The latest news from the Network…
God came to St Petroc’s
Paul Holley writes:
Our venue and events manager, Roland, is an ardent Liverpool FC supporter. He was over the moon when one of our local concert promoters asked if we would host a talk by Robbie Fowler. It was a tight budget for the promoter, with a hefty fee for a wealthy footballer, so Roland needed a good strapline for the event. Fans at Anfield had great respect for their hero and their chants about him proclaimed him as ‘god’. Thus Roland came up with the promotional slogan ‘God is coming to St. Petroc’s’. Thanks Roland! If it’s a quiet media week I shall get it in the neck. We stuck to a less striking message. But the event was still a great success.
Our concert lineup has grown these past couple of years. We have a variety of promoters and regular audiences of around 250 – 350. Adding celebrities to this array of events makes good sense. Nigel Owens, the Rugby referee and radio presenter, will be with us next year. Our gross revenue from these events in 2024 is expected to be double what it was in 2023 and we are considering promoting our own events to add further in 2025. This approach is not without financial or organisational risks, but we are learning to manage them. We now have a full public license for the church and hope to develop our hospitality offer. We have a reordering scheme in the pipeline to create new facilities to support our cultural role in Mid-Cornwall. Irrespective of all this, we still confidently proclaim Sunday by Sunday that God is firmly present at St Petroc’s.
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MCN Conference 2025 will be held from 24 to 26 September
Following our Oxford based conference in 2023, planning is now underway for our next conference which will take us to Sunderland and Hexham. The dates for the conference are Wednesday 24 September to Friday 26 September. We will be based in Sunderland and visit Hexham.
More details in due course but for now:
a] please put the date in your diary
b] let us know what kind of things you’d like covered
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News from Cathedral and Church Buildings team
Adrian Daffern writes:
1. Day Conference for MPCs and Net Zero
We are organising a day dedicated to the particular challenges faced by MPCs as they seek to meet the CofE's NetZero goals for 2030. There will be expert contributors on technology and funding, and the opportunity for sharing best practice. The proposed date is May 8th; please keep clear in your diaries.
2. Day conference for MPC Administrators/COOs
All kinds of lay administrator, be they employed COOs, volunteers, churchwardens or parish secretaries, are invited to come and hear two keynote presentations from long-standing administrators, and to hear news, insights, plans and good ideas. The date will be released at the beginning of 2025.
3. Heritage at Risk Register
Historic England published their latest HaR last month. 63 Major Parish Churches are listed: 3 are newly added, with 12 deemed to be at immediate risk Adrian has written to the DAC Secretaries and Archdeacons of the latter two groups asking them to make contact with the parishes concerned and to offer support.
If you are one of them, please do speak to your DAC, and your architect, as soon as possible. But do not despair - this designation makes new funding available, and is taken especially seriously by NLHF. More details on HE website.
4. Pastoral/preaching visits
Adrian continues to visit MPCs on a diocesan/ regional basis several times a year, and has a handful of preaching slots left for 2025. Do please contact Adrian if you would like him to visit. After his most recent visit last month, the parish priest wrote “Thank you once again for your encouraging words this morning. I can assure you that they lifted the spirits of our congregation and church officers. Our designation as a major church has been valuable and your visit today has encouraged us afresh”.
5. Net Zero
Beginning with the last meeting, MPCs are now a standing item on the agenda of the CBC’s Net Zero Carbon and Building Services Committee, and Adrian has become a committee member. It is evident that MPCs will need particular support if the Church of England’s Net Zero goals are to be met, and Adrian is working with colleagues to explore possibilities. Seven MPCs were designated as Demonstrator Churches in the first round; seventeen (from thirteen dioceses) were nominated in the second round.
Contact Adrian Daffern directly about any of these opportunities
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Start up tech firm offers assistance to Major Churches
Howling Digital Solutions, owned and run by Matthew Howling, seeks to help churches save time on admin so they can focus on things that really matter.
Matthew has experience as a Choral Scholar and PCC member at St Mary Redcliffe and knows how much effort goes into keeping everything running smoothly.
Howling Digital Solutions creates simple, easy-to-use digital tools to make life a bit easier.
If you're looking to spend less time on paperwork and more time serving your community, I'd love to help!
For more information, visit Howling Digital Solutions
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Congratulations to Swansea (soon to be) Minster
Next year will be a time of transformation for St Mary’s Church in Swansea’s city centre, as it becomes Wales’ first minster. The move will not only recognise the church’s role in the life of the diocese but also its importance to Swansea, both as a city landmark and the home to its civic services. The transformation is being made possible by a £2.8m grant from the Church in Wales’ Growth Fund, which it has described as a “once-in-a generation opportunity to resource confident and consistent evangelism throughout Wales”. The money will also enable St Mary’s to create jobs and expand its worship, ensuring it retains its place at the heart of the city.
Vicar Canon Justin Davies, said: “We are delighted and excited that the Church in Wales has announced significant investment in St Mary’s Church which sits in the heart of the second city of Wales. We believe it is one that is innovative, that is scalable and achievable, but equally one that’s very challenging to us, one that will enable us to make more followers of Jesus in the future.”
St Mary’s will be officially declared a minster early next year, but that is just the beginning of its transformation. “The money is essentially in two elements,” Justin said. “There’s one amount of money, relatively small, with which will be doing some building work within St Mary’s to give us a safe office space to work in, to give us room for children, youth and families work and to create a separate worship space so we can have more than one act of worship taking place. At the same time there’s also some work to be done on our kitchen facilities to enable us to invite more people in, to use the refreshment facilities that we have here in a more professional manner. The vast bulk of the money that we have is going to be used on the employment of more people - the employment of an additional priest, the employment of a cafe manager, a youth and family worker, and someone to go out into the community and work in our community right here in the heart of Swansea. There’ll also be somebody to take out the great tradition that we have of music within this building and go into our schools and colleges to encourage them in developing their music which they will then bring it back to us here into St Mary’s.”
It is an exciting time for the centre of Swansea, with an increasing number of residents, a bustling marketplace and the development of a new civic centre which is due to open next year.
“We’ll be doing a lot of work in the community, in the growing community,” he said. “So this is really a very people-based bid, which is all about making, finding, growing, enabling people to find their true heart and their true faith as somebody who lives and breathes the life of Jesus Christ.”
St Mary’s, which was rebuilt in the 1950s after being burned to the ground during the Nazis’ three-day blitz of the city in World War II, will be designated a minster church in February next year. Minster is a title given to a large or important church, especially a collegiate or cathedral church, and reflects the importance of St Mary’s to the city.
“It’s a recognition of the significance of this building in the heart of the second city of Wales,” Justin said. “We are the fourth largest building in the province and we have an important civic role that we already play in the city, and the word minster enables us to enhance that and develop it. It recognizes the special significance of the building in the city and to this part of the diocese, a place for people to gather together, and that’s going to be an important part of what we will do.”
The Archbishop of Wales, the Most Rev’d Andrew John, said: “The Church Growth Fund represents a transformative step forward in our mission to reach communities across Wales with the love and hope of the Gospel. This significant investment will enable churches to grow, innovate and become vibrant centres of faith. I am excited to witness the gospel in action and the positive impact we will make in our communities because of our significant investment in evangelism.”
Simon Lloyd, the Chief Executive of the Representative Body of the Church in Wales, said: “The Representative Body is delighted to make these Growth Fund grants. All four grants provide additional resources over several years to allow local churches to engage and serve their local communities. I look forward to hearing stories of growth and lives impacted by the love of God and the good news of the Gospel.”
Work on the transformation will begin soon, ready for February’s minster service.
“Our doors will be open seven days per week for prayer, peaceful space, presence and proclamation of the good news that the Gospel of Christ Jesus holds for all,” Justin said. “Our transformation work will start in earnest before the end of 2024 and gather pace during the first half of 2025.”
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Assisted Dying
In the light of the recent debate in parliament which is now set to continue over the the next few months, the PCC at St Mary Redcliffe asked for our staff and welcomers to be provided with an FAQ on the matter should visitors open up a conversation on the matter.
This is what we gave out:
Question Should I go through with assisted dying?
Comment Best not to get drawn into a conversation about personal circumstances
Answer Would you like some information about people who might be able to help you?
Question Where does St Mary Redcliffe stand?
Comment
Answer As a large, diverse church we recognise that there will be many views amongst the members of this church. What the vicar said in a recent sermon is that we might like to pray for all those involved in making this very difficult decision.
Question Where does the church stand? Or Why does the church vote against it?
Comment It does seem to be the case that the general population is in favour of assisted dying whereas all the faiths have come out against
Answer Along with all the major faiths in UK, the Church of England is against assisted dying and seeks to uphold the value of life throughout life.
Question What will happen to me?
Comment The thinking behind this question will be clear to the individual but begs a wide variety of interpretation. It is probably best to seek to point the individual to specialist help, but if you feel able to engage in a deeper conversation start by asking “Tell me a bit more about what you mean by that?”
Answer Would you like some information about people who might be able to help you?
Question My x is very ill, should I proceed
Comment Best not to get drawn into a conversation about personal circumstances
Answer Would you like some information about people who might be able to help you?
Question What would Jesus say / how does the bible approach this?
Comment
Answer Along with many contemporary issues not dreamt of in Jesus’ time, Jesus has nothing to say directly about this – which is one of the reasons it’s so hard to know what the right thing is.
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Regional Gatherings in 2025
Regional meetings will take place in 2025
Northern Region : Tuesday 11 February; Tuesday 17 June; Tuesday 18 November : Contact Hilary Barber
London and South East Region : 11 March, Croydon Minster; 17 June, St Mary Battle; 18 November, St Jude on the Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb. : Contact Joe Moffatt or Stephen Evans
South and West Region : dates to be confirmed : Contact Mark Wood
Midlands Region : at the moment there is no co-ordinator for this region : any offers to Dan Tyndall
Eastern Region : at the moment there is no co-ordinator for this region : any offers to Dan Tyndall
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Lending Lent a different flavour in Halifax
Hilary Barber writes:
Last year Halifax Minster decided that Lent had become rather boring and with so much happening around the Festival of Christmas it was time for a reboot! So we rebranded Lent as a Festival of Faith, trying to make it more outward facing, looking to draw people from outside the Minster, to come and experience this common ground yet sacred meeting place with God.
The Festival drew upon excellence in many fields and genres, from film and live music, to public theology and visiting preachers, poetry and scripture. The Festival ends with the drama of Holy Week, recalling the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as we strive beyond the darkness of this present time, and look for hope in the future of God's Kingdom.
Plans are advanced for the Festival of Faith 25. Next year there will be more Public Theology including Kim Leadbeater MP coming to talk about her Assisted Dying Bill, a performance of the St Matthew Passion, theme days: one for Women and another led by our Architect practise on Sustainability, and a Hindu Kite Exhibition!
The Festival will also link with the Archbishop of York's Festival in the North as through the Festival on Sundays we shall explore together the Lord's Prayer.
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Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme
Following the budget the Heritage Alliance has sent out some more information about where things currently stand regarding the LPWGS
Apparently DCMS is now entering a period of business planning within DCMS which will determine what happens with the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme once the current funding arrangements expire at the end of March 2025. They expect this process to potentially take a number of months. But they hope to get an answer on the Scheme as soon as they can, as they know the sector needs clarity on future arrangements.
This means it is not too late to write to your MP and / or the Culture Secretary if you have have direct experience of the Scheme and haven't already written.
Some comments about how to write:
1. In your subject line, put 'Attn: the Secretary of State (LPWGS)', or something similar. Make sure you say at the beginning why you are writing - to ask for the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme to be extended beyond March 2025.
2. If you have concrete experience of the Scheme, then in just one or two paragraphs explain what your project is/was for, and why the VAT refund is/was important. If the building is used for community activities, or is important to local people in other ways, say something about this.
3. Do say if your work was funded by gifts and donations. Also mention if it involves action in response to climate change, or other environmental benefits. Also consider being explicit that you are grateful that government provides the Scheme! Obviously, be polite and avoid hectoring.
4. Send your email to The Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 1st Floor, 100 Parliament Street, London SW1A 2BQ at enquiries@dcms.gov.uk. You can also copy your own MP (find their email address https://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/contact-an-mp-or-lord/).
4. The Heritage Alliance would like to know what is said which may be gathered into a briefing paper. After you have sent it, could you forward a copy of your email to hrb@theheritagealliance.org.uk (or blind-copy the original to them).
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Cathedrals Plus conference
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