Our vicar has Covid. This means the churchwardens are in a panic because replacements are like "hen's teeth" (or is it hens' teeth?). Retired clergy do often stand in for priests who need to be away but as we are talking about Easter Sunday it appears they are few and far between. I thought about that for a while. Why should spare clergy be more rare at Easter? It can only be because the C of E does not have enought clergy anyway and because those parishes which do not have a priest particularly want to celebrate the eucharist on Easter Sunday: this can only be done with a bona-fide (licensed) priest.
As it is, some services in our benefice are taken by (senior) members of the congregation, not - as far as I know - by lay readers. Actually I have not come across a lay reader in a long time.
It is hard enough for an organist to find a deputy. Appeals often go out from Organists' Associations to their members: I am doing my bit from June to August in that I do not now have a spare Sunday.
There must be a register of retired clergy, I thought, and Mr Google says there is a register of those who are not retired, but I cannot find one of retired clergy.
"There are many reasons why someone might not be on the National Register of Clergy, for example, they could be taking a temporary break from ministry, are retired, or are between roles."
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