A MEETING was called recently at St Breward to bring together churchwardens and Parochial Church Council (PCC) members of the parishes of Blisland with Temple, St Breward and Helland, St Mabyn and St Tudy with Michaelstow.

The meeting, held at St Breward Village Hall, was well attended and was chaired by the Rector of St Breward and attended also by the Archdeacon of Bodmin.

It was organised with the intention of discussing the situation and to answer concerns regarding the future.

A shortage of priests and increased financial demands, means that churches across the country are tending to work more closely together.

In this part of Truro Diocese, these seven churches have recently come together under the leadership of the Rev Canon Sherry Bryan.

In a quest to see what this will mean for each individual church and for the cluster as a whole, the councils of each church came to listen to Archdeacon Audrey Elkington, who outlined for them all the present situation in the Church of England and the challenges it faces.

She also explained the next steps they might like to take together in seeking a positive direction.

Ms Bryan said: “The church of today can no longer be ‘one church, one vicar’. Neither can each church expect to have a Eucharist every week. That model belonged to an earlier age.

“However, the new model opens up many other interesting possibilities as non-ordained church-goers are encouraged and enabled to use their many talents and skills in the delivery of worship and group activities, and it presents also the potential for churches to work together more closely.”

Archdeacon Audrey was able to answer concerns that arose from the prospect of the changes and gave local examples of similar groupings that are working successfully.

It was acknowledged that the job cannot be done by one stipendiary priest alone and like so many other aspects of life, must change to accommodate changing circumstances.

Ms Bryan added: “There will be much to contemplate and to work at as the church moves on, but most seemed to leave the meeting feeling encouraged, and some very excited, about what the future may hold in store.”