Minster News

We want to get as many views as possible about how we at Taunton Minster can develop to fulfil our mission in our community.  

The results will be used to inform the appointment process for our new Vicar.  A few minutes is all it takes!  Just click on this link: Church survey. 

The link is also in the Today Sheet and in the Friday news email, or paper copies are at the back of the church.

Please return your survey by Sunday 22 February 2026.  

Thank you.

The Somerset Social Care and Support for Adults Guide explores the entire social care journey. It includes information on:

• Paying for care
• Finding the right care home
• Specialist care
• Help for carers

The social care guide also gives you a comprehensive list of care providers in Somerset, so whether you’re looking for a nursing home for dad in Frome, or a home care service for mum in Taunton Deane, this health and social care directory can help you.

Social Care and Support for Adults – The Somerset Care Services Directory

Download Somerset 2026 Ebook PDF

.

Taunton Minster has been awarded £18,000 as part of a Demonstrator Grant to help it move towards becoming a net zero carbon church. The funding is part of the Church of England’s national programme to help churches cut their energy use and move away from fossil fuels.

Being a demonstrator church also provides the opportunity to share what is learned so that other churches in Bath and Wells and neighbouring dioceses can be encouraged and supported on their own path to net zero and take important steps towards reducing our overall carbon impact.

Speaking about the award, Dan Wills Bath and Wells Net Zero Adviser said,

“We’re really pleased Taunton Minster has been chosen as a Demonstrator Church. It’s a great opportunity to explore what a realistic path to net zero looks like for a large and much-loved church building. The work they do will help other parishes in the diocese and beyond understand what’s possible and what support is available to help them get there.”

Taunton Minster is one of the larger churches in the Diocese of Bath and Wells. It is situated in the heart of the town. It has a dedicated and committed environment team who have worked for some time to improve energy efficiency at the church.

Nicola Johnson, the environment lead for Taunton Minster says, “We are delighted to have been awarded stage one of the Demonstrator Grant. It will

make a huge difference to the work we want to do here and also means we can share what we learn so that others can also take practical steps towards net zero. The church is such a big part of our lives, and it too has an environmental impact. If God has told us anything, it’s to look after creation.”

Under the stage one grant, The Minster will also have access to expert advice to identify the best low-carbon heating and energy options available to them, and fundraising advice to help raise the 50% match funding needed to qualify for the next stage of capital support.

The project will focus on identifying a suitable retrofit heating and energy system for the main church building. This will include exploring air-source heat pumps, infra-red heating and under-pew heaters, as well as feasibility work for solar panels and battery storage. The funding will also support design and procurement planning, and guidance on the right time to replace the church’s existing 2013 gas boiler.

Murray Cochrane is also a member of the Taunton Minster Environmental Task Force, he says the Minster’s congregation will be involved in all aspects of the decision making. And says the team are looking forward to working with other churches and diocese to support the work they are doing to reach net zero. “We’re absolutely delighted to be able to support others. At the beginning of our journey, we were often thinking. ‘Where do you go for this advice? How do you know what to do? So, it’s going to be great to be able to provide that advice to others. But the support will go both ways – every interaction with other churches brings learning for both sides.

Welcoming our New Curate

It is with great joy that we welcome Caryl Plewes to Taunton Minster as she prepares to be ordained on 28th June. Following this significant step into her ministry, we are delighted to announce that Caryl will deliver her first sermon at the Minster on Sunday 13th July, when she will be formally welcomed into our church community.

Caryl joins us at an exciting time of growth and renewal, and we look forward to walking alongside her as she begins this chapter of her vocation. Her presence among us is a blessing, and we are excited to support her as part of our contribute to the future leadership of the wider Anglican church.

Please do join us in prayer and fellowship as we celebrate her ordination and the gifts she brings to the life of Taunton Minster and the wider community.

Welcome, Caryl — we’re so glad you’re here.

Caryl’s Introduction

1. Tell us about yourself –
   • Your family:
     I have two young adult children, both at university.  Mike Eaton, my husband, is a semi-retired engineer and as a keen amateur musician spends much of his non-working time making music with the various bands he belongs to.  We have been married for 23 years.
   • What part of the country you are from?
     My family moved frequently in my childhood, which meant I went to three primary schools and three secondary schools.  We eventually settled in a small village south of Birmingham when I was 13.  I went to school in Edgbaston and then Bromsgrove for my A-levels, so this is where I say I am from.
   • What you like to do in your spare time?
     I enjoy singing and have been part of many choirs and church music groups.  Since having my family I have discovered the joy of tending a garden.  I also enjoy cooking and making things; I have made my own clothes in the past and have just made a rug out of old socks for my youngest daughter to take to university.
2. What did you do before you began your ordination training?
   • My career has been varied, beginning with academic research about fossils before switching career to be a project manager in the NHS.  I moved to Somerset to get married, and while my children were small, became the Parish Administrator for our church, St James in Yeovil.  After this my career took a different turn and I worked as a Family Link Worker for local charity ‘Yeovil 4 Family’.  When my first daughter started school I became a school governor and this led years later to my most recent job with school governance.  It was being made redundant from this job that began my journey towards ordination, exploring an idea that had been in the background since my twenties.
3. Can you outline a little of your faith journey?
   • It was through a teenage school friend that I first found out that Jesus wanted me to choose to follow him and this led me to be confirmed.  However, it was when I went to university that I really began to explore my faith and learn what being part of church meant.  Those university years gave me a love of the Bible, worship and talking about things of faith.  After leaving my university church I moved for jobs and belonged to some very different churches: I spent three years in a small Vineyard church in Redditch, an Independent Methodist church in Warrington and a large Church of England church in Muswell Hill in London.  They all taught me about what church is and even though music styles and liturgy can be very different, I could find a home with others who love Jesus.  After my marriage and our move to Yeovil we settled in St James where we have worshipped since, and this has been the church I have belonged to the longest.  There are blessings and challenges to staying, but this has been the church where I have been encouraged to grow and explore what ministry God is calling me into.  This began with being a Lay Worship Assistant, then a Reader and now being called to Ordination and moving away to follow that call.  My faith has grown and changed over the years, but still rests on my call from Jesus to follow him, trust him and that he will be with me and bless me through whatever arises.
4. And finally if you could tell us one unusual thing about yourself what would it be?
   • My friends and family know that occasionally, when we are out, I will suddenly stop and point out fossils in polished stone floors, walls, or pick up a belemnite or gryphaea fossil oyster in the gravel we are standing on (which I did recently in my mum’s garden).  My good friends admire the find with me, others have been known to march on, away from the embarrassment.

NEW Telephone Number: 01823 213388

The Taunton Minster broadband, WiFi and telephone systems have just been upgraded and we now have a new telephone number. This new number will enable you to reach the various parts of the church organisation.

When you phone, there’s a simple menu system from which you choose who you want to talk to. The most popular will be the office for which you simply dial 01823 213388 and press Option 1. Through the menu, you can also reach:

• The Vestry (Option 2)
• Magdalene’s Coffee Shop (Option 3)
• The Gifts & Books Shop (Option 4)
• The Vicarage (Option 5)

If you know who you want to be in touch with, then you don’t have to listen to the whole menu—just press the Option number you want straight away to get connected.

Please note the new number, update your own phone’s directory and begin using the new number straight away. (Any old numbers you might have a note of will continue to work for now, but in due course they’ll cease.)

All this means we have a telephone system fit for the future (when copper lines end), the broadband in the office is now much faster and the church WiFi has more coverage.

WiFi

The WiFi coverage within the church has been improved and it now has a new network name. So, if your phone or tablet previously connected to ‘Magdalene’s Coffee Shop’, you’ll find that this will no longer appear as an available network.

Instead, you’ll see ‘Taunton Minster Guest’ as a network option. You can sign into this using the password that you have used previously. If you can’t remember the password, then just ask when you’re next in church. Once you have connected to the new network your device should remember it for the future.

(You’ll see other network options available within the Minster, but there’s only public access network which is the ‘Taunton Minster Guest’ option.)

Please note that WiFi is provided based on a fair usage policy and the Minster’s public WiFi is intentionally bandwith limited. You’re welcome to use the WiFi for normal things like website surfing, emails and all the general stuff that we all do. The free WiFi isn’t meant for big downloads, running games, video chats and the like. You can use your own data for those things!

Here’s a QR code for Taunton Minster Guest which you can use when you are within WiFi range to help make your initial connection:

And finally! The church WiFi mentioned already only has a range within the body of the church. So, if you are in the Upper Room, then you’ll need to use the network ‘Magdalene Centre’ (and this connection has not changed, so if you have used it previously, then it’s still the same).

We are delighted to announce that Miles Quick, Taunton Minster’s very own Director of Music, has been awarded the title ‘Associate of the RSCM’.

Miles’ boundless musical energy and professionalism, skilled music directing, accomplished and expressive organ playing and performances, infectious enthusiasm, and profound Christian faith are a rich blessing of God to everyone at Taunton Minster, in the wider Somerset musical world, and way beyond. The Vicar, Churchwardens, PCC, Ministry team and whole congregation are so very pleased that Miles’ dedicated work has been recognised with an ARSCM award.

Each year the RSCM Council confers Honorary Awards on those who have made outstanding contributions to church music.

Associates of the RSCM (ARSCM) – Awarded for achievements in church music and/or liturgy of nationally recognized significance, or for important musical and/or liturgical work within the RSCM that has had an impact across several Area Teams.

The article in the Church Music Quarterly of June 2024 reads: ‘Miles Quick was, until recently, Head of Congregational and Instrumental Music for the RSCM. He has combined a role as Director of Music at Taunton Minster for 12 years with leading and facilitating RSCM events in the Somerset area. He has a positive ‘can do’ attitude, encouraging the musical gifts of others to flourish, including many young musicians in the Taunton area.’

You can see the RSCM Honorary Awards criteria here.

Miles Quick, ARSCM

Miles was born in Taunton and studied music at Durham University and the Royal Academy of Music. He then worked in London at Merchant Taylors’ School and Westminster Abbey, and then for sixteen years in Norfolk at Norwich School. Returning to his Somerset roots, he was Director of Music at Queen’s College, Taunton from 2007 to 2014. Following this, he became Head of Congregational and Instrumental Music at the Royal School of Church Music. In this role he ran workshops and events all over the UK and further afield for six years, and now continues as an RSCM tutor and consultant.