Over the summer the Church of England managed to create quite a stir which was noticed even in some of the mainstream media when it published a report which included a reference to clergy as being amongst the “key limiting factors” in the Church’s growth and mission. Not surprisingly many took immediate offence. The report was seeking to map out a way that churches might grow in numbers at a time when the majority are shrinking. It suggested that new, often lay-led, communities needed to be set up - as many as 10,000 or 20,000 depending on which follow-up reports were to be believed. And in this context the report made out that the existing parish system with expensively-trained clergy was less than ideally suited to the challenge of growth. Hence the reference to clergy as “key limiting factors.” Conversely it appeared that rather more could be expected of initiatives where lay voluntary leadership could generate growth unhampered by lengthy professional training, free of buildings judged to be unfit for purpose and too costly to maintain, and within a structure in which neither parish responsibilities to a surrounding population nor the sacraments seemed to figure highly.
What’s my response? Certainly I think the tone of the report was ill-judged and the reference to the clergy was crass - if only because it was published in the midst of a pandemic when most clergy have been doing all they can to play their part in maintaining Christian life, witness, prayer and worship. And I do wonder where the great upsurge in lay leadership of these new communities will be identified? - and what the plan is for relinquishing so much of the parish plant with which we do struggle?
But I also think there’s much that we have to take seriously. There is truth in the point about clergy being “key limiting factors” if everything is made to depend on the clergy. A priest can never “do it all” on his or her own. We’ve always known that - hence the reason for churchwardens, PCCs, vergers, volunteers in every part of church life… But it’s now all the more critical that we recognise this. The more that is expected of clergy, the less they will have to give of their own gifts and led by God’s grace. Clergy can only flourish in partnership with others. And what is the point of their ministry unless it engages with the full range of all that others may offer?
As we seek to emerge from 18 months of the privations of pandemic, where do we think we are going? Few of us have come through unscathed - but I’m glad to have been strengthened in many aspects of my faith. The love, forgiveness and mercy of God are things I hold to all the more strongly. Sharing that faith by witness, worship and the sacraments is all the more essential - and to express it through service of others. But I can’t do it on my own. Our Messy Church Team asks in this issue of our Magazine how it can restart its work - it needs people to play their part. We want our worship to be vibrant and attractive - but for that we need people to join us; just turning up is a good start! We want to offer a welcome as people seek Baptism and Marriage - but at a time when so many find it hard even to fix a date, I find myself asking how long we can be around to offer these sacraments.
I’m not getting any younger. In a recent letter to me our Bishop used the word “retirement,” a reference which I decided not to engage with in my response. But a number of my colleagues have retired during the pandemic without much, if any, of a farewell - and each time it’s caused me to think of what they have left behind; or what their parishioners will have the will to continue.
Just recently our Diocese has produced a document offering guidance for parishes where the priest has moved away. The document is called “Prioritisation,” and it takes the parish through a process of discernment before another appointment is made - if it is to be made. That being the case, I think it’s a good idea for any parish to start working with it as soon as possible. The point is not so much what the parish wants from its priest as what the people of the parish have the vision to enable - together with their willingness to use their gifts, time and energy. And a basic aspect of parish life is simply to join in prayer and worship. We need to recognise this after all the anxieties of the pandemic which have kept us away from church. We need to recognise that Baptism is something we can offer only from a community of prayer - so if you want it for yourself or your child you should be ready to engage with that community. We need to be here for one another - or what’s the point?
Martin Jackson
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