Ringing Forums

W&P is running a £1.59m HTB (Holy Trinity Brompton) experiment in Basingstoke involving four churches, that started in September 2022, including the rings at St Michael (8) and All Saints(10). The leadership team appointed have virtually no experience and the locals are not impressed!

https://anglican.ink/2022/07/21/diocese-of-winchester-receives-1-59-million-in-funding-to-support-church-growth/

There has been talk in the Leicester Diocese about moving to a Minster church system of organisation for several years. A quick search of the Diocesan webpage came up with this: https://www.leicester.anglican.org/about-us/sbgt/
Interestingly, an article from someone within one of the churches that has already started the process highlighted that it is not being imposed from above, but worked by the people on the ground, and that churches are allowed to opt out - though all future clergy appointments in the diocese will only be to Minster communities. https://www.leicester.anglican.org/reflection-from-nanpantan-on-beginning-the-minster-community-formation-process.php

I found this a useful summary of the objections to the changes in Truro: https://savetheparish.blogspot.com/2023/12/bishop-hugh-and-his-diocesan-supporters.html

I think it has an interesting focus on the non church going community who want the church to still be there in a traditional way and I guess many bellringers fall into this category - not church goers for service but would like the church building to be protected and to continue to be used for services as well as community activities on a regular basis.

The Church of England is in a strange situation because many people who don’t join services regularly and wouldn’t be part of PCC meetings do care about the continuity of the church as a place to visit occasionally but if the ever smaller congregation can’t finance the church it’s hard to keep it open (although I hear the argument that far too much cost now sits in the diocese and that’s why churches struggle financially).
I can see how a strong Diocese leadership can encourage local parish councils to want to join without them necessarily understanding where it could lead or feeling like they have a real choice and certainly that’s part of the feedback in the Truro blogpost.

I find it hard because I wouldn’t particularly want to see growth in church congregations and a move towards being more religious as a nation but I also see that if churches close and have less frequent services it takes away the core reason for ringing and the provision of the bell tower and it will be very expensive for bellringing to create new venues or to finance church availability if it is not part of natural church activities.
Choirs exist outside of church and religion, etc very easily. I don’t think there is a comparable activity as a guide to how to move forward in this scenario.

and it incudes the following:

"How do we know the congregation is there in church representing us? Our bell ringers tell us, faithfully ringing before Sunday services and for special occasions. They know themselves to be part of the Anglican Church in Cornwall and as churches fail, you our bishop, and your diocesan team soon to be enlarged by more cleric administrators, are preparing to throw them out with the baby and the bathwater."

It's interesting in that the focus of the project is to get out into schools and other places where young people and families are and attract them to the church, which is exactly what we want to do in ringing!

The plan is for this to be completed by 2025/6. One Minster Community is operational (Launde), one is on the later stages of planning (Coalville) and NW Leicestershire is the latest area to start the process.

This is also being opposed by Save the Parish, principally citing Wigan, and overly high Diocesan costs compared to other local dioceses of the same size (despite a central cost reduction exercise in the last couple of years). https://www.savetheparish.com/printable-leaflet/

The Bishop continually underlines that the Parish remains central to the plan, although has stated that all future appointments will only be to Minster Communities, the legality of which statement is open to question. The FAQs on the Diocesan website also state that church closure is a question for the PCC not the diocese. At least 2 NW Leicestershire churches have said that they do not want to be part of a Minster Community.

It has indeed been a consultative process. It will be interesting to see as we move in NWL to the next stage of actually talking about groupings, how much that consultative approach continues.

It is interesting to note that these groupings are being created in a very informal manner, with no new legal structures being put in place at this stage.

Simon Lindford, there is also an emphasis on work with schools, with one of the four ministers in each Minster community, having a focus on growing faith, with a strong emphasis on work with schools.