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Part of the Catch the Vision process is to look at the structures of the Church and see whether they still serve its needs. John Oldershaw explains the reasoning behind some of the proposals that will come to Assembly in July.
District
Councils, Synod! A whole two pages about meetings? Your experience may
lead you to think that this is not very exciting, but what should be
more dynamic than leaders of the church gathered under the guidance of
the Holy Spirit to make decisions about the church’s life and action?
That is what we believe, but it is not what we know, so often, on a
Wednesday evening, or whenever. As a church we
operate through Councils. These are the places where we listen to each
other, and in the listening seek to discern the mind of Christ. The
‘Catch the Vision’ process of consultation on the future shape of the
church heard a clear message that churches wanted a streamlined way of
decision making that would enable effective action on some of the more
difficult issues which face us. one council
The proposal from the Working Party set up to consider the Councils of the Church is simple to state: ‘there should be just one Council of the Church between the Church Meeting and the General Assembly’. Following on from this is the proposition that the geography of this council should roughly be that of the present Synods, with one key exception, and incorporate functions which are currently carried out by Districts and Synods. The one exception is the setting up of a London Synod, with consequent changes to the surrounding Synods. That is easy to
state and we hope the proposal will meet general approval. However, of
greater importance than geography and size is the character of this new
Council. We look to a Council which is Spirit led, mission focused, enabling of people, engendering trust, allowing of risk taking, capable of making difficult decisions, mutually supportive, operating in an open way which has scope for individuals to act with accountability, and capable of making decisions which are legal and professional. Whilst that is
just a summary it gives some clues of what we are hoping for; a Council
that is a place of genuine meeting between people and supportive of
local churches. We also expect that there will be a recognition that the
church exists at more than the local. Within regions and nations the
United Reformed Church has a part to play too. The future sings
a new song. Unfortunately we do not know the words, although from time
to time we catch wafts of the melody. We perceive enough of the future
to be sometimes excited, and often frightened. The New Synods, and we
wish we could think of a better name but we rejected other alternatives
such as ‘regions’, will need to be flexible to cope with the future
because we hold to the possibility of growth, development and change,
not simply managing decline. Whilst functions currently carried out by
Districts and Synods will be incorporated within the work of New Synods
we do expect varieties of ways of working which meet the needs of the
areas served whilst there will need to be some agreed URC wide policies,
for example on candidating for Ministry and terms of settlement. We propose one
decision making Council of the church, but we recognise the need for
churches to gather together in smaller units for fellowship, mutual
support and the development of local mission. Some of our current Synods
have already begun this process with clusters and local mission
fellowships or partnerships. We are aware that this has not been an easy
process, but we feel that by the removal of District Councils it will be
easier to perceive the role of these groupings and there will be time
and space created for this vital work of considering together the local
mission of the church to take place. New Synods will be free to develop
this level of working in ways which best suit their geography, culture
and ecumenical partnerships.
new ways for church house Our vision is
also that there will be a new way in which Church House relates to
Synods and local churches/mission projects. We look to Church House as a
centre of expertise, able to cope with the increased legislation which
now impinges on churches and charities; a place from which definitive
advice is available. The detailed working out of this advice for a local
context, for example in the employment of lay workers or the way in
which church accounts are presented could be the work of Synod staff,
but there is a consistent approach and not varieties of Synod based
opinion. We also envisage that as Assembly Committees and Officers of the Church propose pieces of work for implementation or consultation by the churches, that there will, at an early stage, be discussions with New Synods on the most effective ways of processing this task and disseminating the information to those who need it. When we
considered ‘New Synods’ our feeling was for geographically smaller
regions. We argued ourselves out of this and in so doing realised that a
closeness of relationship and decision making is not about geography, it
is an attitude of mind. We hope that ‘New Synods’ will be ‘all of us’,
and not ‘them’. Synods will develop committees which enable effective
decision making and support within their own context. We used a phrase
‘decisions by consent, not consensus’, and by this we recognised that
not everyone can be involved in all decisions, so we need to trust
people to act on our behalf, with agreed systems of delegated authority
and accountability.
take me to your leader A considerable
amount of our time was spent in discussing the nature of ‘leadership’.
Councils of the churches must be able to be decisive and not just
discussion places, but there is also a key role for personal leadership.
In this the synod moderator has a vital place. We are aware that the
nature of the work of the moderator has changed since the inception of
the United Reformed Church and so we are proposing that the role scope
and purpose of the Moderators’ Meeting, the monthly gathering of all the
synod moderators, should be reviewed and defined. We felt that the
moderator is someone who will provide enabling, participative leadership
and ensure appropriate levels of pastoral care for churches and
ministers. They will seek opportunities to engage with other communities
within their synod outside the Church and provide a focus for ecumenical
leadership. To enable all of this to happen we propose that there should be a radical review of the work, strategy, processes and staffing of ‘new synods’ both paid and unpaid, including the role of the synod clerk, to ensure that new levels of relationship and pastoral care with local churches are established, and in this there should be a review of the moderator’s involvement in operational aspects of the synod and the wider church to allow them to carry out this important leadership role. There is more to debate but we believe that our proposal opens the way for radical and various ways for the church to work so that we can deploy our resources as the Spirit guides, not shirk difficult decisions about the priority of mission and give opportunity for the use of the gifts of all God’s people. Words you will recognise from the Catch the Vision prayer.
The Revd John Oldershaw convened the working group on structures for the Catch the Vision process
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