A “BOLD reshaping of the Church in Plymouth”, intended to help to double church attendance in the city, is among the initiatives to be funded by a new £10-million Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board (SMMIB) grant for the diocese of Exeter.
Plymouth, the largest urban centre in Devon, with a population of about 270,000, and higher than average levels of deprivation, had been identified as an “area of concern” by the national Church, the Suffragan Bishop of Plymouth, the Rt Revd James Grier, has said.
There are “whole communities in the city that have never been reached by their parish church”, diocesan recruitment material says. Amid “declining attendance, leadership gaps, and financial pressures”, the clergy vacancy rate (one third, amounting to ten posts) has created “a rare opportunity to shape a new culture: one that’s rooted in mission, built on collaboration, and open to growth”.
Bishop Grier, who was born in Plymouth, said that an audit of the city had been expected to recommend significant pastoral reorganisation, given the ratio of clergy to congregation size. “In practice, what the review said was, ‘There is no excuse for these churches not to be growing.’” The SMMIB bid had entailed a request that funding be provided for half of each vacant post (with the diocese funding the other) on the understanding that the clergy recruited devote time to mission beyond the existing congregation.
The diocese announced last month that the Vicar of the 11-church Pastrow Benefice, in Winchester diocese, the Revd Alexander Randle-Bissell, had been appointed as the new City Dean of Plymouth. Goals for the initiative include the growth of 2035 new disciples, and the establishment of 35 new worshipping communities in the next ten years.
The grant follows a £1.7-million grant from the Strategic Development Fund (SDF) in 2018 for church engagement and growth in the city’s deprived estates (News, 10 August 2018). While churches here had grown by about 200 people, this had been a “tough gig” for the curates sent to serve them, Bishop Grier said. Some had left for other posts, and lessons had been learned about the need for better structures and support.
The £10-million grant will also fund the Exeter Leadership Development Programme, which will be offered to all clergy in the diocese. The SMMIB money would also fund the development of lay leaders in recognised posts, and help to ensure that children and youth workers went “to the right places rather than places who can afford it”.
Before the awarding of the grant, the diocese’s budget for 2026 included a net deficit of about £840,000, after planned property sales. It was expected to grow in 2027 and 2028. At the October meeting of the diocesan synod, the minutes say, “Concern was expressed about the demise of the ‘Hereford motion’ and the continued culture of national control and oversight of the wider financial settlement.” Another concern was “the lack of information before the Synod concerning the application to the Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board”.
The Bishop’s staff had discussed how to reduce clergy posts from 165 to 130 by 2035, but the Bishop of Exeter, Dr Mike Harrison, told the diocesan synod that, in his view, “a reduction of clergy is a worse-case scenario.” The aim is to maintain numbers.
Bishop Grier said: “For all the pain and the distress of the last however-long of us doing SMMIB . . . what they are quite good on is testing your strategy.” The message from the SMMIB: “We will not let you spend any of this money on sustaining. It is all about growth.”
The Church “can’t do what we have always done and expect different results”, he said. “The world is rapidly changing.”
