The Diocesan Board of Finance works to resource and support courageous Christian leadership — ordained, lay and volunteer.
Celebrating our amazing volunteers
Volunteers and lay leaders are essential to the worshipping and missional life of our churches. Many have been faithfully working to serve their local church for decades. To affirm and celebrate volunteering and serving, the DBF organised three celebration events and asked PCCs to nominate two volunteers for an award and an evening with one of the three bishops.
More than 200 nominations were received, and people came together to celebrate in Marlborough with Bishop Andrew, in Salisbury with Bishop Stephen and in Lyme Regis with Bishop Karen. Volunteers’ Week falls in June each year and we hope to build on this year’s events with further celebrations, resources and support for the wonderful Christians who keep our churches and wider communities living and thriving.
Volunteer Support Officer pilot
With the ever-increasing workload of clergy and a shortage of volunteers, 2025 saw the start of a three-year pilot role to understand how we can better support and resource volunteers and free up time for mission. Based in the Pewsey Deanery, the role undertaken by Emily Heaver provides direct assistance to parish and benefice teams, while identifying gaps in structure and provision. This valuable ground-level experience is informing the agenda of a working group involving churchwardens, area offices and DBF staff, which will set out ways forward to support existing volunteers and aid recruitment of new volunteers. Ministry Formation The Ministry Formation team develops and trains lay and ordained leaders to support the mission and ministry of local churches across the diocese.
Ministry Formation
The Ministry Formation team develops and trains lay and ordained leaders to support the mission and ministry of local churches across the diocese.
In 2025 this included:
• An increase in those entering training for ordained ministry. Eleven new ordinands began formational training in September 2025. Around 20 people are currently discerning a vocation to ordained ministry, many of whom are expected to begin training in 2026.
• Two candidates among the first cohort of the Elizabeth Pathway. This pathway enables older candidates to complete discernment and ordination training in under two years and to serve in ordained ministry more quickly.
• Nine curates trained in this diocese licensed to benefices. A total of nine curates has been, or will be by Easter 2026, licensed to benefices, helping to ease vacancy pressures across the diocese.
• A continued increase in candidates training for Licensed Lay Ministry. In 2025, five people were admitted to this ministry, with a further eleven currently in training.
• Local lay training delivered across the diocese. Twenty-five courses in leading worship and pastoral skills resulted in 116 people being commissioned as Licensed Pastoral Assistants or Licensed Worship Leaders.
We are deeply grateful for the many volunteers who serve as Vocations Advisers and Associate Directors of Ordinands. Finding and forming candidates who can become effective leaders in mission is skilled and time-consuming work, and their commitment and wisdom make this ministry possible.
Growing confident young Christians online
A group of young people from churches in the diocese launched a diocesan TikTok channel in 2025 which grew rapidly, gaining more than 1200 followers. Mentored by members of the DBF comms team, the group meets up to create content to encourage other young Christians in their faith and engagement with the world. It is open to any new young Christians who love to create good content! The group is now moving to partner with a number of churches, where those who engage online can be directed to in-person fellowship and worship.