Heytesbury Deanery comprises the benefices in the Warminster, Westbury and Mere areas and acts as the link between Salisbury Diocese and the benefices.  Each parish in the Deanery is represented by members both of the clergy and the laity. Lay members are elected to serve for a period of three years (a triennium). Synod normally meets three times in the year.

Bishop Nicholas, Bishop of Salisbury, has issued a challenge to congregations across the diocese to “Renew Hope” and to “Pray, Serve, Grow”. He has asked that we let him know how we are responding to his challenge. In recent synods we have been exploring the Church, picking out the many positive aspects of a church that may not be growing in numbers but is certainly growing in depth. Bishop Nicholas wants to see the Church flourish and for there to be a thriving Christian presence in every parish. Synod is now exploring “Prayer” and next year will consider “Serve”.

One way in which the modern Church is growing is through training lay church members to take on some of the responsibilities previously held exclusively by the clergy, as the number of ordained priests declines. This has been a slow evolution and for a number of years we have happily accepted the role that Lay Pastoral Assistants (LPAs) now have. Inn addition, however, a number of parishes in the deanery, for a few years, have been experimenting with services led by members of the congregation. A further step forward was taken by the deanery last year when a total of 15 people, from across the deanery, including two from the Upper Wylye benefice, were commissioned by the Bishop of Ramsbury at a service in The Minster church in Warminster as Lay Worship Leaders (LWLs). And so we can now truly say that the church is in a strong position to cope with the demands of the future.

Contact details for the Deanery are as follows:

Rural Dean

Pauline Reid 01985 841290 revpauline@btinternet.com

Assistant Rural Dean

Rev Lorraine Dobbins 01985 212 138

Lay Chair

Robert Shuler 01985 844291 rshuler@btinternet.com