THE new bishop for the Diocese of Hereford, which includes all of south Shropshire, says the area has too many churches, but only parishioners should be shutting those struggling to keep up congregations and cover bills.

Bishop Richard Firth believes today’s Church of England would not build the number of churches that the Hereford Diocese has now.

“We have too many, but the initiative for closure must remain in the hands of parishioners,” said Bishop Richard.

“If we were a company we’d rationalise, but that’s not how the church sees things - our buildings stand for God in the communities they are in.”

The diocese is, however, recognised by the C of E nationally as an example over the development of church buildings.

But some dwindling county congregations collectively face a £5 million bill to fix churches across the county in urgent need of repair.

Many more congregations across the diocese are struggling to pay the parish share that covers basic bills.

Bishop Richard says giving as a “response to God” is as much about generosity and time as is money.

“Mission and ministry has to be paid for and we all agree equitably, but equitable – a 100 people will have 150 ways of interpreting the meaning of word.”

“Seems to me our deployment and use of resources is geared to what we can pay for rather than how we how we should best use it.

“We need to discuss how we deploy resource, but not from the view of how little we can get away with paying. The nuts and bolts need working out,” he said.