Dear friends

One thing I hadn’t properly anticipated when moving to Shropshire was quite how much time I would spend recruiting new officers. In Coventry, it averaged one new officer every 2 years. Eighteen months in Pontesbury and Stiperstones, there have been at least nine vacancies that have been filled or are still waiting to be filled i.e., one every two months! I have enjoyed the highs and lows this week alone, having received a very welcome offer to fill the vacant treasurer’s post at Minsterley, only to lose 48 hours later my wonderful treasurer at Shelve (Roma Lewis standing down at the end of the month after many years of loyal service).

Now, obviously one possible explanation for this is that I am a very difficult man to work with (surely not!) However, I suggest another possibility: that the key roles attract additional workload that does not strictly belong to a churchwarden or PCC Secretary, but somehow, they end up doing the extra jobs anyway (something about if you want a job doing, ask a busy person). This makes the job look exceptionally daunting to anyone considering taking it on. Ideally, we want younger people taking on these roles, ensuring that any additional responsibilities are shared by others and that there is a healthy churn of officers. But it’s not easy to get from here to there. I would urge you when you see jobs advertised even if it’s not you, don’t rush on but ask whether you know someone who might volunteer and failing that, do pray concertedly for us to recruit the right people.