Dear friends in Christ

In an age when the role of the local Church of England Vicar is changing significantly

(see The Times: Spreading the gospel thinly: vicars oversee up to 10 churches.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/4d6cf9e1-2e47-4346-8a58-e7420b97c839) it is for

today’s congregant members of the Church of England to address difficult questions

regarding church structures and finance. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit it is

our responsibility to apply ourselves to our common life together so that we can

support local Church of England churches in our communities that are both growing

and sustainable into the future. The Serenity Prayer written by Reinhold Niebuhr

(1892–1971) in 1933 in response the challenge of his age is most appropriate as we

do so:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to

change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

The way that we our doing so in the Diocese of Liverpool is by developing Larger

Single Parishes, known as LSPs. Here in the Deanery of Winwick we are now in the

'acting as if' phase working with 11 parishes of our deanery to form what will be

known as the Parish of Christ the Good Shepherd. The date we are working to when

we will become the new LSP is 1 January 2028.

There are many questions about this vision. What will it mean for each church? What

differences will we see locally? How will church finances work? Will we still elect

people to represent us on the PCC? And many more besides. 

As we work together I invite you to come along to any of three 'Conversation and

Prayer' evenings this autumn to chat to me about your questions and to pray with me

for our parishes, communities and the LSP. I will also share a little bit about my

vision for the new LSP. 

Please do come along. We have an opportunity to shape the way in which our

parishes are governed and supported going forward in a way that, please God,

creates space for more church growth as we seek to share the good news of God's

love for us in Christ, who came that we might have life in all its fullness (John 10.10).

Revd Martin Cox

Team Rector Designate

The Parish of Christ the Good Shepherd