This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2016/oct/18/should-small-churches-scrap-their-sunday-service
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| Should small churches scrap their Sunday service? Should small churches scrap their Sunday service? | |
| (1 day later) | |
| In the dreamland of English rural life, every Church of England parish church, each with its own vicar, is packed with worshippers come Sunday. The reality is dwindling congregations and sometimes harassed clergy, many of whom have multiple parishes and churches. Church law stipulates that every parish church should have weekly Sunday services, but a new proposal recommends dropping this rule. “In rural parishes, no vicar can actually get around all their parishes, so technically they’re breaking the law,” said Pete Broadbent, the bishop of Willesden. But how will vicars react? | In the dreamland of English rural life, every Church of England parish church, each with its own vicar, is packed with worshippers come Sunday. The reality is dwindling congregations and sometimes harassed clergy, many of whom have multiple parishes and churches. Church law stipulates that every parish church should have weekly Sunday services, but a new proposal recommends dropping this rule. “In rural parishes, no vicar can actually get around all their parishes, so technically they’re breaking the law,” said Pete Broadbent, the bishop of Willesden. But how will vicars react? |
| In practice, making such changes may be a formality. “This law has been universally ignored for decades,” says Michael Hampson, a vicar of four parishes and churches in Lancashire. “Any priest who has more than two parishes, and there are many of us, has not been having a Sunday service in every church for as long as anyone can remember. It’s just the way things are.” Hampson does up to five services on a Sunday – one at one of his smaller churches, then the weekly service at his large church, then afternoon services and perhaps a christening. “By juggling various lay ministers and church wardens, we manage to have services on three Sundays every month in the small churches,” he says. | In practice, making such changes may be a formality. “This law has been universally ignored for decades,” says Michael Hampson, a vicar of four parishes and churches in Lancashire. “Any priest who has more than two parishes, and there are many of us, has not been having a Sunday service in every church for as long as anyone can remember. It’s just the way things are.” Hampson does up to five services on a Sunday – one at one of his smaller churches, then the weekly service at his large church, then afternoon services and perhaps a christening. “By juggling various lay ministers and church wardens, we manage to have services on three Sundays every month in the small churches,” he says. |
| Martin Flowerdew serves three parishes in Derbyshire; his smallest church has a congregation of about eight. “If I were on my own leading worship, I couldn’t get round and do all the legal things you’d expect of me on a Sunday. It’s tidying up the law to sit with the practice and I’m quite relaxed about that.” | Martin Flowerdew serves three parishes in Derbyshire; his smallest church has a congregation of about eight. “If I were on my own leading worship, I couldn’t get round and do all the legal things you’d expect of me on a Sunday. It’s tidying up the law to sit with the practice and I’m quite relaxed about that.” |
| In the parish of Great Snaith, where Eleanor Robertshaw is rector, there are Sunday services in four out of their five churches every week.“If we’re wanting to grow churches, then we’ve got to think about [how we] deploy our clergy. It’s not necessarily sensible to have them rushing about, jumping from one service to the next, where they don’t get to speak to people,” she says. | In the parish of Great Snaith, where Eleanor Robertshaw is rector, there are Sunday services in four out of their five churches every week.“If we’re wanting to grow churches, then we’ve got to think about [how we] deploy our clergy. It’s not necessarily sensible to have them rushing about, jumping from one service to the next, where they don’t get to speak to people,” she says. |
| Her biggest congregation in one church is about 40; at her smallest, it is five. She says that, even with small numbers, the service – which doesn’t really differ from one delivered to a larger congregation – is equally important. “A lot of people don’t drive and can’t get to the church in the next village, but there’s also the personal relationships, the family connections. People hold that very dear to their hearts, certainly in a rural context.” | Her biggest congregation in one church is about 40; at her smallest, it is five. She says that, even with small numbers, the service – which doesn’t really differ from one delivered to a larger congregation – is equally important. “A lot of people don’t drive and can’t get to the church in the next village, but there’s also the personal relationships, the family connections. People hold that very dear to their hearts, certainly in a rural context.” |
| The church’s old approach to its smallest congregations, says Hampson, was all-or-nothing: run a Sunday service or close. “What we’ve learned since then is that, actually, there are very good reasons for having two or three services a month or 12 services a year [to celebrate] festivals. That’s now an alternative to closing a church.” | The church’s old approach to its smallest congregations, says Hampson, was all-or-nothing: run a Sunday service or close. “What we’ve learned since then is that, actually, there are very good reasons for having two or three services a month or 12 services a year [to celebrate] festivals. That’s now an alternative to closing a church.” |