A new group has been formed and tasked with drawing up a Covenant for Clergy Well-being after concerns over stress levels.

The Covenant will be modelled on the Armed Forces Covenant, a Government initiative which encourages employers to be more supportive of veterans and their families.

The Church agreed to take action following a meeting of its governing body in July (pictured below) which heard how work pressures are hampering clergy member’s lives and ministries.

Lay and ordained members of the General Synod will contribute to the Covenant, as will individuals with health and education expertise.

General Synod member, Canon Simon Butler said: “Such was the interest in serving on this Working Group and the strength-in-depth of the insights and skills offered to the Appointments Committee that we could have easily populated the Working Group twice over.

“This can only bode well for our work in developing a Covenant for Clergy Well-being that draws on all that the church is learning about how attending to the well-being of the clergy is vital to the mission and ministry of the whole church.”

Work on the Covenant will begin this month, with the aim to have proposals ready for when General Synod meets in July 2019.

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Police have revealed a man shot and killed his estranged wife and her boyfriend as they left the service, and then killed himself at his home.

The Fresno Bee reported that Manuel Garcia, 64, waited for Martha Garcia, 61, and her unidentified 51-year-old partner to leave the 7:30 am Mass at St Alphonsus Church, and then shot them both in the head in the car park.

The Garcias had raised four children in 43 years of marriage, however, Martha Garcia filed for divorce a month ago, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer told reporters.

The Washington Post reported that, shortly afterwards, Martha Garcia told family and friends that she was in a relationship with someone else.

Martha Garcia was already dead when police officers arrived and found the couple in a car.

Her companion died shortly after.

Manuel Garcia returned to his nearby home, where he began sending his daughter text messages saying he had killed her mother and was going to kill himself.

A police robot sent into the house found him dead with a gunshot wound to the head, with the weapon still in his hand.

While the Fresno community was shocked by the double murder, it received little attention as news of 26 worshippers later being gunned down in Texas became the top story for news outlets around the globe.

Devin Kelley opened fire at a church in Sutherland Springs on Sunday.

Police are still searching for a motive in the shooting, which is the largest mass…