Concerns over Wednesfield parish church left without a vicar for almost three years

St Thomas’ Church in Wednesfield, Wolverhampton, has not had a full-time vicar since Rev Nick Watson left in June 2021 to take up a post in Manchester.

At present, services at the church are being overseen by team minster Rev Tom Fish,  from St Alban’s in Ashmore Park.

Wednesfield North councillor Phil Bateman recently wrote to the Lord Bishop of Lichfield, Rev Michael Ipgrave, expressing the concerns of parishioners about the delay in appointing a new full-time vicar.

He said: “Not having such an important position within the church community filled can do a lot of damage to the church and the role it plays at the heart of the greater community. Not only is the spiritual offer diluted by no parish priest, but also the social role is very much weakened.

“I received a response from Rev Jonathan Clark, Bishop for the Falkland Islands and Acting Bishop of Wolverhampton in the Diocese of Lichfield, on behalf of Bishop Ipgrave. I have now shared his reply with Wednesfield residents.”

Bishop Clark wrote: “The diocese as a whole shares your frustration about the difficulty in filling this vacancy. Far from hindering the appointment of a parish priest, we have worked with the parish to advertise the post five times, but so far we have received no applicants.

“This is, I’m afraid, an extreme example of a problem across the whole church, where there are presently more posts available than there are priests to fill them. I can only agree with you about the negative effects of the absence of an incumbent, and I can assure you that the diocese remains committed to ministry in inner urban areas.

“We remain hopeful the right person will be found to fill this post, and others which are, at the moment, without a priest. But it is becoming a more and more difficult process at the present time,” he said.

“The previous substantive Bishop of Wolverhampton retired at Easter last year, and the process for a new appointment has begun. I have been serving as Acting Bishop since September and will continue until Easter this year, by which time I hope a new appointment will be on the horizon.”

Councillor Bateman added: “Since I wrote the initial letter I am surprised at the number of parish churches here in Wolverhampton that are also in the same situation in this city and its bordering parishes, with no full time vicars.”