Oxford Diocesan Synod 14 th November 2015 Living Faith our Purpose To join with God in creating a caring, sustainable and growing Christian presence in every part of the diocese of Oxford, enabling every Christian and every Christian community to live and share the love of God, seen in the life of Jesus Christ.
Archdeaconry Plans and Diocesan Priorities
*Introduction *Brief presentation on archdeaconry priorities *Sharing stories *Introducing our priorities *Shaping the future *
*
Deanery Parish Diocese Equipping and Resourcing Deanery Archdeaconry
A Work in Progress Workforce Planning Deanery Share Deanery and Archdeaconry Planning
Local Mission Local Ministry Resource Priority
Buckinghamshire
*Mutual support, care and respect *Well organised and effective administration *A passion for the Gospel *Willingness to accept change and work with it and innovate *Advocacy and support for the local church *Granting deaneries freedom in decision making expressed through dialogue, and support.
*Younger workforce (80% of current clergy under 60) *History of strategic archdeaconry posts *Culture of Mutual support *Some good deanery/parish innovation in parts *Committed laity *Church Building projects *Good deployment of clergy and LLMs
*Decreasing number of SSMs *Disparity of resources between deaneries *Finance a struggle v a blessing *Developing lay and ordained teams *Sharing good practice across a large area *Resourcing and encouraging initiatives
Buckinghamshire Significant Areas of New Housing
*Current plans for 31,500 new homes primarily in Aylesbury and Milton Keynes *Significant increase in market towns like Buckingham and smaller villages like Haddenham *Future plans for further increases including a further 90,000 in Milton Keynes *
Buckinghamshire Large Areas of Rurality
*Appointment of an Area Dean for Rural Mission and Development *Mutual Support across deaneries *Developing support for Churchwardens and Area Deans/Lay Chairs *Development of Vocations work for ordained ministry throughout archdeaconry *Mission Fund for small but significant projects
*To monitor new housing carefully and seriously look at the provision of resources including development posts *To develop local lay training and encourage discipleship *To promote and encourage vocations to lay leadership as well as ordained ministry *A continued sharing of financial resources to those areas that need it *Developing a creativity around rural ministry which reflects the local picture *To monitor the size of the archdeaconry and the area team as the population grows
Berkshire We want to: Hold fast to that which is good in our current mission & ministry Think in new ways about what God is asking of us
We think it is important to: Have a flat structure where all are free to use their gifts and talents Encourage truly collaborative ministry where lay and ordained work together for the Gospel Prioritise mission, discipleship (growing in faith), vocation (a call to service) Develop a Church which all ages want to be a part of
PRINCIPLES Resource and release Area Deans to play a more strategic role Involve more fully our Lay Chairs The Archdeaconry Mission & Pastoral Committee as a key body Enable decision making at the most appropriate level (subsidiarity) Recognise that mission & ministry are contextual. No one size fits all.
Important themes for the next few years: Intentional encouragement of vocations to lay and ordained roles Imaginative engagement with areas of new housing, both large and small Resourcing and encouragement of Churchwardens Maximising opportunities presented by occasional offices Schools, chaplaincy, young people Partnership for Missional Church (PMC)
A word about PMC moving into God s promised and preferred future. PMC is a 3 year process rooted in engagement with Scripture (Dwelling in the Word) Berkshire is doing a pilot on behalf of the Diocese. We have 26 congregations taking part. It involves: Discovery learning to listen to Scripture, our congregations and communities Experimenting seeing what works, seeing failure as opportunity to learn Embodiment developing plans for congregational transformation. A culture change discovering what God desires of us, rather than what we could do
*
*329 churches *266 parishes *90 benefices *161 clergy *Population is up 33200 since 2001 and rising *
* *to see all our churches flourish and grow and *to know they are supported and resourced by the Area team and diocesan staff
* *Huge new communities and housing Bicester, Banbury, Didcot *Developing links and work with schools and young people *Rural multi-parish benefice life and the need to simplify things *Raising vocations to ministry of all kinds *Engaging with other communities ecumenical, scientific, county and district councils
* *Building a new kind of church community *Stronger links with schools and young people *Imaginative use of church buildings *Investing in people *County-wide
Oxford and Cowley
*
*Video Presentation
Common Themes
*Housing and Development Posts in areas of new housing *Investment in the wellbeing of our workforce *Support for work within our schools, including chaplains, and with young people *Lay discipleship ministry and training *The encouragement of local leadership, vocations lay and ordained *Stewardship and financial management *Help with our church buildings *Support for projects with funerals, the rural church and church planting
Development Posts and Housing Lay discipleship ministry and training Development of work amongst schools, colleges and young people Stewardship Encouragement of local mission Support for church growth Church buildings Encouragement of local leadership teams, lay and ordained vocations
Office Accommodation The journey so far Late 1960 s relocate from offices in St Aldates, Oxford to the former parsonage at North Hinksey 1970 s first extension to the parsonage 1980 s further extension works 1990 s Large Committee Room and Bishop s Wing added Last 10 years roof space converted and various internal reorganisations to accommodate more people and meetings The last two years an extensive review of options at North Hinksey and elsewhere
Farewell to Diocesan Church House, North Hinksey - note cars spilling over onto adjoining roads
Bannister House, Kidlington AKA Church House Oxford
Langford Lane, Kidlington Business Park
A modern office building on a Business Park but adjoining open countryside
Kidlington key points Public transport stops within yards of the building, there are good links to the new Kidlington railway station and Oxford 8 miles from DCH and 4 miles from A34/A40 junctions Easy access to recreation space [a Site of Special Scientific Interest is just over the road] Co-op Shop and pub 5 minutes walk, Kidlington centre 1 mile with all main facilities Close to Bishop of Oxford s new house in Kidlington
Kidlington key points Approximately 50% bigger than the current Diocesan Church House Three floors of offices/meeting rooms, plus large secure loft storage area Improved opportunities for open plan and flexible working Flexible meeting rooms and chapel space 70 allocated car spaces [24 more than DCH], plus access to more on site and within a few minutes walk
Ground Floor plan Reception/Café area Offices/secure storage
First Floor plan Main meeting rooms Offices/small meeting rooms
Second Floor plan Bishops/Senior staff area Offices & meeting rooms
Property North Hinksey Kidlington Summary of Costs & Timescales Net Floor Area sq.m Value/costs 755 Value today 2.0-3.0m* 1,000 plus café area and loft storage 130 3.1m including VAT *** Fit out costs IT systems & furniture See note** 0.7m including VAT Net Cost after sales Target net additional costs under 1m Timescales Vacate Easter to summer 2016 Complete fitting out Easter 2016 * Guide price assuming change of use to residential. ** If we stay at DCH we would need to invest almost 500,000 on refurbishment of the building, overhaul of our IT systems and furniture. On top of that to build capacity we would need to spend at least 1.5 million on extending DCH with considerable disruption to staff and visitors. *** Assumes no SDLT and no recovery of VAT. NOTE non-recovery of VAT adds 20% extra costs