Parish News & Articles
‘Lest We Forget’ – 80 Years On
On the night of 18th February 1945 five Lancaster Bombers from 626 Squadron were detailed for mine laying in the Heligoland Bight. Two of the Lancasters failed to return and are assumed to have crashed at sea with no trace. The 14 members of the two 626 Squadron crews have no known graves; my father is one of them.
On 27th January we remembered Holocaust Day; the day in 1945 when Soviet troops liberated 7,000 prisoners from Auschwitz left behind in the main camp and its sub-camps. What we tend to forget is that ten days earlier German SS units began evacuating prisoners from Auschwitz, marching them on foot toward the interior of the German Reich. These forced evacuations came to be called the ‘death marches’. In the brutal winter of 1944/45 SS guards were given strict orders to kill prisoners who could no longer walk or travel.
This year Christians celebrate Easter Sunday on 20th April. Eighty years ago British troops were advancing towards Hamburg and on 20th April 1945, Hitler’s birthday, the Gestapo hung 20 Jewish children from Neuengamme concentration camp in a school basement. These were children who had been exploited for medical experiments and the murders were committed in order to cover up any traces of these Nazi crimes. I won’t detail the other atrocities that took place before concentration camps at Ohrduf, Buchenwald, Dora-Mittlebau, Westerbork, Bergen-Belsen, Mauthausen, Sachsenhausen, Flossenburg, Ravensbruck, Jasenovac, Neuengamme, Gusen, Theresienstadt and Stutthof were liberated. The forced marches, the murders and killings in the gas chambers would continue up until April 28th 1945, when the Third Reich’s last gassing operation took place at Mauthausen.
When my father was pronounced missing my cousin, a 12 year old boy at the time, said to my mother: “At least Uncle Jack knew what he was fighting for.” And I have always believed that; my father was ‘giving his today for my tomorrow’. And yet we find ourselves, eighty years on, as Christians celebrate on Easter Sunday and the Jewish community celebrate Passover, still living with the same religious intolerance, ignorance and man’s inhumanity to man.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor, was determined to do his part to aid the downfall of Adolph Hitler. He was eventually taken into custody and interrogated, spending 18 months in a German military prison.
On the morning of April 9th, 1945, Bonhoeffer’s life ended at Flossenberg concentration camp. For many Christians Bonhoeffer has become ‘a hero of the faith’. The following is an extract from a letter he wrote to his friend, Eberhard Bethge in April 1944:
“Being able to face dying doesn’t yet mean we can face death. It’s possible for a human being to manage dying, but overcoming death means resurrection. It is not through the art of dying but through Christ’s resurrection that a new and cleansing wind can blow through our present world. This is the answer to the ‘Give me a place to stand and I will move the Earth.’ If a few people really believe this and were guided by it in their earthly actions, a great deal would change. To live in the light of the resurrection – that is what Easter means.”
By Carol Hayes - February 2025
On 27th January we remembered Holocaust Day; the day in 1945 when Soviet troops liberated 7,000 prisoners from Auschwitz left behind in the main camp and its sub-camps. What we tend to forget is that ten days earlier German SS units began evacuating prisoners from Auschwitz, marching them on foot toward the interior of the German Reich. These forced evacuations came to be called the ‘death marches’. In the brutal winter of 1944/45 SS guards were given strict orders to kill prisoners who could no longer walk or travel.
This year Christians celebrate Easter Sunday on 20th April. Eighty years ago British troops were advancing towards Hamburg and on 20th April 1945, Hitler’s birthday, the Gestapo hung 20 Jewish children from Neuengamme concentration camp in a school basement. These were children who had been exploited for medical experiments and the murders were committed in order to cover up any traces of these Nazi crimes. I won’t detail the other atrocities that took place before concentration camps at Ohrduf, Buchenwald, Dora-Mittlebau, Westerbork, Bergen-Belsen, Mauthausen, Sachsenhausen, Flossenburg, Ravensbruck, Jasenovac, Neuengamme, Gusen, Theresienstadt and Stutthof were liberated. The forced marches, the murders and killings in the gas chambers would continue up until April 28th 1945, when the Third Reich’s last gassing operation took place at Mauthausen.
When my father was pronounced missing my cousin, a 12 year old boy at the time, said to my mother: “At least Uncle Jack knew what he was fighting for.” And I have always believed that; my father was ‘giving his today for my tomorrow’. And yet we find ourselves, eighty years on, as Christians celebrate on Easter Sunday and the Jewish community celebrate Passover, still living with the same religious intolerance, ignorance and man’s inhumanity to man.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor, was determined to do his part to aid the downfall of Adolph Hitler. He was eventually taken into custody and interrogated, spending 18 months in a German military prison.
On the morning of April 9th, 1945, Bonhoeffer’s life ended at Flossenberg concentration camp. For many Christians Bonhoeffer has become ‘a hero of the faith’. The following is an extract from a letter he wrote to his friend, Eberhard Bethge in April 1944:
“Being able to face dying doesn’t yet mean we can face death. It’s possible for a human being to manage dying, but overcoming death means resurrection. It is not through the art of dying but through Christ’s resurrection that a new and cleansing wind can blow through our present world. This is the answer to the ‘Give me a place to stand and I will move the Earth.’ If a few people really believe this and were guided by it in their earthly actions, a great deal would change. To live in the light of the resurrection – that is what Easter means.”
By Carol Hayes - February 2025
Parish Church Legal Structure
March 2025 – Jonathan Paveley, St. Mary’s Churchwarden
Thank you very much for all the very positive feedback about my article on Parish Church Finances. It seems to have helped to clarify an arcane but very important subject for a lot of people. Thank you also to those who have come forward to help in some way.
Another arcane and related subject which perhaps requires similar clarification is the parish itself, its composition and its legal basis. This is a complex subject so I will focus on a few basic principles and the features appertaining to our own churches.
Development of the Parish System
The origins of the parish system date back into the mists of Anglo-Saxon history and the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to Christianity. Those regions of what is now England which were taken over later, including Devon, almost certainly had significant residual Christian communities and the naming of churches after Celtic saints might well point to the survival of such Celtic Christian communities into the Anglo-Saxon period.
The parish system dates back in places to the 7th century AD and covered much of the country by the 10th century and was based on a parish church which had specific functions and rights, and which served the local community. How far our own parishes date back is lost in the mists of time but Offwell was a Saxon community and St Mary’s position next to a crossroads indicates there may well have been an outdoor Christian meeting place here even before a Saxon wooden church was constructed, later replaced by the Norman stone church, so it’s a fair assumption that Offwell parish is over a thousand years, perhaps a century or two older.
Parish Rectors/Vicars/Priests
This raises an important question – who owns the building? That’s a question without clear answer. Exeter Diocese might claim to, but reality is not so simple. In the days when every parish had its own Priest – called a Rector – the Rector ‘owned’ the church and its assets, including land to finance it and him, but it was not his to sell or dispose of, merely to enable him to serve the local parish community. Today, it’s held in trust by the Parochial Church Council (PCC) for the parish.
Until the 1970s Rectors had something called ‘tenure’ which meant they were effectively unsackable. If you go into St Mary’s, St Cuthbert’s etc. you will see memorials to Rectors who served their parishes for decades. These days priests are typically appointed for five years at most, are employees of the Diocese and are often moved around far more than that.
Tenure was phased out in the 1970s at about the same time as the CofE effectively nationalised all the parishes’ assets and handed them over to the Church Commissioners. It was justified by arguments about improved accountability and flexibility but looking back it was the start of the centralisation of the CofE with priests’ service in parish dramatically shortened, which meant they didn’t get to know their communities as well and became employees of the Diocese rather than the parish. Looking back, it’s probably created as many problems as it purported to solve, perhaps more as priests focus on pleasing their Diocesan bosses who can make-or-break their careers.
The Parochial Church Council (PCC)
The Rector/Vicar/Priest works with a team of lay (non-clerical) volunteers who are elected by the members of the parish at an annual general meeting. They are the parish equivalent of the Board of Directors and are answerable to the parishioners, not the priest or the Bishop. They are a legally defined and autonomous body, which cannot be dissolved by the CofE, which runs the church and parish. Until 1894, the PCC also undertook the work now done by the Parish Council which is one of the reasons why so many schools are CofE schools – they were built, funded and resourced by the parish church.
This autonomy of the PCC frustrates the centralisers of the CofE hierarchy as PCCs focus on serving their local community and sustaining their churches with the commitment that only volunteers deeply rooted in their village can generate. In recent years many Bishops have launched campaigns using various means to undermine their PCCs and try to dissolve them as a prelude to selling off Rectories and closing churches. These attempts are meeting increasing resistance as PCCs begin to understand their legal rights. Here in Offwell, we are no strangers to such threats.
Once a PCC is dissolved, the parish church loses all control over its future and closures seem to inevitably follow along with the scrapping of the parish itself. The Dioceses of Leicester and Truro have attracted much press attention for pursuing this approach aggressively, as has a pilot programme in Warrington under which up to half the churches are now threatened with closure. Some commentators have accused the CoE hierarchy of “asset stripping” rural and smaller parishes.
So, sustaining an active PCC is essential in protecting the future of our parish churches. PCCs can be overruled by the Church Commissioners in terms of where they fit in the local structure but cannot be compelled to dissolve.
The Benefice
A Benefice is an aggregation of several parishes, usually stitched together to enable one priest to serve them all. A Benefice will usually have a Rectory where the priest will live. Theoretically, a Diocese is obliged to provide a priest for a Benefice, but increasingly priests are less and less available to smaller Benefices which are encouraged to merge. Benefices aren’t as strongly protected legally but it still takes the Church Commissioners to break up a Benefice against its will which requires Parliamentary time.
Churchwardens
An ancient and important church office which is effectively the Managing Director of a parish, responsible for the upkeep of the building and churchyards, supporting the priest, raising money, and during times of interregnum – when there is no priest – running services. It’s unpaid!
There are traditionally two churchwardens per parish but with fewer vicars and increasing administrative requirements, many churches struggle to elect even one with over 20% of parishes not having even a single churchwarden. However, the absence of a churchwarden can leave a parish church more vulnerable to closure.
Churchwardens are PCC members and are elected by the parish each year. They are also the bishop’s representatives in the parish and part of their duties is to ensure that a vicar is performing their duties properly. Churchwardens however don’t have to do what the bishop or vicar tells them because they ultimately work for the parish, to ensure it runs smoothly and to protect its long-term interests. This can cause strains in relationships in a centralising church which has lost interest in supporting smaller parishes and where priests are looking to their next career move.
The Patron
Parish churches have patrons. This position often dates to the church’s foundation, with the patron/s having a right to present potential new priests to a church without one, and to be consulted by the Diocese on any potential organisational changes affecting a parish. They are there as a voice for the parish with the bishop when disagreements arise. Patronage is typically vested in local gentry or aristocratic families and is passed down the generations, but can also be vested in a cathedral, university etc. St Mary’s patrons include the Marker family, owners of the Combe estate, Exeter cathedral and, until a few years ago, the Copleston family who provided Rectors for two centuries until the 1950s.
Future of The Parish System
The parish system is well over 1,000 years old and has survived invasions, civil wars, plagues, the Reformation and myriad other challenges. Even today it’s still the basis of our most local government as well as that of our national church. Its great strengths have been its democratic nature and ability to harness local patriotism and commitment, both of which are rooted in its legal autonomy.
The threats to it are public apathy – if you don’t use it you will assuredly lose it – and the centralising agenda that the Church of England has been pursuing for 50 years. The CofE relies ever more heavily on its local volunteers but at the same time is pursuing a strategy of disempowering and demotivating them, a strategy that has undoubtedly contributed to the decline in attendances.
The evident failure of this strategy, and the discrediting of much of the hierarchy by recent scandals, may perhaps cause a rethink. At the same time, a new grassroots organisation – Save the Parish – is developing to defend and advocate for the parish system and is attracting significant support, but much more needs to be done to ensure that our wonderful rural parish churches are not lost to future generations.
Another arcane and related subject which perhaps requires similar clarification is the parish itself, its composition and its legal basis. This is a complex subject so I will focus on a few basic principles and the features appertaining to our own churches.
Development of the Parish System
The origins of the parish system date back into the mists of Anglo-Saxon history and the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to Christianity. Those regions of what is now England which were taken over later, including Devon, almost certainly had significant residual Christian communities and the naming of churches after Celtic saints might well point to the survival of such Celtic Christian communities into the Anglo-Saxon period.
The parish system dates back in places to the 7th century AD and covered much of the country by the 10th century and was based on a parish church which had specific functions and rights, and which served the local community. How far our own parishes date back is lost in the mists of time but Offwell was a Saxon community and St Mary’s position next to a crossroads indicates there may well have been an outdoor Christian meeting place here even before a Saxon wooden church was constructed, later replaced by the Norman stone church, so it’s a fair assumption that Offwell parish is over a thousand years, perhaps a century or two older.
Parish Rectors/Vicars/Priests
This raises an important question – who owns the building? That’s a question without clear answer. Exeter Diocese might claim to, but reality is not so simple. In the days when every parish had its own Priest – called a Rector – the Rector ‘owned’ the church and its assets, including land to finance it and him, but it was not his to sell or dispose of, merely to enable him to serve the local parish community. Today, it’s held in trust by the Parochial Church Council (PCC) for the parish.
Until the 1970s Rectors had something called ‘tenure’ which meant they were effectively unsackable. If you go into St Mary’s, St Cuthbert’s etc. you will see memorials to Rectors who served their parishes for decades. These days priests are typically appointed for five years at most, are employees of the Diocese and are often moved around far more than that.
Tenure was phased out in the 1970s at about the same time as the CofE effectively nationalised all the parishes’ assets and handed them over to the Church Commissioners. It was justified by arguments about improved accountability and flexibility but looking back it was the start of the centralisation of the CofE with priests’ service in parish dramatically shortened, which meant they didn’t get to know their communities as well and became employees of the Diocese rather than the parish. Looking back, it’s probably created as many problems as it purported to solve, perhaps more as priests focus on pleasing their Diocesan bosses who can make-or-break their careers.
The Parochial Church Council (PCC)
The Rector/Vicar/Priest works with a team of lay (non-clerical) volunteers who are elected by the members of the parish at an annual general meeting. They are the parish equivalent of the Board of Directors and are answerable to the parishioners, not the priest or the Bishop. They are a legally defined and autonomous body, which cannot be dissolved by the CofE, which runs the church and parish. Until 1894, the PCC also undertook the work now done by the Parish Council which is one of the reasons why so many schools are CofE schools – they were built, funded and resourced by the parish church.
This autonomy of the PCC frustrates the centralisers of the CofE hierarchy as PCCs focus on serving their local community and sustaining their churches with the commitment that only volunteers deeply rooted in their village can generate. In recent years many Bishops have launched campaigns using various means to undermine their PCCs and try to dissolve them as a prelude to selling off Rectories and closing churches. These attempts are meeting increasing resistance as PCCs begin to understand their legal rights. Here in Offwell, we are no strangers to such threats.
Once a PCC is dissolved, the parish church loses all control over its future and closures seem to inevitably follow along with the scrapping of the parish itself. The Dioceses of Leicester and Truro have attracted much press attention for pursuing this approach aggressively, as has a pilot programme in Warrington under which up to half the churches are now threatened with closure. Some commentators have accused the CoE hierarchy of “asset stripping” rural and smaller parishes.
So, sustaining an active PCC is essential in protecting the future of our parish churches. PCCs can be overruled by the Church Commissioners in terms of where they fit in the local structure but cannot be compelled to dissolve.
The Benefice
A Benefice is an aggregation of several parishes, usually stitched together to enable one priest to serve them all. A Benefice will usually have a Rectory where the priest will live. Theoretically, a Diocese is obliged to provide a priest for a Benefice, but increasingly priests are less and less available to smaller Benefices which are encouraged to merge. Benefices aren’t as strongly protected legally but it still takes the Church Commissioners to break up a Benefice against its will which requires Parliamentary time.
Churchwardens
An ancient and important church office which is effectively the Managing Director of a parish, responsible for the upkeep of the building and churchyards, supporting the priest, raising money, and during times of interregnum – when there is no priest – running services. It’s unpaid!
There are traditionally two churchwardens per parish but with fewer vicars and increasing administrative requirements, many churches struggle to elect even one with over 20% of parishes not having even a single churchwarden. However, the absence of a churchwarden can leave a parish church more vulnerable to closure.
Churchwardens are PCC members and are elected by the parish each year. They are also the bishop’s representatives in the parish and part of their duties is to ensure that a vicar is performing their duties properly. Churchwardens however don’t have to do what the bishop or vicar tells them because they ultimately work for the parish, to ensure it runs smoothly and to protect its long-term interests. This can cause strains in relationships in a centralising church which has lost interest in supporting smaller parishes and where priests are looking to their next career move.
The Patron
Parish churches have patrons. This position often dates to the church’s foundation, with the patron/s having a right to present potential new priests to a church without one, and to be consulted by the Diocese on any potential organisational changes affecting a parish. They are there as a voice for the parish with the bishop when disagreements arise. Patronage is typically vested in local gentry or aristocratic families and is passed down the generations, but can also be vested in a cathedral, university etc. St Mary’s patrons include the Marker family, owners of the Combe estate, Exeter cathedral and, until a few years ago, the Copleston family who provided Rectors for two centuries until the 1950s.
Future of The Parish System
The parish system is well over 1,000 years old and has survived invasions, civil wars, plagues, the Reformation and myriad other challenges. Even today it’s still the basis of our most local government as well as that of our national church. Its great strengths have been its democratic nature and ability to harness local patriotism and commitment, both of which are rooted in its legal autonomy.
The threats to it are public apathy – if you don’t use it you will assuredly lose it – and the centralising agenda that the Church of England has been pursuing for 50 years. The CofE relies ever more heavily on its local volunteers but at the same time is pursuing a strategy of disempowering and demotivating them, a strategy that has undoubtedly contributed to the decline in attendances.
The evident failure of this strategy, and the discrediting of much of the hierarchy by recent scandals, may perhaps cause a rethink. At the same time, a new grassroots organisation – Save the Parish – is developing to defend and advocate for the parish system and is attracting significant support, but much more needs to be done to ensure that our wonderful rural parish churches are not lost to future generations.
Stonemasonry - One Of The Oldest Professions In Human History - November 2024
In the November/December 2024 Link churchwarden, Jonathan Paveley, wrote about the lime and stone mortar repairs that were being undertaken to St. Mary’s church tower. I was curious to learn more about the ancient craft of stonemasonry, one of the earliest trades in civilisation’s history.
In Medieval England the stonemason was a highly skilled craftsman who combined the roles of architect, builder, designer and engineer. The terms Mason and Freemason were used to differentiate between the rank and file Masons, who were ‘rough masons’, setters and layers, and Freemasons, who were more skilled and worked in freestone, a type of soft quarry stone that could be sculpted into elaborate, decorative elements, like window tracery, fan vaulting and statuary. Peasant workers of the period made up over 90% of the population; they worked and lived on land owned by a Lord and were not allowed to leave without his permission. Stonemasons, on the other hand, were free to move around the country to wherever their skills were needed.
In Debrett’s ‘A History of Offwell Church & Parish’ there are frequent references to masonry work being undertaken on St. Mary’s tower. Repairs were carried out between 1773 and 1775 due to the church tower ‘suffering from neglect’, and that cost the princely sum of £5. In 1787 the tower was once more undergoing repairs with accounts for that year showing that: ‘…men and horses were again hauling sand and freestone up Offwell’s narrow lanes’. In 1811 two masons were employed: ‘…to put in 114 cubic feet of new stone, take out the old windows and set in new ones with iron bars.’ The stone and sand were once more: ‘…dragged by horse and plough from Honiton, a task that took two men and three horses four days.’ That year the windows were also re-leaded and the lintels replaced which led to a record expenditure of £113 10s. 2d, ‘of which £95 was collected in a series of 19 rates from the faithful parishioners.’ Substantial repairs were carried out to the masonry in 1820; repairs to the interior tower in 1832 and repointing of the tower in 1851/52.
In November 2024, stonemason John Mayne completed stone and lime mortar repairs to the north face of St. Mary’s tower. Fortunately, John no longer needed to ‘haul sand and stone’ from Honiton and the recent work on the tower took between three to four weeks at a total cost of just over £10,000. As Jonathan explains in his Link article, there is still a lot more restoration and renovation work to be done and as St. Mary’s is a Grade I Listed Monument obtaining permissions for the work is a lengthy and tortuous (and expensive) business.
John completed his lengthy stonemasons apprenticeship in the West Country and now over 70% of his work is involved in the restoration and renovation of churches. Although he takes pride in all his work, his proudest moment was replacing the Great West Window tracery at St. Nicholas in Sidmouth. The West Window was originally gifted by Queen Victoria in 1860 when much of the church was being rebuilt.
The gift was in memory of her father, the Duke of Kent, who died of pneumonia while visiting Sidmouth in 1820, when Victoria was less than one year’s old. The top light of the window depicts ‘Our Lord in Glory’ and below it are the six acts of Christian charity. It is accompanied by a Latin inscription which translates: “To her father, Edward, Duke of Kent who, when formerly sojourning at this place, was taken away in the midst of his deed of kindness before she has learnt to know him, his only daughter Victoria, Queen of Britain”.
In Medieval England the stonemason was a highly skilled craftsman who combined the roles of architect, builder, designer and engineer. The terms Mason and Freemason were used to differentiate between the rank and file Masons, who were ‘rough masons’, setters and layers, and Freemasons, who were more skilled and worked in freestone, a type of soft quarry stone that could be sculpted into elaborate, decorative elements, like window tracery, fan vaulting and statuary. Peasant workers of the period made up over 90% of the population; they worked and lived on land owned by a Lord and were not allowed to leave without his permission. Stonemasons, on the other hand, were free to move around the country to wherever their skills were needed.
In Debrett’s ‘A History of Offwell Church & Parish’ there are frequent references to masonry work being undertaken on St. Mary’s tower. Repairs were carried out between 1773 and 1775 due to the church tower ‘suffering from neglect’, and that cost the princely sum of £5. In 1787 the tower was once more undergoing repairs with accounts for that year showing that: ‘…men and horses were again hauling sand and freestone up Offwell’s narrow lanes’. In 1811 two masons were employed: ‘…to put in 114 cubic feet of new stone, take out the old windows and set in new ones with iron bars.’ The stone and sand were once more: ‘…dragged by horse and plough from Honiton, a task that took two men and three horses four days.’ That year the windows were also re-leaded and the lintels replaced which led to a record expenditure of £113 10s. 2d, ‘of which £95 was collected in a series of 19 rates from the faithful parishioners.’ Substantial repairs were carried out to the masonry in 1820; repairs to the interior tower in 1832 and repointing of the tower in 1851/52.
In November 2024, stonemason John Mayne completed stone and lime mortar repairs to the north face of St. Mary’s tower. Fortunately, John no longer needed to ‘haul sand and stone’ from Honiton and the recent work on the tower took between three to four weeks at a total cost of just over £10,000. As Jonathan explains in his Link article, there is still a lot more restoration and renovation work to be done and as St. Mary’s is a Grade I Listed Monument obtaining permissions for the work is a lengthy and tortuous (and expensive) business.
John completed his lengthy stonemasons apprenticeship in the West Country and now over 70% of his work is involved in the restoration and renovation of churches. Although he takes pride in all his work, his proudest moment was replacing the Great West Window tracery at St. Nicholas in Sidmouth. The West Window was originally gifted by Queen Victoria in 1860 when much of the church was being rebuilt.
The gift was in memory of her father, the Duke of Kent, who died of pneumonia while visiting Sidmouth in 1820, when Victoria was less than one year’s old. The top light of the window depicts ‘Our Lord in Glory’ and below it are the six acts of Christian charity. It is accompanied by a Latin inscription which translates: “To her father, Edward, Duke of Kent who, when formerly sojourning at this place, was taken away in the midst of his deed of kindness before she has learnt to know him, his only daughter Victoria, Queen of Britain”.
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The West Window was eventually installed in 1866 but by 2016 wind and rain had penetrated between the glass and stone which threatened the intricate stained glass windows. With cracks appearing in the stonework a complete renewal of the tracery was undertaken by John.
The National Trust and Historic Property Restoration Ltd. both offer Heritage Crafts apprenticeships, including stonemasonry, but sadly it would appear that more people are leaving the industry than joining it. An award winning stonemason talked earlier this year of his biggest fear: ‘… that we get to a stage where we have all these beautiful buildings and historical landmarks and we do not have enough people to maintain them.’ By Carol Hayes - November 2024 |
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Caring for God's Acre - Offwell School's E-Team Helps Nature Thrive - November 2024
It seems appropriate, although totally coincidental, that the newly formed E Team from Offwell School should choose October 1st to help plant English bluebell bulbs and yellow rattle seeds in the graveyard at St. Mary’s Church. October 1st is the Feast Day of St. Therese, who loved nature and became known as ‘The Little Flower’. The bulb and seed planting was part of the children’s ongoing involvement with the Caring for God’s Acre project, a national charity established in 2000 to promote the conservation of burial sites.
A churchyard, or burial site, is often the most ancient enclosed piece of land in a parish, even older than the church itself. Apart from grave digging the grassland will have been relatively undisturbed, re-seeding naturally for hundreds, if not thousands, of years creating a diversity of flowers and grassland.
During ‘Churches Count on Nature Week’ in June 2024 the whole school enjoyed exploring St. Mary’s natural graveyard with the help of local residents John Burditt and Billy Leach. The children were fascinated to learn all about the moths caught in John’s moth trap and they now have their own moth bucket trap at school. The children learnt how to measure ancient Yew trees and how to identify some of the medicinal plants growing wild in the churchyard. These included daisies, used to make medicinal tea, and common hogweed, used as a digestive aid.
The children were asked what else they would like to see in the churchyard that would help enhance its ecology. They wanted log piles, bug hotels, micro ponds and bird boxes. The first three are already in place, thanks to John Burditt. The bird boxes were made by Offwell resident, Clive Whithear, and Churchwarden, Jonathan Paveley, donated the bluebell bulbs and yellow rattle seeds.
At Bishop Mike’s Enthronement, at Exeter Cathedral on 2nd November 2024, the congregation were given snowdrop bulbs together with a prayer ‘for our communities’. 30 of these bulbs are now planted in the new churchyard at St. Mary’s. Snowdrops, known as Candlemas Bells, are a symbol of hope and light. They are planted in the autumn, trusting that they will bloom as winter darkness turns to spring.
Mrs. Legg, Headteacher at Offwell School, said how grateful the school were to be part of such a fascinating and worthwhile God’s Acre experience and how important it was to make links between the local community, the school and the church: “The school are looking forward to continuing this journey. We hope these initiatives will enhance the children’s education as well as develop biodiversity and improve the ecology of our natural environment.”
A churchyard, or burial site, is often the most ancient enclosed piece of land in a parish, even older than the church itself. Apart from grave digging the grassland will have been relatively undisturbed, re-seeding naturally for hundreds, if not thousands, of years creating a diversity of flowers and grassland.
During ‘Churches Count on Nature Week’ in June 2024 the whole school enjoyed exploring St. Mary’s natural graveyard with the help of local residents John Burditt and Billy Leach. The children were fascinated to learn all about the moths caught in John’s moth trap and they now have their own moth bucket trap at school. The children learnt how to measure ancient Yew trees and how to identify some of the medicinal plants growing wild in the churchyard. These included daisies, used to make medicinal tea, and common hogweed, used as a digestive aid.
The children were asked what else they would like to see in the churchyard that would help enhance its ecology. They wanted log piles, bug hotels, micro ponds and bird boxes. The first three are already in place, thanks to John Burditt. The bird boxes were made by Offwell resident, Clive Whithear, and Churchwarden, Jonathan Paveley, donated the bluebell bulbs and yellow rattle seeds.
At Bishop Mike’s Enthronement, at Exeter Cathedral on 2nd November 2024, the congregation were given snowdrop bulbs together with a prayer ‘for our communities’. 30 of these bulbs are now planted in the new churchyard at St. Mary’s. Snowdrops, known as Candlemas Bells, are a symbol of hope and light. They are planted in the autumn, trusting that they will bloom as winter darkness turns to spring.
Mrs. Legg, Headteacher at Offwell School, said how grateful the school were to be part of such a fascinating and worthwhile God’s Acre experience and how important it was to make links between the local community, the school and the church: “The school are looking forward to continuing this journey. We hope these initiatives will enhance the children’s education as well as develop biodiversity and improve the ecology of our natural environment.”
The Church Volunteering Crisis - 1st July 2024
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.
By Carol Hayes
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.
By Carol Hayes
Ordination of Women Priests - 30 Year Anniversary - 2nd March 2024
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.
By Carol Hayes
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.
By Carol Hayes
Church Wardens - Our Unsung Heroes - 14th January 2024
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
All About Anna Chaplaincy - 3rd November 2023
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.
By Carol Hayes
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.
By Carol Hayes
