Jonathan Baird asks why if, as David Lamming points out, the Patronage (Benefices) Measure of 1986 allows bishops to start looking for a new priest, do dioceses insist on a vacancy when a priest leaves? No commercial entity would ‘do without a salesman’ for a year or 9 in order to save money.
Roy Faulkner suggests that priests should be the most important employees of the Church of England. Reducing the diocesan employee count and putting priests in the community should result in…
“Church leaders could be appointed to full-time cabinet-style roles such as “Brexit bishop” or Covid bishop” under proposals seen by The Times for the biggest overhaul in centuries of how the Church of England is run.”
Several letters suggesting the cost of dioceses, the overbearing pressure put on parishes to merge and the unelected and unaccountable oligarchy is what is driving the doom loop that is…
The Synod (e) encourage each parish and diocese to support a process of local missionaldiscernment (Mission Action Planning) to enable greater effectiveness in parochialmission and put a plan in place…
“As centuries of faithful witness and service in rural parishes slowly expires, and churches and vicarages disappear, how will the Church ever reconnect with countryfolk with neither the means nor inclination to travel to the nearest town or city every Sunday? Or live up to its strapline to be “a Christian presence in every community”?”
“Some of Welby’s critics feel the church has slapped a “do not resuscitate” order on ancient parish churches…choosing to direct funds instead towards setting up more modern types of congregation…”