News
CURRENT NEWS ITEMS
CURATE LAURA MOVING ON (Posted 7th July 2024, updated 11th September)
Laura McAdam, who has been curate in our Mission Community and based at St Luke’s Buckfastleigh since 2019, has now moved to a new post as Associate Priest in the parish of Paignton, with a particular focus on pioneer ministry in that parish. We give thanks for all that Laura has done, within our churches and in her work in the local Buckfastleigh community. She will be greatly missed.
We pray for Laura as she and Trace make this move, and settle into a new home, neighbourhood, etc.
FUTURE STAFFING (Posted 7th July 2024, updated 11th September)
As Laura moves on we are seeking a new ordained member of staff, a half-time team vicar, to be based in Buckfastleigh. Gina Radford of course continues as our Team Rector.
We are also losing from our ministry team Jenny Holton. who has so faithfully served over a number of years as lay reader, more recently designated as licensed lay minister. She has now retired from this role.
PROPOSALS FOR SAME-SEX COUPLES (Posted 19th January 2023, latest update 9th July 2024)
The Church of England bishops issued proposals for allowing prayers of thanksgiving, dedication and blessing, to take place within normal church services, for same-sex couples in partnerships and marriages, but not allowing churches to hold stand-alone blessing services or to conduct same-sex marriages, and not making any changes in the Church’s doctrine of marriage. These proposals were put before the General Synod in early February 2023, and were approved.
This is clearly a compromise position, and much further work is needed. In the meantime as churches we are committed to welcoming all, and many of us want to see change to a far more accepting position in the Church of England for gay people generally and for those in a same-sex partnership or marriage.
Update 9th July 2024 Since the General Synod meeting in February 2023 the debate has slowly ground its way forward. The latest debate at the July 2024 General Synod took things a bit further forward, especially on the possibility of stand-alone blessing services, and did on the whole preserve the unity of the C of E. Further work is to be done before the next General Synod debates in February and July 2025.
ARCHIVED NEWS ITEMS
Gina Radford instituted as Team Rector (Posted 5th November 2023)
Gina Radford was instituted as Team Rector in a warm and inspiring service at St Luke’s Church, Buckfastleigh, on 5th November. She is already of course well-known to us in her role as team vicar, and is thoroughly immersed in the work of all our churches. She has in effect been acting team rector for the last two years, but has now officially stepped into that role. She will continue living in South Brent, and will still serve on a half-time basis.
Congratulations to Gina
The Rev’d Professor Gina Radford, Team Vicar (now Team Rector) in our Dart and Avon Mission Community, has been awarded the Canterbury Cross by the Archbishop of Canterbury for her outstanding work providing medical advice for churches and the Church of England’s senior leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic. Gina is a former Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England.
The Dart and Avon Mission Community
This started officially on November 1st 2018, during the incumbency of the Rev Tom Benson, and was inaugurated at a service of Holy Communion on Sunday November 18th 2018 in St Petroc’s Church, South Brent.
The service was followed by a bring-and-share lunch, with people from the different churches mingling together.
