Responding to the Challenge
Address given to the Deanery Synod by the new Rural Dean, Martin Saxby.
Thursday 29 June 2006
Introduction
Thanks for your prayers this evening and for the letters, emails and messages of encouragement I have received.
Most of them had a common characteristic – no one has been quite sure whether to congratulate me or commiserate with me.
Being Rural Dean is one of those jobs where no one is totally clear what it entails other than the fact that it involves extra work with no extra pay!
I also have some trepidation as I have been around a long time in this Deanery and many of you know me quite well – or at least you think you do! I’m not sure if that is an advantage or a disadvantage
However I am quite clear in my own mind that congratulations are indeed the order of the day and not commiserations. That is because I believe there is a real job to be done as Rural Dean and I am looking forward to it immensely and to building on the excellent foundations that Ted has laid – I want to add my thanks to Ted for all that he has done as Rural Dean.
Last Saturday evening 300 of us shared together in a Deanery Confirmation service at St. Matthew’s when 39 people were confirmed by Bishop John. It was a wonderful occasion celebrating new disciples of all ages; it also demonstrated how we can worship and work together for the cause of the kingdom and that is something of my vision for our deanery.
So I was particularly delighted this morning to receive this email from a couple who were at the service:
Dear Martin,
Sorry not to have written before - time flies, as they say. It was just to let you know how much we enjoyed that tremendous confirmation service last Saturday!!!! The presence of God was so very evident, the singing and the worship were good, and it was very precious to see the Bishop praying for each of the candidates - not simply using the conventional words.
Perhaps, for me, the most beautiful thing was to see so very many churches all joined together in harmony for this event. Over 30 years ago that certainly wouldn't have been possible!!! It just delighted my heart to see the minister from St Andrews worshipping alongside the minister of St Matthews!!!!!!!! It was also lovely to see that the Methodist minister from Brownsover was able to take part in the laying on of hands with the bishop.
Don't know if you get the message - we ENJOYED IT!!!!!!!!!
That's what I want to see and hear more of!
Facing Challenges
We are moving into a new chapter in the life of the deanery and indeed the diocese. It is an exciting time, it is also a challenging time – in fact it is the challenge that excites me.
We cannot but be aware of the challenges we face:
- declining congregations – the statistics make pretty depressing reading. I have never subscribed to the supremely pessimistic view that within 30 years the church will be dead – there will be resurrection, but only where people stop digging their own graves – and that is by facing up to the realities of our situation
- declining numbers of clergy and the high average age of new clergy - there aren’t the people coming forward for ministry, and those that are, are not young enough. And recently although there has been an increase in ordinands, some are being told there will be no job for them after their training because there won’t be the money to pay for them.
And that is our next challenge:
- increasing costs – especially of buildings & clergy, which is what parish share is for – there is an alarming shortfall for the diocese this year which has led to 7 redundancies in the Diocesan Offices and a reduction of the number of clergy in post in the diocese.
The shortfall within this deanery could be £10,000s – and all that means is that in the future we will have even less clergy because that’s what it pays for. If we don’t pay our clergy costs eventually we won’t have any clergy, just as in the same way if we don’t pay our phone bill we lose our phone.
The idea that paying parish share comes after all the other bills are paid is a not sustainable – the bible says the worker is worthy of their hire – your clergyperson is worthy of their wage and they should be paid – so paying parish share ranks up alongside the electricity bill and the roof repair.
Of course I realise some parishes are finding this very difficult and I hope to help us develop a way as a deanery whereby we identify genuine need, where we agree on our mission priorities and where every parish joins in supporting others in covering our financial costs.
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- increasing gulf between church and society – the church is seen by the wider world as irrelevant, both its message and its worship. Too often entering a church service is like entering into a Tardis that only goes back in time; and the message of the church is too often coached in terms of what we are against rather than what we are for.
Jesus was for the lost, the out caste, the prisoner, the prostitute. Of course he wasn’t for their behaviour, but he was for them as his children. People of our world need to hear the message that God is for them, that God loves them.
Responding to Challenges
These challenges are forcing us to do things we probably should have been doing anyway:
Mission is increasingly on the agenda of our churches in recognition that this is the only way to halt the downward spiral of attendance. This is in part what is behind the amazing work of God in the Rugby district through Revive – with all the churches, of all denominations and none, increasingly recognising we are part of one family working together for one purpose.
I hope to see greater involvement across traditions and denominations.
New forms of ministry lay and ordained are being developed. These are required to help us rise to the challenge of declining numbers of clergy. One of the things we identified as a Deanery last year was the need clarification about the role of OLMs. I want to see a clearer diocesan strategy for developing OLMs and their deployment throughout the Deanery as ordained leaders of local worshipping communities as we agreed in our objectives paper a year ago.
Greater sense of collegiality in chapter This is one of the things Ted has helped to develop in recent years, it also reflects what is happening amongst all church leaders of our area seen in the development of Revive. For those who as yet have not heard of Revive, it is a move of God amongst the Christians and churches of this town and the surrounding area that makes up the Deanery.
I hope we can develop new models within the chapter of that clumsy phrase but vital concept, “collaborative ministry”. I want to explore how the role of Rural Dean can be shared – and just for future reference, there will be some things that traditionally Rural Deans may have done that I will not do – but more of that another time.
I want to see us working more and more as a team in chapter and also as a deanery, fully utilising the skills and experience of all members of the body of Christ, no longer seeing ourselves in competition but as co-workers with a common vision and mission for God’s kingdom in this area.
The Future
I believe strongly in the gift & role of leadership which I believe the Rural Dean is called to exercise but I am equally clear that my role is to serve – to serve God, and to serve the mission & ministry of the church in this deanery & diocese - that includes you and your parishes.
I bring with me my experience which includes nearly 10 years in multi-parish rural benefices with a wide range of churchmanship in Ely and Norwich Dioceses.
I look forward to getting to know you and your churches better and to sharing with you in the work of the kingdom,
As the Diocese has had to grapple with the challenges I have mentioned above they have defined the diocesan mission in this way:
- to worship God
- to make new Christians and disciples
- to work with others to transform communities
These three statements seem to sum up all that the mission and ministry of this deanery is about and I hope we can work together in developing them for our deanery.
I might want for example to put them in slightly stronger language:
I would want to talk of “inspiring worship” – whilst worship is at the heart of all we are about and made for, and whilst worship is God focussed, if the worship we offer is inspiring it will bring others into a worshipping relationship with God and help others to develop worship in their whole lives.
I would want to talk of “making and empowering disciples” - discipleship is an ongoing process and our role is to make new Christians and to help Christians, new and old, to be empowered to live out the life that Jesus calls them to. This helps us recognise the function of leadership for us as a deanery synod: it is not to “do” all the ministry, but to help to equip and enable every member to function in the way God intends, within and on behalf of the Body of Christ.
I would want to talk of “transforming local communities” – as we seek to work together in changing people’s lives. Two wonderful examples of this already happening under the Revive banner: Hope4 – where Christians in both town and rural parishes are working together to serve the homeless in our community; and Refresh – where, as we heard at the Confirmation service last Saturday, in the clubbers community individuals are being transformed as they discover Jesus and commit their lives to following him.
The Diocesan Synod has adopted a statement which includes this sentence: ”We believe the vision and motivation for mission and ministry should spring from and be resourced by local communities of faith”
That is what I believe we are about as a Deanery, discerning God’s vision for all the people of our deanery and seeing it become reality. This is already happening in many ways and my prayer is “more Lord, more”.
Postscript
In a month’s time I begin a 3 month sabbatical – the timing may not be brilliant, but it gives us all some time for reflection on how the mission of the deanery might develop – I shall certainly be using that time to ponder these things and I hope you will also both personally and in your PCCs. I also hope to talk to all the clergy individually before I go to help us begin thinking things through.
Someone who wrote a reference for me many years ago wrote this: anyone who doesn’t like change won’t want Martin as their Vicar.
Well you’ve got me as Rural Dean.
You earlier affirmed your willingness to work with me.
Get ready for an exciting ride!
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