A PASTORAL phone call from the Norwich diocesan office to St Peter’s, Belaugh, has resulted within the welcome repair of a landing stage on the River Bure and a service of blessing for its reinstatement.
Norwich, estimated to be the second largest Church of England diocese, has 550 parishes and 658 church buildings. Its diocesan secretary, Tim Sweeting, said that he desired to be certain that “every parish knows we’re here to assist, regardless of the problems they encounter.”
A customer-services adviser, Danica Rice, has been appointed to support a recent pastoral initiative, by which every parish will receive a friendly phone call during 2026, to debate what is going on within the parish, what expertise, guidance, and funding is out there, and to envision that each one contacts are up up to now.
“We’re a really rural diocese, and there’s no way of getting round and visiting all of them,” the diocesan communications manager, Elizabeth Humphries, said. “We have a whole lot of outreach work already in place, in the form of eNews bulletins, social media, and news and updates on our website; but we wanted to interact with them in a rather more proactive way.”
The call to the PCC secretary of St Peter’s, Belaugh, revealed the struggles that it was facing after an accident on the river in the summertime. A hired boat collided with the staithe at St Peter’s, putting it out of use. This resulted in fewer visitors to the church, and, subsequently, a loss of important revenue. The church had no money for the repairs.
Ms Rice contacted the Care of Church Buildings team, who advised on the best way to arrange the work and allocated St Peter’s a minor-repairs and improvement grant. After the work was done, the Rector, the Revd Liz Jump, arrived by boat to steer the thanksgiving for the staithe’s reinstatement.
