Ossington Parish Story

Ossington is one of six rural churches forming the Beck and Trent Benefice in mid-Nottinghamshire, in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham. The church was a peculiar, though some years ago the then Patron was effectively deprived of her patronage by the Diocese. In 2019, the incumbent, who was also the Area Dean and Chair of the Clergy Synod, left suddenly, and the Benefice has been in inter-regnum since then. The neighbouring Benefice is Riverside, consisting of four rural parishes. 

In 2017, with funding from a special budget allocated by the Bishop, an outreach church called The Potting Shed (TPS) was established in Norwell, one of the six parishes forming the Benefice. Though there is a good vicarage in Norwell, a separate house was bought for the priest of TPS, and it was stressed to the existing parishes that one of the intentions of TPS would be to augment the congregations of their churches. That has not happened, and the congregation of TPS consists almost entirely of residents of nearby towns. 

In 2021, a consultation was launched by the Diocese with a proposal to merge the two benefices, the whole to be managed by one rural priest and part time posts. The effect will be a reduction in the number of services in the churches, a lack of clergy presence in the parishes, and a further disconnect between the Church hierarchy and people. As the consultation progressed, it became clear that the Diocese would impose its own preferred structure, whatever the wish of the parishioners. The whole process was conducted in such an autocratic way as to lead to ill-feeling and disagreement between the Diocese and the parishes, and between some of the parishes themselves. 

The recruitment of a lead incumbent has been delayed on a number of pretexts, and it is evident that the Diocese already has a preferred appointment and that the involvement of the PCC’s in the eventual choice of candidate will be curtailed to be almost pointless. 

There is no doubt that this has led to disillusion amongst the congregations, with one church already unable to appoint a Warden and others not having properly constituted PCCs. The effect on congregation numbers is visible, but yet to be fully known.

Photo credit: By Richard Croft, CC BY-SA 2.0