““Take me Take me to your leader!”to your leader!”

Who takes the decisions in the Church of England and in the Methodist Church?

Who’s in charge in your Who’s in charge in your church?church?• Bishop?• Your Vicar?• The Minister?• The Stewards?• The congregation?• An unelected elite?• …God?

In a healthy churchIn a healthy churchResponsibility for the life and

mission of the church will have three aspects

PersonalPersonal CollegialCollegial CommunalCommunal

A Group A Group or Teamor TeamAn IndividualAn Individual EveryoneEveryone

Every denominationEvery denomination

has these three aspects ofleadership or oversight

(The churchy word is “episcopé”)

But they show up But they show up

in different waysin different ways

The Methodist ChurchThe Methodist ChurchPersonalPersonal CollegialCollegial CommunalCommunal

CONFERENCECONFERENCE

Circuit MeetingCircuit MeetingSuperintendentSuperintendentMinisterMinister

Minister + StewardsMinister + Stewards

Circuit Circuit Leadership TeamLeadership Team

District SynodDistrict Synod

Church MeetingChurch MeetingMinisterMinister

Chairman of Chairman of DistrictDistrict

Salmon = most influenceGreen = less influenceThick border = primary responsibility

The Church of EnglandThe Church of EnglandPersonalPersonal CollegialCollegial CommunalCommunal

General SynodGeneral SynodHouse of House of BishopsBishops

Diocesan SynodDiocesan Synod

ArchbishopArchbishop

PCCPCCIncumbentIncumbent

BishopBishop

Deanery SynodDeanery SynodRural DeanRural Dean ChapterChapter

Salmon = most influenceGreen = less influenceThick border = primary responsibility

What a contrast!What a contrast!PersonalPersonal CollegialCollegial CommunalCommunal

Church of England on the right

Methodists on the left

Cut out the ‘less Cut out the ‘less influential’influential’

PersonalPersonal CollegialCollegial CommunalCommunal

Church of England on the right

Methodists on the left

There’s no There’s no

‘opposite number’

‘opposite number’

at any level at any level

for anyone to talk to!

for anyone to talk to!

In short:In short:• ConferenceConference and General SynodGeneral Synod have

similarities but– The Church of England is not a Connexion– The House of Bishops has a significant role outside Synod

• DiocesesDioceses, where power and resources mostly lie, find that DistrictsDistricts are relatively insignificant

• CircuitsCircuits, where responsibility and decision-making mostly lie, find that DeaneriesDeaneries have little to do

• In ParishesParishes and local Methodist churcheslocal Methodist churches the culture is markedly different:– The incumbent has a personal responsibility – ‘the cure of souls’– In the local Methodist church, the ‘itinerant’ minister works

collegially with the Stewards

Practical realitiesPractical realities

What Anglicans decide at diocesan level,

Methodists decide at circuit level

or else

at the level of the whole Connexion

So who do they talk to?So who do they talk to?

• The diocesan bishops and their resource people ... ?

• The superintendent minister and the circuit stewards ... ?

• The incumbent and the Methodist church stewards ... ?

• What adjustments must we all make to allow joint planning and joint decision-making?

We know there are many We know there are many things we can and should things we can and should be doing jointlybe doing jointly

What new mechanisms do we both need to deal with the mismatch

and start planning mission together?