A mini manifesto, part 1... "with only four days of Sabbatical time remaining!

Yes, Time is almost up on the Sabbatical of 21014. It has been a great time, rounded up by a weekend at Greenbelt Festival (a Christian arts and justice festival). John Bell and Owen Jones spoke well, Scargill House provided the anchor for our worship and theater, dance, music, foraging expeditions and a tea ceremony were among the delights experienced.

Holy Communion with a few other people at Greenbelt Festival!

Now on to following up on my thoughts.

I think it is clear that in my faith community, the Church of England, we have for a long time - possibly 400 years or so sought out "Vicars", a fairly uniform brand of leader as the mainstay of the "professional workforce". Since the 1970's volunteer and local ministries have developed to such a great degree that in my own area (Deanery) for example over half the "collars" and way over half those licensed to minister belong to this amazing movement of locally grown faith and ministry. 

It has been customary to consider the "paid" and "volunteer" ministries as distinct in some way. However with the emergence of multi-centre ministries a new dynamic has been added to how people might be selected and trained for the expression of their God given gifts in ministry. A new dynamic is also being experienced by local parish based faith communities as well. To my mind the "instruments of inquiry" that my church uses to access the health of the life of local faith communities has not caught up with these changes.

With a broad brush my instinct suggests that the following directions could be explored as possible avenues for development.

1. How we think of faith community leaders. Recognising the role.

By now, if you have been following this blog for a bit you will have gathered that I believe that those in charge of many centres of faith have a distinct ministry and relate to the communities in a different way to those who work and minister to only one centre.

It follows that in selection, training and at stages of new deployment (i.e. when being placed in a context of multi-centre ministry) the distinct needs, demands and training for this be explicitly stated and budgeted for "up front". Those called to a traditional single centre ministry and those called to pioneer new ventures are beginning to be recognised. To this I would add those who emerge from these two strands or hands of leadership as being called to oversight of many communities in an ongoing collegiate context with other locally based leaders.

Such leaders, especially those with oversight for several centres, three and above seeming to be the point at which the very different dynamics of relationship/intimacy really take effect{ see Francis and Brewster R.T. Vol 10.2 , 2010, p74-5}, have a different role to the traditional "vicar". To help distinguish this different role in the minds of both leaders and those engaged in such ministry it is time for a new job title.

The nature of oversight in multi-centre ministry is both Episcopal and Archidiaconal in nature and as such needs a title that can be grasped by ministers and communities as a whole as being different. This difference helps to decouple traditional "vicar" like expectations from the role and those filling it. Expectations and the understanding of a Bishop, Archdeacon or Rural Dean are broadly understood by those with experience of what in my tradition we call "parish life". All the top contenders for names are taken already, however I would suggest one that has a good historic pedigree and fits the bill as being a role that is both under authority (of Bishop and Archdeacon) and also has a gravity of oversight within a collegiate gathering of those engaged in ministry attached to it. My stellar suggestion, if "Area or Benefice Dean" is a bit of a mouthful is that we drag out of the ecclesiastical loft of discarded and half forgotten stuff the title of Provost.

This might seem startling, but if there is to be a bold, honest adopting of the emerging new patterns of organisation and oversight the role of overseer needs to be recognised as distinct. With a historic pedigree from the earliest days of the church that describes one who has local oversight under the authority of Abbot or Bishop such a title has the weighting that goes with the role. The term is very little used now and historically has been used in my own tradition for new positions of oversight that don't have an immediately obvious choice attached to them.

Such recognition as Provost, one under, but expressing oversight would liberate those in oversight from the often expressed and felt pressure of still bring considered, or trying themselves, to be "vicar" or "minister" to the whole people of the communities they serve and allow them to concentrate on the collegiate faith community support and creative encouragement that growing flourishing faith communities demands. 

Right enough for today! Part two, concentrating on changes in the way local faith communities are structured will follow.