REIMAGINING MINISTRY

Lastweekend the Diocese of Chelmsford asked us to  think about ministry in this diocese and has issued the following leaflet for us to pray and to prompt thought about future ministry.

The diocese of Chelmsford does not have historic reserves such as more ancient dioceses e.g. Lincoln do, because it is a young diocese, in relative terms.  Therefore it is ever reliant upon the giving of increasingly dwindling congregations who are constantly urged to give more. Nothing wrong with that - I suspect most of us can manage a bit more!

But re-imagining ministry is a difficult task, not only because we older church members are set in our way of thinking about things, but also, historically, the church has recognised three orders - bishops, priests and deacons.    Only since 1866 have Readers been licensed. Readers, traditionally have been trained to lead worship and to preach. They can take funerals, but may not officiate at Holy Communion, weddings or give absolution or blessings. More recently the church has focussed on "Every Member Ministry"  encouraging all baptised church members to see what role God might be calling them to. In this diocese many have become authorised law ministers, training to preach, lead worship, visit the housebound and sick, or to take administrative roles within a benefice.   

It is only since the Church has struggled to pay for stipendiary ministry in every parish that  we have seen this spreading of the ministry net. Necessity has made the church rethink the role of ministry! This rather cynical thought is not to decry this seismic shift in attitude. It is good that we are emphasising the fact that everyone has a role to play in leading the life and worship of the local church. It is good that the church is open to encouraging the spiritual and leadership qualities that abound.  Rural benefices especially where a sole ordained minister is responsible for up to a dozen churches need a huge lay input if they are going to survive. We can no longer expect the Vicar to do it all. Imagine a vicar who has to chair 10 church councils, lead worship in at least 4 of the churches each Sunday, do all the hatchings, matchings, and despatchings as they occur. It becomes an impossibility! But - sadly it still happens where folk don't help out, where clergy think themselves both indispensible and invincible.

I do think that in the long term - and I have thought this for all my ordained life - that we should not lose sight of that 3-fold order of ministry, bishops, priests and deacons. In the Anglican church we do a disservice to the diaconate. It seems to exist as a probationary  year before being ordained priest. Only priests can conduct weddings, blessings, hear confessions etc etc.  A deacon assists the priest, but we have clericalised the office of deacon. Deacons are immediately called "Reverend", they wear clerical collars, and they immediately learn "priestcraft".

Look at Acts in the Bible to see how deacons initially set out - as assistants to the apostolic ministry - in for the long haul, not as a trainee year for priestly ministry!

I believe the time has come for the office of deacons to be laicised and to become an umbrella term for all lay ministry within the church. Deacons, yes, can be trained to teach, to preach, to visit, to run youth clubs, to lead non-eucharistic worship and do all manner of tasks to keep church alive and relevant in the community.  Think on! 

A  PR AYE R  FO R  FUTU R E  M I N I S TRY 
A N D       G E N E RO US     G I VI N G

       Generous God,

       your gift to us is life itself

and all the beauty that this life holds dear. Loosen the drawstrings of our hearts and make us thankful that we will give to you, and to your Church, the things it needs

to share with all the world the greatest gift of all, which is the offering of yourself to us in Christ.

We ask this prayer through Him who paid the price in full that we can have eternal life with you, your Son, Our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

R E I M A G I N I N G  M I N I S T R Y

D AY O F P R AY E R 2 3 F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 0

 

The Reimagining Ministry Day of Prayer has been organised ahead of the March Diocesan Synod where the funding and future of ministry will be discussed.

It costs us £22.1 million to support mission and ministry across Essex and East London. The majority of this amount is funded through the generosity of our parishes and we are immensely grateful for this faithful giving.

Alongside your giving we also received a subsidy from the National Church of

£3.1 million which we were able to pass on to parishes.

This subsidy is now disappearing which means:

-       Mission and Ministry will increasingly need to be funded at a local level.

-       We must explore new patterns of ministry involving teams of ordained and lay ministers working together across parishes.

We already have a wonderful breadth of self-supporting and lay ministry across the

diocese and we want to develop this further.

We also remain committed to financially supporting parishes in deprived areas. Indeed we want to be able to increase the funding we give to support parishes in deprived areas.

During the Day of Prayer we will be asking for God’s guidance as we embark on this journey together.