Why are vicars joining unions and joining doctors and nurses by asking for a pay rise? The centralisation of power at the centre of the Church and the increased managerialism within dioceses has resulted in burnt out vicars and a stressed and stretched volunteer system. Front line workers have been disconnected from the centre.
“What I witnessed last week appears to be an increasingly unattractive spectacle in which procedural methods are used to wrongfoot elected representatives. The Synod is being reduced to a talking shop.”
No commercial institution would allow such a gap between chief fundraisers. Why does the Church allow it? There is no excuse not to appoint a successor when a fund raiser…
Patrick Kidd’s charming Times Credo emphasises the value of the local parish. You can read the full article on The Times website here
An independent review of the last 6 years in Wigan has revealed that ‘Mega parishes’ have not been a success. When will the Bishops look at the mounting evidence against…
A disestablished Church of England would be more inclined to focus on its core role of supporting its parishes rather than meddling in politics. Read original article here
“The Archbishop’s interrogator was Canon Giles Fraser, Vicar of St Anne’s, Kew, and a member of the Save the Parish steering committee. He spoke of “anxiety that the centre of gravity is shifting away . . . as clergy numbers have been cut and parishes become more and more amalgamated and bigger, and that there are more and more people around the diocesan photocopier doing jobs that we don’t understand, and this creates a sort of crisis of trust.” This generated loud applause.”