Save the Parish

‘It is about how each of our parishes can survive and thrive - and what each of our parishes can do when we feel or see a threat appearing’ @WalkerMarcus opening the #SaveTheParish Spring Conference in Bristol

“Not through developing new programmes and initiatives but by being a shepherd.” Encouraging words from @ArchbishopSarah at General Synod today. Read her speech here: churchofengland.org/media/news-and…

News: the @ChoralEvensong Patronal Festival of the Year Award 2025 has been won by the parish church of St Nicholas, Kittisford. The report (linked) makes for hopeful reading and demonstrates the position of the parish church as the centre of community. choralevensong.org/uk/pfg_festiva…

Does your church host a phone mast? Has it been undercompensated for doing so? The Electronic Communications Code 2017 has resulted in landowners being paid far less for hosting telecoms equipment. If your church has been affected, let us know by emailing help@savetheparish.com

‘The chief battle for the @churchofengland & its future happens on the ground - the long hard slog - the work of keeping the light of Christ lit across the country’ @WalkerMarcus opening the #SaveTheParish Conference in Leicester

@LindaMslater @churchofengland @WalkerMarcus Thanks so much - really glad you enjoyed it!

@SaveTheParish @churchofengland @WalkerMarcus And what a wonderful conference it was. Thank you one and all. It was well worth the early start.

‘God in his grace chooses to work through people, place & presence’ Bishop Esther Prior at our conference on how parish ministry is one of the most extraordinary gifts for mission - where the church remains visibly present in our communities #SaveTheParish

How to you start a local Save the Parish group, or stand for election to a synod? Top tips from our panel on working together locally- & ensuring all elected places get filled at deanery synods with @SaveParishCwll @WalkerMarcus Emma Thomson & @debbiemci

What enables a parish to thrive? Lively panel discussion pondering the ‘quiet revival’, the intimacy of rural village life, & the challenge of encouraging vocations in parishes without their own priest @charlottecholey @RevRuthS @Townze @PrudenceDailey #SaveTheParish

‘Be confident, be courageous, be of good cheer!’ @BijanOmrani encouraging churches to reconsider historic ideas like plainsong & rotation walks, & using church graffiti to tell stories of the ‘holy & humble’ people who have kept each parish going #SaveTheParish

There is still time to get your free ticket for this year's conference, 'A Parish is for Life,' tomorrow at St James the Greater, Leicester. Keynote speakers include @WalkerMarcus, @BijanOmrani, & Bishop Esther Prior. Free tickets here: eventbrite.co.uk/e/save-the-par…

With five days until this year's conference, 'A Parish is for Life,' there is still time get your free ticket. Keynote speakers include @WalkerMarcus, @BijanOmrani, & Bishop Esther Prior. We hope to see you there. Free tickets here: eventbrite.co.uk/e/save-the-par…

⛪️ A parish is for life! A few tickets left for STP’s annual conference - this year in Leicester. 🗣️ Keynote speakers include @BijanOmrani, @WalkerMarcus, & Bishop Esther Prior. 📈Discuss how to make parishes thrive ✍️ Free tickets here: eventbrite.co.uk/e/save-the-par…

Are you concerned about the challenges facing your church and the Church more broadly? There is still time to complete the @NatChurchTrust National Churches Survey. The deadline is July 13th. Follow the link to have your say: nationalchurchestrust.org/survey

“The pressure of the parish share can cause anxiety, shame, and embarrassment among the clergy” - an essential and timely report, well covered in the @ChurchTimes.

At the same Synod, the Bishop of @BathWells is putting forward a proposal to refloat dioceses, who had to pick up the bill for the Commissioners' disastrous decade in the 90s and have suffered ever since. If both of these happen, parishes will be much more sustainable!

I've written an article in the @ChurchTimes about the hugely important decisions General Synod will be making next month, and how we finally have the change to return money - currently frittered away on vanity schemes - to its original purpose. churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2025/…

The Church of England, in so much mess at the top, has the opportunity to right some serious wrongs at the lower end of the scale - in the parishes working among the poorest populations. Having stripped them of money a decade ago, now is the time to put that money back.

'While the local church might not be glamorous, it’s there that the spirit of “the lowly cattle shed” lives on this Christmas' Lovely piece from @_F_B_G_ on the simple truths contained in our Christmas carols👇