Parish News & Articles
All About Anna Chaplaincy
![Picture](/uploads/1/3/4/4/134406363/published/anna-chaplaincy-logo.png?1721654100)
As Remembrance Sunday draws near our thoughts turn more and more towards those we have lost and those who are nearing the end of their lives. While there’s a growing focus on youth and young families Anna Chaplaincy offers support for older people, both emotionally and spiritually. They are named after the widow, Anna, who appears with Simeon in Luke’s gospel. Both are good role models of faithful older people and Anna Chaplains are there for people of strong, little or no faith.
Anna Chaplains visit the elderly wherever they may be living, whether in residential or nursing homes, sheltered housing, retirement complexes or other private homes. The emphasis is on spiritual support but people’s practical struggles will also play a part in their overall wellbeing.
Increasingly many older people are feeling that they are beyond the interest and concern of their wider community and even, sometimes, their church. Life for the elderly can be isolating as well as challenging. Spiritual support provided in a gentle and loving way brings comfort and succour to people who may be at a low point in their lives, enabling them to live with greater meaning and purpose.
Some of those who become Anna Chaplains, or Anna Friends, are themselves post-retirement and discover new meaning and impetus through helping others. Ellen Holah is a Community Police Officer in Exeter. She has been an Anna Chaplain for two and a half years and she spoke to me about how it all came about:
“Through my police work I came into contact with an elderly lady of 99, who thought she had been scammed on the ‘phone. She was still living on her own, was profoundly deaf, losing her sight and she’d had enough of life. She tried various times to end it all and the only relative was an 86 year old niece, living in Cardiff. I was upset and appalled by this elderly lady’s situation so I contacted my Bishop and she told me about Anna Chaplains. That was during Covid and I began my training on-line. Sadly, help was too late for this 99 year old as she eventually succeeded in taking her own life.”
Ellen visits anyone living in her parish. Some will have a strong faith, some will not. At the moment Ellen is visiting a 99 year old once a week. Her daughter rang the pastoral team asking if someone could visit and Ellen now sends regular texts to the daughter who is unable to visit her mother herself. Then there is 90 year old Dora, who Ellen also visits once a week; John at 80 years old, every fortnight, and Annie at 99, who Ellen visits every four to six weeks. Annie has family visitors so is not so isolated. Although Anna Chaplains will visit people in care and residential homes Ellen prefers to visit the elderly who are still living in their own homes:
“Everyone is different and everyone wants to talk about different things. When I first visited Dora she had no contact with her family or anyone else, apart from someone who did her weekly shop. It is so rewarding to see how she has blossomed over the years I’ve been visiting; she is a much happier person. With Annie the family are often present. I’m not sure where she stands with the Lord but the family seem very comforted when I pray with her. Then there’s Bea, a vet’s wife and farmer’s daughter. She loves blood and gore, and can’t wait to ask me if I’ve attended any grisly ‘call outs’ doing my day job.”
There are both Anna Chaplains and Anna Friends. The Anna Chaplains take the lead in church and the Anna Friends volunteer as helpers. The Friends don’t take on the full responsibility of the Chaplains and there is less on-going training. Ellen would encourage everyone who cares about the welfare of the elderly to get involved:
“If you have a heart for the older person then becoming an Anna Chaplain is incredibly rewarding. I feel I have gained as much, if not more, from my relationships with the people I visit. If, initially, you are a little wary of becoming an Anna Chaplain then try volunteering as an Anna Friend first – you can always go on to become an Anna Chaplain later.”
To find out more information go to: www.annachaplaincy.org.uk
There you will find details about Anna Chaplains in your area, how to apply to become an Anna Chaplain and how to request a visit for an elderly relative or friend.
Anna Chaplains visit the elderly wherever they may be living, whether in residential or nursing homes, sheltered housing, retirement complexes or other private homes. The emphasis is on spiritual support but people’s practical struggles will also play a part in their overall wellbeing.
Increasingly many older people are feeling that they are beyond the interest and concern of their wider community and even, sometimes, their church. Life for the elderly can be isolating as well as challenging. Spiritual support provided in a gentle and loving way brings comfort and succour to people who may be at a low point in their lives, enabling them to live with greater meaning and purpose.
Some of those who become Anna Chaplains, or Anna Friends, are themselves post-retirement and discover new meaning and impetus through helping others. Ellen Holah is a Community Police Officer in Exeter. She has been an Anna Chaplain for two and a half years and she spoke to me about how it all came about:
“Through my police work I came into contact with an elderly lady of 99, who thought she had been scammed on the ‘phone. She was still living on her own, was profoundly deaf, losing her sight and she’d had enough of life. She tried various times to end it all and the only relative was an 86 year old niece, living in Cardiff. I was upset and appalled by this elderly lady’s situation so I contacted my Bishop and she told me about Anna Chaplains. That was during Covid and I began my training on-line. Sadly, help was too late for this 99 year old as she eventually succeeded in taking her own life.”
Ellen visits anyone living in her parish. Some will have a strong faith, some will not. At the moment Ellen is visiting a 99 year old once a week. Her daughter rang the pastoral team asking if someone could visit and Ellen now sends regular texts to the daughter who is unable to visit her mother herself. Then there is 90 year old Dora, who Ellen also visits once a week; John at 80 years old, every fortnight, and Annie at 99, who Ellen visits every four to six weeks. Annie has family visitors so is not so isolated. Although Anna Chaplains will visit people in care and residential homes Ellen prefers to visit the elderly who are still living in their own homes:
“Everyone is different and everyone wants to talk about different things. When I first visited Dora she had no contact with her family or anyone else, apart from someone who did her weekly shop. It is so rewarding to see how she has blossomed over the years I’ve been visiting; she is a much happier person. With Annie the family are often present. I’m not sure where she stands with the Lord but the family seem very comforted when I pray with her. Then there’s Bea, a vet’s wife and farmer’s daughter. She loves blood and gore, and can’t wait to ask me if I’ve attended any grisly ‘call outs’ doing my day job.”
There are both Anna Chaplains and Anna Friends. The Anna Chaplains take the lead in church and the Anna Friends volunteer as helpers. The Friends don’t take on the full responsibility of the Chaplains and there is less on-going training. Ellen would encourage everyone who cares about the welfare of the elderly to get involved:
“If you have a heart for the older person then becoming an Anna Chaplain is incredibly rewarding. I feel I have gained as much, if not more, from my relationships with the people I visit. If, initially, you are a little wary of becoming an Anna Chaplain then try volunteering as an Anna Friend first – you can always go on to become an Anna Chaplain later.”
To find out more information go to: www.annachaplaincy.org.uk
There you will find details about Anna Chaplains in your area, how to apply to become an Anna Chaplain and how to request a visit for an elderly relative or friend.
Church Wardens - Our Unsung Heros
![Picture](/uploads/1/3/4/4/134406363/editor/unsung-heros.png?1721655513)
T.S. Eliot is probably the most well-known churchwarden. A deeply religious man he was churchwarden at St. Stephen’s in London for 25 years. Today churchwardens are often described as the unsung heroes of the Church of England. This ‘vaguely specified job’ broadly covers management, maintenance and mission; the foremost duty being to: ‘represent the laity and co-operate with the parish priest in the encouragement of true religion, unity and peace.’
The office of Churchwarden dates from the 13th Century, and is thus one of the earliest forms of recognised lay ministry. The primary function of the office at that time seems to have been that of taking care of the Church building and its contents, including the responsibility of providing for the repair of the nave, and of furnishing the utensils for divine service.
In earlier times the Offwell churchwarden was also responsible for distributing awards for destroying vermin, kites, moles, badgers, foxes and crows. He was assisted by a Parish Clerk, an elderly gentleman in receipt of Parish Relief, who was often given an additional fee for ‘Dog whipping’ which meant turning out dogs who had entered the church during services.
Most importantly churchwardens had custody or guardianship of the fabric and furniture of the church, and even today they are the legal guardians of the church’s moveable goods, such as furniture, plates and ornaments. They also have a duty to look after the church building, the overall aim being to pass on to your successor ‘a building that is in a better condition than the one you found it in’. Many old churches are dusty, cold and damp and the worst of these is the damp. One churchwarden was recently instructed by his diocese architect to: “Look after the water that falls on the roof and goes into the gutters, the hoppers and downpipes, then into the drains and away from the building; if you do that you have done four-fifths of the job, and the church won’t fall down on your watch.”
Which is all very fine but repairs and renovations to Grade I and Grade II listed buildings have become prohibitively expensive, particularly for rural churches with declining congregations and ‘unsung heroes’ for churchwardens, not men and women of great wealth.
In Offwell we were fortunate to have the prosperous Copleston family as rectors from 1772 until 1954, as well as dominant families like the Collins’ who were of ‘superior status and wealth’. One long serving churchwarden was Emmanuel Dommett, who served as churchwarden over a period of 60 years in the late 18th, early 19th centuries. Dommett was a wealthy landowner and benefactor and at the end of his life he gave £120 to the village land trustees to be used for charitable purposes. In 1824 most of this sum (£99) went towards the purchase of local land with timber, the income from which was to be used for the education of the poor. The remainder of Emanuel Dommett’s gift was for the building of a house for the village schoolmaster; Dommett having already provided the land on which Bishop Copleston would build Offwell School in 1841.
Throughout the centuries churchwarden accounts note a never ending list of yearly payments for musicians, repairs to bells, new bells, ropes, windows, lintels, curtains, pews and stonework. In 1811 two masons were employed to replace 114 cubic feet of stone and set in new windows. The stone and sand were dragged by horse and plough from Honiton, a task that took two men and three horses four days. The expenditure for that year amounted to £113 10s 2d; in 1815 it was new timber and slates for the roof with a total expenditure of £213 1s 8d, well over £21,000 in today’s money.
Two hundred years after Emmanuel Dommett bequeathed land for Offwell School the present churchwardens are about to embark on grant funding in order to renovate and re-order the interior of St. Mary’s. The hope is that by widening the nave aisle, this will enhance the space for weddings, funerals and those with mobility issues. Renovation to the box pews will ensure they can continue to be used for years to come and the repositioning of the 15th century font, to its original location in the south aisle, will create more space for groups to meet and for hospitality to be provided.
Church re-ordering projects take many years to reach completion. At St. Mary’s discussions began back in 2009. It has taken dogged determination and an ‘unsung hero’ mentality to get us to the starting line. Let us hope that 2024 will be as important a year for St. Mary’s as 1824 was for Offwell school.
NB. For more information on the re-ordering project please go to St. Mary’s page on the Benefice website www.parish-church.com or www.offwell.church
By Carol Hayes
The office of Churchwarden dates from the 13th Century, and is thus one of the earliest forms of recognised lay ministry. The primary function of the office at that time seems to have been that of taking care of the Church building and its contents, including the responsibility of providing for the repair of the nave, and of furnishing the utensils for divine service.
In earlier times the Offwell churchwarden was also responsible for distributing awards for destroying vermin, kites, moles, badgers, foxes and crows. He was assisted by a Parish Clerk, an elderly gentleman in receipt of Parish Relief, who was often given an additional fee for ‘Dog whipping’ which meant turning out dogs who had entered the church during services.
Most importantly churchwardens had custody or guardianship of the fabric and furniture of the church, and even today they are the legal guardians of the church’s moveable goods, such as furniture, plates and ornaments. They also have a duty to look after the church building, the overall aim being to pass on to your successor ‘a building that is in a better condition than the one you found it in’. Many old churches are dusty, cold and damp and the worst of these is the damp. One churchwarden was recently instructed by his diocese architect to: “Look after the water that falls on the roof and goes into the gutters, the hoppers and downpipes, then into the drains and away from the building; if you do that you have done four-fifths of the job, and the church won’t fall down on your watch.”
Which is all very fine but repairs and renovations to Grade I and Grade II listed buildings have become prohibitively expensive, particularly for rural churches with declining congregations and ‘unsung heroes’ for churchwardens, not men and women of great wealth.
In Offwell we were fortunate to have the prosperous Copleston family as rectors from 1772 until 1954, as well as dominant families like the Collins’ who were of ‘superior status and wealth’. One long serving churchwarden was Emmanuel Dommett, who served as churchwarden over a period of 60 years in the late 18th, early 19th centuries. Dommett was a wealthy landowner and benefactor and at the end of his life he gave £120 to the village land trustees to be used for charitable purposes. In 1824 most of this sum (£99) went towards the purchase of local land with timber, the income from which was to be used for the education of the poor. The remainder of Emanuel Dommett’s gift was for the building of a house for the village schoolmaster; Dommett having already provided the land on which Bishop Copleston would build Offwell School in 1841.
Throughout the centuries churchwarden accounts note a never ending list of yearly payments for musicians, repairs to bells, new bells, ropes, windows, lintels, curtains, pews and stonework. In 1811 two masons were employed to replace 114 cubic feet of stone and set in new windows. The stone and sand were dragged by horse and plough from Honiton, a task that took two men and three horses four days. The expenditure for that year amounted to £113 10s 2d; in 1815 it was new timber and slates for the roof with a total expenditure of £213 1s 8d, well over £21,000 in today’s money.
Two hundred years after Emmanuel Dommett bequeathed land for Offwell School the present churchwardens are about to embark on grant funding in order to renovate and re-order the interior of St. Mary’s. The hope is that by widening the nave aisle, this will enhance the space for weddings, funerals and those with mobility issues. Renovation to the box pews will ensure they can continue to be used for years to come and the repositioning of the 15th century font, to its original location in the south aisle, will create more space for groups to meet and for hospitality to be provided.
Church re-ordering projects take many years to reach completion. At St. Mary’s discussions began back in 2009. It has taken dogged determination and an ‘unsung hero’ mentality to get us to the starting line. Let us hope that 2024 will be as important a year for St. Mary’s as 1824 was for Offwell school.
NB. For more information on the re-ordering project please go to St. Mary’s page on the Benefice website www.parish-church.com or www.offwell.church
By Carol Hayes
Ordination of Women Priests - 30 Year Anniversary
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The Mothering Sunday Service at St. Mary’s, on 10th March, will be taken by Revd Canon Jane Wilson. Now retired, Jane was Rector of the United Benefice of Offwell (then five churches) between 2007 and 2012. This March the church also celebrates the 30th anniversary of the ordination of women priests into the Church of England. In March 1994 the first women were ordained in Bristol and on 16th April 36 deacons, including Jane, were ordained at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Alongside her was the Rt. Rev Jackie Searle, Bishop of Crediton, who at the time was eight months pregnant with her first child.
The Movement for the Ordination of Women was founded in 1979. After 19 years of debate it was on 11th November 1992 that the Church of England’s General Synod finally voted in favour of women’s ordination.
The day was described as ‘a day of tension’ and the public gallery as well as the press gallery of the assembly hall in Church House had been packed from the moment the doors opened; the expectant crowd overflowing into other halls with television screens. The debate would continue for an exhausting six hours.
The arguments for and against were powerful, anguished and emotional. Dr. David Hope, then Bishop of London, spoke with ‘considerable reluctance and anguish’ against the motion, saying that “in all honesty I am very open to the fact that I may well be wrong”. Dr. Carey, then Archbishop of Canterbury, acknowledged the pain some would inevitably feel but hoped: “with all my heart that Synod will affirm the place of women in the priesthood”.
John Gummer, MP, ‘came out all guns blazing’ deploring, according to one witness, ‘that the Church should waste time on this issue instead of winning souls for Christ.’ And the Bishop of Fulham felt he could not compromise with tradition “otherwise I risk my soul”.
By late afternoon everyone was exhausted and the tension was unbearable. During the vote many were in tears. When the result was announced women hugged and kissed, singing ‘Jubilate Deo’ well into the evening: ‘The relief was like a tidal wave engulfing us.’
Those who felt defeated came out distraught, even some of the men were in tears. By the time the General Synod next met many priests and lay members had taken the decision to leave the Church of England.
Jane’s ordination in April 1994 was hardly less dramatic.
A determined opponent of the ordination of women, the Rev Paul Williamson, had fought an unsuccessful campaign to prevent the Church of England ordaining women priests. During every ordination ceremony the congregation are asked: “Is it your will that these people are ordained?” To prevent Rev Williamson from disrupting this part of the ceremony the Bishop of Willesden, the Rt. Rev Graham Dow, allowed Rev Williamson five minutes to state his objections before the question was asked of the congregation.
The 36 women deacons about to be ordained had spent the previous week in Retreat, in quiet prayer and reflection. Now they were gathered in St. Paul’s Cathedral with supportive family and friends for this joyous and momentous occasion. Rev. Williamson stood up for his allotted five minutes and continued to lambast the congregation with accusations of ‘heresy and apostasy’. As the onslaught continued beyond his allotted time the male priests in the congregation began to wave their service sheets and shout ‘TIME – ENOUGH!!’
When the 36 women deacons finally stood, faced the congregation and Bishop Graham asked the question: “Is it your will that these people are ordained?’ two thousand people leapt to their feet, cheered and shouted YES – IT IS OUR WILL!” Many of the women were in tears and emotional at this great moment of joy and celebration, as was Jane in the re-telling of these events.
After so many years of struggle the Church had finally come to this momentous decision to ordain women as priests.
The Movement for the Ordination of Women was founded in 1979. After 19 years of debate it was on 11th November 1992 that the Church of England’s General Synod finally voted in favour of women’s ordination.
The day was described as ‘a day of tension’ and the public gallery as well as the press gallery of the assembly hall in Church House had been packed from the moment the doors opened; the expectant crowd overflowing into other halls with television screens. The debate would continue for an exhausting six hours.
The arguments for and against were powerful, anguished and emotional. Dr. David Hope, then Bishop of London, spoke with ‘considerable reluctance and anguish’ against the motion, saying that “in all honesty I am very open to the fact that I may well be wrong”. Dr. Carey, then Archbishop of Canterbury, acknowledged the pain some would inevitably feel but hoped: “with all my heart that Synod will affirm the place of women in the priesthood”.
John Gummer, MP, ‘came out all guns blazing’ deploring, according to one witness, ‘that the Church should waste time on this issue instead of winning souls for Christ.’ And the Bishop of Fulham felt he could not compromise with tradition “otherwise I risk my soul”.
By late afternoon everyone was exhausted and the tension was unbearable. During the vote many were in tears. When the result was announced women hugged and kissed, singing ‘Jubilate Deo’ well into the evening: ‘The relief was like a tidal wave engulfing us.’
Those who felt defeated came out distraught, even some of the men were in tears. By the time the General Synod next met many priests and lay members had taken the decision to leave the Church of England.
Jane’s ordination in April 1994 was hardly less dramatic.
A determined opponent of the ordination of women, the Rev Paul Williamson, had fought an unsuccessful campaign to prevent the Church of England ordaining women priests. During every ordination ceremony the congregation are asked: “Is it your will that these people are ordained?” To prevent Rev Williamson from disrupting this part of the ceremony the Bishop of Willesden, the Rt. Rev Graham Dow, allowed Rev Williamson five minutes to state his objections before the question was asked of the congregation.
The 36 women deacons about to be ordained had spent the previous week in Retreat, in quiet prayer and reflection. Now they were gathered in St. Paul’s Cathedral with supportive family and friends for this joyous and momentous occasion. Rev. Williamson stood up for his allotted five minutes and continued to lambast the congregation with accusations of ‘heresy and apostasy’. As the onslaught continued beyond his allotted time the male priests in the congregation began to wave their service sheets and shout ‘TIME – ENOUGH!!’
When the 36 women deacons finally stood, faced the congregation and Bishop Graham asked the question: “Is it your will that these people are ordained?’ two thousand people leapt to their feet, cheered and shouted YES – IT IS OUR WILL!” Many of the women were in tears and emotional at this great moment of joy and celebration, as was Jane in the re-telling of these events.
After so many years of struggle the Church had finally come to this momentous decision to ordain women as priests.
The Church Volunteering Crisis
![Picture](/uploads/1/3/4/4/134406363/published/unsung-heros.png?1721657051)
There has been a lot of press coverage lately about the Church of England’s ‘volunteering crisis’. In February the Church Times wrote to every diocese in the country attempting to quantify the extent of the recruitment challenge. Then in May Patrick Kidd wrote his article ‘Miracle Workers’ in the Spectator (now to be found on St. Mary's porch noticeboard) on how the Church must do more to encourage volunteers.
Patrick Kidd’s aunt, who has no religious faith but lives near a church in East Budleigh, has joined the cleaning roster and mows the churchyard. “She sees it as her community duty to help her neighbours to worship while she drinks coffee and listens to the bells.” All well and good for East Budleigh (let’s hope Patrick Kidd’s aunt remains fit enough, long enough, to manage a heavy mower!) but it isn’t just the Church of England that is having a volunteering crisis, it’s volunteering in general.
When you look at the statistics, post Covid, they are extremely troubling for a nation where volunteering has delivered productivity gains worth billions to the UK economy each year. The number of people undertaking regular formal volunteering fell from 11 million in 2019 to 7 million in 2021. This was due to a combination of changed working patterns, retirement, economic pressures and ‘sandwich’ care, ie people caring for parents then caring for grandchildren. Nevertheless, volunteering still remains overwhelmingly the preserve of elderly people, mainly those, like Patrick Kidd’s aunt, who see it as their ‘community duty’.
There are, however, voluntary sector volunteers, such as school governors and churchwardens, where community duty and altruism are not enough; they both require a high level of experience, expertise and commitment. A Schools Report published in 2015 advocated paying for better skilled governors with the reasoning that: “Education is simply too important to be left in the hands of volunteers’.
Having been a school governor myself I empathise totally with the report’s sentiments: “Yes, some have the necessary skills. Yes, many could be trained in the necessary skills. Yet the fundamental flaw remains: because volunteer governors are bestowing a favour by giving their time freely it is extremely hard to hold them to account. It is difficult to get all of them to turn up to meetings. It is asking a lot to expect them to keep up with the relevant policy changes. It is fanciful to park their personal agendas at the school gate. It is unreasonable to insist that they take time off work to be on disciplinary panels.”
The same could be said about church volunteering, particularly with regard to churchwardens, who take on complex legal and practical responsibilities as well as ensuring that the church fulfils its calling appropriately. If passed through Parliament a new law to protect premises from terrorist attack will add another burden for all churches. They will be required, by law, no matter how small, no matter how rural, to train workers in anti-terrorism tasks. “Across the Church of England” writes the Church Times survey: “wider societal shifts have occurred in parallel with what the diocese of Sheffield refers to as a ‘four-headed beast’: falling attendance; significant financial shortfalls in most parishes; problems presented by buildings and structures (leaving clergy, lay leaders, and congregations ‘overwhelmed by compliance, safeguarding and administrative demands’)”.
There is the ever increasing bureaucracy. In Patrick Kidd’s article he quotes one rector: “… trying to explain the complexity of safeguarding portals and online dashboards to a 76 year old”. A co-warden writes about a two hour ‘visitation’ by the archdeacon: “We had to fill out a 16-question form on our make-up and attendance figures; answer 55 more on parish finances; fill out a third form on when the drains were cleaned and the lightning conductor checked; and answer the questions ‘Do you have a plan for if the boiler breaks down?’ and ‘How will you make lighting more sustainable?’ My co-warden spent a weekend converting the emails by which our maintenance programme is run into a logbook as required. It wasn’t looked at.”
Alongside all the bureaucracy are the Church of England’s plans to introduce ‘pastoral reorganisation’ with a growing appetite for ‘mergers, joint councils and pluralities, particularly in a rural context’. Many clergy, in the Church Times survey, were wary about combining PCCs; the Dean of Small Churches in Worcester commenting: “You end up with bigger roles that are harder to fill and don’t have that local connection and knowledge of people and buildings”.
The Church of England’s goals for the 2020s include 10,000 new Christian communities, plus recruiting 27,000 new volunteers to help double the number of children and young active disciples; what one vicar describes as reflecting: “… a Church completely out of touch with the reality of the volunteer landscape.”
When next you enter St. Mary’s pause awhile to read John Betjeman’s poem from ‘Septuagesima’ – ‘Let’s Praise the man who goes to light the church stove on an icy night’. Spare a thought for your ‘volunteer’ churchwarden and PCC members. Never have Betjeman’s words felt more apt.
Carol Hayes 29.06.2024
Patrick Kidd’s aunt, who has no religious faith but lives near a church in East Budleigh, has joined the cleaning roster and mows the churchyard. “She sees it as her community duty to help her neighbours to worship while she drinks coffee and listens to the bells.” All well and good for East Budleigh (let’s hope Patrick Kidd’s aunt remains fit enough, long enough, to manage a heavy mower!) but it isn’t just the Church of England that is having a volunteering crisis, it’s volunteering in general.
When you look at the statistics, post Covid, they are extremely troubling for a nation where volunteering has delivered productivity gains worth billions to the UK economy each year. The number of people undertaking regular formal volunteering fell from 11 million in 2019 to 7 million in 2021. This was due to a combination of changed working patterns, retirement, economic pressures and ‘sandwich’ care, ie people caring for parents then caring for grandchildren. Nevertheless, volunteering still remains overwhelmingly the preserve of elderly people, mainly those, like Patrick Kidd’s aunt, who see it as their ‘community duty’.
There are, however, voluntary sector volunteers, such as school governors and churchwardens, where community duty and altruism are not enough; they both require a high level of experience, expertise and commitment. A Schools Report published in 2015 advocated paying for better skilled governors with the reasoning that: “Education is simply too important to be left in the hands of volunteers’.
Having been a school governor myself I empathise totally with the report’s sentiments: “Yes, some have the necessary skills. Yes, many could be trained in the necessary skills. Yet the fundamental flaw remains: because volunteer governors are bestowing a favour by giving their time freely it is extremely hard to hold them to account. It is difficult to get all of them to turn up to meetings. It is asking a lot to expect them to keep up with the relevant policy changes. It is fanciful to park their personal agendas at the school gate. It is unreasonable to insist that they take time off work to be on disciplinary panels.”
The same could be said about church volunteering, particularly with regard to churchwardens, who take on complex legal and practical responsibilities as well as ensuring that the church fulfils its calling appropriately. If passed through Parliament a new law to protect premises from terrorist attack will add another burden for all churches. They will be required, by law, no matter how small, no matter how rural, to train workers in anti-terrorism tasks. “Across the Church of England” writes the Church Times survey: “wider societal shifts have occurred in parallel with what the diocese of Sheffield refers to as a ‘four-headed beast’: falling attendance; significant financial shortfalls in most parishes; problems presented by buildings and structures (leaving clergy, lay leaders, and congregations ‘overwhelmed by compliance, safeguarding and administrative demands’)”.
There is the ever increasing bureaucracy. In Patrick Kidd’s article he quotes one rector: “… trying to explain the complexity of safeguarding portals and online dashboards to a 76 year old”. A co-warden writes about a two hour ‘visitation’ by the archdeacon: “We had to fill out a 16-question form on our make-up and attendance figures; answer 55 more on parish finances; fill out a third form on when the drains were cleaned and the lightning conductor checked; and answer the questions ‘Do you have a plan for if the boiler breaks down?’ and ‘How will you make lighting more sustainable?’ My co-warden spent a weekend converting the emails by which our maintenance programme is run into a logbook as required. It wasn’t looked at.”
Alongside all the bureaucracy are the Church of England’s plans to introduce ‘pastoral reorganisation’ with a growing appetite for ‘mergers, joint councils and pluralities, particularly in a rural context’. Many clergy, in the Church Times survey, were wary about combining PCCs; the Dean of Small Churches in Worcester commenting: “You end up with bigger roles that are harder to fill and don’t have that local connection and knowledge of people and buildings”.
The Church of England’s goals for the 2020s include 10,000 new Christian communities, plus recruiting 27,000 new volunteers to help double the number of children and young active disciples; what one vicar describes as reflecting: “… a Church completely out of touch with the reality of the volunteer landscape.”
When next you enter St. Mary’s pause awhile to read John Betjeman’s poem from ‘Septuagesima’ – ‘Let’s Praise the man who goes to light the church stove on an icy night’. Spare a thought for your ‘volunteer’ churchwarden and PCC members. Never have Betjeman’s words felt more apt.
Carol Hayes 29.06.2024