Wigmore Abbey Parish Note of a meeting with the Rural Dean at Brampton Bryan 26 October 2021 at 7.30pm Present: Rev. Jane Davies (Rural Dean), Serena Askew, Dee Caulton-Ball, Michael Dugdale, Alastair Gloag, Carole Gloag, Clive Gurney, Culain Morris, Andrew Page, Gill Sumner, Pam Trewin, Lizzie Womack. The Rural Dean opened the meeting with prayer and then set out her role and how parish business would proceed during the interregnum (officially, and hereinafter, referred to as the vacancy lest connotations of royalty should alarm the woke). The vacancy could be expected to last at least 12 months and the Rectory itself would be let and therefore unavailable for any parish purposes. Legal responsibility for the parish would rest with the Rural Dean and the churchwardens. The role of the Rural Dean was to support the churchwardens and provide overall clerical oversight of the parish including chairing the APCM (but not the PCC). The PCC would continue to meet as usual and would be chaired by the lay chair (Serena Askew). The Rural Dean would attend if invited. She also had legal responsibility during the vacancy for churchyard memorials throughout the parish and any questions about existing or new ones would need to be referred to her. She would also be present at the “Section 12 Meeting”, to be called by the Archdeacon early in the new year to start discussions on the needs of the parish in terms of a new incumbent, and would be involved in the appointment. So far as possible the existing pattern of services in the parish would be maintained but it might not always be possible and some flexibility would be needed. The rota would continue to be produced by Serena Askew and the Rural Dean would be available to help and advise on services. At present Mike Catling was the single point of contact for all the churches. New arrangements would be needed after his retirement. It was agreed that all funeral calls should go to Carole Gloag (01547 540394) in the first instance (though she would not necessarily conduct all the services). This would be reviewed after six months to check that the workload was manageable. The Rural Dean (email: trendy.rev2@btinternet.com, tel: 01432 830581) offered to be the point of contact for weddings for which she would arrange cover and organise the reading of the banns. Baptisms tended to be very local in focus and people should be encouraged to contact the churchwarden of the church required (churchwardens’ contact details would be posted on the parish website). Lizzie Womack would conduct occasional school services at Leintwardine and might be available to help out with occasional services but any such involvement would need to be agreed with her training incumbent. The unavailability of the Rectory had little impact except for the use of the parish photocopier. Michael Dugdale reported that arrangements were already in hand to move this to a room in the community centre where access could be adequately controlled. Precise administrative arrangements still needed to be sorted out. In response to questions the Rural Dean said that the post was unlikely to be advertised for at least six months because of the time needed to work out the current needs of the parish and consult the wider community, not just the congregations. It might be that the shape of the parish could change. A particular church might wish to align itself with a different group for example or the whole parish with a different Deanery. Such changes would not be imposed from above but a wish for them might emerge from the consultations. It was inevitable that lots of churches round the country would be closing. Covid had accelerated the trend. Carole Gloag called for a more business like approach from the church generally, for example in the use of IT. It needed to do more to find out what people wanted and then see what it could offer. The challenges, particularly to young people today, were huge. Pam Trewin reported that Elton had had some success with a coffee and cake session after services. They also made a point of contacting all newcomers to the village. Individual churches needed to ensure any events organised were notified to avoid clashes. Details should be passed to Serena Askew, Alastair Gloag (for the magazine and website) and Phil Simkins (for the Beano). Contact details for Phil Simkins would be available on the website. The Rural Dean said she was always happy to be consulted and advise (contact details above) but did seek to have a day off on Mondays. So far as the churchyard memorials were concerned she would write to local stonemasons who had dealings with the parish advising them of her involvement during the vacancy. (NB: a list of stonemasons compiled by Michael Dugdale was subsequently sent to her). The meeting closed at 8.35pm with the Grace.

PARISH of WIGMORE ABBEY

Pages will be added as the process developes Page 1 2 3 4