The Reverend Phil Dykes has been appointed as Interim Minister for the Ivybridge Mission Community.

He had been a priest for 35 years and lives in the south of Bristol and his wife Katrina is a Rector in the Bath and Wells Diocese.

The Reverend Dykes travels down to the area every other week.

He explained how it all came about: “I was born in Basingstoke and grew up in Taunton.

“I went to my vicar and said i think god might be calling me to be a priest and he said don't be silly go and get educated so I left all that “It wouldn't go away so I went through the selection process and in my later 20s I went and trained and I've been a vicar ever since.

He was asked by the Archdeacon and the Bishop of Plymouth if he could help out in Ivybridge including towards finding a successor.

The Reverend Dykes explain the set up: “I've been appointed as Interim Minister of four churches, Ivybridge, Cornwood, Sparkwell and Harford and they are formed in what's called a ‘mission community’ so in other words, they are meant to work together.”

“I'm down every other week so I spend a few days with them and in between I keep in touch with them by email and phone but I’m just trying to help them look forward.”

Following an earlier steady fall, Church of England congregations have grown for a fifth year in a row.

In 2025 there were an estimated 1.023m churchgoers which was up 1.4 per cent on 2024 according to the Statistics for Mission report.

The Reverend Dykes admits that the Church has had its problems though: “There has been some controversy obviously at the centre of both Catholic and Anglican churches and I just think in one sense there are generations now that don't have an understanding of Christianity.

“I went to Sunday school and I taught in Sunday school, but many of the new generations now haven't got that foundation so they don't look to the church for help, and they don't look to the church as being something that's significant.”

The Reverend Dykes used to be based in Suffolk and they increased attendance numbers, something he his hoping to help replicate around Ivybridge: “We were the fastest growing diocese in the country I think so you know so you can do it but churches need confidence and the mentality of seeing what God actually might want them to do.”

With the Reverend Dykes away most of the time how do the local churches operate?: “Here in Ivybridge St John's Ivybridge has a service at 10.30am every Sunday and the other villages; Cornwood, Sparkwell and Harford all have services every week.

“There are retired clergy who are helping out, some of whom I know personally and the Rural Dean, Mike Harman is a really good man who's been helping them, and so filling in the gaps.

“If there is a non-Eucharistic service and not a Communion service there are lay people who will lead.”