Country clergy are currently caught in a seemingly perfect storm, as calls mount for the Church of England to spend more of the income it earns on investments worth billions to fund more priests.

As numbers dwindle, those who remain are left covering increasing numbers of vacant parishes as recruitment stalls - with the average parson now looking after six places of worship, while vacancies can take years to fill.

Campaign group Save The Parish, which wants the church to plough more money into the grassroots, organised a meeting attended by almost 100 people in Norwich.

It heard while the Church Commissioners manage £11.6bn in assets, little of the income it receives from them reaches parishes because it was spent on bishops, cathedrals and wider church initiatives - the most controversial of which is a policy to spend £100m on reparations for slavery.

It says as demands mount on priests, many go off sick through stress or retire early, while the number leaving is outstripping those who are coming forward.

Fr Clive Wylie is rector of the six churches which make up the Creakes Benefice, along with priest in charge of the eight-strong Coxford Group of Churches (Image: Chris Bishop)

The 14 churches Fr Wylie oversees (clockwise, from top left) Barmer, East Raynham, East Rudham, Helhoughton, Houghton, North Creake, Sculthorpe, South Creake, Syderstone, Tatterford, Tattersett, Toftree, Waterden, West Rudham (Image: Newsquest/Google)

Fr Clive Wylie is rector of the six churches which make up the Creakes Benefice, along with being priest in charge of the eight-strong Coxford Group of Churches with the help of curate Fr Edward Gunn.

"Sure, we talk about vocation, we talk about a call from God," he said. "But is God not calling, are people not hearing - or is too much being expected of people?"

The 62-year-old doesn't count the hours........

© Eastern Daily Press