Agriculture

Cornwall is still largely an agricultural county. Around 75% of all the land in Cornwall is farmed in some way and most Parishes will include some farmland.

In recent years, partly as a result of advances in technology and partly due to financial constraints, farms have employed many fewer people and farmers can become increasingly isolated. The Church, at Parish, County and National level, has a vital ministry to this industry. Support is demonstrated in a variety of ways, usually in conjunction with the Methodist Church.

Rural Officers

The Diocesan Rural Link Officer is the Revd Bill Stuart-White billstuartwhite@btinternet.com who works from Wadebridge, Cornwall.

The Methodist Rural Officer is the Revd Roger Greene revrgreene@aol.com who works from St Just in Penwith in the West of the County.

Agricultural Chaplains

A network of Agricultural Chaplains is active especially in
ministry at the three Markets in Hallworthy, Liskeard and Truro.

Duchy College

The Revd Robert Oakes oakesrobert@hotmail.co.uk is Chaplain to Duchy College, Stoke Climsland www.duchy.ac.uk, which includes a thriving Agriculture Department among its broad range of educational and training resources.

Royal Cornwall Show

The Churches Together Tent at the Royal Cornwall Show in June www.royalcornwallshow.org is a long-established ministry offering refreshments to all weary show-goers, a showcase for local and wider Church initiatives and a base for the Show Chaplaincy Team. Churches Together in Cornwall also put on a popular "Start of Show" Service on the Showground on the Wednesday evening before each year's show. Local Churches also have a visible presence at several of the One Day Shows throughout the County.

Support for Farm families is offered through agencies such as Farm Crisis Network, RABI and the ARC Addington Fund. The work of these groups, as well as of local congregations, was hugely appreciated during the outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease. Ministry at a local level is resourced by the excellent Arthur Rank Centre, based at the Royal Agricultural Showground at Stoneleigh, Warwickshire.

Contact: The Revd Bill Stuart-White, 8 Winwell Field, Wadebridge PL27 6UJ Tel: 01208 816431or click here to send an email.