Directory

You can search the diocesan database for parishes and mission communities and to find out contact details for clergy, readers and parish officers, where they have given their permission to be included.

Deanery Details for Tavistock

Archdeaconry: Plymouth

Benefices in the deanery

Bere Ferrers with Bere Alston

Buckland Monachorum

Lifton, Broadwoodwidger, Stowford, Lewtrenchard, Thrushelton, and Kelly with Bradstone

Milton Abbot, Dunterton, Lamerton, Sydenham Damerel, Marystowe and Coryton

Peter Tavy and Mary Tavy

Yelverton, Meavy, Sheepstor, Walkhampton, Sampford Spiney and Horrabridge

Tavistock, Gulworthy and Brent Tor

Whitchurch

Deanery Officers

Mrs Annie Jefferies (lay chair)
Phone: 01822 614178
Email Mrs Annie Jefferies

The Rev Nick Law (rural dean)
Phone: 01822 840229
Email The Rev Nick Law

Mr Michael Stuart Jefferies (treasurer)
Phone: 01822 614178
Email Mr Michael Stuart Jefferies

Mrs Anne Inman (secretary)
Phone: 01822 852672
Email Mrs Anne Inman

PipeUp Devon scheme pulls out all the stops to inspire young organists

A new scheme to encourage young people to learn to play the organ is being launched in Devon by the Diocese of Exeter. PipeUp Devon has been set up by three experienced organists: Andrew Millington, the former Director of Music at Exeter Cathedral, Peter King, the Organist Emeritus at Bath Abbey and Ian Curror, the former Director of Music at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. It aims to inspire 11 to 18-year-olds who already play a…

Exeter Cathedral ordination services to be livestreamed for first time

Sixteen new curates are being ordained into the Church of England this weekend in a series of Covid-secure services at Exeter Cathedral led by the Bishops of Exeter, Plymouth and Crediton. Instead of one big service there will be four separate ceremonies with four people being ordained at each one. As with weddings and funerals, there will be just 30 people present at each service instead of the usual 2000 who would attend normally. The…

New Mayflower pilgrimage to mark 400th anniversary

A Devon vicar is leading a new pilgrimage from Dartmouth to Plymouth to mark the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower this month. The Reverend Martin Warren and his fellow pilgrims will set off from Dartmouth Embankment on Friday 11 September following a short blessing ceremony. Rev’d Warren’s route follows the South West Coast Path from Dartmouth to Plymouth and will visit churches along the way. The walkers will arrive at the Mayflower…

New Children’s Advisor back to what she “knows and loves”

For Helen Williams, her new role as the Diocese of Exeter’s 5-11s Children’s Mission Advisor, means she is back on familiar ground. Helen grew up on her family farm in Hemyock, near Cullompton. She has spent the last four years working for a church in Richmond but says she is glad to have returned to the South West. “It feels really lovely to be back here again in our beautiful county, to what I know…

Devon curates train to become military chaplains

For the last three years Rev’d Huw Riden has been a curate in Exmouth, but he is now swapping his clerical robes for military fatigues as he begins training to be an army chaplain. Huw is a former member of the Parachute Regiment and his Littleham, Exmouth & Lympstone Mission Community has included Lympstone Royal Marine Commando Training Centre. “I couldn’t have asked for a better place to have served my curacy,” he said. Huw’s…

New urban Christian house-share community in Plymouth
A new urban Christian community is being established in Plymouth by the Diocese of Exeter in partnership with the Lee Abbey Movement. Residents of the Small Missional Community (SMC) will live in a former vicarage owned by the Diocese of Exeter next to St Mark’s Church in Ford. Joining the new community will be the Reverend Jonathan Devereux, 29, who was previously the student pastor at St Matt’s Church in Plymouth and was ordained at…
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Torquay vicar’s daring church spire climb
A Devon vicar has overcome his fear of heights to climb the 165ft spire of his church to raise funds for community outreach. The Reverend Sam Leach was joined by three other members of the leadership team to climb the steeple of St Mary Magdalene church (known as St Mags) in the centre of Torquay. A crowd turned out to watch the climb on Thursday 20 August, with dramatic drone footage captured by a member of…
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Stepping Out of the Boat: An Online Service by the Archdeacon of Exeter
The Archdeacon of Exeter is leading an online service on Sunday 9 August, on the subject of ‘Stepping Out of the Boat.’ The Venerable Andrew Beane, Archdeacon of Exeter, said: “Perhaps we can all think of a time when we have had to take a risk, try something new, a moment when we like Peter in our Gospel Reading have had to ‘step out of the boat’, and trust God as we head out on…
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Exe Estuary Pilgrimage Brings Light After Lockdown
A Devon vicar and former Royal Marine is leading a one-day walking pilgrimage from Exeter Cathedral to Exmouth to celebrate the re-opening of church buildings after lockdown and raise money for charity. The Reverend Steve Jones and others will set off from the cathedral on Saturday 11 July, following a short service led by Canon James Mustard and a blessing by the Bishop of Exeter. They will be carrying a candle lit from the Cathedral’s…
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Online service to say thank you to the NHS
The Bishop of Crediton is leading an online service on Sunday 5 July to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the NHS. The Service of Thanksgiving was filmed in the chaplaincy of the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. It features contributions from NHS staff, including an Emergency Care Assistant from South Western Ambulance Service. There are reflections from former medics who worked in the NHS from its earliest days, including Henry Gossman, a former neurosurgeon who…
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