Connecting with each other Last month, those of you who were at the Team service in Littleton Drew may remember that I preached the first of 3 sermons based on the new Diocesan vision and priorities. The priorities align well with ours here in recent years, in that they are all about creating connections, and in preparation for the forthcoming vacancy here in Bybrook they are a gift to the churches here as you think about the shape of who you are, and who you would like to come and work with you in the future. Last time, we spent time thinking about what it means to create a connection with God. We talked about being connected with God as being primarily about being in Christ - that when we connect with God something changes within us. That connecting with God is about seeing a commitment first to prayer, to really getting on our knees and seeking God s will for the communities and people that we serve. It also means seeing a willingness among the whole of his people to offer themselves for his service. Without prayer and willingness to serve the church simply will not grow, and therefore cannot survive long-term. I then moved on to talk about how being connected with God prepares us for approaching the vacancy, and some of the dangers that can come if we are not connected first with him. The main danger that I see are that if we are not firmly rooted into God, there are all sorts of different things - and often these are people - who can spring up into the space left and attempt for all sorts of different reasons to derail faithful churches from being faithful, either by ungodly behaviour, or by asserting their own agendas. Remaining connected to God together helps to spot these things when they happen, and to address them appropriately. The other main danger that I see is that if we are not connected to God, and therefore not seeing fruit, as John 15 tells us, God has a way of thinning out that which prevents growth. This moves us on really well to look at the second of the connections connecting with each other. There are so many different passages in scripture that talk about the importance of looking at the relationships that we have with one another, particularly within the church. There is the passage, for example, about the body of Christ, and about how each one of us is a member of the body, and about how each part - each one of us - is important in making the body
function. I was talking about this in Kington St Michael school just this week, and explaining the dangers of thinking that everyone should be, should think and should practice their faith in exactly the same way. It is like the whole body being an ear really useful for hearing, but with nothing to listen to because there is no mouth to speak. The church at its best recognises and celebrates the diversity and colour that exists within it, and does everything possible to preserve unity with one another despite the differences we bring. Paul tells us, Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The way in which we see this unity achieved is by recognising that the church itself is built with Christ as the chief cornerstone. All that we are, and all that we can be is because of him. If we recognise the church to be built on Christ, and not on any one individual within it, then all that we are as church is shaped by his example, and not by our own dogmas. The connections that we have with one another as church span across many different levels. There are the connections that we have with one another in our local church congregations. There are connections that we have within our clusters, across the whole of the Team, across the Deanery, across the Diocese, across the Church of England, with other denominations of church in our locality, and with the worldwide church. The connections that we have with one another are built socially, physically, emotionally and spiritually. And each of these are important facets of connecting with each other. But they don t always come naturally, and for the rest of the sermon I would like to share some thoughts and observations about how we can create good and stable connections with each other here in preparation for the vacancy, and ministry together in the future. I wonder if I was to ask what the fundamental essentials for developing a positive relationship with another person are, how you would answer. Some of the essentials that I would identify are honesty, the willingness to be vulnerable, to admit our weaknesses as well as our strengths, to be willing to share generously with another, to care for the other as much if not more than we expect to be cared for.
These are all elements which work on an individual level in our relationships with one another, but for this group of churches are equally key in ensuring a continued presence where they are now, and to how your new incumbent can settle in when they arrive here. Much of what I would like to share now I have shared with the Team Council when they asked for my honest thoughts in preparation for the vacancy process. One of the observations that I have is that although the original 8 churches of the Bybrook Benefice have been legally joined together as a group since 1999, there hasn t seemed to be much progress made in developing the working relationships with one another. So many of the churches in Bybrook are filled with people who are tired, feeling as though they have carried the burden of running the churches here for a long time, and I think there is probably a lot of truth in that. But we have failed really to see how this could be approached differently, and to grasp the nettles in order to see things grow more healthily. To have 10 PCCs, with the expectation of 2 churchwardens, a secretary, treasurer, safeguarding officer, Deanery Synod reps the list goes in, means there is a lot of replication and draining of limited people resources, and this does not stop at the parishioner level consider the incumbent who has legal responsibility for all 10 parishes, technically being expected to attend 40 plus PCC meetings, in addition to Team Council meetings, ministry team meetings, Deanery Synod, Chapter and Leadership Team Meetings, Governor s meetings in 2 schools, as well as supervisions with clergy, office manager and LLMs. I wonder if this vacancy provides an opportunity to really consider what it might look like to create better connections with each other across the churches in Bybrook firstly to ease the pressure and burden amongst the laity, and secondly to ease the pressure and burden on the clergy in the team. Consider this for a moment do you think that it sounds an attractive opportunity to be the Incumbent of a group of churches where before there is anything else in your diary for the year, you have the dates of more than 100 potential meetings in there! How can we look to do things differently, perhaps in our clusters to reduce this pressure, and actually allow ministers to be ministers if that is what is wanted from them!
You see the problem with that sort of change is that it comes with risk. It will only work if parishes together are willing to enter into the process. The single greatest challenge that parishes willing to enter into these kind of discussions will be around the preservation of our individual parishes and resources. Some parishes here have huge amounts of money but are not using it generously to invest in God s kingdom, but there is no point storing up treasures here if the church fails to grow. Others have little to no resources and are struggling along with what they have and yet are still managing to see growth. How willing are we to be vulnerable with one another, to set down the drawbridges that we often naturally pull up, and to see beyond the borders of our parishes to see that actually we need to pull together and see the kingdom of God is in Littleton Drew as much as in Biddestone, in Castle Combe as much as in Yatton Keynell, in Nettleton as much as in Grittleton, in Kington St Michael as much as in Slaughterford, in North Wraxall as much as in West Kington? How willing are we to share generously together for the bigger picture of seeing God s kingdom grow across the Bybrook area and beyond? What might it look like for example if churches who had lots of financial resources supported those who had few but were growing? The second observation that I want to share is around creating connections between the churches and the new incumbent. Think back if you can to the list of essentially that I mentioned a moment ago. Some of the essentials that I would identify are honesty, the willingness to be vulnerable, to admit our weaknesses as well as our strengths, to be willing to share generously with another, to care for them as much if not more than we expect to be cared for. Let s say that my time here didn t start off too well as many of you may remember. I arrived here to discover that some things were not as I expected them to be, particularly when it came to ministerial resources in the group. Now while this doesn t necessarily sound like it should be an issue, think of someone moving to a new area knowing no one, thinking they can trust those who are there to support them, and then discovering that this is not the case. Honesty is one of the greatest essentials when a new incumbent starts somewhere. If we don t start with it, it takes a very long time for trust to develop. I encourage those who are working on the vacancy paperwork and interviews to really be honest with the candidates. They will appreciate it, and it s a great starting point.
The second that I want to mention briefly is the importance of recognising that the new minister may find it hard to feel that they belong anywhere. Across the group, you may view them as your vicar, but they will see 10 churches. If you aren t connected well together, they may well struggle to feel they belong to or in any of them. Please don t just wait for them to call and invite themselves to come for a cup of coffee some of you are still waiting for me to do that after nearly 6 years. Get in touch with them and invite them round - look after them. Remember that it is easier for you to get in touch with them that it is for them to find you! I want to finish by mentioning one a couple of things that I want to encourage you to watch out for. In Galatians 5, Paul lists what he calls the acts of sinful nature. It s a bit of a grim list, but some of the things that Paul mentions are behaviours that threaten the unity which we seek in our churches. Keep an eye out for those who seek to cause discord (disagreement or conflict), watch out for those who seek to pull people into choosing sides over a matter, and watch out for those who engage in malicious gossip. I know from experience that these behaviours hurt people, and that they only seek to break down the body of Christ if left unchecked. Make every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Exercise the fruits of the Spirit in relationships with one another. Don t be defensive, but look at how connections can develop. Be honest, be generous, be vulnerable, be caring. Tell good stories about what God is doing within the churches here through you and through past and present ministers who have been with you. And I tell you now these churches will be places that people want to be. Take a risk in this vacancy to seek God s guiding hand, and I really believe that he will honour you for it. For a moment, I d like you to gather in groups of 2 or 3 and share with one another something really positive that you have seen in the life of the church in the last couple of years. Something positive! Let s celebrate for a moment what God is doing here, and then we will gather together in prayer.