Church leaders accused of failing local parishes
ACAMPAIGN group is calling on the Church of England in Cornwall to ‘return to its roots’ and end what it says are brutal cuts imposed on churches and clergy across the county.
Save The Parish (STP) is a national movement calling for the Church of England to bring its focus back to the local parish – for many centuries the heart of rural communities.
Now a Cornish branch of the organisation has been set up in Truro Diocese by concerned churchgoers.
They say they are alarmed at what they claim are “swingeing cuts “planned for Cornish churches by the Bishops of Truro and St Germans through a scheme known as On The Way.
At the same time, they say “huge sums of money are being poured into failing new schemes to allegedly reach new generations of churchgoers.”
“We can see that some churches are struggling to pay their upkeep costs, and Bishops do indeed need to boost the church’s appeal,” said Peter Bellenes, of the STP movement in Cornwall. “But will this really be achieved by pouring huge sums of money from the Church Commissioners, as well from Diocesan funds, into fanciful schemes that simply don’t work?
“While this is happening, historic churches at the heart of our rural communities face closure. They are our heritage and hugely important to people who don’t attend church – as well as regular churchgoers.”
The group claim an initiative to bring in new and lapsed worshippers, called Transforming Mission, is costing more than a million pounds in Camborne alone, employing youth, education and worship leaders.
Mr Bellenes went on: “Wildly optimistic forecasts of increased income from new believers have not materialised – but huge sums are being spent on cosmetics like floodlighting for the church costing £10,000, in a town where the homeless are now housed in shipping containers in a local car park.”
“Yet at a recent deanery synod, a local church leader of On The Way discussions openly suggested axing the role of one of the two existing established salaried priest roles in Camborne to save money.”
In a statement yesterday, the Truro Diocese refuted the claims from the group, said it had only modest support among parishoners – and that decisions on any savings were being made at parish and deanery level, not by Bishops.
It said: “After two years of Covid and in the midst of massive social and economic change, and like many organisations, the Church of England in Cornwall is thinking carefully about the future.
“As part of that, local churches have been asked to consider how they might be fruitful and sustainable in the 21st century. That includes considering how we can continue our widespread support for children and families, how we care for the environment and work with the poorest communities, how we help people explore faith and meet God and how we find ways to do all that in a changing world.
“As part of that planning for the future, we need to think carefully about how we care for the church buildings that we look after.”
The Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Truro, stressed that parishes had been asked to come up with their own ways of saving money – giving them the power to influence decisions.
“On the Way is the very opposite of top-down imposition of central plans on local churches, “he said. “It encourages local church communities to draw up their own plans for a fruitful and sustainable future.
“In many places that certainly presents a significant challenge, but the aim is precisely to ‘save the parish’ and many church members have warmly welcomed this initiative.”
The Diocese of Truro made a commitment to save £250,000 in central costs last September. Some of those savings have already been made.