Advent 2015 Lay Ministry Matters

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1 Advent 2015 Lay Ministry Matters So much for my intentions to get this letter finished to send out at the start of Advent! By the time this arrives we will be well on the way to the third Sunday in Advent, and you might glance at this and decide to read it later. There is a mixture of news about recent events and information about events in PLEASE DON T FORGET IT ALTOGTHER! If you mislay it, or accidently delete it, the letter should also be available on the Diocesan Website (Ministry >Discipleship & Lay Ministry>Lay Ministry) The last two Sunday afternoons at the end of November marked an opportunity for Evangelists in Tonbridge, and Bromley & Bexley Archdeaconries to renew their commissions, bringing the dates those commissions will next be due for renewal in line with Readers and Pastoral Assistants in their areas. The theme of the services was Salt and Light, and those re-commissioned were reminded of our calling to be salt which remains salty, and to be the light of the world. It was really encouraging how many of those Evangelists were able to be present, along with many incumbents and supporting friends. Sunday afternoons, especially at this time of the year, can be very busy, but these occasions were a real encouragement to all present to continue in our calling to be salt adding flavour, and light in the darkness. At each event 2 evangelists shared a little (five minutes maximum!) of the shape of their own ministry and a particular focus they have been drawn to. Our Evangelists have a special calling to keep us all mission focussed, and that is as true at this time of year as at any other. As Lay Ministers we are all likely to be busy at home at work and at church at this time of year - but the opportunities the Christmas season brings are still a gift to us as ministers! May God bless you, and all that you do, as you welcome visitors to carol services, visit lonely and housebound parishioners, get involved in winter shelters and foodbanks, or share the reason for the season with friends and colleagues. Diocesan Office, St. Nicholas Church, Boley Hill, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1SL tel enquiries@rochester.anglican.org The Rochester Diocesan Society and Board of Finance is a company limited by guarantee. Registered in England No Registered Office: St. Nicholas Church, Boley Hill, Rochester, Kent ME1 1SL - Registered Charity No

2 Some Recommended Resources Nigel Daly (Deputy Warden for Tonbridge Archdeaconry) recently met Michael Harvey, the founder of Back to Church Sunday and listened whilst he spoke about the need for the church to develop a culture of invitation. Nigel passed on some very helpful points from Michael including: His research over 10 years indicates that 80% - 95% of the church family do not feel able to invite others to join them at church services, mainly due to fear of rejection & fear of failure He suggests one of the reasons that people lack confidence is that we equate people coming in response to our invitation as success and not coming as failure, whereas he maintains we need to encourage people to respond to Gods prompting to invite people (take the step of faith) and leave the response to God. Faithfulness in witness is responding to God's nudge. He proposes we name the fears, talk about them in our church, teach key principles about inviting others and encourage them to step out in faith, celebrating those that invite rather than focussing solely on the invites that are accepted. For Christmas, Michael has created a dedicated website recognising that Christmas services, (carol services, Christingle services, crib services and Christmas Eve and Christmas Day) are great opportunities for people to be encouraged to invite others. Of course the principle applies much wider than Christmas, and he has written an excellent book explaining how you can develop a culture of invitation in your church and help people overcome their fears.. The book is called 'Creating a Culture of Invitation in Your Church'. It s available on Amazon or from the back to church Sunday website When the Tonbridge Archdeaconry Evangelists were re-commissioned, Clive Mansell recommended a resource called The Atheist who didn t exist: - or the dreadful consequences of bad arguments. Clive said: This as an excellent publication, wittily and helpfully addressing some commonly held views from the New Atheist angle. It is certainly worth commending to people and I sense that it could very usefully be given to some individuals for them to read whatever their faith position. I sense that some students going to university could find it useful too. Some parishes may want to use it in group discussions. (It is priced on Amazon at 8.99 for the paperback or 5.98 for the Kindle version.) You may have heard of the recent report Talking Jesus: Perceptions of Jesus, Christians and Evangelism in England. and wondered, if the findings are accurate, how we can do better? Last month the Archbishop of Canterbury launched a new resource from Church Army, called Faith Pictures, described as a fresh way to talk about the things that matter. At the heart of this free course is the idea of identifying an image, or faith picture, to help people of all ages talk about their faith in an honest, fun and humorous way. To find out more, visit

3 ! Diocesan Comings and goings. A number of Lay Ministers have moved out of the diocese this year Marilyn Farr (PA), Jackie Wright (Reader), Deborah Daly (PA), Alan Thomas (Reader), Peter Brookes (PA) and Sarah Hassell (Reader). We have also welcomed four new Readers into the diocese Ann Smith now licensed to Christ Church Chislehurst, Laurence Pearce to St Luke s Sevenoaks, Stuart Buchanan, (pictured below being re-licensed to St Mary s Shortlands at the end of August) and David Stevens now licensed to Footscray with North Cray. Albert Bishop in memory (plus robes) to Kondoa Bible School Back in July I attended the funeral of Albert Bishop, who was licensed as a Reader at St Paulinus Crayford in 1982, having been a member of the church from childhood. Aged 93 he had remained a faithful worshipper to the end of his life, but had to relinquish his Reader ministry after a stroke in Albert had planned his own funeral and the order of service included a commentary on why the particular scriptures and hymns chosen meant so much to him. The retiring collection

4 over was for the training of a lay minister in Kondoa Diocese, along with Albert s Reader robes. Albert s passion for lay ministry will make a great difference to a Tanzanian Christian he had never met a wonderful legacy! Opportunities for 2016 If you turn on the TV from Boxing Day onwards, the adverts will be dominated by holidays in the sun. I can t promise sunshine in West Wickham in January but what could be better than a weekend away, all meals provided, for Spiritual refreshment, just a month after Christmas? There are still some spaces available for the L a y M i n i s t e r s Residential at the Emmaus Centre at West Wickham, 22 nd 24 th January. Speakers for the weekend are Andy & Margaret Wooding Jones, and Bishop James will be with us on Saturday and staying over until Sunday morning. A single room costs 120 and a shared twin room costs 112. It s not unreasonable to ask your parish if they can make a contribution to the cost of supporting your ministry by enabling you to attend, but I am aware that some parishes are not in a position to help. If money is a problem please contact me as there may be some funding available. The flier and booking form are attached if you receive this mailing electronically. CMD Baptism Matters. You should have had Val s about Baptism Matters at Istead Rise on 2 nd February. You might have thought I m a Lay Minister so I don t do baptisms but this day might still be for you. Lindsay (Bishop s Chaplain) attended a similar day in November, and came back and blogged about it: Her conclusion was: We need to rethink our baptism preparation, in many cases, to take in the bigger picture, the wider reasons the family are bringing the child to baptism, and better to support the family encouraging the pilgrimage their child has begun. That s too big a job to leave to clergy and Lay Ministers are often ideally placed for Baptism preparation, which should then lead into supporting the family afterwards. Leadership. Those who attended the day on Leadership at Chislehurst in October found it an inspiring and encouraging event, and the talks are being repeated on a Wednesday and three Thursday evenings in the New Year at St Justus Rochester. Each session is an hour, and you can book for all four, just one or anything in between: Wednesday, 20 January - John Tranter - 'Leading in demanding times' Thursday, 28 January - Julie Conalty Leading through change

5 Thursday, 4 February - Nigel Daly Team Leadership: biblical, best practice and cultural perspectives Thursday, 11 February - Bishop James - Leadership as Relational The Last Page Lay Ministry Development Reviews Almost all licensed Readers have now completed their LMDRs and I ve been encouraged by how many of you have said this was a really helpful and affirming process. That was the intention it s always good to know that something has worked as planned! The process has now begun with Authorised PAs and Evangelists, and we will continue with these once the Christmas season has passed. For those of you who are over the age of 70, Permission to Officiate (Readers) and Permission to Minister (for PAs) will be renewed at Pentecost I will be writing to you about this in early 2016, telling you what needs to be done for this to happen. New Holy Communion Procedures. Those of you on PCCs might know (or will find out at your next meeting) that the Canons of the Church of England have changed in relation to the distribution of Holy Communion. Bishop James has written to incumbents, so all I need to highlight is that Readers and LLMs who are licensed or have permission to officiate in the Diocese are already authorised to distribute the sacraments. Pastoral Assistants and Evangelists who are to share in this ministry will, however, need to be authorised by their Incumbent or Priest-in- Charge in accordance with these Guidelines. (If in doubt talk to your incumbent.) Safeguarding One issue of concern arising from Lay Ministry Development Reviews is that there are still too many Lay Ministers who have not done safeguarding training recently. The next CCPAS morning Facing the Unthinkable is at Christ Church Orpington, on 12 th March from 9am-1.30pm. This will be repeated on 5 th November at St Andrew s Paddock Wood. All active Lay Ministers are required to repeat this course every 3 years, and bookings are now open for March, via the diocesan website or by calling Jill Oxland on The next Introduction into the Five Diocesan Safeguarding Policies, Procedures and Guidance is on the morning of Saturday 21 st May at St Peter s Hextable, from 9.30am 12.30pm. This course will be offered again in November, and must be repeated every 5 years.

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