13 April 2026
'Good Soil' is a Conference for Clergy and LLMs in Rural Multi-Parish Ministry in the Diocese of Chelmsford. The Conference takes place on Tuesday 5 May between 9.30am and 3pm at Chapel Barn, Dunmow Crematorium, Blatches Farm, Great Dunmow, CM6 3AL
About the Good Soil Conference
We look forward to offering a day of affirmation, inspiration and networking for rural clergy and LLMs. Mindful of the present challenges, we aim to nourish “your good soil” physically and spiritually with the provision of good food, pleasant rural surroundings and insights from speakers who are rooted in the realities of rural multi-parish ministry (details below).
Revd Canon Joanne Neary
Jo is Team Vicar in the Beaminster Team, a fourteen-church team in rural West Dorset. She is also Undergraduate Programme Lead and Tutor for Rural Ministry and Mission at Sarum College. The rural pathway at Sarum aims to equip ordinands and lay ministers for multi-parish rural ministry. Her area of research is rural fresh expressions, mixed ecology and an alternative narrative of church growth in the rural church. Her parish works focuses on encouraging flourishing rural communities, tackling rural poverty and working closely with schools alongside all the other joys of parish ministry.
Revd Simon Butler
Simon has been ordained for 20 years and comes from a family with some 700 years of clergy and farming history. From 2016 to 2025 Simon was Rector of the North Hampshire Downs Benefice in the Diocese of Winchester where he led a pioneering rural project called Benefice of the Future. In 2025 he reduced his parish work down to half time in order to take up a half time post with the Diocese of Winchester leading its Growing Rural Parishes Project with Archdeacon Richard Brand. Simon loves rural life and believes that the rural church is a gift to the church and not a problem to be solved.
Revd Matt Jeffrey
Matt is the CEO of The Arthur Rank Centre, a national, ecumenical charity rooted in the life of rural Britain. The Arthur Rank Centre aims to support, train and advocate for rural Christians, churches and the communities they serve, at a time when rural life is changing fast and the church is being called to respond with imagination, hope and confidence.
Revd Dan Pierce
Dan has served as a priest in the Diocese of Chelmsford for ten years and is presently priest-in-charge of the Gracefields group of seven rural churches, north of Chelmsford. Dan’s creativity brings a spiritual vitality and human honesty to his ministry. Of recent times, Dan’s grace-filled wisdom has been shared more widely in his books, “Earlybird and Nightfulness” (2024) and “A Summer Lent” (2026). Dan’s poetry, rooted in his faith, rural ministry and our local countryside, offers to nourish and re-Source us afresh on May 5th.
We are delighted that national church funding is enabling us to offer this conference free-of-charge those in rural ministry.
Book your place
Places are limited so please book now.
Click here to book
Download conference flyer
Further information
For further information, please contact Rural Adviser and Agricultural Chaplain,
Revd Canon Janet Nicholls jnicholls@chelmsford.anglican.org
