Tradition and history at risk

Western Morning News - 10th February 2004

These are the views of the editor of the Western Morning News, which are supportive of our efforts to publicise the new and growing threat to Cornwall’s territorial integrity and its dignity posed by the Church of England. Disestablishment would remove this threat forever.

So the prospect of a merger of the two dioceses, involving the downgrading of Truro Cathedral and the demotion of the Bishop of Truro will alarm many people on both sides of the Tamar. Yet a proposal before the General Synod of the Church of England suggests fundamental changes in the rules governing the structure of dioceses across the country that could allow just such a change to be made. It must be resisted with vigour.

The Cornish have already weathered many assaults on their independence and seen many of their services amalgamated with those in Devon - often in the name of cost-cutting centralisation. A majority in Cornwall would see the loss of Truro Cathedral and all that would go with it, as a step too far.

Senior churchmen moved swiftly yesterday to deny that any such changes were being considered or would be considered in our region. We’re delighted to hear it. But complacency is a dangerous thing and while such a scenario remains even a possibility, it’s right that those opposed to it register their disapproval.

Devon and Cornwall now has one police force where once there were two. The ambulance services are combined under the control of a single trust. Both counties fall under the control of the South West Regional Development Agency, an enormous Government body with a reach covering six counties, many of them with very little in common.

There has been, over the years, a disturbing pattern to this mania for “regionalisation” which, while it may look good on the balance sheet, effectively takes power away from local people and moves it to some self-styled regional centre miles away. The church, with its structures based on older and more enduring principles has, to date, resisted such a major shake-up - to the benefit of local identity and pride.

It would be quite wrong if, on the say-so of a commission operating out of Lambeth Palace, those long-established church structures which gave Truro and Exeter their own respective cathedrals and bishops were suddenly scrapped because of geographic convenience and alleged economic need. It cannot and must not happen.

Andrew Phillips, founder member of Fry an Spyrys, might well be accused of scare-mongering on this issue and of pursuing a separate agenda to effectively break away the Anglican Church in Cornwall from the Church of England. But that would be unfair. He and his fellow members have done us a service in highlighting this danger. Experience tells us it could yet come to pass.

The implications of such a change would affect everyone, not just members of the Church of England or regular churchgoers. It would mean, for example, that Truro Cathedral would become nothing more than a rather over-sized parish church. The position of Bishop of Truro would be downgraded to suffragan status, effectively assisting the “real” bishop at Exeter. Truro’s very position as a city might even be at risk without a cathedral.

We make no apologies for highlighting what might seem the worst possible outcome from the changes that are up for discussion today. It’s not enough to simply assume it won’t happen. We cannot allow Truro to lose its cathedral or its bishop. There is no need for change. Leave Truro and Exeter alone.

Senior Cleric revealed plans
for church shake-up

An article in a national newspaper quoted an unnamed senior cleric who stated that reuniting the Truro and Exeter Dioceses would bring significant financial savings.

It read: "Portsmouth should be the first target, it is too small."

He also said that the Diocese of Sodor and Man could become an archdeaconry of Carlisle and that Truro Diocese should be reunited with the Diocese of Exeter."

However, the Church of England maintains there are no plans for a merge.

Lou Henderson, a spokesman for the Church of England, said: "Individuals within the church are entitled to their opinions as to how the administration could be made more effective. The view of the unnamed cleric is not an official view, there are no plans or proposals of any kind to merge these two dioceses.

"On a national level the church is trying to say that if, sometime in the future, a change like merging the dioceses is proposed, there is a more effective machinery for doing it."

Bishops deny future role of
Cathedral is in doubt

Elected bishops, clergy members and lay representatives of the General Synod are meeting in London today to discuss the possibility of reviewing diocesan structures in England.

And Cornish campaigners fear this may be the first step toward downgrading the Truro Diocese, a move that could see the city lose its cathedral status.

Andrew Phillips, a founder member of Fry an Spyrys - Cornish for "free the spirit" - a group which formed to fight for a separate church of Cornwall, said: "This would be terrible. The Bishop of Truro would become an assistant to the Bishop of Exeter and the enlarged diocese would be controlled from Exeter and its cathedral.

"Cornwall could become part of a diocese of 'Devonwall' forever. The people of Cornwall will feel betrayed and the ensuing collapse of support for it here would be catastrophic."

Making reductions in the management of dioceses could mean a significant cut in administrative costs for the Anglican Church.

The Rt. Rev Bill Ind, Bishop of Truro, has admitted that the diocese is experiencing financial difficulties.

Three years ago, in June 2001, he declared that the church was "living beyond its means" in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. He said that over the past 50 years, church electoral rolls in the diocese had fallen from 30,000 to just under 18,000, while clergy numbers had dropped from 235 to 123. And the diocese is now in the process of cutting its number of paid clergy from 120 to 80 by 2010.

The week-long meeting of the General Synod, held until February 13, will be discussing suggestions raised in a report by Professor Peter Toyne, a member of the Archbishop's Council. He says the present map of the country's dioceses "bears little resemblance to the reality of the present distribution, structure and mobility of population". He adds that there is a "clear prima facie case for taking a fresh look at the distribution of dioceses and their boundaries". In his report, "A measure for measures: In mission and ministry", Professor Toyne writes: "One of our main recommendations is that a new Diocese Commission with teeth should be given the brief to keep under active review the diocesan structure of the Church of England, and to make specific proposals for reorganisation to the General Synod."

Under the 1978 Diocese Measure, the legislation governing changes in diocesan organisation, any suggestions for alterations have to be made by the Bishops concerned. However, since it was introduced the measure has implemented very few changes, and has been criticised for doing too little.

It will be proposed today that the Diocesan Commission should be more "proactive", and given the power to "prompt and initiate" changes, such as diocese boundary alterations - a move that would mean significant financial savings. Mr Phillips and his supporters, who include county councillors Tamsin Williams and Armorel Carlyon and the mayor of Penzance, Simon Reed, say this must be opposed. "If the Church of England gets this amendment through Parliament, it will mean its General Synod will have the power to vote the Diocese of Truro out of existence whenever it wants." said Mr Phillips.

While Bishop Ind and his colleagues say that there is technically a possibility that dioceses could merge, they strongly deny it will ever happen with Exeter and Truro. Jeremy Dowling, a lay member of the General Synod and spokesman for the Truro Diocese, said: "Mr Phillips has taken the most fanciful flight of fantasy and put feathers on it, the idea of Truro and Exeter merging just simply won't take off."

Bishop Ind added: "There is absolutely no suggestion of any 'takeover' by the Diocese of Exeter.

"We work closely with our sister diocese wherever sensible, especially in matters of clergy training, but where long term proposals from the Diocesan Commission might be applicable to some compact urban dioceses, in rural dioceses like ours there would be nothing gained."

The Rt. Rev Michael Langrish, the Bishop of Exeter, also said he "could not see" a full merger of the two dioceses.

For more than 800 years between 1050 to 1876, the church in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly was managed under the control of the Diocese of Exeter. Then in 1876 the Diocese of Truro was formed after Cornish people campaigned to get their own bishop.

The ebb and flow of
St German’s church

St German's, lying at the head of a tidal estuary in South East Cornwall, reflects that religious ebb and flow. Its first place of worship was a small Celtic church erected by St Germanus, who visited Britain in 429 AD. Its second church was Saxon and built by King Athelstan in 936, the year in which he finally conquered the Celts in Cornwall.

He appointed Conan, the first Bishop of the new Saxon Diocese of Cornwall. For a while the large church at St Germans was the Cathedral of Cornwall. With the arrival of the Normans, its bishopric was removed to Devon. Cornwall's bishopric was combined with Devon's under the Bishop of Crediton.

Ten years later, in 1050, the See was moved to Exeter. It was to be 800 years before Cornwall had its own diocese again, at Truro. These days the Suffragan Bishop of St Germans, the Rt Rev Royden Screech, is the number two to the Bishop of Truro.

of the Church are already shedding staff to offset a growing financial crisis, but critics complain that it is almost impossible to get rid of dioceses. Each of the 44 dioceses has its own costly bureaucracy, and pressure is growing for some to be merged or scrapped. Moreover, while church attendance has declined and fewer full-time clergy are in shorter supply, the number of suffragan and area bishops has increased.

However, the prospect of cuts will dismay many in the Church’s hierarchy who are fiercely protective of their territories and who feel that the pressure on bishops would become intolerable if their numbers were reduced. Under current legislation, only the dioceses themselves can suggest revisions, and they have proved reluctant to sacrifice themselves.

An Archbishop’s Council review group is already drawing up plans to reform the Diocese Measure 1978 so that a new national body could initiate reorganisations or cuts. Prof David McClean, Professor of Law at Sheffield University, who is the chairman of the Dioceses Committee, said he expected a new national body to be created.

The scope of the proposed reforms has been disclosed in a consultation paper issued to clergy. One senior cleric said a radical reorganisation could bring significant financial savings.

“Portsmouth should be the first target, it is too small,” he said. He said that the Diocese of Sodor and Man could become an archdeaconry of Carlisle and that Truro Diocese should be reunited with the Diocese of Exeter.

Renewing the Church in Cornwall