Who We Are

The Asterby Group is a united parish across the following villages in the Lincolnshire Wolds: Benniworth, Burgh-on-Bain & Girsby, Donington-on-Bain, Gayton le Wold with Grimblethorpe, Goulceby, Ranby, Scamblesby with Cawkwell and Stenigot.

We are part of the South Wolds Partnership (with the Horncastle Group and the Hemingby Group), which operates as a ‘Mission Partnership’, to encourage each other in matters of ministry and outreach. We share the work of parish administration and our partnership administrator, Debbie Knight, works equally for all of the churches. If you have a query, such as one regarding weddings, baptisms or funerals then please contact her using the details below. If your query is more specific to a given church, then please contact the relevant church warden on the Churches page.

At the moment, the Group does not have a Priest In Charge (an Incumbent) and is therefore technically interregnum. But that doesn’t mean the Kingdom work stops!

Ministry is planned and managed by a Ministry Team which includes our lay ministers, a retired volunteer ordained minister and the Rural Dean who has oversight of our churches. Worship is led by a combination of lay ministers and visiting ordained ministers.

The Ministry Team currently consists of:

• Ann South – Authorised Lay Minister
• Caroline Taylor – Authorised Lay Minister – All Saints Goulceby
• Neil Walker – Locally Recognised Lay Minister, PCC Lay Chair & Ministry Team Coordinator – St Helen’s Burgh-on-Bain
• Derek Elmhirst – Churchwarden & Locally Recognised Lay Minister – St Martin’s Scamblesby
• Lynne Parkinson – Churchwarden – St Andrew’s Donington-on-Bain
• Revd. Andrew Roberts – retired with PTO (Permission To Officiate).
• Revd. Mark Holden – Rural Dean, minister with oversight of the Group

If you would like to know more, or to contact the Ministry Team, please call the Team Coordinator on 07771 861202. The terms of reference for the Ministry Team, which reports into the PCC, can be found here: Asterby Group Ministry Team Terms of Reference.

We hold weekly services across the group, with five of the churches (St Helen’s Burgh-on-Bain, St Andrew’s Donington-on-Bain, All Saints Goulceby, St Martin’s Scamblesby, St Julian’s Benniworth) hosting the congregation in rotation, and others in the Group on the ‘fifth Sunday’ and at festival and other times.

Currently, St Andrew’s in Donington-on-Bain usually celebrates Holy Communion on ‘their week’ (3rd Sunday of the month).

All churches in the Group try to hold Easter, Christmas and Harvest services and at least one Holy Communion service per year, and all churches are available for weddings, baptisms and funerals.

The service rota can be found on the Services and Events page, and our Facebook page may have posts for last minute changes or other announcements.

Each church will hold fundraising events based around their local needs.

Faith and Spirituality in our Parish

The faith and spirituality of the Christian community in the Group varies of course, but is much influenced by the traditional rural lifestyle prevalent until very recently in this beautiful part of Lincolnshire. The beauty of creation has brought us closer to the loving God who created it.

Our worship reflects the different agricultural seasons of the year, from Plough Sunday to Rogation Sunday and Harvest Thanksgiving, the latter often being the highlight of village worship. The annual Rogation Service usually takes place in one of the local farms and attracts many who do not attend more formal worship held in the church buildings. These are wonderful opportunities for church and village communities to join together.

Management & Legal

A Parochial Church Council (PCC) exists as the legal entity covering all churches in the Group. Most churches in the Group have a local Village Church Committee (VCC) to undertake the day to day running of the church, with the PCC dealing with overall management and coordination of the Group and undertaking statutory duties.

We are supported by a Rural Dean.