Deanery Review

This document was submitted to the Deanery Synod in July 2003 as our response to the inquiry as to the possible restructuring of the Deanery of West Newcastle.

Whilst we recognise that the present review may well generate timely, if not overdue, reforms of our Deanery structures, none-the-less, the immediate catalyst for action is an imminent financial crisis.

We have to accept that the Church must adapt to changing circumstances. There may be danger is assuming that the past was a better time. We might wonder whether our forebears, for all their financial security and vigour of churchy life, always rose adequately to the challenge of living and proclaiming the Gospel.

In our deliberations, in spite of the pressing nature of the problem, we should not permit ourselves to succumb to panic. We must take sufficient time adequately to reflect on the issues and put in place a measured and considered response. Sloppy thinking at this stage could lay down the foundations for a whole array of unnecessary heartache in future years.

We shall need to bring rigour to our discussions, being practical and honest about the reality of the situation, whilst at the same time, keeping in mind God’s providence and not permitting ourselves to set our sights low just for safety’s sake. We have a duty to wring out of the resources that God shall give us every last drop of achievement.

Clearly, in a demographically volatile area such as this, we shall need to build into our planning a certain flexibility to cope with upheavals of population and fortunes and the possible difficulties in filling all the posts all the time. As well as a general vision for the future, we shall need to have some notion of how we would address situations that were substantially worse or better than we had envisaged so that we are not thrown into disarray in the former case nor fail to take advantage of opportunities in the latter.

We must also avoid the temptation of short-term fixes to try and cling as much of the status quo as possible. It could be argued that the apparent successes of the sixties and seventies in filling up the pews were based on an approach that provides part of the origin of our present difficulties. The initial attraction was often not followed by a deepening of involvement and commitment, which, as the older generation finds itself unable to sustain the community in the way that once they did, leads to a struggle to find people prepared to take a significant role in sustaining the maintenance and development of Christian congregations. This is the time to grasp the bull by the horns and manage our progress from the passing social order into the new world in which we must proclaim the Gospel. In particular we need to be wary of the sophism: “something must be done, this is something, so we must do it.” Equally hazardous can be those activities that have popular and immediate appeal, but once the allure of the novel has waned fail to establish or foster any depth of faith and commitment.

Finally, in this regard, in spite of the pressing financial challenge, we must eschew the temptation to see everything in its cash value. This would be very demoralising for congregations and those seeking a place within the Christian community would be deterred if they felt that their principal value were measured in pounds and pence.

The way ahead

Inertia is clearly not an option. Some sacrifice and compromise is going to be essential. None-the-less, we feel that these are some of the considerations that must be brought to bear on the planning for the future. We propose that the deanery devises a model of delivering the ministry of the Anglican Church across the deanery, which specifies necessary staffing levels within a framework of the ministry of every member of the deanery community.

1. Develop beyond a clever but ultimately meaningless statement what we see as our mission and work in the deanery.

3. Ascertain what, if any, commitment the centre intends to make to stipendiary ministry in the West End[2].

4. Calculate what level of stipendiary staffing we expect at the end point of implementation.

5. Identify the non-parochial commitments of the stipendiary clergy within the deanery[3].

6. Identify a core responsibility for the stipendiary clergy[4] within the life of a congregation and parish[5].

8. Calculate, bearing in mind the issues raised above, how many centres can be sustained.

9. Begin to develop an idea of activities that are better delivered at deanery level rather than replicated in every parish.

10. Begin to develop strategies to manifest and strengthen the identity of the deanery unit, together with proper opportunities for discussion and sharing of information and ideas.

11. Develop criteria to decide about how and which centres might be closed or co-ordinated[7].

11.4. The ability of a congregation to manage the daily administration, maintenance and routines of the church[8].

In many ways, this benefice has already had to begin to grapple with the issues that confront the deanery as a whole. Financial pressures rendered S Philip’s incapable of sustaining their centre at Dilston Road. The relocation of their centre of worship to S Matthew’s has made a saving of some £6, 000 - £8, 000 per year, whilst, at the same time, increasing the use that is made of Saint Matthew’s.

The stated intention of the proposal was and is to permit each congregation to retain its own ethos and identity[9]. On the other hand, it has also facilitated the sharing of tasks between the two congregations, thus lightening the burden on each individual congregation. The new phase is still in its early days, but circumstances have already permitted us to experience some of the advantages of this new closer arrangement and we shall build on these propitious first signs.

In all the discussions, one of the principal drawbacks of the scheme was understood to be the disappearance of an Anglican presence in the highly identifiable community of Arthur’s Hill, which was once served by a number of churches[10]. Set in the middle of this area is the CHAT Shop, an ecumenical project, committed to giving concrete expression to the Gospel that we proclaim in our worship.

The CHAT Shop project is, itself, undergoing an amount of development in its approach. As part of the programme of renewal of its life, the trustees agreed that it would be a good development to establish acts of worship on the premises. Presently, only the Anglicans have done this. The result has been the offering of prayer right at the heart of the community in familiar surroundings to which a number of people, who would not think to set foot across the door of a church building, have been drawn.

Of course, the whole process was rendered easier than it might have been since the two congregations already shared the same priest. None-the-less, we consider that from the gloom of bad news have emerged, in this benefice, new opportunities of all sorts and in these early days the signs are very encouraging. The considerable level of lay participation in the life of the benefice leaves the Vicar free to attend to those things, which only he can do.

We feel very strongly that this experiment now needs time to establish itself and mature. Further upheavals in the near future would serve only to undermine the substantial achievements of the past year and destabilise the developing confidence that sustains the commitment necessary to succeed.

Given the demographic trends in the West End of Newcastle, it is highly unlikely, in the medium term, that large tracts of the area will be able to sustain the cost of a church and priest. In this regard we feel that the diocese must state categorically whether or not it is committed to subsidising the cost of maintaining a presence here and frame that commitment in precise terms of a number of posts[11].

If the diocese intends to leave the West End to sink or swim, some congregations, if they are to survive, will need to attract people from well beyond the confines of their parishes. This will carry with it the very real possibility that there will be a diminishment of the level at which a parish relates to a specific geographical location. Such a development may not be undesirable[12], but we would need to recognise that the role of the parish approach was being recast.

If the restructuring is to be accomplished in a coherent and consistent way across the deanery, we need at the outset to calculate the number of stipendiary priests that would be expected to be in post at the end of the process. To fail in this regard would lead to uneven and inequitable provision.

Appendix B - Unpaid clergy and ministers

The distribution of honorary ministers across the deanery is uneven. In devising the new dispensation we need to establish a proper and defined role; first, so that their talents and time are used to the best advantage and secondly to ensure that they do not just plug holes and so become de facto second class operators, who are perceived only to be there, because a stipendiary priest cannot be found.

There may be some scope to expand the limited degree of cross-boundary activity in which they presently engage. However, except in extremis, if their ministries are to be truly fruitful, it would be well to limit the number of parishes with which they engage to ensure that they can meaningfully become a part of those communities, albeit on a part-time basis.

Given that many of the honorary staff only have a limited amount of time to offer, we would need to be disciplined in assigning their roles and ensuring that they were not inundated with further requests that would detract from the best possible contribution. It may well be that, in future, the work of honorary ministers would need to be directed centrally to ensure that their time and talents were most advantageously deployed.

Appendix C - The foundation of the parish network

The congregation is the basic unit of Church life. In theological terms it is the gathered people of God. Practically speaking it is clearly the thread of continuity that underpins the various fashions and projects that arise within our ecclesiastical life.

It would be disastrous to abandon the maintenance of the parish network in some form, since this would very quickly undermine the whole cohesion of the Church. The deanery should, therefore, seek to base whatever structure it develops on as firm a parochial foundation as possible[13]. In this regard, we view with some anxiety the enthusiasm in some quarters to use parochial posts to finance sector ministers, since the dual responsibilities often compete, raising the very real possibility of neglecting sufficient attention to the parish. In our assessment of the staffing levels for the deanery, we should be basing our decisions on the number of full-time equivalent parochial clergy.

Sector ministry clearly has an invaluable and essential contribution to make to the life of the Church and her work. None-the-less, we would be keen that sector ministers are evidently aware of their reliance on the parish network, seeking as far as possible to operate in a way that is integrated with the congregations rather than parallel to it.

2. The reduction of centres

Closure of churches is a difficult issue. First, the hurt, which those congregations will feel will be significant and there is always the risk that they may not transfer their attendance to another congregation: this would lead to a further decline in both human resources and revenue and could precipitate a spiral of decline.

Secondly, those on the fringe of church life usually associate their Christian affiliation with a particular building[14]. When that building closes, their way back into the church is also shut. Establishing another (more distant) church in the consciousness of a community can take very many years (generations).

Thirdly, the criteria by which parishes are selected for closure would be difficult to define. The principle of the survival of the fittest is a difficult force to resist. However, numerical and financial strength are not the only indicators of value and such a move could lead to blandness across the deanery. The more particular styles of some congregations enrich the whole church and, in time, their demise would have a deleterious impact well beyond their own closure.

Furthermore, it would generally be the affluent, more middle class churches that survived and Christ’s concern for the poor would be less obvious in the ministry of the Church here.

3. The Minster system

There are, however, also concomitant problems with retaining the use of our present plant.

With a reduction of priestly posts, the already stretched coverage would become even more desperate. The original concept of the Minster system was not a means by which a few clergy could cover lots of parishes, but rather one in which lots of priests shared a few parishes, leaving them time for prayer and study. This novel application of the concept is a somewhat Utopian[15] idea.

Such a move would carry the risk of spreading clerical contact with congregations so thinly that the priest becomes little more than a Mass-priest and executive officer, almost anonymously fulfilling those functions that a priest must do. In this case, any meaningful notion of the priest being part of the community would be imperilled as clergy were more or less reduced to providing professional services. The impact of this on preaching, the life of the parish church and pastoral work would be immense and churches would effectively be in a state of constant interregnum.

If the splicing of parishes is not carefully planned and managed, there can develop a feel of “centre” churches and client congregations. Fitting together a number of congregations into single structure can begin to erode the particular identity of many of them and once again the variety, which is, on balance, one of the strengths of the Anglican Communion, would be undermined.

Each congregation has a particular ethos[16]. A one-size-fits-all approach to staffing can only serve to undermine the strength of at least some Christian communities. Most obviously, liturgical style is a very important component of a congregation’s identity. Some traditions require a particular expertise, and if they are served for protracted periods by clergy who are prepared “to have a go”, this is bound to cause strain on the life of the congregation. In making appointments, every congregation would need to be sure that their own traditions were properly reflected in the job description and within the experience of the appointed priest.

Appendix D - The Eucharist

Whilst we accept that congregations will have different views on the question of the desirable frequency of eucharistic worship, in this benefice we consider the celebration of a sung Eucharist on Sundays and festivals as an essential component of the life of a Christian community. At this juncture we shall not rehearse the arguments in favour of this conviction, but we feel that it is important to state this position at the outset.

Our experience also leads us to the firm opinion that a daily celebration of the Eucharist is a significant aspect to the life and strength of our congregation. We would, therefore, be seeking to retain this practice in the new dispensation, whatever that may be.

[1] Including income from fees, chaplaincies &c

[2] See Appendix A

[3] This includes participation in diocesan and national church activities and also allows for clergy to have commitments to societies and organisations.

[4] Which may, for example, set a general number of funerals that would be undertaken in a given period before further requests were assigned elsewhere.

[5] Once the financial and personnel framework has been identified, we shall need to come to some mind as to what we shall expect the priests to be doing with their time. Otherwise, a reduction in posts will just lead to a random diminishing of activity, in which some important work is abandoned, whilst less significant calls on clerical time endure.

[6] Not just in terms of numbers, but also available hours and particular expertise.

[7] See Appendix C

[8] See Appendix C; s3

[9] Many of the issues covered in Appendix B had to be addressed during the process.

[10] There were lengthy discussions about the message that would be transmitted by withdrawal from Arthur’s Hill, an area that has, in the past, been generously served by the presence of the Church. Furthermore, Arthur’s Hill is an area of intense input from government and other initiatives and it would have been unfortunate for the Church not to remain in the midst of all that activity.

[11] Given that the bulk of diocesan spending meets the cost of stipendiary clergy, this would seem to be the best way of ensuring consistency over the years. The funding for these posts may be divided amongst a number of parishes.

[12] And indeed is already partially a feature of the urban church scene.

[13] This may well include a fairly radical review of parish boundaries and even of the role of such boundaries.

[14] Where they were baptized or married; where family funerals have taken place etc

[15] In the sense that everything is turned on its head: not a counsel of perfection!!!!

[16] See also Appendix D