truro has belatedly produced a jargon-packed paper on the concept of 'oversight ministry' - central to the Bishops' On The Way plans that are being rolled out (amidst widespread unease) across Cornwall.   Click here to read the paper, approved by the Ecclesiastical College in December 2023 - a dense and uninspiring read reflecting the bureaucratic and managerial approach currently embedded in Church House. It is sadly unlikely to inspire future candidates for the (largely unworkable) oversight ministry vacancies being advertised. The Bishops of Truro and St Germans have repeatedly revealed over the past 12 months their conviction that 'oversight ministry' is key to the future of ministry in Cornwall. The concept of 'Oversight ministry' has been built into Church House thinking in Truro for some years. Vacancies for oversight ministry posts from East Wivelshire to Penwith have failed to attract candidates. Potential applicants are understandab...

A narrow escape - highlighted by this letter in the Sunday Times (14 January 2024) from Richard Coles, former Church of England parish priest  

  Save The Parish Cornwall supporter Pam Dodd writes about the despair of ignored Cornish churchgoers (and non-churchgoers) "The chief danger that confronts the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, heaven without hell.” William Booth Founder of the Salvation Army  Someone once said something along the lines of “The Church of England exists for those who don’t go” or words to that effect. I’ve always understood it, up to a point, but it’s only since I’ve lived in Cornwall for the last 13 years that I have really heard, seen and felt it. Read on for the details. For the sake of argument, let’s do the unforgivable and include Cornwall in England. It’s accepted that Cornwall is either first or second in the “most rural county in the country” stakes. And not just rural, but a place which has only tenuous links with the rest of the country in so m...

Article in the New York Times asking the crucial question: when the Church of England has £10.3 billion in the bank, why are local communities being asked to take on a financial burden? Click here to read. Save The Parish Cornwall has a petition .calling for a moratorium on the Diocese of Truro's damaging On The Way plans.  Please sign by clicking on this link https://chng.it/L8KfGmrs6p