The Lifeblood of a Creative Learning Community
by Paul and Jenny Rolph – 2011: For this practical guide, originally written for Church of England deaneries, Jenny and Paul bring their rich experience as counsellors and teacher trainers. Their insights are applicable to any group of Christ’s disciples – or, indeed, anywhere where human beings want to develop true community.
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by Raymond Draper – 2010: The Bishop of Chelmsford’s Unemployment Adviser explores the role of local churches in support of those facing unemployment.
(download)with contributions by Professor Keith Ward and others – 2010: Studying the Bible together provides a fruitful context where Christian communities from different traditions can learn to listen to each other and to God. This booklet establishes some important first principles for how the study should be done.
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by John Cole – 2010: When Christian communities take counsel together, the aim should never be to win majority support for one group’s point of view at the expense of the rest. Instead the task is to seek God’s wisdom wherever it may be found. Originally written for Church of England deaneries, these principles can be applied anywhere!
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by John Cole – 2009: Anglican Deaneries and Methodist Circuits have different roles and often seem to inhabit parallel universes – but they can be partners in mission. This important booklet shows how.
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by Beren Hartless – 2009: A 21st century vision of the disciplines and shifts of perspective that are needed to enable the whole people of God, ordained or lay, to engage together in God’s ministry.
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In her booklet “Local Shared Ministry” (Parish and People 2009), Beren Hartless offers a vision of ministry that is fit for the 21st century. In it she speaks of the need for a culture shift.
A genuine culture shift is irreversible; it represents a clear ‘moving on’ from the past. Beren, in her paper, identifies several reasons why this will not be easy. People can too readily claim they support changes whilst actually working to preserve the status quo. ‘Collaborative ministry’ has been promoted for more than a generation; but it appears that the associated culture change has not yet happened:
Bishops still often hanker after having a Local Ordained Minister in every parish – implying that local laity are unable or unwilling to be the People of God in that place.
Clergy, feeling keenly their responsibility for the ‘cure of souls’, frequently drop subconsciously into a 19th century paternalism – effectively seeking to control a wilful and ill-informed laity to keep them on the straight and narrow.
Busy lay people frequently collude with this patronising attitude – because it’s easier just to do what the Vicar tells them! Those who resist either leave the Church, or else they collude in a different way – by seeking ordination!
Good stories can be told where this debilitating culture of dependency has been broken. The irreversible shift, however, has not happened. If it is to happen now, three factors must be in place:
1. Dioceses must remain committed over several decades to the disciplines and structures that support Local Shared Ministry. Only this will ensure that Local Ministry Teams are renewed and that sharing ministry becomes the habitual lifestyle for both laity and clergy. This long term commitment is undermined when dioceses attempt to manage God’s mission through successive high profile initiatives – including currently ‘Pioneer Ministry’, which can easily be anything but collaborative.
2. A new conversation is needed between bishops, clergy and laity about ‘the cure of souls.’ A genuinely priestly ministry is about fostering people’s spiritual well-being and enabling people, through their relationships and at their own pace, to find and grow their new life in Christ. In the past this was done by the parson in a settled village community. Today, most clergy are expected to do it while leading/managing a missionary congregation – where the laity ‘collaborates’ only by supporting the Vicar’s or the diocesan strategy. Local Shared Ministry suggests a third way, provided clergy can face the implications.
3. Lay people who have enjoyed the challenges and fulfilment of shared ministry must not let it wither away – whether through neglect or by other priorities imposed from elsewhere. If this vital and renewing culture shift is to happen, lay people must set the pace.
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This four-session study guide for lay and ordained was written by Beverley Hollins for use with small groups in the North Buckinghamshire deanery where she was Deanery Development Facilitator. It was first offered for download on the Oxford Diocesan web site.
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by Jimmy Hamilton-Brown – 2009: A report based on letters to Church Times from the former Provost of Southwark, the Very Revd David Edwards, in which he calls for a new commitment to study the Bible as a way of enabling the Church of England’s different traditions to learn to listen to each other.
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by Jimmy Hamilton-Brown – 2009: Suggestions for worship and Bible study that celebrate lay people and clergy working together for the sake of God’s Kingdom in the world.
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