save the parish
In the same way, I am broadly sympathetic to the Save The Parish movement.
However, when people say ‘Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results’ in order to justify abandoning the parish system, I find myself thinking that that warning could apply equally to whatever the latest well-intentioned scheme is (who remembers the ‘Decade of Evangelism’ in the 90s?!) For reasons I don’t fully understand, most Save The Parish people seem to be Telegraph or Spectator readers and, while I have been featured in The Telegraph (in a piece called ‘The First Former Satanist to Become A Vicar’ in 2003) and been a guest on the Spectator’s Holy Smoke religion podcast on a couple of occasions, I more regularly read (and write for) The Guardian but, again, that simply demonstrates my desire to engage with everybody and not demonise anybody.
To cut to the chase, my calling aligns with the aims of Together for the Church of England, the Inclusive Church Network and Save the Parish, but if you would like to learn a little more about me then please read on.
I was not suprised to hear at the recent Save the Parish conference that a third of incumbents show symptoms of depression and forty percent report chronic loneliness.
Save the Clergy! - Save the Parish! – Save the Church!
In the last few years, Save the Parish have stood up for clergy and their parishes in the General Synod, and that is why I thought I might be able to support them.
Although my reason for standing for election is my desire to see the Save the Parish agenda carried out, it would be daft to pretend I have no other views that I would take with me.
Above all, I would like the Diocese to be represented in the Synod by a Save the Parish candidate.
Save the Parish
I support the principles of the Save the Parish campaign and would like to see small churches entrusted with greater resources.
I support the manifesto of Save the Parish in this election.
I am not aligned with any faction or pressure group other than Save the Parish.
As the founder and chair of Save the Parish, this statement is (unsurprisingly) going to focus on that campaign and why our voice is so important in Synod right now.
Rector, Great St Bartholomew | House of Clergy | Founder, Save the Parish
I support Save the Parish and believe the parish is often the best place for evangelism.
Particular areas of passion include… Seeing all God’s people flourish I follow with interest the Save the Parish movement.
I agree with the published objectives of Save The Parish.
To this end, I am committed to the Save the Parish movement.
I am a keen supporter of the Save the Parish campaign and their Six
I will continue to support Save the Parish.
— Save the Parish is a brilliant group that I am involved with which instigated the motion that asked the Church Commissioners to spend some of their £11.6 billion to support Parishes.
My financial background and innovative ideas allow me to be an active part of the financial scrutiny group of Save the Parish.
In a few words the Save the Parish aims, which I endorse, are:
We need policies and legislation which prioritise the nation-wide deployment of well-trained, well- resourced parish clergy, promote their well-being and honour their life-long commitment to serve God and their parishioners (in particular, the policies outlined in the Save the Parish manifesto).
I support the emerging vision of the Save the Parish movement, not because I am nostalgic for the past, but because I believe confident, well-resourced parish churches remain the Church's greatest opportunity for mission.
support the aims of ‘Save the Parish’, to help ‘sustain a thriving cradle-to grave parish system’.
I am sympathetic to much of the Save the Parish campaign.
fruit from Strategic development funding, I am now more sympathetic to the aims of the Save the Parish Manifesto which can be found here: savetheparish.com/general-synod-manifesto-2026 Though now in a large market town, after 13 years in rural ministry I’m fully aware of the pressures and challenges rural and multi parish ministry presents.
I share much of the frustration of the Save the Parish movement with the frontline cuts, the creation of mega-parishes and the abandonment of the poor.
I have a great deal of sympathy with many of the concerns raised by the campaign group ‘Save the Parish’, particularly the matters they identify concerning vocation, formation, and clergy wellbeing.
I support the proposal from Save the Parish for a “Charter of Care” for clergy.
Lay volunteers ➢ I believe that General Synod should be more wary of overburdening struggling volunteers with things that sound good but bring heavy financial and administrative demands. ➢ I agree with Save the Parish that the church needs to be clearer about what are legal obligations and things that are “good to have”.
I support the network called Save the Parish, and the ideas of Save our Parsonages.
Bringing fresh eyes to the role, I want to contribute to supporting these challenges nationally working with Save the Parish.
These five areas align with the manifesto of Save the Parish which I support.
I support Save The Parish.
Please see the Save the Parish manifesto for thriving parishes: https://www.savetheparish.com/general-synod-manifesto-2026/ I stand with STP’s aims for the next Synod: fund the priests our parishes need, creating manageable clergy jobs; spend parish share on parish ministry; improve clergy wellbeing; train ordinands properly without skimping; adopt a charter to support church volunteers; make church closure harder than survival.
I would work with goodwill with fellow Synod volunteers whatever their position on other matters vexing the Church, to save the parish system for future generations.
I am a member of Inclusive Church, attend London Diocese Cursillo meetings, and support the aims of the Save the Parish network.
I am standing as a candidate for Save the Parish as I believe that the parish system, properly resourced, remains the best way for the Church of England to be present in every community in this country and be • faithful to its inheritance,
But if we want to save the parish, we have to form a Church capable of sustaining that promise in the twenty-first century.
I support Save the Parish because it gives voice to a conviction shared by many across our dioceses: that the parish system is not an optional extra, but one of the Church of England’s greatest gifts to the nation.
As a member of the Save the Parish network, I support its 2026 principle that parish ministry should remain at the heart of the Church's mission, a vision of a priest in every community.
• Save the Parish.
I am supportive of Save The Parish and the Parish system, which means that gospel ministry can continue to bless all the local communities in this area.
Empowering parishes with the resources, freedom, and support they need to grow and thrive, delivering the Save the Parish manifesto ambitions.
To these ends, I fully support the aims of the “Save the Parish” campaign.
On a national level, I am on the Steering Committee of Save the Parish, which seeks to resource the parish system and ensure the poorest communities are not abandoned.
My priorities: I am committed to the causes set out in the Save the Parish Manifesto and resourcing the parish system.
Alarmed at the amalgamation of rural parishes into ever-larger benefice groupings, I am standing under the banner of ‘Save the Parish’ (StP) – a grassroots organisation that seeks to reaffirm the value of a Christian presence in every community.
A strong church requires sure foundations but financial and other resourcing pressures are causing steady erosion at ground level. ‘Save the Parish’ offers a concrete set of proposals to support Parish, Priest and People, detailed in the link General Synod Manifesto 2026 - Save the Parish .
If elected, I would work with members of General Synod, whatever their position on these or other matters facing the Church, to save the parish system for future generations.
My priorities If elected, I would see it as my moral duty to support the Save the Parish movement to defend the Church that has done so much for me.
Although Save the Parish has had significant victories, the Mission and Pastoral Measure and a revised version of the National Church Governance Measure are due to return for debate.
‘Save the Parish’ campaign has, rightly, highlighted the need to focus on the parish church as the local centre for mission.
• As a member of the Save the Parish Network, I support its manifesto:
Matters have reached a critical point, and so I have chosen to stand as part of the Save the Parish movement and to focus my energies on these issues.
You can read the full Save the Parish manifesto here: www.savetheparish.com
I will aim to work together with all those of goodwill, whatever their position on all of the other matters which vex the church, to Save the Parish.
Work to Save the Parish.
I would be honoured to have your first or high preference vote. [email protected] / 07960381060 The Parish First I share much of the passion behind Save the Parish because I believe profoundly in the parish.
During my two years on General Synod, I have served on the Mission and Pastoral Measure Revision Committee, alongside colleagues from Save the Parish, seeking to improve the legal framework for managing buildings and parishes and keep the Church present in all our communities.
Currently I would like to focus on the plight of rural parishes, and I am a supporter of the Save the Parish organisation.
Parish Life – I am very sympathetic to the concerns of Save the Parish.
I am member of Save the Parish as I believe that every community needs their church and vicar present, in order to proclaim the good news of Jesus to our neighbours.
Standing with the Save The Parish Network
The full Save the Parish manifesto can be found at www.savetheparish.com.
Save the Parish does not tell me what to think.
Local Impact – some interesting facts Save the Parish is not about nostalgia; it is about solving today’s problems.
Save the Parish has changed how the Church talks about parishes, restored the priority of the parish in law, won a substantial increase in Lowest Income Communities Funding, and persuaded Synod to commission a complete review of Church funding.
Save the Parish is working for equal access to justice for parishes facing closure or merger.
I am a Director of Save The Parish.
Save the Parish but Realistic and Targeted
Save the Parish (STP) have produced a 24 page manifesto and a 12 page report on the crisis in parish ministry, and I agree with much of the analysis: clergy are exhausted, spread over too many parishes, distracted from ministry by bureaucracy, while diocesan staff numbers swell, bidding for national funds.
I wholeheartedly support SAVE THE PARISH, the initiative started five years ago by the Reverend Marcus Walker, Vicar of St Bartholomew’s in the City of London.
As such, I am standing in support of Save the Parish.
At General Synod I will actively stand with Save the Parish to advocate for the necessary changes needed to restore the statutory requirement that income from the Church Commissioners’ endowment must be spent in accordance with the historic mandate to support ministry in parishes.
I joined Save the Parish at its inception as I firmly believe that the Parish system, if properly resourced, remains the right way for the Church to make Jesus known.
I am standing for General Synod on a Save The Parish platform because I believe that every parishioner in England should have access to parish ministry and pastoral care.
I am delighted to endorse the Save the Parish manifesto (see here), and in particular its call to
• That we engage with such organisations as Save the Parish in a positive
I am simply not optimistic about carrying on as we are. Þ I am standing for General Synod because I believe in a Church rooted in its parishes, confident in its faith and sacramental inheritance, generous in its breadth, genuinely inclusive - and prepared to reform itself. Þ I support Save the Parish, Together and Inclusive Church.
Save the Parish - parish, presence and priesthood The parish gives the Church of England something remarkable: a Christian presence in every community, for everyone.
Save the Parish.
As a traditional catholic in the Church of England, I have always believed in the pastoral ministry of the priest to all people, and I am concerned that in some places this traditional approach is under threat, and I support the work of the ‘Save the Parish’ project
Working to bolster clergy morale, as well as proper accountability: Some of us may feel as clergy that we too are beyond the household: we may doubt our worthiness, and the recent report from Save the Parish re-emphasised the threats posed to the flourishing of all of us by the lack of trust between clergy and ‘the centre’ and by that demoralisation experienced by many.
I support SAVE the Parish, and with them will keep raising the voice until we see the following changes: Restore the Commissioners' endowment to its founding purpose — sustaining stipendiary priests in parishes, especially the poorest — rather than funding strategic projects and central staff.
I have some sympathy with the ‘Save the Parish’ concerns, and I am delighted that in this diocese we are committed to maintaining our stipendiary numbers.
As Church Warden, Deanery Synod representative and a national volunteer for Save the Parish, I support our church in seeing growth through presence in our communities, not by offering less and less in an age of ever greater isolation.
But lobbying by the Save the Parish team and some veteran synod members persisted as the Endowment Fund and its charitable objectives were compromised.
I am therefore standing as part of the Save the Parish movement, which has an effective programme to tackle these problems.
The Save the Parish movement has done sterling work in recent years, reminding the national church of its historic commitment to our communities.
Here are some more priorities – if I'm re-elected… > The parish church and parish ministry are the basis for the work of the C of E, and I agree with 'Save the Parish' that it's vital to support this wherever possible.
I am a member of Together for the Church of England and a keen advocate for the importance of the parish as a focus for mission and align myself with Save the Parish.
I am therefore naturally aligned with Save the Parish. ● Clergy Well Being: Having several members of clergy in my family, I know the particular strains, stresses and loneliness that can accompany clergy life.
Matters are reaching a critical point and so I have chosen to stand as part of the Save the Parish movement and pledge to focus my energies on these commitments.
I pledge to work together with all those of goodwill, whatever their position on all of the other matters which vex the church, to Save the Parish.
I endevour, if elected, to work across boundaries and positively with our Diocese to seek to enable this, as a part of Save the Parish.
At present, according to figures provided by the campaign group 'Save the Parish', only 8% of the Church Commissioners' planned annual distribution is ring-fenced for parish ministry.
I am standing on a Save the Parish ticket.
Save the Parish’s (STP) aims for the next quinquennium include ensuring that Church Commissioners’ funds and parish share are used for their original purpose of supporting parishes and their mission, making sure that clergy are valued, cared for and theologically trained, and valuing the volunteers who hold the local church together.
If I am re-elected I intend to help Save the Parish to achieve its aims, by voting in favour of them, being involved in debates, and by ensuring that I am fully informed of the background to STP’s motions.
Why I am standing I am strongly persuaded by analysis and proposals in the Save The Parish manifesto, and if elected, my voting record would likely align with it.
According to Save the Parish, there are now 6,295 full-time stipendiary parish clergy – a fall of 28% since 2000 – while only around 8% of the Church Commissioners' planned annual distribution is ring-fenced for parish ministry.
Served on General Synod committees, including the visionary Save the Parish group.
Save the Parish Network, The Parish in Numbers 2026.
I will work with Save the Parish, UNISON and all allies of inclusion to make this happen.
I long for it to witness to the love of Jesus Christ in every village, town and city across the country and I support the aims of Save the Parish in focusing on parish, priest and people as we continue to be a church for the whole nation.
With this in mind I joined our Deanery Synod and Save the Parish have said I can stand in this election on their manifesto.
Save the Parish is a grassroots movement working to resource the parish system across the nation, ensuring the poorest communities are not abandoned, and that dioceses and the national church have, at their core, the call to put their parishes first.
Save the Parish in the next Synod
6 Reform the Mission and Pastoral Measure If you support me, I will commit to supporting Save the Parish in the next Synod.
Why I am standing: I am standing as part of the Save the Parish movement.
He asked for help to revive the church, to support his campaign to ‘Save the Parish’ and for anyone willing, to stand for election to the General Synod.
unique mission of the C of E and I support the “Save The Parish” campaign.
I am a strong advocate of the importance and centrality of parish ministry and therefore support the Save the Parish Movement, which campaigns for funded stipendiary parish ministry, enabling mission and the cure of all souls in every parish and understanding clergy wellbeing as vital to the health of the church.
I agree with Save The Parish that the Church Commissioners should directly support Parish Ministry.
I agree with Save the Parish that we need a ‘Charter of Care’ for Clergy, to properly resource Parishes from historic funds and not constantly increase Parish Share, to honour and resource the volunteers who hold parishes together and to reform the Mission and Pastoral Measure.
The ‘Save the Parish’ agenda articulates many issues including the complexities and outcomes of funding changes in recent years.
If elected to General Synod that is a cause I would continue to plead. ● Part of the initial steering group across the traditions working for the return of clergy pensions to a more appropriate rate, which achieved viral support and considerable success in General Synod in summer 2025. ● Elected to serve Bishop Rob on Bishop’s Council in Carlisle diocese, alongside Deanery and Diocesan Synods. ● Joining ‘Save the Parish’ shortly after it launched, sharing their belief that the parish system, properly resourced, remains the right way for the Church of England to be embedded in every community in this country. with well-trained clergy providing regular worship, pastoral care, sacraments and service. ● And of course, being an active and outward-looking member of my local congregations exercising hospitality and playing my part in the PCC and church rotas.
I seek election in Southwark Diocese to the House of Laity, under the auspices of Save the Parish.
I support the manifesto of “Save the Parish” to:
I am a member of the campaign group Save the Parish.
I am one of the founder members of STP’s first local branch, Save the Parish Cornwall here in the Diocese of Truro.
It is for those reasons that I support Save the Parish and stand with its commitments for the next Synod.
The recommendations set out in the Save the Parish led consultation at St George’s
I am a trustee of Gafcon Europe, a Churchwarden of St Gregory’s Marnhull, a member of the Blackmore Vale Deanery Synod, I like to pray, and I support ‘Save the Parish’.
THE FIGHT BACK – WE MUST HAVE REAL CHANGE It is obviously not possible to give more than a ‘snapshot’ in a short statement such as this, and I would urge you to look at the website of Save the Parish, whose Manifesto I support, and with whose other General Synod members I would work.
Having been involved with Save the Parish since before its launch, I support and endorse lustily its objectives.
Save The Parish
This is why I have chosen to stand as part of the Save the Parish movement and commit to its mission of a “thriving, cradle-to-grave parish system with well-trained clergy providing regular worship, pastoral care and the sacraments, fully embedded in and serving their local communities”.
In that context I support the goals of the Save the Parish movement.
But I hope it will give proper attention to the various thoughtful proposals in the Save the Parish Manifesto.
1 Corinthians 12:26 · NRSV Thriving parishes, no more excuses I stand with Save the Parish and commit to all six of its aims for the next Synod:
8 Winchester Diocese 2023, 2024 & 2025 Annual Accounts 9 Summary of 42 Diocesan Accounts, Save The Parish Network, 2024 10 Archbishops Oversight Committee, 2022, Sir Robert Chote report.
I am standing as a candidate for the House of Laity in the forthcoming General Synod election as a member of Save the Parish: I believe that the Church of England needs to re-focus its considerable resources material, financial and personal onto mission within the parish system, centring that investment on the parish clergy and their teams.
Correspondence last week critical of the stance of Save the Parish (Letters, 7 August) has confused two things: Christianity and the Church of England.
No one could possibly object to “two or three” – or 300 – being gathered together in faith and prayer anywhere or anyhow; none of us at Save the Parish could conceivably object to experimental missionary work and a striving for social justice.
PARISH PRIEST PEOPLE It’s hard to imagine that 5 years have passed since I wrote to many of you asking for your vote as I stood for General Synod under the then new Save the Parish (STP) manifesto and in support, particularly but not exclusively of the rural parishes, priests and people.
I strongly support the aims of the Save the Parish Network.
The parish system is one of the Church of England’s greatest strengths, and I share Save the Parish’s commitment to sustaining and renewing properly resourced parish ministry.
These issues remain key as I stand again, with the support of both Inclusive Church and Save the Parish.
I support the principles of the 2026 Save the Parish manifesto, particularly the responsible use of Church Commissioners' funding, a fair approach to parish share, investment in training and support for clergy, honouring voluntary service, and maintaining the parish system as a vital foundation for mission.
The Save the Parish Manifesto offers the right approach to reform.
Primarily because I have detailed knowledge of the existential threat to our parish system and will help to protect your church by supporting the Save the Parish Network Manifesto.
To read the Save the Parish Network Manifesto in full, go to savetheparish.com or ask me to send you a copy.
• confident that General Synod is the right forum to save the parish
We need to redirect resources towards parishes, cut unnecessary bureaucracy, and develop a sustainable models to not only ‘Save the Parish’ but to pioneer how we express a renewed parish ministry into the 22nd century.
If you elect me to Synod, I will champion ‘Save the Parish’ and focus on these key areas to help parishes thrive:
On the good side of things, I have found potential for revitalisation in the ideas of the Save the Parish ‘STP’ network, and therefore I whole-heartedly encourage you to give your top preferences to those candidates who indicate support for STP.
A motion to do this came up in July last year and along with Save the Parish colleagues and many others, of course I voted for this — but the motion failed because too many in General Synod, including your three other laity representatives for Winchester, opposed it.
This had not been done before in any structured way, and it’s my hope that we have obtained a lot more financial clarity as a result of it — it’s available on the Save the Parish website.
This is why I support the work and mission of Save the Parish.
I am standing as a Save the Parish candidate and support its manifesto pledges.
I want to support valuing and caring for clergy, including the Save the Parish proposal of a Charter of Care.
During the past five years, I have been part of the Save the Parish Network whose members on General Synod have begun campaigning for a complete reconsideration of how the National Church distributes its wealth.
I would like to continue with Save the Parish working to ensure that any new distribution formula directs money to the parishes that need it most and guarantees that dioceses are sustainably resourced to keep priests in parishes.
I will also join with Save the Parish proposing a charter of care that values our clergy and guards them from exhaustion, including an immediate halt to cutting stipendiary posts as a means of balancing budgets, and a limit to the number of parishes a priest is required to cover.
I am standing in support of the Save the Parish movement.
The work of Save the Parish has been impressive over the last five years and I was greatly enthused by the passionate and realistic spirit of the conference that was held in Smithfield this summer.
Save the Parish is working to restore our historic endowments (held by the Church Commissioners and currently valued at £11.6 billion) to their rightful purpose, which is to support parish ministry at the point of delivery.
Save the Parish is determined to improve the conditions in which the clergy serve: we are working on a ‘Charter of Care’ for the clergy and also on the renewal of a system of well-resourced and rigorous theological training and formation.
For too long there has seemed to be no remedy to the sad march of decline in the Church of England: no remedy, that is, until Save the Parish came along, analysed the annual accounts of every diocese, and began to address the root causes of our difficulties.
Alongside Save the Parish, I support a Church in which “the pure Word of God is preached and the Sacraments are duly ministered in every community” across the land.
The challenge offered by ‘Save the Parish’ largely remains.
Standing for 'Save the Parish'
Meeting the dedicated people involved in the Save the Parish movement has given me immense hope that the Church of England can dynamically change and adapt to make better use of its financial resources for growth and mission through our parish network.
Whilst I have some sympathy with the Save the Parish movement, I also consider that some of their expectations are simply unrealistic, partly because they misunderstand the national funding framework and partly because they overlook the significant vulnerability of many rural parishes.
While I am not one of Save the Parish’s candidates, I think they have this absolutely right.
Growing vocations: I believe in the parish system but simply diverting money there won’t save the parish as the church is facing a crisis of vocations.
긭 STANDING WITH SAVE THE PARISH
I stand firmly alongside the Save the Parish movement.
Save the Parish – I believe that parish ministry and pastoral care should be accessible to everyone.
I seek election to the House of Laity for Peterborough Diocese to support SAVE THE PARISH.
“Vicars are becoming an endangered species, leaving the nation's poorest communities without regular priestly care,” Save the Parish, Times Sept.
My experience of how the framework of the commissioners and the Diocese effect a small parish with limited resources, and managing the work of a parish with two historic churches (sometimes without a priest) has motivated me to make change on a larger scale by representing Save the Parish.
Those involved in Save the Parish are perhaps not my natural allies and bedfellows, but I have some sympathy with the desire to re-assert the centrality of the parish to the Church of England’s ministry (as well as chaplaincy and other missional settings where there is a strong pastoral engagement with those outside the bubble of the church).
Save the Parish
I believe the situation is critical and have chosen to stand as part of the Save the Parish movement and pledge to focus my energies on these pledges, so that the Gospel can be preached and the church be salt and light in its community.
Save The Parish
Therefore, during the last five years, I have been involved with the Save the Parish (STP) movement, which is run by Marcus Walker of the church of St. Bartholomew the Great in London.
Already a third of General Synod consists of Save the Parish-aligned people and the Save the Parish movement is seeking to strengthen its representation in the next session of General Synod.
Save the Parish
I stand for Save the Parish.
Funding parish ministry The first Save the Parish commitment is to restore Church Commissioners' funds to their founding purpose: stipendiary parish ministry.
With Save the Parish I will aim to restore the statutory requirement that income from their endowment must be spent “with particular regard to the cure of souls in parishes where such assistance is most required,” including funding those pensions.
Restoring parish ministry The Save the Parish manifesto points out how diocesan and national headquarters have ballooned in numbers in recent years, while stipendiary clergy numbers have shrunk, by 28 %.
With Save the Parish I would aim instead for recognition of faithfulness.
I am supportive of the manifesto of the “Save the Parish” movement and would work in Synod to return more of the Church’s income to the parishes so that proper pastoral care, and the church’s mission, can be deployed by the people who know their communities best - those who live there.
I am not affiliated with any particular campaign group, but it will be apparent from the points above that some of my key views are aligned with those of Inclusive Church and Save the Parish in their respective spheres of interest.
Due to this important and significant vision, I became actively involved in the organisation called ‘Save the Parish ‘, which seeks to implement and maintain that vision – hence my involvement.
This is why I support the Save the Parish campaign to put more resource into our churches.
I support the principles of Save the Parish because I believe well-resourced, flourishing parishes are essential to the future of the Church of England.
I agree with Save the Parish on the need to reform the Mission and Pastoral measure governing parish reorganisation, and that the wellbeing of those engaged in active ministry (whether clergy or lay, paid or unpaid) is paramount.
As a member of Save the Parish, I would work to speak up for local presence, ministry and witness.
I have also asked several questions on projected future clergy numbers – an issue that has been on my radar for the last five years, and has now been taken up by Save the Parish.
I am not affiliated with “Save the Parish”, but am glad that they have taken up some of these issues, and would love to see a more consistent vision for parish ministry.
According to the ‘Save the Parish Consultation’ (March 2026), the CofE priest is in danger of becoming an “endangered species”.
Save the Parish has outlined a commitment in its manifesto for ‘A Clergy Charter of Care’ to protect frontline clergy from mental and physical exhaustion, and I am in support of this initiative to improve the ways in which we are equipped together to proclaim the Gospel in our land.
We should welcome suggestions from pressure groups such as Save the Parish.
I have, from my experience here, supported both Together for the Church of England in its work for a fully inclusive Church and Save the Parish in its work to strengthen and resource parish ministry.
Prior to ordination training I had the great privilege of serving across varied missional contexts in both northern and southern provinces (CEMS participant in Sunderland with a four group benefice of churches and work as pastoral assistant at St Martin-in-the-fields) I whole heartedly affirm the aims of the Save the Parish network because I believe that our greatest strength lies in our historic parochial model of church.
and Save The Parish
At about the same time, I became aware of the work of Save the Parish so joined that organisation and I am one of the Hertfordshire representatives.
My list, above, forms part of the Save the Parish manifesto (you can read the whole document at www.savetheparish.com).
Save the Parish has already achieved some successes and gained momentum.
General Synod Election 2026 • Rev’d Rich Townend • Page 2 This belief is at the core of the Save the Parish manifesto.
I share many of the concerns expressed by Save the Parish, especially its emphasis on properly resourcing local parish ministry.
I also believe strongly in the life of the local parish church and support the work of Save the Parish.