The Anglican Church in the ACT and New South Wales is about to get a shake-up, with a merger planned for the operations and finances of the the dioceses of Bathurst, Riverina and Canberra-Goulburn, reports the ABC.
It is part of a proposal to ensure the survival of the Bathurst diocese, which is debt-laden.
The Canberra-Goulburn Synod has heard Bathurst is struggling with the aftermath of drought, an aging population and dwindling rural communities.
Bathurst Bishop Richard Hurford says his diocese is in crisis. "We have reached a point where there is no money available to us to do anything other than maintain what we have in our entities," he said.
"The area that I cover doesn't have either the human or financial resources of say the ACT."
The three diocese plan to merge their resources including finances, administration and agencies.
But Bishop Stuart Robinson from the Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn says it is not a merger of the dioceses.
"What we are wanting to do is coalesce our resources. It is an administration procedure which enables us to work more closely together to decentralise various aspects of the different ministries we operate," he said.
The restructure is likely to go ahead after the Bathurst diocese votes on the issue later this month.