innovative and unusual pastoral arrangements some scenarios
TRANSCRIPT
Innovative and unusual pastoral arrangements
Some scenarios
City Deanery1a
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1b
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4+
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6b +
6a
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9†
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Parish Church + Chapel of Ease ± Cathedral †Licensed Place of Worship ¤ Methodist church x
All we need is a room somewhere!
I’m the curate in Benefice 6. My incumbent lets me
run an exciting experimental congregation
which attracts new worshippers from all
across the City. We need more space and have now found a sports hall to hire but it’s not in my parish.
What do we do now?
Church Plant - Extra Parochial Place
5 +
6b
+
6a +
•Flourishing united benefice
• Parish 6b revitalised by a now mature plant
from Parish 6a
•EPP includes rented building•Experimental worship•Eclectic congregation•Shared minister with Benefice 6
Parish Church + Extra Parochial Place
Church Plant - EPP
• Worship-centred mission project• Location not important –determined by
suitable meeting space• Minimal involvement in synodical
structures• No formal link with Benefice 6 except via
shared minister
•Pastoral Scheme to create EPP
• Minister licensed by Bishop
Worship where we work
We all work in the City Centre.
We meet for worship and discussion at
lunchtime and after work. We
also get involved in
social action. We’re all
involved in our home parishes
as well.
We use a church in the City Centre parish for our worship and as a base for our outreach. It
would close if we didn’t use it. The local incumbent is happy for us to carry on but says his parish doesn’t want the building and wants
no responsibility for looking after it.
Church Plant - EPP within Detached Part of Parish
4+
+
±
6b +
6a
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•“Surplus” City Centre Church•Working day congregation
• Nucleus of membership from Benefice 6• Residual liability for building rests with Parish 6a.
+
Parish church + Chapel of ease ± EPP Detached part
Church Plant – EPP within Detached Part of Parish
• Location/action centred mission project• Location is important – related to place of work• Minimal involvement in synodical structures –
members also have home parishes• Utilises otherwise redundant church – “donut” for
residual maintenance liability
•Pastoral Scheme to create EPP and detached part of parish
The Heineken Effect
Our parish life died when the factory closed. The vicar does nothing. No-one wants to go to
the church. It’s rundown, depressing
and out of touch
We can help. Our parish can send people
to run a plant and bring your parish back to life We could use
the old factory canteen. But the vicar
there doesn’t want us.
Church Plant – Detached Part of Parish
6b
+
6a +
7 +
•Struggling parish – ineffective incumbent
• Planted “missionary” congregation• Former factory building• Detached part of Parish 6a
Parish church + Detached part
Church Plant – detached part of parish
• Plant to revitalise struggling parish• Meets in secular building (former factory)• Could be established against wishes of
incumbent of Benefice 7• Part of Parish 6a for financial and synodical
purposes
• Pastoral Order to create and transfer detached part of parish (Scheme not needed as no church involved)
A problem sharedOur Methodist church is in danger of closing. Few of us live nearby now and the area is full of student
bed-sits and nightclubs. We thought our local Anglican parish might want to share the building but it’s in the wrong location for
them and they can’t afford a second building,
This is the opportunity we are looking for. We can afford to
share this church with a planted congregation and it’s
the ideal venue for our “clubbers’ church” outreach
project.
Detached Parish – Shared Church
2+
×
6b +
6a
+
• Methodist church threatened with closure• Anglican Parish 2 doesn’t wish to share building• Benefice 6 sees this as a mission opportunity¤
• Separate Parish (6c) – footprint of building - detached part of Benefice 6• Sharing agreement for building• Plant congregation –youth oriented “clubbers’ church” Parish church + Methodist church x Detached parish
Licensed Place of Worship ¤
Church Plant – Detached Parish
• Plant to take advantage of mission opportunity• Not contentious for Parish 2 (lack resources
themselves)• Shared building with multiple congregations• Separate parish financially self-sufficient and
integrated into synodical structures• Eclectic congregation
•Pastoral Scheme to create new parish •Separate sharing agreement for Methodist/Anglican church building
Churches together in England?I’m the Rector of Benefice 2. I’m
enthusiastic about ecumenism. Part of my
Parish around the shared Anglican/ Methodist church
houses students of all denominations
We already share our building so an
ecumenical link is a logical next step.
We are an Anglo-Catholic Benefice (Benefice 1) and
one of our two parishes also includes a Roman Catholic church with which we have
a good relationship
Local Ecumenical Project 1 +
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2
+
¤
Local Ecumenical Project
• LEP may cover part of a benefice or parish
•LEP established under Canon B44 and Church of England (Ecumenical Relations) Measure
Various Arrangements for Church Plants
2
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6c
5 +
6a
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6b +
7 +
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Sermons in Stone?
We love our building. It’s important to our faith and worship but
we know we can’t afford to maintain it.
We can’t afford this building. It was
always too big. It’s a “millstone” which distracts us from
mission and pastoral care.
We at the Cathedral are a wealthy
congregation. We would like to offer
financial and ministerial support to a less well off parish.
Detached Part – Financial Support for Church
3+
¤
+
9†
•Struggling parish • Dynamic incumbent•“Millstone” building• Resolutions A and B
• Parish church cathedral• Wealthy eclectic congregation+
•Detached part of Parish 9• Own DCC• Group ministry
Parish church + Cathedral † Licensed PoW ¤ Detached part of parish
Financial support for church – detached part of parish
• Financial responsibility for building moves to Cathedral parish
• DCC for other matters• Group ministry enables incumbent of Benefice 3
to take services• Synodical representation now via Cathedral parish • Congregation may have dual electoral roll
membership
• Pastoral Scheme to transfer part of parish and create Group Ministry
Where do we go from here?
We know our benefice is too small to have its own priest but we are an Anglo-catholic ABC
parish and none of the next door benefices want a link with us. Where do we go from here?
Over here! We are on the other
side of the deanery but are happy to have a link with a non-
adjoining benefice.
Plurality of non-adjoining benefices
1a +
1b
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8
+• Forward in Faith parish•Too small for own priest•Resolutions A,B and C
• Plurality with liberal Anglo-Catholic benefice• Female curate• One parish in LEP
Parish church + Licensed Place of Worship ¤
Plurality of non-adjoining benefices
• Plurality of non-adjoining benefices for churchmanship reasons
• Could be a united benefice with detached parishes but for women priests issue
• Might also be done to match struggling benefice with supportive thriving benefice
• Pastoral Order to establish plurality
We want to be alone!
But my dear Archdeacon my parish is flourishing and keeps me fully
occupied. It’s fine as it is and I don’t want to get involved in these fancy
arrangements.
That’s fine my boy. Nothing wrong with the traditional parish where
it’s working well
The Traditional Parish
10
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City Deanery
1a +
1b
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3+
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5+
6b +
6a
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7+
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9†
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Rural Deanery
1a 1b 2a 2b
3a 4 5 2c
3b 6a 6b 6c
Parish � Benefice - coloured
Rural Deanery
• Benefice 1 – Ineffective incumbent
• Benefice 2 – Traditionalist benefice, eclectic congregation, Resolutions A and B
• Benefice 3 - Rural/suburban benefice, embryo network church
• Benefice 4 – Thriving Market Town benefice, large underused church and hall, female incumbent
• Benefice 5 – Suburban benefice, new estate encroaching into Benefice 6
• Benefice 6 - Multi parish rural benefice. Incumbent focused on rural ministry
Deanery Team
1a 1b 2a 2b
3a 4 5 2c
3b 6a 6b 6c
7
cd
Deanery Team
• team of Team Rector , 5 Team Vicars and 2 assistants•permeable boundaries (mix of functional and territorial responsibilities)• can include Resolution A parishes and still have female team members•easier to establish Conventional District (as only one incumbent)•use resources over a wider area
• Pastoral Scheme to unite benefices and create single-benefice team ministry and extra network parish (Parish 7)• Bishop’s licence to define responsibilities• Bishop creates Conventional District
Deanery Team• Incumbent 1 - TV. Territorial responsibility for Parishes 1a, 1b, 3a and 3b, helped by assistant (OLM/NSM)
• Incumbent 2 – TV. Territorial responsibility for Parishes 2a, 2b and 2c but also services in Parish 4
• Incumbent 3 – TV. Territorial responsibility for new Parish 7, functional responsibility for mission
• Incumbent 4 – TR. General responsibility except for Parishes 2a, 2b and 2c
• Incumbent 5 –TV. Territorial responsibility for Parishes 4 and 5
• Incumbent 6 – TV.Territorial responsibility for Parishes 6a,6b and 6c, functional responsibility for rural ministry. Assistant has responsibility for Conventional District.
Team and Group
1a 1b 2a 2b
3a 4 5 2c
3b 6a 6b 6c
7
Team and Group
• A team for all six benefices requires rescinding of Resolution B (no female TR or TV) by Parishes 2a, 2b and 2c• A team as part of a Group with Benefice 2 would be possible without rescinding Resolution B
•Pastoral Scheme to unite benefices and create team ministry, group ministry and network parish• Bishop’s licence to define team members’ responsibilities• Bishop creates Conventional District (only one incumbent’s consent now required)
Minster model team
1a 2b
4
6b 6c
7
Minster model team
• Six parish team (Parishes 1a, 2b, 4, 6b, 6c and 7) “Patchwork” effect of non-adjacent parishes• Includes network church of detached parts of Parish 7
• Pastoral Scheme to create new benefice and network parish and establish team ministry (plus other reorganisation).• Bishop’s licence to define responsibilities