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Saving the Parish… now and for the future
Save the Parish is here to help you fight for your parish.
Advice for parishes facing an uncertain future
Welcome
Chief among the treasures of the Church of England is its parish system: the church, embedded in communities across the nation, served by priests dwelling among the people they serve, resourcing the laity who come to hear “the pure Word of God preached and the sacraments be duly ministered”.
Save the Parish is a grassroots movement working to resource the parish system across the nation, ensuring the poorest communities are not abandoned, and that dioceses and the national church have, at their core, the call to put their parishes first.
By returning the billions of Church Commissioners’ assets to the funding of ordinary parish ministry, and streamlining the bloated costs and duplicated activities of dioceses, the Church could reignite a passion for Christ across the nation, bubbling up from the thousands of communities to which she ministers.
The Revd Marcus Walker, Chair of Save The Parish
Latest News
Emma Thompson considers the type of person the new Archbishop of Canterbury should be and argues that the Church “needs a parish-facing, pastoral Archbishop” who is willing to scale back the “bishops, bureaucracy and bluster.”
The priest-in-charge retired on 1st October 2023. The Bishop arrived the following Sunday 8th October 2023 to announce to the congregation that he had made arrangements for them to transfer to the…
Job Vacancy
Half time Rector sought for North Devon benefice of 4 parishes.
An exciting opportunity to lead a healthy and welcoming community with pastoral care and the values of Save the Parish at its core.
Patrick Kidd’s charming Times Credo emphasises the value of the local parish. You can read the full article on The Times website here
The Christmas Spectator’s excellent leading article “In Defence of Faith” mentions the local parish in its final paragraph. You can read the original article at the Spectator here.
Emma Thompson and James Burnell-Nugent, Save The Parish volunteers, have been interviewed this week for the Daily Telegraph by Allison Pearson of the Daily Telegraph. You can listen to the interview here on the Planet Normal…
Our Purpose
That the church and its leaders recognise in deed and word that its greatest treasure is the parish system – composed of its people, clergy, and churches – and pledge to redirect the resources necessary to its flourishing, both in this generation and for the generations to come.
We will achieve this through:
- Building public support through all forms of media, traditional and social.
- Supporting PCCs and parishioners under threat.
- Operating within General Synod to enhance the position and security of parishes & the parish system and to seek to block or diminish any threats to the parochial system.
- Educating church, media, and public in the financial arguments for how the mission of the church can be revived by investment in the parish system and the priests to resource it.
- Countering diocesan plans to create ‘mega-parishes’.
- Identifying and seeking to eliminate diocesan waste.
- Raising Parliamentary awareness and reinvigorating Parliamentary oversight of the CofE.
- Building networks and connections with stakeholders in the Church of England.
Quotes of Support
You are not alone – parishes matter and people who love the parish are speaking out: