Synod
Reports
Northern Synod
1 Boundaries and
structures
1.1 Our last report to
Assembly coincided with Assembly visitors reporting on the life of our Synod.
Among their main findings was a recommendation that we should talk with North
Western Synod to consider a change of boundaries. Those talks came to fruition
in March this year when the ten churches of Cumberland District left Northern
Synod to join North Western’s new Cumbria District.
1.2 For us the result is
a more compact Synod whose boundaries virtually coincide with those of the
Government Region, and of the ecumenical intermediate body, North East Christian
Churches Together. As a context for mission it is good both to draw on the
Northumbrian heritage of faith, and to recognise the strong sense of regional
identity and pride that is prevalent in the North East today.
1.3 To provide a focus
for that mission in each locality we resolved at our Spring Synod in 2004 to set
up Mission Partnerships, in the form of clusters of churches who were challenged
to work out a mission strategy and come to a realistic assessment of the
resources needed to support it. This was part of the Enabling Mission process
that also involved the suspension of our District Councils, which we recognised
were not always well placed to help local churches further their mission. The
new style Mission Partnerships have allowed churches to work together in
imaginative ways, though the promised light touch and flexibility have sometimes
been more challenging than anticipated.
1.4 One District Council
remains, however for the South East Northumberland Ecumenical Area functions as
a District of the United Reformed Church as well as a Methodist circuit. The
joyful inauguration service at the beginning of last September, at which the
Moderator of Assembly was guest preacher, was the culmination of conversations
going back several years. The new Area consists of 25 churches, including six
Local Ecumenical Partnerships, and already resources are being shared in ways
that would not previously have been possible. In another corner of the county,
in rural Tynedale, conversations are now in progress about setting up another
United Area – and this time the process should be far quicker!
2 Focus for Mission
2.1 The suspension of
Districts has brought a Synod dimension to significant pieces of work. The St
Cuthbert’s Centre on Holy Island was originally set up by Northumberland
District, but Synod was eager to accept the recommendation of last year’s
wide-ranging review that it should now “own” the project. Indeed, we would hope
that this special place and ministry might be seen as belonging to the whole
Church, and a contribution to our common search for a spirituality for the 21st
century.
2.2 Ingleby.net, on
Teesside, at the other end of the Synod, is an example of how we work today with
ecumenical partners to discover new ways of being faithful to our mission.
Welcomed by Assembly as a Mission Project last year, it operates on what
purports to be the largest housing estate in Europe, where material affluence
can go hand in hand with spiritual deprivation.
2.3 And closer to the
centre, a few miles up-river from Newcastle upon Tyne, Horsley Village Church
has been developed into a lively centre for Christian witness, and through its
artists’ workshops and related activity is now a source of enrichment for the
whole community.
3 Context for Mission
3.1 And people are
looking for new ways of experiencing and expressing and sharing faith. Our
education and training officers had a cunning scheme in the summer of 2003 to
encourage people to read a Christian book. They wrote to churches inviting them
to sign up for groups to read Michael Moynagh’s Changing Church, Changing World
and offering a free copy to those who responded. Realists, they would have been
content with twenty replies. Within a month they had fifty; and by the time the
groups gathered, more than 150 people were taking part in a mass read-in which
culminated in a couple of lively sessions with the author in the spring.
3.2 A further dimension
to this growth and activity is afforded through our growing relationship with
the Presbyterian Church of Mozambique. Last summer we welcomed eight visitors to
our Synod, and later in the year eight of our members were their guests in
Maputo and Gaza Province. The depth of relationships forged through these visits
has left us humbled, for we know how much it means that we should be considered
as family by people whose family ties are so central to their whole life. How we
now develop this global partnership, so that both Churches continue to be
strengthened by it, is a particular challenge for us just now.
3.3 Northern Synod knows
what it means to be part of a changing Church. Through change, we seek to remain
part of a faithful Church.
National Synod of Scotland
1 We choose to illustrate
the life of the Synod by describing the work of two of its Committees: Church
and Society, and Education. The work of these Committees demonstrates
two distinctive emphases of the work of the national synod, namely its
involvement in the civic and educational life of Scotland.
2 Church and Society
2.1 Scotland is a nation
with its own separate legal system, its own education system and its own local
Government system, so the civic life of Scotland has a plethora of historic
institutions which stand apart and distinct from Westminster and London. As a
place where the Church of England has no congregations, where the Anglican
church is a free church, and where both the terms ‘national’ and ‘parish’ refer
to the Presbyterian Church, its church scene also has its own ambience. A
National Synod for the United Reformed Church in Scotland seemed logical and
necessary, but the formation of the Synod of Scotland as a National Synod almost
coinciding with the beginning of the Scottish Parliament was a piece of
felicitous timing.
2.2 The Parliament with
fiscal and legislative powers has no second chamber to scrutinise bills or new
initiatives and it quickly developed a system whereby public consultation on
most issues became part of the process. The people of Scotland, in a sense, are
the second chamber. The new Scottish Synod through its Church and Society
Committee has participated in this process and responded to many consultations.
The following list illustrates the breadth of subjects:
-
sectarianism
-
MSP numbers
-
prostitution
tolerance zones, review of summary justice
-
Criminal Justice
Scotland Bill re physical punishment of children (here we worked with the
Children’s Advocate and the Children are Unbeatable umbrella group)
-
repeal of Section 2A
(equivalent to Clause 28 in England)
-
Exemptions Order
(Scotland) for the rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
-
registration of civil
partnerships proposals
-
tackling anti-social
behaviour strategies
-
licensing law reform
-
a national sexual
health strategy
-
family law reform
-
Gaelic Language Bill
-
a report on changing
the law relating to prostitution.
The Committee continues
to be helped greatly by various practitioners in the fields of law, education,
medicine and social work, as well as others with specialist knowledge to help
them arrive at informed conclusions.
2.3 The Committee brought
a resolution, through Synod, to the General Assembly on the Ethics of the New
Warfare.
2.4 The Committee has
sought guidance and information on theologies of marriage from the General
Assembly Doctrine, Prayer and Worship Committee. It has kept a watching brief
and worked with others over the prolonged crisis in the fishing industry
(primarily a Scottish industry) and it has also raised concerns about the future
delivery of Special Educational Needs services in Scotland in a changing system.
5.5 Church and Society
issues require working with others and in its short life the Committee has
developed working relationships with a variety of bodies.
-
it supports
Eco-Congregations (Scotland)
-
has representation on
an annual dialogue with Scottish Members of the European Parliament
-
provides a committee
back-up for the Synod Racial Justice Co-ordinator.
-
It is briefed and
assisted by the Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office and is represented on
that body’s Ecumenical Advisory Group.
-
It participates in
the Action of Churches Together in Scotland Church and Society Network.
-
It is represented on
the Scottish Churches Rural Forum, Scottish Churches Housing Action and on
the Church of Scotland’s Church and Nation Committee
-
It is accountable to
the Synod, Area Councils, to other Synod committees and to the churches. It
liaises with the General Assembly Church and Society Committee, and has
always enjoyed representation on that committee.
3 Education
3.1 The Education
committee has responsibility for the breadth of lifelong learning within the
Synod. This broad remit aims not only to respond to the educational needs of a
wide range of people in our churches but also to create opportunities, wherever
possible, for people whether they be lay or ordained, preparing for service or
already engaged in it, undertaking training or simply learning for its own sake
to learn together. This is an important strategy for us in enriching the
learning of all through the distinctive experiences and perspectives of a wide
range of learners. In learning together, folk are challenged to move beyond the
assumptions and limitations of their particular role group. It helps to
encounter the elitist tendencies that can accompany moving forward in learning.
There are of course situations where learning is targeted at people with
particular interests and needs to be met and there are considerable
organisational difficulties inherent in offering integrated learning programmes.
Nonetheless, we are seeking to move steadily towards learning together for the
whole people of God.
3.2 Since unification,
the Synod ministers not formerly in the United Reformed Church in the United
Kingdom have begun to take up in significant numbers the great opportunities
offered through the General Assembly Education for Ministry 2&3 programme. Some
are using grants for short learning programmes and a growing number are taking
up higher degrees or other advanced study. Sabbaticals have brought re-creation
experiences and have been used creatively. To those in the wider United Reformed
Church who may have neglected the continuing education financial provision, we
offer the encouragement of a synod which is enjoying the fruits of being part of
a Church with a real commitment to lifelong learning for its ministers.
3.3 New to us also has
been the development of a silence and retreats programme. We embarked on this
with perhaps a measure of suspicion that this would be thought to be a little
alien to our experience and even our tradition. It has proved a vital and well
supported aspect of our synod life with regularly an attendance in the region of
30 participants. Retreats have covered a diverse range of themes from a musical
retreat on St Cecilia’s Day to a celebration of the stories of Hans Christian
Andersen, from Weaving the threads of banners and of life’s tapestry to the
Gardens of the Bible, the world of poetry and the National Trust for Scotland.
3.4 We are in now into
(and hopefully by the time of General Assembly will have completed) the process
for the appointment of a Youth and Children’s Work Development Officer. We are
conscious of the challenge involved in reaching out to young people in our
communities with open minds and hearts, of engaging with young people on their
ground and of nurturing the participation of young people. We look forward to
having a dedicated people resource to support us in this work.
3.5 A learning day on
Church Related Community Work with Steve Summers, the CRCW Development Worker,
is a first step in introducing this form of ministry into the life of the synod
and we hope that this will soon encourage congregations with their communities
to identify potential projects, will stimulate vocations to this ministry and
will stimulate other forms of engagement with local communities with their needs
and their potential.
3.6 The ecumenical
educational scene in Scotland took a serious blow with the dissolution of the
Scottish Churches’ Open College. We are glad to report however that we are
seeing the first shoots of renewed conversation and sharing in planning and
programmes amongst some of the churches in Scotland in continuing ministerial
education and in lay training.
3.7 In its educational
work, the synod works in partnership with the Scottish United Reformed and
Congregational College.
4 Personnel
Two very recent changes
in Synod personnel are the appointment of the Revd John Humphreys as Moderator,
and Dr James Merrilees as Synod Clerk. The retiring Synod Moderator, Revd John
Arthur, was warmly valedicted at the March 2005 Synod after five (personally
very difficult) years. We celebrated his forty two years’ ministry in Scotland
in a number of varied pastorates, and latterly as General Secretary of the
Congregational Union of Scotland.
Southern Synod
1 Southern Synod is like
many of the others. The 175 churches are served by a team of gifted, dedicated
and, in the majority of cases, part-time staff. Some offer administrative
support and are mostly based in the Synod’s office at East Croydon United
Reformed Church. They are Hilary Colechin (PA to the Development Officer and to
the YCWT), Catherine Kingdom (Finance Officer), Guy Morfett (Trust Secretary),
Janette Pollard (Moderator’s PA and Office Manager), Rosemary Shirley
(Ecumenical Officer’s PA), and Glenys Sibley (PA to the Synod Clerk and Trust
Secretary and Receptionist).
2 These staff undergird
the work of four people who work more directly amongst the churches and
Districts of the Synod: Des Colechin (Development Officer), Howard Nurden (Youth
and Children’s Work Trainer), Bryan Shirley (Ecumenical Officer) and Peter
Southcombe (Regeneration Officer).
3 The value of such
appointments cannot be over stated. They enable, encourage and stimulate the
life and witness of the local churches, and are particularly valued in these
days of such radical change in both church and society.
4 The Development
Officer has given great amounts of time to training issues. Continuing
Ministerial Education – ONET days, Sabbaticals, POET supervision – is high on
his agenda. Alongside that he provides Elders Training, largely based on the
Course for Elders published by United Reformed Church. This has also proved
invaluable in preparing people for the ministry of Local Church Leadership.
5 The Youth and
Children’s Work Trainer has a particular emphasis upon a scheme called Turn
The Tide. Synod makes funds available for the nurturing of children’s and youth
work in local churches, especially through the appointment of children’s and/or
youth ministry workers. Howard facilitates churches in making application to a
group that awards grants where there are discernible commitments to mission
amongst younger people, together with the willingness to think ecumenically.
6 The Ecumenical
Officer combines involvement in four county ecumenical instruments with
significant endeavour towards fulfilling the intentions of the Methodist and
United Reformed Church Pastoral Plan, not least in the creation of United Areas
where appropriate.
7 The Regeneration
Officer has a far-reaching role in the life of faith communities across the
southeast, striving for the greater integration of church and community, through
a whole range of projects. He has remarkable facility for unearthing funding
(including both UK and European government money) for initiatives that enable
congregations to root their Christian witness in practical involvement in the
day-to-day life of communities that need renaissance.
8 At the end of 2005
another programme reaches its end. For some years each of the Synod’s Districts
has enjoyed the benefit of a District Evangelism and Mission Enabler Lou
Ashford, Dr Sas Conradie, Martin Hayward and Ann Pierce.This has been much
valued work and the Synod’s Mission and Strategy group are currently deciding
how to ensure that it is built upon as wisely as possible.
9 All this work is
undertaken so that the churches that the Synod serves might be more fruitful and
effective as they participate in God’s abundant-life-giving mission. We are
grateful for the skill and devotion of these members of staff, and of those
whose back-room work makes it all possible. We do not take for granted the
resources that enable us to work in this way.
Wessex Synod
Change Past, Present
and Future
1 Born in a stable, dying
on a cross, raised to new life, Jesus Christ came to bring about change. Change
is thus a normal and necessary part of the life of our Synod, our churches and
indeed the whole people of God.
2 Change past
2.1 Personnel
There has been a great
deal of change in the Synod over the past 3 years. Our Synod team has changed
very considerably. Stephen Thornton retired and Martin Manley has taken on the
role of Training Officer. Andrew Micklefield, our previous YCWTDO is now
training for ordination in the Anglican Church, he has recently been replaced by
Ruth White. Graham Rolfe completed his term as Synod Clerk and Peter Pay has
now taken on the role. We have appointed Nikki Andrews as Secretary for Youth
and Children’s ministry. Our Mission Enabler Dick Wolff is shortly due to
complete his term. Our former Treasurer Nigel Grice decided to leave to develop
his career elsewhere. We have also added the services of a Human Resource
Consultant in conjunction with Thames North. We give thanks for the ministry of
those who have moved on or retired and invite your prayers for the new job
holders.
2.2 Finance
The Wessex trust now
handles all the financial activity that was previously part of the work of the
Synod. This has greatly simplified reporting and book-keeping.
2.3 Committees
We have also recently
rearranged our committee structure in terms of both scope and representation.
This has enabled us to rationalise the range of committees, improve cooperation
between them, cover matters not previously represented and ensure that the
Districts are more fully empowered.
2.4 Churches
Our local Churches have
been changing too. There are local ‘Collaborative Zones’ in one district and
‘Areas of Shared Ministry’ in another, both helping to address the way we deploy
our ordained and other ministry. Ecumenical collaboration is becoming ever more
positive. In addition to 39 of 148 current churches working within Local
Ecumenical Partnerships, others are amalgamating, often on to one site, in one
case retaining two sites.
2.5 Buildings
We have completed a
number of building projects. In particular a completely new building at
Somerford in Christchurch, Dorset shared with the Church of England on land
leased from the Winchester Diocese. We have also completed major renovations and
reconstruction at Fleet, Avenue St Andrew’s in Southampton, Ringwood and Marlow.
In addition there have been a number of other smaller projects and considerable
work on improving disability access. With a new Manse policy introduced four
years ago, we have made significant progress in bringing our ministerial housing
up to the standard of the Assembly Guidelines.
3 Change present
3.1 ‘Going for Gold’
in 2003, the Synod
allocated £1 million to an ambitious scheme aimed at supporting mission projects
proposed by local churches. Churches presented their proposals according to
defined criteria which included projections for making the project self-funding
beyond the 5-year funding grant. Twenty five projects were awarded grants.
Twelve projects fall
under the Life and Witness Committee:
-
3 ‘making buildings
work for mission’
-
3 general community
work
-
4 more narrowly
targeted community work
-
1 course-based work
in wider community
-
1 Cell Church
development
The other thirteen
projects are under the Youth & Children's Work Committee:
Projects range from
working with the community, children, youth and families, to working with more
specialist groups such as gypsies or looked after children.
There is some very
exciting and innovative work happening across the projects. At the latest count,
there are twenty one people in post. Others are currently being recruited. We
see this scheme as an opportunity for the Synod directly to support local church
mission opportunities which they might not otherwise be able to start.
We have set up a
procedure to monitor and review the projects, at least annually, not just to
ensure the funds are being appropriately spent but also to identify
opportunities for ongoing support and to ensure we learn and share the lessons
from this ground-breaking initiative. First year reviews are currently taking
place and are proving valuable, celebrating and sharing good practice whilst
exploring and highlighting room for improvement.
3.2 Fairtrade
In common with other
Synods and indeed other organisations and communities, Wessex Synod is now a
Fairtrade Synod with more than 50% of our Churches fully ‘Fairtrade’. We look
forward to all our Churches achieving Fairtrade status.
4 Future Change
4.1 Synod Strategy
The Synod is in the
process of agreeing a Synod Strategy for the future deployment of resources,
both human and material. The strategy will be considered by our November Synod
meeting. The strategy is focussed on the Five Marks of Mission. Once agreed,
there will be a thorough review of all our activities and expenditure to ensure
they complement the strategic priorities.
4.2 Resource Sharing
A strategy becomes more
essential as we look forward to ‘Catch the Vision’ and to inter-Synod resource
sharing which will reduce the funds we have available in the future. We are
strongly committed to the resource sharing process as God’s mission and the
resources and buildings that enable it should not depend simply on whether a
particular Synod happens to have sufficient funds.
We are committed to
further change as we seek to follow the way of Christ, work with our ecumenical
partners and fulfil our part of God’s mission in Wessex.
top |
