I'm just in from my first Deanery Synod since arriving here,- and a surprisingly passionate one it was too. Under the current diocesan pastoral strategy, something like 20 stipendiary posts have to be shed over the next 1o years, and there is a growing realisation that rural benefices cant actually expand much further:there are several in these parts uniting 6-12 parishes. Logically,therefore, there is now a need to consider seriously when vacancies occurr in the towns, and each deanery is asked to have mission action plans, pastoral strategies etc in place in readiness for the next vancancy. In our deanery there are currently two unfilled vacancies, and another which has been advertised, though so far without success...so this is a very real issue. Tonight, we heard one practical suggestion that our views be co-ordinated and positive recommendations be logged...one passionate plea for a church without buildings, freed to engage with people where they are....and a no less passionate reminder of the value of the building as a visible sign of God's presence with his people. Nobody liked the idea of the church pulling out of the disadvanted areas which currently have the lowest Sunday attendance figures...but then, nobody much liked the idea of voting themselves out of a job or an accessible worship centre whose churchmanship matched their own. The Rural Dean asked "What would Jesus do?" and there was a moment of tangible calm as we tried to focus on that, to hear what He was actually saying to us. Then we got into the dreaded small groups to discuss....certainly nobody in my group had heard anything clear...we were united in our conviction that it was all very difficult and I have to say that, having only entered stipendiary ministry 3 months ago, it feels a bit soon to be arguing myself out of a job. Certainly I am generally quite busy enough to justify my existence, but as to whether I could be more usefully deployed in another context, I truly don't know.
Fear of loss - driving crippling busy-ness; the stipend - driving dependence on the structures; the cheap seduction of numbers - driving our witness away from already-deprived areas .... this is what the institution does to us. WWJD? - not join the institution, for starters. This is the awful dilemma, and aweful opportunity constantly facing all of us in ministry ...
ReplyDeleteOh John...."Yes, but...." as the saying goes. What you have written is all true, but given that the institution exists and is still seen even occasionally as a sacrament of God's presence, to pull out is surely damaging too? So, how to become the church that God would have us be?...to serve the needs of those we already know,while reaching out to those who would never willingly darken our doors? We can't put back the clock and divest ourselves of all the baggage without considerable negative impact; we have to start from where we are, as much as from where the untouched others are. But those are very different places...and we don't have the resources to do both...or do we? I think that this Deanery will avoid the easy route of supporting only numerically "successful" churches (an oxymoron, perhaps?)but will become paralysed with fear at the prospect of doing anything to endanger the other communities. Here, we have about 180 Communicants most weeks, across the two services...we do a reasonable job of nurturing and encouraging this group...but we don't do alot to enable them to look outwards into the wider community. So, you could describe us as a failing church...but I'm not convinced that the area would be better off without us. Oh, help...I really don't know,- and I ought to be writing Sunday's sermon...Busyness, busyness, all is busyness.
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