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Ross & Archenfield Deanery
Ross and Archenfield Deanery lies at the very southernmost tip of the Diocese of Hereford, bordered on the west by the Church in Wales and on the East by Gloucester Diocese. It was a buffer zone between the Welsh and English for centuries and villages within this area were at times in and out of the two kingdoms as evidenced by the very many Welsh sounding names and string of castles.
It is a beautiful and deeply rural Deanery centred round the pretty market town of Ross (pop. 10,000) and bordering Monmouth. Its villages are small and non-nucleated being more scattered farms and cottages than the traditional image of houses clustered round the village Green and Pub, with many small family run farms.
There are 38 parishes in the Deanery which is in the Hereford Archdeaconry. The parishes are grouped into 7 Benefices each with a paid Vicar or Rector working alongside Retired clergy and those with the Bishop's permission to minister and sometimes Readers and others.
Benefices in Ross & Archenfield Deanery
Wormelow Hundred Kings Caple, Little Birch, Llandinabo, Llanwarne, Much Birch, Much Dewchurch and Sellack
Revd Mark Johnson 01981 540390 revmark100@yahoo.co.uk
St Weonards Benefice Orcop, Garway, Tretire with Pencoyd, St Weonards, and Hentland with Hoarwithy
Revd Elaine Goddard 01981 580307 email@ecgoddard.co.uk
These two benefices make up the Archenfield Group Ministry
Brampton Benefice Brampton Abbots, Bridstow, Peterstow, Foy, Sollershope and How Caple
Revd Ann Knight 01989 562010 ann@revannknight.wyenet.co.uk
Ariconium Benefice Upton Bishop, Linton, Weston-under-Penyard, Hope Mansel, The Lea and Aston Ingham
Revd Neil Patterson 01989 567229 pattersonneil@hotmail.com
Ross and Walford Benefice Ross and Walford
Revd Sarah Jones 01989 562175 sarah@revsarah.demon.co.uk
Assistant Minister Revd Owen Williams 01989 562703 owen.williams@btinternet.com
Borders Group of parishes
Dixton with Wyesham, Ganarew, Whitchurch, and Bishopswood
Revd Kevin Cecil 01600 713459 vincent_cecil2@yahoo.co.uk
Llangarron, Goodrich with Welsh Bicknor, Marstow, Welsh Newton with Llanrothal and Llangrove
Revd Simon Mondon 01989 770341 revsimon@btinternet.com
Deanery Synod
Deanery Synod consists of a house of clergy and a house of laity and is jointly chaired by the Rural Dean and the lay Co-Chair. Synod members are elected from each parish to serve for 3 years and we have four meetings per year. Our Synods are informative and stimulating occasions when we focus on matters of concern for the life and mission of the church. Each Synod includes an act of worship and a time for chatting over coffee.
Share: Synod meetings are open to anyone to attend as observers. Synod members are encouraged to inform their congregations of forthcoming meetings, and invite attendance. It is also a responsibility of elected membership of Synod that a report of the meeting is presented at PCC meetings.
Pray: Synod representatives are invited to bring issues from their parishes for inclusion in the prayers during our synod worship. It is also hoped that members will pray for the work of the Synod and Deanery on a regular basis.
Work together: PCCs wishing to present issues of common concern for discussion at a Synod meeting are asked to forward these to the Rural Dean or Lay Co-Chair in time for the meeting of the Standing committee preceding the synod.
Deanery Chapter
Deanery Chapter is for the clergy of the deanery and meets monthly to pray and discuss matters of common interest. Once a year the members of the Chapter go away for 24 hours together. The Readers and those with Permission to Officiate from the Bishop are invited to some meetings.
Deanery who's who:
Rural Dean Revd Elaine Goddard 01981 580307 ruraldeanra@googlemail.com
Deanery Lay Co-Chair Freda Davies 01989 562366 terryfredadavies@btinternet.com
Deanery Secretary Meryl Powell 01981 540642 merylpowell@hotmail.co.uk
Deanery Treasurer Paul Baker 01989 566065 rpsbaker@dsl.pipex.com