This should be read as a continuation of the page Axmouth Vicars until 1986
More changes now took place: Musbury PCC petitioned for a dissolution of the union and that parish was joined to the Colyton Team Ministry. Axmouth then came under the care of the Revd. Frederick Stuart Worth, who had served as Rector of Uplyme since 1978. After more administrative processes were finally completed, Axmouth became a part of the combined benefice of Uplyme with Axmouth. The patronage was again amended in 1989, and is now jointly held by the Hyndman Trustees, and the Church Pastoral Aid Society. In 1996, Stuart Worth was honoured by his appointment as a Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral. He retired from active ministry on 31st August 2000.
Revd Jeremy White became Rector of Uplyme and Axmouth in 2001 and oversaw the expansion of lay ministry in the 2 churches, including not only the Lay Readers but also other trained members of both congregations.
It was during Jeremy’s time that the idea of larger church groupings (Mission Communities) came to the fore, along with Mission Action Plans. The formation of a Coastal Group was suggested, to include Axmouth, Uplyme, Seaton, Colyton, Branscome and Beer. Meanwhile the two churches, Axmouth and Uplyme, remained together.
During Jeremy’s incumbency some maintenance and improvement works were undertaken. These were
– to install a sound and induction loop system and locate speakers
– to repair some of the stonework in the window at the East end of the South Aisle, remove external stonework, mullions, jambs and tracery, supply and fix new, and repair the northernmost window in the east wall of the vestry. The work was carried out in 2004 by Nicholas Durnan.
Jeremy White retired because of ill health in 2008 but continued to conduct some funeral services in both churches for several years to come.
Following Jeremy’s retirement, the post of vicar in Uplyme and Axmouth was reduced to a part time living, initially as 0.5 and subsequently as a 0.7 position.
On December 9th 2009, Revd Gavin Tyte was installed as priest-in-charge of Uplyme and Axmouth and on 29th December 2010 the linking of the two churches as a ‘Mission Community’ was confirmed and celebrated by Bishop Bob Evens of Crediton.. Known as the ‘beatboxing vicar’, Gavin is a performing artist as well as a priest.
However, it had become clear that the future of Axmouth church was now not secure. We were failing to pay our full common fund, and the congregation was declining. It was Gavin’s desire to see our church becoming more outward looking, and serving the community in which it was placed.
Various potential uses of the church building were considered but in the end it was the formation of the Friends of Axmouth church that enabled St Michael’s to turn the corner and realise its purpose.
A supportive group of Friends had been tried in Beer Church and it had worked; providing a way of involving the local community and at the same time relieving the congregation of the constant cost of maintaining the fabric of the building. After publicising the parlous state of Axmouth church in the parish magazine, and stressing its value as a beautiful ancient building and the centre of village life, a public meeting was called and the idea of a Friends Group was put forward. People were asked to sign up to becoming a ‘practical friend’ or a ‘giving friend’, or both- and the group of the Friends of Axmouth Church was formed.
With the fund-raising and enthusiastic support of the Friends, Axmouth Church was able to give its full monetary contribution to the Diocese once more, and make plans for the future.
This having been achieved, Gavin resigned in September 2013, leaving an interregnum with clergy cover provided mainly by Revd Terry Barratt, a retired priest closely associated with Axmouth through the SEAN ministry, which had been started out of Axmouth by his father Tony Barratt and has continued for many years since then under Terry’s leadership.
Revd Kate Woolven, the next incumbent, is the first woman to have been installed as vicar of the two parishes. She was licensed as priest-in-charge on 30th January 2014 and relicensed as Rector on 15th November 2015. She expanded the training of the laity in support of the ministry in both churches.
She continued Gavin’s policy of seeking to reach into the community with a number of initiatives designed to attract Axmouth locals. A weekly coffee morning was quickly established in the village hall which Kate routinely attended, providing a regular opportunity for her and individuals in the community to get to know each other. She also led the Palm Sunday donkey procession through the village each year, and ran various special outreach events such as open-air services for pets.
Kate resigned on 6th January 2019.
At this point, Exeter Diocese began consulting on whether the existing pastoral organisation in the diocese was still appropriate for the needs of the next ten years. A lengthy process involving all the affected PCCs determined that Axmouth should join a larger group of local churches.
From 1st July 2020, the Axe Valley Mission Community (AVMC) was expanded to include Axmouth, as well as Uplyme, along with the existing churches at Axminster, All Saints, Chardstock, Combpyne, Membury and Woodbury. The Team Rector Revd Clive Sedgewick had already assumed temporary responsibility for all churches since September the previous year and the Team Vicar Revd Nicky Davies was licensed to join him on 11th August 2020.
They were to head up the AVMC between them: 2 full-time priests in charge of 8 churches. Nicky Davies focusing specifically on Axmouth, Uplyme and Combpyne churches, and Clive on the others.
Clive Sedgewick retired in September 2023 leaving the rectorship in interregnum. Nicky took temporary charge of the AVMC with diocesan support from Revd Mike Clark while a new rector was sought.
On 20th November 2024, Revd Leisa Potter was licensed as the new Team Rector.