About Us
This photograph is of the Torver Cross that sits at the top of a Lakeland fell overlooking the beautiful landscape of Torver that is part of the Benefice of Coniston and the Crake Valley. In the photograph you can see elements that represent the Church in Coniston and the Crake Valley.
The first element in the background is the beautiful landscape, a landscape that encapsulates both a growing and thriving tourism industry and more importantly, a vibrant and hardy farming community. In short, we are all people of the land, inescapably connected to it. We form the land but crucially the land also forms us — we are proud to be Cumbrians.
The second element in the picture, in the foreground, is the sheep! Naturally, they are the local Herdwick breed, which are bred for the harsh mountain weather. We too, the Church community, are often referred to as sheep or a flock. This recognises that we have a shepherd and are followers — we are proud to be followers of the Good Shepherd, Jesus.
Finally, the third element is at the centre of the picture, the Cross itself. The Torver Cross is at the top of the fell in order that it can be seen. We are not only followers of Jesus the Good Shepherd, but also visible signposts of the Good News that Jesus is the Saviour, conquering death that all may have life and life in its fullness — we are proud to proclaim the Good News of Jesus.
So, this picture captures who we are as Christians in Coniston and the Crake Valley — we are proud to declare Jesus as Saviour, to follow lives that serve Jesus in serving others, and proud to be Cumbrians living in our special part of the United Kingdom.
Our Vision
"Where there is no vision, the people perish"
Proverbs 29.18 (KJV)
It is important for any group of Christians who consider themselves to be a collective, like a Church family or multi-parish benefice, to have a vision, because otherwise as Proverbs 29.18 says, "the people perish". If you don't know where your are going, or you cannot see where you are going, then inevitably you are going to walk into danger.
And what is true for the people, the collective, is doubly true for the leaders, for those who are charged with leading or guiding that collective. If the leaders have no vision, if the leaders are blind then we have a situation of the blind leading the blind. However, the leaders may have a vision or the vision but ultimately the vision must be agreed and owned by all the people — there is no point leading if no one is following.
In 2018, with the appointment of the Revd. Brian Streeter as the incumbent of the Benefice of Coniston & Torver in addition to the Benefice of Egton cum Newland, Lowick and Colton the four parishes that made up the two benefices were faced with both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge was the organization of four separate parishes and simultaneous encouraging growth in mission; the opportunity was precisely the same thing.
"To Grow, Witness and Love Like Jesus"
Benefice of Coniston and the Crake Valley Vision Statement
Our Staff Team
The Benefice of Coniston and the Crake Valley is very blessed to have a substantial and very able Benefice Staff Team. There is also a good diversity and mix of experience and expertise within the team that makes for good discussion and wise counsel.
The team members help to plan the regular and special worship services, and one-off events within the benefice, as well leading or helping to lead these services and events. The team also help in conducting Baptisms, Weddings & Funerals.
For a background biography for the members of the Benefice Staff Team please do visit our Who's Who webpage.
Our Pastoral Team
At the bottom end of the Crake Valley in the three parishes of Holy Trinity, Colton, St. Luke's, Lowick with Blawith and St. Mary the Virgin, Egton cum Newland, we have established a Pastoral Team under the leadership of Barbara Watson.
The Pastoral Team was established to offer support to the vicar, Revd. Brian Streeter, and the Benefice Staff Team in the discharging the pastoral care of the parishes. This pastoral care covers home communion visits, post-funeral visits, and general home visits amongst other responsibilities.
All Pastoral Team members are DBS checked and receive safeguarding training in accordance with Carlisle diocesan guidelines. So, if you have pastoral needs or believe that someone else may benefit from a visit from a member of the Pastoral Team, including celebrating communion at home, then please contact Barbara Watson.
Barbara Watson is the Pastoral Team Leader for the parishes of Holy Trinity, Colton, St. Luke's, Lowick with Blawith and St. Mary the Virgin, Egton cum Newland. Barbara lives locally with her husband Tom, and they are both active and key members of the Greenodd and Penny Bridge communities. Previously, Barbara and Tom had been dairy farmers in the Crake Valley and both come from a farming background and farming families. Therefore, Barbara has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the local communities and the local people — and is related one way or another to quite a few of them!
