The Diocese of Winchester

Transcription

1 The Diocese of Winchester Reader Ministry in the Diocese of Winchester: an analysis of Reader returns for the period (with some historical data ). Mike Cranston And Simon Baker March

2 Aim and Introduction 1.1. Aim Reader Ministry in the Diocese of Winchester The aim of this report is to show how the in the Diocese of Winchester are deployed and used Introduction exercise a lay ministry through preaching, teaching and leading worship in a pastoral context in the church and wider community. It is a growing ministry which provides leadership and vision for Christian Communities. The Initial training reflects the primary call to preach, teach, and lead worship. The training has developed to provide a grounding in scripture whilst addressing contemporary moral issues, mission and evangelism. It is a collaborate ministry and standards of good practice are encouraged. The initial training has links to higher education. CME courses provide ongoing development. are also a resource for developing the ministry of others. Reader ministry is not static. Whilst there will be a continuing need for preachers and teachers, can become involved in new ways of being church as well as supporting traditional ways. are missioners having a strong connection with people outside of the church. They are also becoming local Christian leaders within a network of Church communities. One issue, which needs to be addressed, is the balance between maintaining stability for the within their local community and using them as a resource for deployment to places of need. There are three major dimensions to Reader ministry: The nature of the activities: preaching and teaching, leading or assisting at worship, being involved in pastoral work, and being involved in the administration of the parish. The location of the place: parish church building(s), a school or other centre, a community based location such as a school or hospital, a workplace, and other Christian organizations such as religious communities. All of the locations other than the church building(s) could be outside of the parish. The capacity in which they minister: ministry as an individual licenced to an incumbent; ministry in the workplace with the agreement of the employer and/or as a member of a work based Christian group; and ministry as a volunteer in a school, hospital community, etc. where the individual is effectively an unpaid employee. come from a variety of Anglican traditions throughout the diocese. Each Reader is licensed to the incumbent of a parish and / or group of parishes and also the deanery. They perform duties within the parish under the supervision of their incumbent. who minister in other contexts e.g. chaplaincies are licensed accordingly. may also participate in a variety of ministries both within and outside the parish boundaries and supervision. The focus in this paper is the ministry that each Reader considers to be within their role as a Reader and included within their annual return. It is clear that are very serious about their work and want to communicate what they are doing. 2

3 2.1. Activity Reader Ministry in the Diocese of Winchester 2. Main Findings There were 255 licensed and with permission to officiate at the end of 2004 and 125 submitted returns. The average Reader 1 performs a consistent number of activities per annnum over time. An increase in the resource is the most effective way of increasing the overall activity. However, the wide spread in the number of activities undertaken by individual may suggest that some are under-used. Whilst there are no significant variances within the sex and age profile for the core activities of preaching and leading worship, women are more actively involved in pastoral activities. However more men conduct funerals but this pastoral activity is recorded separately. The actual level of activity of significantly varies by individual Reader. Approximately 1 in 5 activities are carried out by with permission to officiate. Those who come out of Reader ministry are replaced by trainees who are predominantly in the age range Deployment Reader are unevenly distributed throughout the diocese. There is a favourable bias towards urban and southern areas. There is an unfavourable bias towards rural and northern areas. The age profile is older than the national average Training The current level of in training is greater than those likely to leave, retire etc. Trainees are more likely to come from areas where are already present. At present there are 44 in training and 27 awaiting selection panels in 2006 (the number of those coming forward for selection in 2006 is a significant increase on the 18 or so who have come forward each year over the last 5 years.) Trainee are more likely to occur where already exist Preaching & Teaching 3. Activities have a major focus on preaching and teaching. Sermons in Church are clearly the most significant activity for the Reader followed by teaching within the study group context. The average Reader preaches circa four times per quarter and teaches at two or three study groups. Table 1 Preaching and teaching activity per quarter per Reader Sermons in Church Sermons in Schools and Hospitals etc Study Group Sunday School and Confirmation Classes Total The total activities divided by the number of returns submitted. 3

4 3.2. Worship Following preaching the most frequent worship activities for are assisting in the distribution of bread and wine and leading intercessions, three times per quarter. This is followed by the Ministry of the Word, Morning Prayer, and Evening Prayer, twice per quarter. typically take one family service each quarter. Table 2 Worship activity per quarter per Reader Assist at Holy Communion Ministry of the Word Morning Prayer Evening Prayer Family Services Intercessions Total Pastoral The pastoral information on the returns is probably the least suitable for providing averages. In 2004 one Reader contributed almost half the activities for pastoral visits recorded in the year increasing the average from three to six. Each of the categories in this section is affected by a small number of including quite large numbers of items in the returns. There are a number of who do not record possible pastoral activities in the count. (They may not see themselves as doing this under the direction of the incumbent.) Some who do not record pastoral ministry on the Duty Card include a narrative of their activity, which is often quite extensive. (They appear to want the diocese to know that they do these things). Overall, it is clear that are involved in wider pastoral ministry than the returns suggest. Table 3 Pastoral activity per quarter per Reader Sick Visits and Hospitals House Communions Pastoral Visits Funerals Church Meeting Total Combined The average activity per Reader in Church per quarter is consistent over a sustained period of time. Table 4 Average Worship Activities in Church Total The returns excluded the distribution of bread and wine from

5 4.1. Range of diversity Reader Ministry in the Diocese of Winchester 4. The Diversity of Ministries Chart 1 Percentage of involved in individual activities, % 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Sermons 94% Meetings 79% Assist at Holy Communion Intercessions 71% 74% Study Groups 61% Evening Prayer 53% Morning Prayer 48% Pastoral Visits Funerals Family Service House Communions 41% 38% 37% 37% Sick and Hospital Schools and Hospitals 27% 26% Sunday School and Confirmation Classes 17% Work Place Other Ministry 8% 11% The statistics show that 94% of sending in the returns are involved in preaching. 79% are involved in meetings, etc. 5

6 4.2. Gender & Age Reader Ministry in the Diocese of Winchester The age does not have a significant influence on the amount of activity that they carry out, with in the age range 40 to 85 generally preaching circa 20 Sermons in Church per annum. It is clear that a higher proportion of women are involved in Sick Visits and Hospitals, Pastoral Visits, House Communions, Study Groups, Sermons in Schools and Hospitals etc., Intercessions and Sunday School and Confirmation Classes than their male colleagues Age Chart 2 Percentage of men and women involved in individual activities, Men Women Difference Sick Visits and Hospitals 18% 45% 28% Pastoral Visits 31% 58% 27% House Communions 27% 53% 26% Study Groups 54% 75% 21% Sermons in Schools and Hospitals etc. 20% 38% 18% Intercessions 65% 82% 17% Sunday School and Confirmation Classes 12% 27% 16% Meetings 78% 82% 4% Funerals 37% 41% 4% Family Service 36% 39% 4% Sermons in Church 93% 96% 3% Other Ministry 8% 10% 2% Study Groups and Services at work place 10% 12% 1% Assist at Holy Communion 74% 74% - 1% Evening Prayer 53% 52% - 1% Morning Prayer 49% 46% - 3% The age is more bias to age range than the national average. 3 The age profile of trainees is older than the national profile. There are 49 in training and 54 with permission to officiate. This suggests that the volume of will be sustained for the foreseeable future. The mix in each discreet block of columns totals 100% % Mix 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% National Men Winchester Men Chart 3 Winchester versus National profile < > 60 > 70 PTO National Men In Training Winchester Men In Training National Women Winchester Women National Women In Training Winchester Women In Training 3 Source for national figures: Central ' Council - Annual Report of the Executive Committee for 2003 ( 6

7 4.4. Distribution by area The mix shows that Bournemouth Archdeaconry has the strongest representation (in straight numbers) followed by Winchester Archdeaconry and the Channel Islands. The number of trainees in Winchester archdeaconry is a higher proportion of total in the archdeaconry (compared with Bournemouth) and begins to address the imbalance of Reader numbers north-south. Table 5 Number of permission to officiate, licensed and trainees by archdeaconry (2004). Men & Women Permission to Officiate Total Active Trainees Grand Total Winchester Bournemouth CI Grand Total Men Winchester Bournemouth CI Grand Total Women Winchester Bournemouth CI Grand Total Men represent 57.9% of the total resource available to the diocese. Bournemouth has the strongest representation, and a very high dependence on older with permission to officiate. Bournemouth has the strongest representation of women however, there is far less dependence on with permission to officiate. There are more women in training than men. This coupled with the number of older men who have permission to officiate, suggests that the percentage of women will continue to increase and the percentage of men will decrease Relative strength of by deanery. The following table represents the number of active, with permission to officiate, and trainee there are in each deanery. This is an indication of the strength of the overall resource and does not show the amount of actual activity. Nevertheless, it does provide a picture of the intensity of the resource. The table shows: The electoral roll strength; The resource per 1000 electoral roll members; The total number: and the relative strength of the resource in the deanery. 4 4 The deanery with the highest number of active readers per thousand electoral roll members has a weighting of one. 7

8 Table 6 Strength of resource including trainees by deanery Deanery Electoral Roll Active Per 1,000 Electoral Roll Total Number Relative Strength Guernsey Southampton Jersey Eastleigh Winchester Lyndhurst Bournemouth Romsey Odiham Andover Basingstoke Christchurch Alton Alresford Whitchurch Table 7 Strength of resource excluding trainees by deanery Deanery Electoral Roll Active Per 1,000 Electoral Roll Total Number Relative Strength Southampton Jersey Eastleigh Guernsey Lyndhurst Winchester Romsey Bournemouth Odiham Basingstoke Andover Christchurch Alton Alresford Whitchurch

9 Map 1 Map of diocese showing relative strength of Reader ministry by deanery and Reader centres. The relative strength column has been used to produce a visual representation of the relative strength of the resource, which is shown by the darkness of the area in the map below. Strongest Presence Weakest Presence 5. Conclusion Reader ministry is Alive and Well in the Diocese of Winchester with a level of intake into training which should ensure that are available for deployment for the foreseeable future. The average age of new trainees is beginning to lower the age profile. 9