Letters: If the Church wants to attract new clergy, it must offer better support

SIR – As the long-standing (long-suffering?) spouse of a clergyman, I have agonised over the past decade as to the future of the Church of England (Letters, January 1). I have worked willingly (and unpaid) alongside my husband for 30 years in five diverse parishes in three dioceses and, 
 despite the challenges for us and our family, it has been an immensely rewarding and privileged experience. However, the expectations placed on our clergy by parish and diocese are increasingly demanding, and I worry for the next generation.

The parish system is extraordinary: how many other professionals live alongside those with whom they work? The demands are many. My husband is expected to run a small business, manage a minimal staff team and volunteers, look after a building – these are usually old and often listed – take responsibility for the finances, safeguarding and other administrative aspects of a parish, and be available to all and sundry at all times of the day and night. I haven’t even mentioned prayer, preaching, officiating at services and pastoral work, which one might think should be the priorities.

I wholeheartedly endorse all the Archbishop of Canterbury is doing in prioritising prayer, evangelism and reconciliation, and reaching out to and serving those in our communities, especially those in most need. Most clergy are doing the same. We need to support them in every way we can.

Joanna Gillum
Nottingham

SIR – Many churches have silverware, including Communion sets donated by past benefactors, which are unsuitable for use today. These gifts were intended as a blessing, but have become a burden. The Diocesan authorities prohibit the sale of such items, so parishes are left with expensive insurance and safe-storage bills, for items that are of no use to them.

As a lay minister, I find it difficult to preach to people about sacrificial giving (Letters, December 31), while the Diocesan authorities continue to ignore the Gospel of Matthew, 
chapter 6, verse 19: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.”

Dr K J Briggs
Milbourne, Wiltshire

SIR – If the Church considers that its parishioners give too little in donations or collections, it might ponder on its closed doors and lack of leadership during lockdown. The extent to which its relevance and message have slipped is exemplified by the young woman in the shop who asked for the cross “with the little man on it”.

Tom Stubbs
Surbiton, Surrey

SIR – My wife and I attended a packed carol service in Bath Abbey, well-equipped with large-denomination banknotes. It transpired that cash was unacceptable, though we could donate by means of credit-card terminals. Having no cards with us, we simply went home.

William Brooks
Bath, Somerset

Deserving honours

SIR – Honours (report, January 1) should be restricted to those who have given their time freely to help others. Cricketers who beat Australia, highly paid footballers and civil servants doing their job should not qualify. 

Exceptions would include outstanding work, such as creating vaccines to combat life-threatening disease.

John Dickinson
Chipperfield, Hertfordshire

Handwritten horrors

SIR – I must disagree with David Bennett (Letters, December 31) that only “cosmetic changes occur in handwriting” from one’s childhood.

In the past 60 years, I have taken so many notes, marked so many essays and written so much material that my handwriting has deteriorated to such an extent that it can only – at very best – be described as impressionist.

What I write tends to be done at speed, the result being that only a few can decipher it – even my very patient mother struggled. Any meaningful communication has to be typed.

Keith Haines
Belfast

New Year kindness

SIR – Scarborough abandoning its New Year firework display out of respect for Thor the Arctic walrus (report, January 1), who is resting there, was a shining example of Yorkshire hospitality and kindness. I am grateful for – and inspired by – this quiet reminder of the very best in human nature.

Sincere good wishes to the people of Scarborough and “safe home” to Thor, who chose the right place for a strength-gathering snooze.

Sue Gordon
Sandwich Bay, Kent

A surreal souvenir

SIR – In the late 1960s, I spent nearly a week with Salvador Dalí at his home in Cadaquées. As I demurred some of his more outrageous proposed poses, he decided that I was “pure” and “chaste”., and insisted that I dress up as a nun at his dinner parties.

I was too overawed to ask for any of the drawings he made of me. However, he did give me a half-smoked cigar (Letters, December 31) and a set of his false teeth. I still have them both.

Patricia Donati
Culworth, Northamptonshire

Russian sanctions

SIR – Peace in Ukraine (report, January 1) should be a priority in 2023.

The West can’t fight Vladimir Putin on the battlefield, but we can fight him on the financial field. The only way to beat him is to ruin Russia’s economy with harsher, tougher sanctions. This must be our and the Western world’s goal – a crumbling fragmented Russian economy with sky-high inflation and a worthless rouble. I pity his people who are going to suffer because of it.

Richard Farrar
London SW10

SIR – In Thailand, where my son owns a house, all his neighbours are Russian and the guests in the hotels are predominantly high-spending Russians of all ages who make use of the direct flights from Russia.

Whatever we hear about the effect of sanctions, Russia’s middle classes are still able to enjoy exotic holidays and benefit from the rouble’s recovery. No wonder Putin feels secure.

William Fleming
Frimley, Surrey

China’s Covid threat

SIR – The Covid-19 crisis showed China in its true colours. Its initial concealment of the Wuhan outbreak was utterly irresponsible and had a heavy impact on the rest of the world. Britain and many other countries followed its example of lockdowns, which have proved catastrophic economically, socially and medically. Now there are fears of a new variant, and China continues to cover up data (report, December 31).

China has had brutal lockdowns for three years. Its vaccines were ineffective, but Xi Jinping would not buy vaccines from the West. Instead, China’s attempts to defeat the virus have failed and the social unrest caused by the continued lockdowns has forced Xi into an embarrassing about-turn. China has surrendered to the disease and is opening its borders just when millions there are likely to catch it and die.

Europe made a terrible mistake by trusting China and leaving our borders open to it in early 2020. We should have no qualms about testing all arriving from China now, nor in closing our borders to its residents at short notice. We know the Chinese regime is not to be trusted and we should not risk importing disaster from there a second time.

Gregory Shenkman
London SW7

Rescuing Westminster

SIR – There have been reports (December 31) that rats and mice in the Palace of Westminster have developed immunity to the bait used. There are also flooding issues and structural defects in a building that now appears to be totally unfit for purpose.

This should prompt drastic action if a historic building is to be saved. There will never be a right time to spend the billions of pounds necessary to save the building and provide a functional workplace for those who govern us. However, to use the Speaker’s phrase, Britain would be a “laughing stock” if a major structural collapse occurred – a metaphor for what? Could 2023 provide some solutions to this problem?

Sandra Jones
Old Cleeve, Somerset

No peas please

SIR – If we mixed our food with our spaniel’s he would wolf the lot – meat and vegetables – apart from any peas (Letters, January 1), which were piled neatly in the otherwise empty bowl.

Mike Thomas
Brill, Buckinghamshire

Strikes take Christmas to Epiphany and beyond

SIR – Thanks to the postal strikes (report, December 29), my wife and I have enjoyed two Christmases – one with the family and presents on the day itself, and one since with all the cards that are still arriving.

Roger Foord
Chorleywood, Hertfordshire

SIR – I have been so disappointed by our postal service this Christmas. We received four cards on December 30, all posted on December 4 – some first class. One was made by our grandchildren. They visited us at Christmas, so could have delivered it by hand.

Let’s hope for a strike-free 2023. 

Pamela Goodrum
Carlton, Co Durham

SIR – Last Friday, I received the birthday card my sister posted with a first-class stamp from Cheshire to me in South Wales. It was franked October 14.

Mark Calvin
Tretower, Breconshire

Government must act on this NHS emergency

SIR – I am a retired GP, working part-time in an urgent treatment centre in central London. A Bangladeshi patient who had been unable to access his GP, recently told me: “In my country you can always see a doctor the same day.”

Last week, my 81-year-old brother was taken to his local A&E department, confused and in great pain. He spent more than 24 hours on a trolley and is now in a side room being nursed by his 80-year-old wife. Nobody can tell her when he will be assessed by a doctor.

The NHS is collapsing. The key problems are a lack of primary care and “bed-blocking”. The Government should declare a state of emergency. GP surgeries should be staffed seven days a week until the situation is stabilised, and hotels should be requisitioned so that fit patients who have nowhere to go can be discharged.

Dr Gregory Tanner
Middlezoy, Somerset

SIR – The NHS appears to have found the answer to its problems with waiting lists and delays for treatment.

On December 31, I received a letter asking me to complete a GP Patient Survey. I am a retired NHS GP. The letter is dated January 3 2023. Genius.

Andrew Inglis
Acaster Malbis, North Yorkshire

SIR – Could Britain’s obesity epidemic (Comment, December 30) be so acute precisely because someone else picks up the bill for treatment? The NHS should charge those who make such a “lifestyle choice”, to act as a deterrent.

Chris Thomas
Reading, Berkshire

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