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You are here » Home» Churchwork» Ludlow Deaneries» Bridgnorth Deanery

Bridgnorth Deanery

Our very rural deanery in the Archdeaconry of Ludlow lies to the north of Hereford. The deanery straddles the River Severn in the south of Shropshire, and is centred on the historic market town of Bridgnorth. It features one of the very few churches designed by Thomas Telford, a distinctive feature of the Bridgnorth skyline. The deanery is mainly farmland and relies heavily on tourism, including the Severn Valley Railway whose northern terminus is a stone's throw from Telford's church, and from where the eight bells in St Mary Magdalene's tower can be clearly heard.

Hereford Diocese is divided into two Archdeaconries, Hereford and Ludlow. The Deanery of Bridgnorth is looked after by the Bishop of Ludlow. The Ludlow archdeaconry is divided into six Deaneries.

Within the Bridgnorth deanery there are 30 parishes, supported by seven stipendiary clergy together with other unpaid ministers. The deanery is represented by deanery synod which consists of all licensed deanery clergy and lay representatives, elected by their parishes.

Bridgnorth Deanery is responsible for:
-- Allotting the deanery share between the 30 parishes in the deanery.
-- Producing and updating the deanery plan for:
-----The disposition of the stipendiary clergy posts, allotted to the deanery by the diocese.
-----Changes to parishes, including merging, creation of new parishes (possibly as ecumenical projects) and changes to parish boundaries.
--Assisting parishes in new developments and helping those with problems
--Maintaining effective communications between the parishes and the diocese, especially when feeding back an input, on behalf of all parishes in the deanery, via the diocese to general synod on major changes within the church e.g. marriage regulations.

The deanery, especially via the lay chair and rural dean, works closely with the Bishop of Ludlow when any changes are made within the deanery.

Currently, we have one clergy vacancy in our deanery, based in the Bridgnorth Team.