English Vicar's Workload Triples to 11 Churches as Diocese of Lincoln Runs £1.5 Million Deficit Amid Clergy Shortage

The Reverend Canon Andrew Vaughan expects the number of churches under his responsibility to nearly triple from four to 11 in 2026 as the Diocese of Lincoln reorganizes amid severe clergy shortages and financial crisis.

Canon Vaughan, currently in charge of the Swinderby group of churches in Lincolnshire, said most clergy will be taking on bigger areas with some rural vicars expected to manage 20 to 30 churches each. The expansion follows a diocesan review addressing unsustainable finances and insufficient clergy to maintain over 600 churches with only 116 full time vicars and curates.

The Reverend Canon Christine Goldsmith from the diocese acknowledged that the days of one vicar per church are sadly gone, stating that congregations have been given input on how they can remain sustainable. Insufficient donations by congregations have forced the diocese into restructuring, with some churches now only opening for festivals such as Christmas, Easter, and harvest.

Diocese accounts for 2025 show a deficit of £1.5 million. In 2019, the diocese launched A Time To Change Together, a review creating more sustainable ways for churches to serve communities in response to the financial and staffing crisis.

Canon Goldsmith acknowledged vicars are being asked to do more. "We have so many churches without the amount of money coming in to sustain all the vicars to accommodate that," she said. Congregations were invited to become festival churches and some were happy with that designation.

According to Canon Goldsmith, some churches will have services taken by ordained vicars once monthly, with others presided over by lay ministers who are trained but not ordained. She stated it was very rare for one vicar to run 30 churches and they would receive extra support.

Canon Vaughan said he and others would need to rely heavily on volunteers and lay ministers if his workload increased to 11 churches, though he noted the diocese was very good at managing workloads.

THE CRUSADER'S OPINION

The Diocese of Lincoln is £1.5 million in debt because congregations won't give.

So they're tripling pastoral workload and calling it sustainability.

This isn't creative ministry. This is managed decline.

Churches that only open for Christmas and Easter aren't churches. They're historical buildings with occasional religious programming.

Congregations won't financially support their own churches, so the diocese converts full parishes into festival venues run by volunteers.

The Church of England is dying because believers stopped believing it matters enough to fund.

One vicar cannot shepherd 11 flocks. The math doesn't work spiritually, practically, or biblically.

Britain's abandoning Christianity one closed church at a time while calling it reorganization.

TAKE ACTION

Support Your Local Church Financially: If your church can't afford a full time pastor, you're not giving enough. Biblical giving is 10 percent minimum. Churches close because Christians keep their money.

Volunteer for Church Ministry: Lay ministers and volunteers can support overworked vicars, but only if believers actually serve rather than expecting professionals to do everything.

Demand Diocese Accountability: Contact Diocese of Lincoln and ask how they accumulated £1.5 million in debt and what they're cutting besides pastoral care. Website: https://www.lincoln.anglican.org

Plant New Churches: Instead of spreading vicars impossibly thin, plant new churches with bivocational pastors who work secular jobs and lead congregations without diocesan overhead.

Start a Conversation: Ask Christians: "If your church can't afford a pastor, whose fault is that? The diocese or the congregation that won't give sacrificially?"

Support Church Revitalization: Pray for dying churches. Some need closure. Others need believers willing to invest time, money, and effort to rebuild rather than watching passively.