Six Parishes of The Saxonshore Benefice in North West Norfolk


	Updated for June 2008

Lawrence Campbell

Rev. L.H. Campbell
Rector and Rural Dean
St. Mary's Rectory
Old Hunstanton

Tel: 01485 532 169
Fax: 01485 534 271

The United Benefice of Hunstanton St Mary with Ringstead Parva St Andrew, Holme-Next-the-Sea St Mary the Virgin and Thornham All Saints, with Brancaster St Mary the Virgin, with Burnham Deepdale St Mary and Titchwell St Mary, with Choseley”, is the official name of this Benefice, which is rather a mouthful and so the name “The Saxon Shore Benefice” was chosen for these churches on the north west Norfolk coast.

June letter from Alan Warren

Dear Friends,

The Interregnum Planning Ahead? A Personal View

I have gained a real affection for the six churches and congregations here during my 16 years of retirement ministry and my personal view is that, without a Rector, it will be unrealistic and a stressful overuse of our limited local resources to attempt to retain 5 or 6 services in our group of churches every Sunday morning. So what might we do to ensure that during these months our six lovely churches are used regularly for worship?

The simplest and bravest temporary solution would be for us to have just two "3 parish" services (as on our present 5th Sundays) each Sunday morning in rotation. Other groups of village churches make arrangements like this, which would also give our next Rector a clear pitch to review the whole worship situation here.

Or perhaps 3 Sunday morning services is a possibility? 9.15 am alternate services at Holme and Thornham? 10.15 am alternate services at Brancaster and Deepdale? A weekly 11.15 am service at Old Hunstanton (their numbers warrant this) but losing its 8 am services? At Titchwell an 8 am Communion service on the 1st Sunday in each month? But even this reduced programme in all the church will need considerable organising to be effective.

Several other significant worship questions remain: What about the Sunday evening services? The midweek Communion services? Christmas and Easter services? Common worship or Book of Common Prayer services? Add to this our weddings and funerals (in our churches and at the Crematorium Chapel) and you can see the size of the task ahead and how hard our Rectors have to work.

Two final points are worth making I think, whatever is decided by our Rural Dean and Wardens -

We all rightly have a special affection for our local church (as I do) but the narrow attitude of some folk "I'm only going to worship in my own village church" must be firmly kicked out if our churches here are to survive, let alone start to grow again in the coming years.
We need each other and we need to support each other as worshipping minorities in our communities. ~The sooner we start planning praying for the interregnum (and beyond) the better.

Alan Warren

The interregnum is the 'between Rectors' period and usually lasts from 6 to 12 months nowadays, during which time the Rural Dean (the Revd. Michael Brock at Dersingham) with the churchwardens will be responsible for overseeing our church services and ministry.