We continue to prayerfully proceed with the process of backfilling the Priest-in-Charge vacancy for the Benefice of the Barony of Burgh, which includes the Parish of Orton—our church, St. Giles. The Parish of Orton is comprised of Baldwinholme, Great Orton, Little Orton and Orton Rigg.

Thank you to everyone within our parish who took the time to respond to the two-month consultation period on the needs of our parishes and traits of our next Priest-in-Charge.

Within the Parish of Orton we received 12 responses. Across all five parishes 65 responses were received. It has been a very helpful exercise and has provided a clear picture of the issues which matter most to our communities. All the responses have been carefully read and considered and will be very useful as the process of filling the vacancy continues.

The next stage is the production of the Benefice Profile—a document which will be sent to potential candidates for the post. Each parish’s PCC will draw their own Parish Page. Our Parish Page is in final review at present.

Next a sub-group, representing all the parishes, will work on the overall Benefice aspects. Once the Profile has been completed and approved, working with the Carlisle Diocese, we will be able to proceed to advertising the post.