Resourcing the Church in Ministry and Mission in the 21st Century

Becoming a Ministry Area Resourcing the Church in Ministry and Mission in the 21st Century Diocese of Monmouth 1 March 2013

Index 1 Brief introduction to Ministry Areas 3 2 Living Ministry Areas 5 3 Creating Ministry Areas 6 4 Leading Ministry Areas 11 5 Resourcing Ministry Areas 13 2

1 A Brief introduction to Ministry Areas Ministry Areas are a new approach to parish ministry. The Diocese of Monmouth is in the process of establishing Ministry Areas to serve the needs of the Church in the future. This will take several years. Some Ministry Areas will be formed sooner than others. Ministry Areas will require more priests (although fewer will be paid) as well as ministry teams made up of clergy and authorized lay ministers. Each Ministry Area will have an ordained leader who will have oversight of a number of churches. How will Ministry Areas be different? They will be larger pastoral units and the Leaders will need particular skills to foster and enable others in ministry. They will be involved in training, communication, delegation, supervision and collaboration. The diocese will provide appropriate training. Each local church will have a named minister who may be ordained or a licensed lay minister. A Ministry Area may employ a specialist in youth, mission, community or administration or share them with a neighbouring Ministry Area. Why are we doing this? Declining congregations mean that we can no longer afford to pay for the number of clergy we have been used to. We want a new way of doing things that will not just stop decline but provide a new base from which we can grow. How will Ministry Areas come into being? We are consulting deaneries and parishes to reorganize their churches into Ministry Areas. Each Ministry Area will be different so there is no one-size-fits-all. As clergy move or retire we shall be able to prepare for the new Ministry Areas. The Leaders of the new Ministry Areas will have a course of training to prepare them for their new roles. What are the advantages of Ministry Areas? They provide teams of lay and ordained ministers with different and complementary gifts. A larger scale enables more efficient administration and sharing of resources. Ministry Areas should serve local communities and be mission-focused and encourage pioneer ministry. How will we train new priests and lay ministers? Some will train full-time at theological college, but the majority will be trained locally with residential weekends. We shall extend the Living Faith discipleship programme to provide training for ministry. We already have a good number of priests (both with and without stipends) and many candidates exploring ordination and other ministries. 3

Will a Ministry Area Leader be a super-manager? No, that is what we want to avoid, although good ministry always involves planning and organization. A Ministry Area Leader should be freed up to be a priest and to serve and develop the ministry team or teams in the area. Will some churches close? There are no plans to close churches but if churches become unviable then closure may be inevitable. However, we may need to plant new churches in Ministry Areas where pioneer ministry is taking place. Where is God in all this? The Church was born at Pentecost when God sent the Holy Spirit to empower his people to be the Church and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit continues to inspire the Church in new ways of doing things and often in response to culture, finance, resources and prayer. Ministry Areas recognise the ministry of all baptised Christians as the people of God. They also recognise that some will be called to certain ministries some permanently and some for a period of time. We need to recognise the gifts God has given each person and use them in his service. Ministry Areas are incarnational in that they are rooted in local communities with local leadership. They are apostolic in having leaders with responsibility for teaching, fostering vocations and empowering others for ministry. They are missional in seeking new opportunities for ministry and evangelism. They are prophetic in that they recognise the signs of the times and plan for the future. They are visionary in that they require a new way of responding to God s call to extend his Kingdom. 4

2 Living Ministry Areas The old song about the Ugly Duckling tells the story of a small duckling who believed that he was ugly because other ducklings told him he was. A winter passed and when spring came he discovered that he wasn t an ugly duckling at all but was actually a very fine swan. Knowing who we really are as Christians is vital if we are to enter into the fullness of human life which is God s gift to us. The story begins with God. We use the word theology to summarise it. There is always a danger that in trying to understand too much theology at one sitting it becomes too complicated to bother with. It can be like too big a meal. The central thread of it is actually very straightforward. All human beings are made in God s image and likeness. They are designed to make God s presence visible in the world. People of faith are those who recognise this and seek to take on the understanding and lifestyle to make it happen. This is called discipleship. The Church is the collective term for people of faith, the Body of Christ. Together they receive God s grace and gifting to enable them to be disciples and to express the life of God s Kingdom. Ministry is the exercise of particular expressions of discipleship in a way that is more public and on behalf of the whole church. So, in view of this, how are Christians to understand who they are? There are many passages in the Biblical story of God and his people which shed light on this. Five of them are: Genesis 1 v 26 to 28a Acts 13 v 30 to 35 Matthew 13 v 10 to 17 1 Corinthians 12 v 12 to 27 1 Peter 2 v 9 to 10. Together these five passages explore what it means to be fully human what the full potential of human life really is. The verses from Genesis remind us why we human beings were made and how we are to relate to the world we are given to live in. The verses from Acts explain the place of the Resurrection in the purpose of God for his people. The passage from Matthew s Gospel declares that God s Kingdom the life which God intends for his world is a reality now. In his first letter to the Christians in Corinth, Paul explains to his readers the essential unity of life which believing people are called to have. In his first letter to the early church across Asia, Peter reminds them of four important aspects of the life of faith. It is worthwhile to spend some time studying these passages. 5

All these matters are very important to Christian believers, and living in accordance with them will be fundamental to our lives together locally and our effectiveness as God s people in our new Ministry Areas. 3 Creating Ministry Areas 3.1 The Story so far: The beginning of the story was the publication of Hope for Monmouth in 2005. This was the diocese s response to the financial challenge which the Church in Wales faced at the beginning of the twenty first century. Fewer stipendiary clergy could be afforded. This has already been recognised as an issue for the whole of the Church in Wales when, in 2004, the Bench of Bishops and the Representative Body of the Church in Wales agreed to a gradual reduction in stipendiary clergy posts across Wales. In the past decade, worshipper numbers have continued to decline, albeit at a slower rate than before, and many parishes are finding it increasingly difficult to pay their parish share. The diocese receives a grant from the Representative Body of the Church in Wales which covers almost a third of the diocese s expenditure. However, despite this, for a number of years the diocese has used its capital reserves to help pay for ministry. The Representative Body grant will reduce from 2015. As discussion and planning continued in deaneries and parishes, it was increasingly realised that the traditional model of parochial oversight could not be stretched any further. It was not sustainable under the traditional model of parish life. So, not only would areas of pastoral oversight need to be larger, but the pattern of oversight itself would need to change. Such stipended posts as may be afforded for the future needed to serve the discipleship and ministry of all God s people in ever more effective ways. A new pattern of local oversight was required. In 2011, detailed explorations began with deaneries, benefices and parishes to explore the design of Ministry Areas for the whole diocese. This work built on developments which had been underway since 2005. Many of the potential Ministry Areas had already been shaped as areas of oversight which had already come into existence as rectorial benefices or groupings of parishes. Ministry Areas will come into formal existence gradually. They will be defined to encompass both parishes and rectorial benefices. This definition of a Ministry Area will only be made once: the shape of the Area is agreed there is a leader who has been trained into the new role of oversight there is a core of people, (maybe a team or teams to share ministry and leadership) to take forward the ministry and mission within the Area 6

Those who will oversee Ministry Areas will be trained into their new role. Forming the Ministry Area, as discussed later under Leading Ministry Areas, will be an integral part of this training. The process leading towards the formal designation of a Ministry Area and issues to address is: 3.2 Shaping the Ministry Area It seems likely that there will be between 35 and 40 Ministry Areas in the diocese. The shaping of many of them has already been agreed locally. Discussions are ongoing in some areas. Some Ministry Areas will be created from existing parish groupings whereas others will be shaped by uniting or grouping two or more parishes. The process which will be followed is outlined for each case in the flowcharts overleaf. 3.3 Appointing the Leader The existing provisions of the Church in Wales for clergy appointments will continue to apply to the appointment of leaders for potential Ministry Areas. The appointed leader will complete the three-year formational Masters level training course which the Diocese has created with Ripon College Cuddesdon. The creation of a ministry team of lay and ordained in the potential Ministry Area will be an integral part of this training. Team working will be of the essence of life in a Ministry Area and will be practised organically that is to say team structures will be kept flexible and open to evolution and change in order to address the ongoing development of ministry and mission in the Ministry Area. 7

3.4 Creating a Ministry Area from an Existing Parish 1 Initial discussion and planning Bishop's Staff 2 Consultation by Archdeacon Clergy, PCCs, Area Dean, Deaneries 3 Further discussion and decision Bishop's Staff 4 Appointment of Ministry Area Leader Designate Nominated according to Chapter VI of the Constitution 5 Training of Ministry Area Leader Designate Masters in Ministry through Ripon College Cuddesdon 6 7 Formation and training of Ministry Team Ministry Area Leader Designate in consultation with Archdeacon Appointment of Churchwardens and formation of Ministry Area Council Facilitated by Archdeacon 8 Declaration of Ministry Area 8

3.5 Creating a Ministry Area from a new Grouping of Parishes 1 Initial discussion and planning Bishop's Staff 2 Consultation by Archdeacon Clergy, PCCs, Area Dean, Deaneries 3 Further discussion and decision Bishop's Staff 4 Final approval of new United Parish, Grouped Parish or Rectorial Benefice The Bishop in co-operation with the Diocesan Standing Committee 5 Appointment of Ministry Area Leader Designate Bishop (as laid down in Chapter VI of the Constitution for new groupings) 6 Formal inauguration of new United Parish, Grouped Parish or Rectorial Benefice Registrar and Bishop 7 Training of Ministry Area Leader Designate Masters in Ministry through Ripon College Cuddesdon 8 Formation and training of Ministry Team Ministry Area Leader Designate in consultation with Archdeacon 9 Appointment of Churchwardens and formation of Ministry Area Council Facilitated by Archdeacon 10 Declaration of Ministry Area 9

3.6 Ministry Team As indicated above, team working is fundamentally important to the success of Ministry Areas. There may well be a number of teams sharing different areas of responsibility within the Area. Teams will need to be made up of those committed to the overall aim of seeking to make the Kingdom of God visible and known. The core team of a Ministry Area is the Area Council. It will work together with and in support of all other teams which contribute to the public life and ministry of the Ministry Area and will also assist in determining patterns of worship and the establishment of new work. 3.7 Pastoral Care Responsibility for pastoral care within the Ministry Areas will be the responsibility of the Ministry Team or Teams. In addition, each worshipping community should ideally have its own local leader who may be a stipendiary priest, non-stipendiary priest or licensed lay minister. Appropriate training will be made available (see below under Resourcing Ministry Areas ). 3.8 Ministry Area Council and Churchwardens The creation of Ministry Areas will include the formation of a Ministry Area Council (MAC). They will be structured to provide for just and fair representation of the existing worshipping communities within the Ministry Area and of any new work which may be explored. Churchwardens and sub-wardens will be chosen and elected for each Ministry Area. 3.9 Finance Existing arrangements will continue for parish finances and parish share for grouped parishes. Once a United Benefice is formed a single financial structure for the United Benefice will come into being and will continue for the Ministry Area. 10

4 Leading Ministry Areas Leadership of the People of God has developed over several thousand years. Whilst much has been borrowed and adapted by other contexts of human leadership there is a distinctive and unique character to the leadership of God s people. There are a number of key Biblical passages. 1 Timothy 3 v. 1 to 13 has much to say as does the Ordinal (the explanation of ordained ministry). Leadership of Ministry Areas requires the exercise of priestly ministry in a different pattern from that of the parish priest that we have become long used to. Leaders of Ministry Areas will probably be in priestly orders. The wider episcopal nature of their new role will be derived from and shared with the diocesan Bishop. This role has been described as having four dimensions: Watch over yourself Enable others Guide, guard and build missionary communities Locate, represent and connect with wider society * *{Steven Croft (Bishop of Sheffield), in Focus on Leadership published by the Foundation for Church Leadership in 2005 under ISBN 0-9550573-0-2} The course of further training to prepare for this new leadership role is to begin in the Autumn of 2013. It is designed to address these four areas and will be provided by Ripon College Cuddesdon. All those who are being invited to explore the leading of the new Ministry Areas will need to complete this course successfully. Each participant in the course will engage with classes each Tuesday afternoon in Newport for thirty weeks a year for two years. In addition, they will have three overnight residential group meetings and one longer residential each year. The third year will involve a research project, and successful completion of the three year course will result in the award of a Masters level Degree in Ministry. In support of all this, participants will need to spend another day each week in reading and research and reflection. All this reflective study will not be a loss to the ministry participants presently have, as that ministry will be an essential part of the learning that they will be undertaking. This means that each worshipping congregation will play an important part in the growth of the developing new leadership role which is being prepared for. The cost of the course fees will be borne by the diocese. The diocese will also be providing grants to help with travel and other costs which the course participants will incur. 11

Some key theological themes are important to the understanding of this leadership role. Considering them will be an important part of the course. These include: Trinity People of God Jesus Image of God Kingdom of God God s Mission Passion and Resurrection Servant of God A number of practical skills have been identified also as being important to the effective leadership of a Ministry Area. Training in them will also form part of the course. They include: Collaborative leadership skills Forming, supporting, leading and facilitating working teams Supervision Adult education/catechesis Nurture of children and young people Leadership styles Conflict management Change management Human resource management Use of psychodynamic and team assessment Communication 12

5 Resourcing Ministry Areas 5.1 Discipleship Being a disciple of Jesus is to follow Jesus. A life of prayer and learning the story of God s people is central to this. In Acts 2 verse 42 onwards we are given a picture of the life of the early church immediately after the first Pentecost. These first believers devoted themselves to the: apostles teaching fellowship breaking of bread and prayers There are personal and corporate aspects to these devotions and Christians have seen these four activities to be essential to their discipleship throughout the history of the church. Many resources are available to help Christians to enter into their life of faith. In addition to what can be obtained from elsewhere, the Diocese of Monmouth has Living Faith, which is a course to support disciples and also to prepare some lay ministers. Supporting all Christian people in their discipleship is an essential task for Ministry Areas. The highest priority will be given to it whatever means and resources are used to support it. 5.2 Lay Ministry The ongoing development of lay ministry is an essential aspect of Ministry Areas. The Living Faith programme for developing discipleship will also be the basis of formational training for a range of lay ministry. Lay Ministries can be summarised into four categories: Pastoral Liturgical Administrative Missional There will inevitably be some overlap between these categories and a number of different related ministries are likely to be exercised by the same people. Pastoral ministry would include such as: Lay Eucharistic home ministry Pastoral visiting Ministry with children (including Messy Church) Ministry with young people Ministry with the elderly 13

Liturgical ministry would include such as: Worship leading Preaching Eucharist by extension Conducting funerals Music Administrative ministry would include such as: Churchwarden General parish administration Treasurer Fundraising Verger Care of buildings Safeguarding Missional Ministry would include such as: Wider community issues Personal evangelism and faith sharing Teaching and group leading Core study using some of the modules of the Living Faith programme will be common to each of the four categories of lay ministry and will be supplemented by particular training in the precise area of ministry being prepared for. It will therefore be possible to accumulate skills in ministry and for there to be a progression in ministerial responsibility. The detail of this will be worked up into a more substantial descriptive document. 14

5.3 Teams The Christian life is a corporate one and this is often lived out in the context of collaboration within teams. Ministry Areas will flourish only as teams of both lay and ordained ministers develop to support the different expressions of Christian mission which grow within the area. Ministry Area Leaders will receive training in the creation and management of teams. Further to this, a training programme in establishing, training and sustaining local teams will be introduced for use across the diocese. 5.4 Additional General Resourcing The Diocese will continue to resource the life of Ministry Areas by offering resources and responding to specific requests for help. 5.5 Local Minister Ideally, all existing local churches or new Christian communities within a Ministry Area should have a Local Minister. The role of the Local Minister is to be the person who is the: focal person for the local worshipping community, around whom the local Christian community gathers and who provides a lead first contact in the church for those outside the worshipping community local leader of the ministry and mission team where there is one. The Local Minister would be a local person chosen by the Ministry Area leader in consultation with the local church community and could be a Reader/LLM, a locally ordained deacon or priest, a retired deacon or priest, a churchwarden etc. 15

For more information about the development of ministry areas and other aspects of diocesan strategy, see: www.monmouthdiocese.org.uk/ministry areas Photos used on front cover courtesy of Mr Colin Jenkins 16