So, the ‘secrets of our success?’ In summary, a lot of good luck, excellent priests, a close relationship with our neighbouring parish, a priest living in the centre of that parish and overall the sense that we remain in charge of our own destiny rather than being absorbed and diluted within a much larger benefice.
In most cases, PCC amalgamations should be resisted – by politely saying ‘no thank you’ and staying firm, even under pressure to change. Reason: the PCC is the legal entity, and there are no better guardians of a particular church than the local people who attend it and live near it.
The parish consists of a village community set in a rural area together with a number of outlying hamlets. It is served by a parish Church in the village of Sandford (Grade I listed building), a smaller Church at Upton Hellions (now effectively used as a “festival Church”) and a Read more…
Action is needed now, not when they have the time, when they have shut all the parishes and think they are financially and politically viable. By then it will be ”TBL.” What God plans to do in the event that those whom he has called have thrown all their toys out of the pram and the world is achieving its own destruction – aheu!
How can we bring this Diocesan Office empire down as they generate no income, and have no contact with the public, so that we can get more clergy into communities and try and win people back to us?
In two years time, we will lose our Vicar. He will not be replaced, though discussions are taking place about merging our Parish with another. If this does happen, the number of Churches within the Group will be around 10 which means that St Nicholas will be serviced by a stipendiary Priest on an ad hoc basis, if at all.
The visitors’ book is full of people from all over the world who appreciate the historic and sacred value of this very special little Church that could survive the upkeep costs and general running expenses without the heavy burden of Parish Share. After 700 years are we going to be the generation that sees this Parish decline? No, we are not!
From the earliest days of Christianity, the English parish evolved from a geographical area containing a church, a resident priest and a sufficient number of people to support the priest who provided a ministry in return. At the Reformation, the parish became a unit of local government and thus it Read more…