CENTRAL READERS COUNCIL DRAFT MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2012 HELD AT ST PETER S, EATON SQUARE, LONDON ON SATURDAY MARCH 17 TH 2012.

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1 CENTRAL READERS COUNCIL DRAFT MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2012 HELD AT ST PETER S, EATON SQUARE, LONDON ON SATURDAY MARCH 17 TH Notes: These draft minutes are circulated and published on the website at the request of the council. They cannot be regarded as a definitive record until after ratification and possible amendment at the Annual General meeting of Present: The Chair (The Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man), the vice-chair, officers, and members of the Council listed at the end of these minutes. The meeting opened with prayers, led by the vice-chair. Apologies for Absence The meeting noted that a number of apologies had been received. Those that were made formally are listed after these minutes. Minutes of the Previous Meeting The minutes of the meeting held in Coventry from 8 th to 10 th April 2011, having been circulated, were approved without division. Matters Arising from the Minutes (i) Annual General Meeting Arrangements Some regret was expressed at the decision taken in 2011 as a cost-saving measure that residential AGMs should be discontinued. At the suggestion of Gertrud Sollars (Guildford), the meeting agreed that Wardens should be contacted prior to planning of the AGM in 2014, with a view to that being residential provided dioceses were agreeable to the increased costs. If a residential meeting was thus agreed for 2014, they should be held thereafter at five-yearly intervals. Casual Vacancy for Warden on the Executive Committee A casual vacancy for a Warden on the Executive had arisen following the resignation of Christine Haines (Coventry). Nominations to fill the vacancy had been received and seconded from the Rev John Knowles (Chester) and the Rev Dr Christopher Bracegirdle (Manchester). A card vote was taken, and Dr Bracegirdle was duly elected. Annual Report and Accounts In the absence of the treasurer because of family illness, the accounts, which had been circulated, were presented by the secretary. These showed a substantial loss for the year 2011, but this was anticipated, and measures were approved at the AGM in 2011 to improve the situation from 2012 onwards.

2 The meeting did not feel that any additional measures were needed, beyond those which were proposed in the budget for 2013 (see below). There were no questions relating to the draft Annual Report, and accordingly both the Annual Report and Accounts were approved and passed for onward submission to the Charity Commission proposed by Cliff Harris (St Albans), seconded by Ron Edinborough (Exeter) and carried unanimously. In her absence, the Chair thanked Carol Lidgett (Lincoln) for her valuable and meticulous work as Treasurer to the council. Re-appointment of Independent Examiner of Accounts The AGM in 2011 had left the appointment of a new Independent Examiner of Accounts in the hands of the Executive committee, following the resignation from the role of Simon Dennis FCA. The Secretary reported that during the year, the Executive had appointed the Chartered Accountant Jonathan Andrew (Hereford) as Independent Examiner. He has indicated a willingness to stand again in this role, and was appointed for 2012 without a vote. Budget for 2012/13 A draft budget prepared by the treasurer was tabled at the meeting. The figures were discussed in some detail, and the meeting decided on a small number of changes. On the income side, the capitation fee should remain at 2:75 per head for 2013, resulting in a Diocesan Contributions figure of 24,750. It was also agreed that income of 1,000 should be anticipated from the sale of advertising space on the website. On the expenditure side, it was felt that the 5,000 provision for the AGM was unnecessarily high (given that it was no longer to be residential) and should be reduced to 3,000 but at the same time 6,000 might be required for website costs. This results in an overall projected expenditure of 29,000 Overall, these changes resulted in the budgeted deficit for the year 2013 rising from 355 to 605. These revised figures were approved unanimously proposed Ron Edinborough (Exeter) and seconded Andrew Talbot-Ponsonby (Hereford). The document circulated at the meeting, and revised in the light of the above decisions, is attached as an appendix to these minutes. Constitutional Amendment Notice had been given to the AGM in 2011 (see minute 11/05), proposed by Peter Vivash (Carlisle) and seconded by Elizabeth Evans (Bradford), to amend the constitution. This is to reflect the changes to the size of the Executive Committee approved in 2011 as a cost-saving measure. The 2012 meeting was invited to ratify the following change:

3 It is proposed that sub-paragraphs (v) and (vii) of clause 8 be amended to read as follows in relation to membership of the Executive committee: (v) (vii) All Consultants on Reader Activity (viz. Selection, Continuing Education and Quality in Formation) appointed by Ministry Division, the Editors respectively of the website and The Reader magazine, and the Chairs of any sub-committees who are not also elected members of the Executive, may be required by the Chair to attend specific Executive meetings, but will not normally be expected to do so. They have no right to vote at Executive Committee meetings. The Director of the Ministry Division of the Church of England shall serve ex-officio on the Executive committee, and be entitled to speak but not to vote at meetings of the committee. The meeting ratified these changes without division proposed Jennifer Evans (Hereford) and seconded Elizabeth Evans (Bradford). Sub-Committee Reports The written reports of the various sub-committees and of the National Advisers were received. Each of the National Advisers amplified their report to some extent, but none was questioned. Heidi Cartledge (Chair, Conferences Committee) expressed concern at the low level of bookings for the 2012 conference, and requested delegates to encourage Readers to register, pointing out that money might be available within diocesan Reader CME budgets to help people with finance. Marion Gray (Chair, Editorial Committee) reported to the meeting that she had just been notified of Royal Mail s intention to re-classify the postal service used for distribution of the magazine, which will result in the application of VAT. Although this had not been discussed by the Editorial Committee, she felt she had no choice but to ask the AGM to approve an increase in magazine costs from the start of 2013 to 2:50 per issue (cover price), 8:00 per annum (individual subscription) and 6:00 per annum (diocesan subscription). The meeting reluctantly but unanimously approved these increases. Dr Gray undertook to ensure that alternative distribution arrangements were examined. She also informed the meeting that a customer satisfaction survey was being undertaken in respect of the magazine. At the suggestion of Jill Williams (Gloucester), Dr Gray agreed to discuss with Morgan Bunday (Website Editor) whether a pdf of the magazine should in future be placed on-line simultaneously with publication in paper form. This has hitherto been resisted to protect the sales volume necessary to recoup costs, but the meeting recognised that the changes in distribution costs might alter the position.

4 Re-Imagining Ministry The Ven Julian Hubbard, Director of Ministry, addressed the meeting on the subject of the Archbishop of Canterbury s initiative Re-Imagining Ministry. This has been the subject of much recent discussion at the Ministry Council at which CRC s Chair and secretary are both normally present. He explained that the church was being encouraged to ensure that optimum use is made of all kinds of ministry to further the Kingdom of God. With the rapidly advancing numbers of retirements among stipendiary clergy, even the increased number of ordinands will be insufficient for the future, and thus there will be a greater demand for lay ministers. The recent symposium in Sussex has provided some written food for thought in this area, and the bishops on the Ministry Council (Norwich, Ripon and Leeds, Sheffield, and Sodor and Man) are considering the best response to make to the Archbishops Council. Among the possibilities is the production of a teaching document on the nature of ministry, which might also make suggestions as to how the shape of ministry might look in, say, fifty years time. Database Morgan Bunday, at the request of the vice-chair and in conjunction with Mo Cheesman (Database Secretary) has been developing a new database to replace the system that has now been in use for some ten years. It is intended that the new system should keep a record of all Readers, enabling individual histories to be transferred easily when a Reader changes diocese, as well as serving the current purpose of being a subscription list for the magazine. In the longer term it would be ideal if dioceses were able to maintain the section of the website relating to their own Readers, within a protected area. Trials have been run along these lines in one diocese (Southwark) and are about to start in a couple of others. Both the Executive and next year s AGM will be informed of developments. Chair s Address The Bishop of Sodor and Man delivered his Chair s address. The text is provided as an appendix to these minutes. Other Business Support for Christians in Israel/Palestine Colin Hull (St Albans) addressed the meeting and reported on a recent visit to the Holy Land by Readers from his diocese. He encouraged Readers from elsewhere to investigate the possibility of joining similar tours, and also asked for prayer for Christians in the area, where life is becoming difficult amid the continuing conflict between Jewish and Muslim factions. Date of Next Meeting The next Annual General Meeting will be held on Saturday 20 th April The venue will be announced later.

5 CENTRAL READERS COUNCIL ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 17 MARCH 2012 CHAIRMAN S ADDRESS Over the past three years we have been following up Reader Upbeat, the 2008 report to the General Synod, and considering other Reader matters carefully, with three special emphases: First, we needed to provide a clear definition what Reader ministry is, so that we know what we are, and we know what we are not. In some places the definition has been restricted to people who conduct acts of worship and preach, and in others the definition has been stretched to general ministry. Both, and everything in-between, may continue to be true but the Church of England and the Church in Wales needed to be clear what they expect of us and the ministry for which we are recruiting. We settled on lay theologian a little over two years ago, with stress on both words: Readers are rooted in layness and are people whose ministry concerns talk about God. However, the way we appear in worship, indistinguishable from those who are ordained, except to the trained eye, undermines our vital lay-ness. Complaints that we are putting Readers through too much theology in our training may indicate a lack of confidence in theology. We believe that both being lay and being people of the word of God are central to Reader ministry. Clarity about what we are matters. Much flows from this. Second and consequent upon being clear what we are, we intend to work collaboratively and in a complementary way with other ministers, both lay and ordained. It would be disingenuous of us to assert that we have always found it easy to work with other lay ministries, so that is where we have started. (Let s be fair and say, in passing, that neither Readers nor clergy have always found it easy to get on, but that s beside the point.) The C.R.C. Executive generously agreed at its last meeting to offer itself as an additional not replacement forum for other episcopally-licensed lay ministries who are governed by the Canons. 1 I hope this will soon evolve migrate seems to be the trendy word! into a Lay Ministry Committee of the Ministry Council, a transitional body that will help to get the internal relationships between canonical, episcopally-licensed lay ministries sorted out. Third and consequent upon the other two, we seek full recognition across the dioceses as public ministers of the Church. We are distinct from deacons and priests fundamentally because we are lay and because these are different callings with different gifts and different functions but we are also public ministers. That does, of course, carry consequences in terms of discernment of vocation, selection, training, accountability, transfer between dioceses, ministry development, discipline, and so on. 1 Church of England Canons in part E.

6 The symposium on Ministry and Discipleship which was held just before Christmas was an important milestone in ensuring that our re-imagination of lay ministry in particular is based on strong theological foundations. The papers and discussions from there are being fed into our own thinking in C.R.C., are being noted in other areas of our common life and will, I hope, also help in the process of re-imagining ministry, of which you have heard from the Director of Ministry. If this is going to produce long-term, beneficial results, then the process cannot be rushed. The papers are on the C.R.C. website. Sometimes, when I emphasise the lay-ness of Reader ministry I am criticised for appearing to down-grade the ministry of the Word which is central to our life. Such critics clearly don t know me very well! When I emphasise lay-ness and question all this dressing-up to look like vicars, I am in no way undermining Readers ministry of the word. So let me use the rest of this address to focus on a few reasons why high-quality preaching is important. Before I speak about preaching, may I be heard to say that the conventional sermon is becoming less and less important as new media, particularly electronic media Facebook, Twitter and the like become the primary tools of a constantly in-touch world? We do ourselves a serious dis-service by pretending otherwise. No doubt some Readers are already getting in there with the single purpose of sharing the gospel. We need to use the www to do more than share news of where you can buy a Reader badge or read the utterances of a C.R.C. Chair! That said and heard, let me share my commitment to faithful, consistent, imaginative preaching. Some people are born preachers and may need a little restraining, some will always find it hard going and may need some encouragement, most of us have to learn the skill and, with the same kind of serious application that it takes to learn a language, can be good. Erasmus [ ] commented that if elephants can be trained to dance, lions to play, and leopards to hunt, surely preachers can be taught to preach. Ordinary preaching is a key and generally neglected opportunity for most parishes, most of the time. There is still, unfortunately, too much tidy, churchy, thematic, always-eucharistic, passionless, powerless preaching. What do you think are we doing when we preach? I have often asked preachers and congregations this question and received these replies (I summarise): Stirring people to act in a particular way (very commonly said by the preacher who writes Aim at the top of the clean page and then makes sure everything fits that; needless to say, this is not a method with which I agree.) Educating in the Bible. Passing comment on biblical texts. Passing comment on contemporary issues.

7 Addressing a special event or occasion. Affirming Christian doctrine. Recalling people to the tradition. Addressing ethical issues. Challenging aspects of traditional practice. Breaking the hard heart and healing the broken one (John Newton). Offering helpful hints for harmful habits. Contemporising God s historic self disclosure in Christ in order to offer people the opportunity to respond in faith (R.H. Mounce). The basis of sacramental acts and a kind of sacramental act in itself. Two of my answers 1 Preaching as a person-to-person encounter with God Liturgy is encounter ( be born in us today ), not a series of anniversaries (celebrating birthdays), and so is preaching: an encounter with Christ. Just as the Eucharist is a kind of incarnation of the Word (though with lots of caveats), so is preaching (with similar caveats). Helmut Thielicke (a famous German preacher) said that in preaching the word becomes event ; and Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that here the original word becomes audible. In a similar vein, Phillips Brookes, in his Yale lectures on preaching of 1877 described preaching as bringing truth through personality. We all know the preachers who do not connect with their hearers: head down, nose into a written script as if (like me at this moment) they are delivering an annual report. It is the personal connection, the eye-to-eye contact, the preacher s reaction to what he or she is seeing that enables communication. 2 Preaching as building and equipping a community The essence of effective preaching is the development of a consistent comprehension of the Bible over a period of time in order to frame and build a community in the gospel. It is what the Apostle Paul called letting God s light shine in our hearts to reveal the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ - see 2 Corinthians That involves the preacher in the job of connecting a thorough understanding of the text (on the one side) with a thorough understanding of the contemporary context (on the other): bridging the gap between the world of the Bible and the world of today. The preacher is a bridge. The preacher who does not have a secure grasp of the Bible, the tradition of the gospel; who does not have some kind of basic doctrinal map from which to work, will inevitably find that the bridge will have insecure foundations on the far side of the chasm. That s why theological education in its broadest sense matters so much. (I speak as the chair of the steering group of the first of the Anglican Primates Working Group on Theological Education TEAC.) God talk, theology

8 has no business being dry and dusty: it is a living encounter between humanity and God himself. So the bridge must be secure at the far end; it must also be secure at this end. Too many of us know little more than Radio 4; we despise television output on Saturday nights because we genuinely don t like it. We might watch Benidorm because it confirms our mistaken stereotypes of the sort of people who don t go near churches; and we think (incorrectly) that Shameless and Skins are pure fiction. The foundations on our side of the chasm, in today s world, are selective, which means we may be able to connect with an audience of the faithful but risk coming across as period pieces at the average funeral or outside a religious context. The tricky thing about this bridge building is that the bridge itself you, the preacher have to be flexible because the chasm is getting bigger every year. It s like building a bridge to a boat! This work of preaching and translating is less about presenting the word to the people (or, at worst, throwing it at them!) and more about helping people to find their place in the Word, to experience the story so that they can better understand the Bible and their own context, thus to encounter the Word himself and be equipped to think and act more Christianly. I have spent some of my life working on calendars, lectionaries and collects: what a sad life! The Common Worship and Church in Wales lectionary is designed so that there is a measure of continuity Sunday-by-Sunday. Gone, for much of the time, is the thematic principle whereby everything is related and you were stuck with a given topic. (The problem with that is that you end up never seeing the whole picture: it s like doing a jigsaw without a picture and with a separate piece every week, put down at random and forgotten a couple of weeks later.) The new lectionary, if used properly with planned preaching, enables you to build up an area at a time and eventually see the whole picture. (See appendix) Anglicans are often heard to quote Richard Hooker s classic Anglican three-fold cord: Scripture, Tradition and Reason. Too often it is misunderstood. What he actually wrote was that we should hear what Scripture doth plainly deliver, while listening to the voice of the Church and considering whatsoever can be concluded by the force of reason. 2 Good preaching can help us effectively to hear the word of God in Scripture, spoken with the accent of the Church s life in the past and present, and pondered together with others. Conclusion Let me conclude with some wise words of Bishop David Jenkins: 2 Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity V.8.2

9 Preaching is the proclamation and sharing of a gift received, a tradition of revelation come alive, a Way opened up. It is therefore at the heart of worship which gathers together the life and faith of the People of the Way, which confronts us with our shortcomings along the way, and enables us to celebrate, not our failures and our faithlessness, but God's faithfulness and restoring purpose. So preaching is to do also with deepening faith, renewing faith and extending faith. God's gift and presence is to be shared and allowed to grow because God gives, in and through the worship and the preaching, constant reminders and challenges of his repeated and redeeming givingness. Preaching is also an attempt to reach out beyond the faithful (who always require to be challenged, judged, renewed and expanded in their faith) to listeners and seekers, and the heedless and the lost in the world at large. For God is the giver who wills and wishes to give to all, so that all may share in the rich environment of his giving, not only by receiving but also by giving themselves. So preaching is at the heart of worship, is directed to celebrating and deepening discipleship, and is an invitation and instrument of mission. 3 + Robert Sodor as Mannin Attendance at 2012 AGM Members of the Executive Committee and other officers are listed under their Diocese of residence, unless there are already three delegates from that diocese. Bath & Wells Anne Sear Birmingham Mike Lynch Blackburn Sue Champness David Matthews Bradford Christine Shedd Elizabeth Evans Bristol Sam Rushton Canterbury Rob Mackintosh Nigel Collins Carlisle Julie Batchelor Chelmsford Chester John Knowles Roger Howarth Helen Watson Chichester Jacqueline Kemp Edward Mynors Coventry Heidi Cartledge Ted Kent Derby John Puxty Durham Catherine Lawes Ely Morgan Bunday Carol Nicholas-Letch Steve Mashford Exeter Bob Boyle Ron Edinborough Gloucester Stephen Ware Gill Williams Robert Sutton Guildford Gertrud Sollars Anthony Metcalfe Hereford Ray Evanson Andrew Talbot-Ponsonby Barrie Jenkins Leicester Richard Curtis Margaret Gillespie Ann Ling Lichfield John Maddison Trevor James Lincoln John Marshall David Margarson A L Pemberton Liverpool Jean Todd Pam McLoughlin Adrian Manson London Eileen Eggington Robert May 3 Bishop David Jenkins: God, Jesus and the Life of the Spirit, (S.C.M., 1988)

10 Manchester Chris Bracegirdle Newcastle Peter Robinson Sue Hart Janice Robinson Norwich John Ashe John Pountain Pip Lawrence Oxford David Carter Peterborough Phillip Nixon Vyv Wainwright Mark Hotchin Portsmouth David Isaac Hilary Spurgeon Ripon & Leeds Ann Hemsworth Julie Clarkson Rochester Karen Senior Geraldine Wenham John Cummins St Albans Cliff Harris Philip McDonough Colin Hull St Eds & Ips Dierdre Parmenter Alice Nicholls Chris Farley Salisbury Chrysogon Bamber Mo Cheesman Alan Knott Sheffield Richard Parker Joan Robinson Sodor & Man Robert Paterson Southwark Trot Lavelle Marion Gray Southwell & Notts Barbara Coleman Truro Paul Arthur Lesley Margetts Michael Harrison Wakefield Winchester Jennifer Martin Worcester Mike Robinson York Lynn Comer Jane Perkins Europe Bangor Paul Adam Llandaff Stephen Adams Monmouth Andrew Willie St Asaph St Davids Swansea & Brecon Geoffrey Marshall Executive and Committee Members not listed above Nick Daunt Stephanie Ridge Chris Bostock Julian Hubbard Jenny Macpherson Alan Wakely No representatives from the Armed Forces were present. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Formal apologies for absence were noted from the following. The secretariat in turn apologises for any omissions from this list, and acknowledges that some other people notified informally that they would be unable to attend:

11 Stephen Ware (Gloucester) Gill Williams (Gloucester) Paul Mileham (Coventry) Paul Bayes (St Albans) Jane Robertson (Lincoln) Paul Ferguson (York) Nick Wetherall (Chichester) Mary Close (Portsmouth) David Hamid (Europe) Roy Wheeler (Southwark) Hilary Richter (Canterbury) John Reed (Bath and Wells) Lesley Grimm (Winchester) Andy Lie (Newcastle) Sheila Banyard (Worcester) Patricia Deane (Chichester) Mark Watts (Durham) Carol Lidgett (Lincoln)

12 Central Readers Council Summary Accounts for the years ended 31st December 2010 and 2011 and budgets for 2012 and 2013 General Account Actual Actual Budget Variance Budget Budget Income Diocesan contributions 15,706 17,164 15,750 1,414 24,750 24,750 Conferences etc Other income Bank interest 1,585 1,473 1, , Surplus on badges etc Website income ,000 1,000 18,423 18,731 17, ,950 26,650 Expenditure Salaries & Fees 4,473 8,239 6,300 1,939 6,300 7,000 Officers expenses 4,634 5,010 5, ,500 5,500 AGM 4,585 4,855 4, ,000 3,000 Executive meeting exes 9,502 6,709 6, ,000 7,000 Other admin exes Conferences etc Website costs 5,116 5,687 5, ,000 6,000 28,508 30,841 28,300 2,541 25,200 29,000 Shortfall General account -10,085-12,110-10,350 1,760 1,750-2,350 Balance brought forward 22,200 12,115 12, ,745 Balance carried forward 12, ,766 1,759 1, Budget for Diocesan contributions 2012 is based on 9000 Readers x 2.75 Budget for Diocesan contributions 2013 is based on 9000 Readers x Following discussions with Executive Committee expenses for 2013 have been calculated with cuts introduced where possible to lower overall costs 3Budget amended as per 2012 AGM