Friday, April 22, 2022

BRIGG COUNCIL TO DISCUSS APPROACHING THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY ABOUT TWO-YEAR WAIT FOR NEW VICAR

Father Owain Mitchell conducting his last service as Vicar of Brigg in December 2019 before leaving to join a parish in Derbyshire

Brigg Town Council is to discuss going right to the top to inquire about the appointment of a new vicar for the town and nearby villages - this post having been vacant for more than two years.
Brigg has been without a vicar since Father Owain Mitchell departed, following a 15-year stay, to take up a new post at New Mills, Derbyshire, in January 2020.
St John's is within the Lincoln Diocese, and Brigg Town Council has discussed the fact that no successor has been appointed on several occasions since Father Owain's departure.
When councillors meet on Tuesday night (April 26) they will be asked to consider writing to the Most Rev Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England, regarding the lack of a permanent vicar for Brigg.
Tuesday's meeting - open to interested members of the public - will be held in Room S02 on the top floor of the town centre's Angel building, from 7.15pm.
Father Owain also ministered to the spiritual needs of parishioners in Wrawby, Cadney & Howsham, Bonby, Worlaby and Saxby-All-Saints.
In May 2021 the Town Council agreed to write to the Church of England's Lincoln Diocese "to request when a new vicar will be in place."
Soon after Father Owain left for the Peak District, Brigg Blog contacted church officials in Lincoln.
We were informed: "The diocese is currently undertaking a review of its finances and the number of clergy that are deployed around the county is one element of this review."
We logged a request to be kept informed about the appointment of a new vicar.
Father Owain was a very popular Vicar of Brigg. Read more here and view pictures from his time in the town...

PICTURED ABOVE: Father Owain conducting his last service at St John's Church on December 29, 2019 (images by Ken Harrison, Brigg Matters magazine).