HIGHAM DEANERY MISSION PLAN

(AS PRESENTED TO THE DEANERY SYNOD MEETING ON 16 OCTOBER 2007)

Initial draft presented to Higham Deanery Synod – 21 June 2007
Initial draft to be discussed by PCCs – June to September 2007
Revised version to be presented to Higham Deanery Synod – 16 October 2007
Revised version to be submitted to Oakham Archdiaconal Pastoral Committee – October 2007

Introduction

1. Every parish in the Deanery appears – in line with the prompting of the Spirit - to already have mission on its agenda, to at least some extent, and is discussing the other issues in the Diocesan Strategy: A Diocese inspired by God’s Passion for the World. We see the Deanery’s role largely as encouraging and facilitating parishes to implement the Diocesan Strategy.

2. We believe that this process should primarily be driven by identified needs and opportunities, with issues on staffing and finance taking a secondary – but nevertheless important – place.

The role of Higham Deanery

3. More generally, we believe that the role of the Higham Deanery can be described in various ways, including:

• to be the link between diocesan synod and parish levels;
• to explore new forms of mission and ministry in collaboration;
• to prevent us from being ‘too parochial’;
• to encourage and support one another;
• to be aware of individual parishes’ strengths and weaknesses;
• to help us know what we are all doing, to be encouraged and to provide spiritual and practical support to each other;
• to share resources and do things together;
• to be part of a vibrant and viable church;
• to be a microcosm of the Diocese;
• to provide pastoral oversight and support for all areas of ministry;
• to listen to individual PCC’s views and opinions; and
• to collaborate with the Diocese to provide training opportunities.

Developing mission and ministry

4. We aim to examine the future need for mission within the Deanery, taking account of individual parish’s existing activities and future plans, those of churches in other Christian denominations, and the existing and expected new housing developments within and near the Deanery.

5. We will do this by, in particular:

• Ensuring that the Deanery boundaries are drawn in a way that best facilitates collaborative working between parishes, taking account of external factors, such as district council boundaries, as necessary. Current issues are discussed in ANNEX 1.

• Helping and encouraging parishes to engage in the development of new housing in their area. This is discussed further in ANNEX 2.

• Encouraging a flexible use of church legislation where possible, to minimise the hurdles to effective mission and ministry (e.g. shared PCCs in rural areas, informal arrangements with the Archdeaconry Pastoral Committee's approval of working between parishes and innovative use of legal structures for fresh expressions).

• Keeping up-to-date (e.g. by regular updating to Deanery Synod) with mission developments and needs within the Deanery, taking action to fill any identified gaps and removing any identified duplication.

• Seeking to work collaboratively in activities involving more than one parish, not necessarily of the same churchmanship. This may involve joint activities between two churches e.g. in school work or one church assisting another church to carry out new activities on its own (e.g. running a holiday club or kidz klub, or starting a choir) or developing new styles of non-eucharistic worship. It can include larger/town churches working with smaller/rural ones.

• Promoting the development of fresh expressions within the Deanery, whether or not they are based in existing church buildings.

• Initiating a variety of Deanery-wide events, and encouraging involvement in activities under the ‘Hope 08’ banner.

• Encouraging – in conjunction with the East Northants Council Tourism Officer – church tourism opportunities across the Deanery, so that more visitors to church buildings – including local schoolchildren - can learn both about the fabric of the building and the Christian message.

• Co-ordinating increased church involvement in primary and secondary schools (whether or not church schools) across the Deanery.

• Being actively involved in any discussions with the Diocesan Board of Education and local communities regarding the provision of further church schools in the Deanery.

• Developing a close working relationship, and encouraging increased Anglican involvement with the East Northants Faith Group.

• Encouraging the development of the healing ministry across the Deanery.

• Encouraging the development of prayer opportunities across the Deanery.

• Encouraging increased involvement in the civic life of towns and villages within the Deanery.

• Making information on the range of church services and other church-run activities in the Deanery readily available, both on paper and on-line (e.g. through the Higham Deanery website and in directories of youth services).

• Encouraging open and two-way communication within the Deanery, so as to remove the conditions that can encourage “them & us” attitudes, feelings of powerlessness at parish level, and expectations that change will inevitably be imposed from above.

• Actively making use of the opportunities provided by the synodical system for PCCs and the Deanery to bring issues to the Diocesan Synod.

Providing people

• Considering the future pattern of deployment of stipendiary clergy and other paid staff (involving youth workers) across the Deanery, within the financial and any other constraints applied by the Diocese. Details of current plans are summarised in ANNEX 3.

• Encouraging the releasing of ministry, involving unpaid volunteers in a range of activities, both inside and outside church settings - including retired clergy, self-supporting ministers, licensed lay ministers (readers, pastoral assistants and parish evangelists) and other volunteers.

• Considering the scope for the Deanery to make innovative arrangements for employing full- or part-time staff in response to identified needs – e.g. a development worker.

• Promoting increased fellowship and sharing of expertise and experiences among church officers, building on the existing six-monthly meetings of PCC Treasurers – e.g. by holding regular meetings of Wardens from across the Deanery.

• Promoting lay training opportunities, including training for mission activities in general, and for the development of fresh expressions in particular (e.g. CPAS ‘Growing Leaders’ training and courses provided through the Passion for God training scheme).

Paying for mission and ministry

• Encouraging transparency and wide circulation of information on church finances, including diocesan budgets, deanery finances and parish share calculations.

• Promoting and encouraging planned voluntary sacrificial giving as the main source of income.

• Recognising the significant efforts made by most parishes to pay their share, and encouraging those that are currently unable or unwilling to do so.

• Making a Deanery bid to the Diocesan Mission Fund for funding towards the development of fresh expressions within the Deanery.

• Encouraging parishes to investigate opportunities for applying for grant funding for church buildings and community activities (e.g. through the East Northants Council External Funding Manager, the use of Nene Valley Community Action’s Grantfinder programme and through the Church of England’s Building Faith in the Future e-bulletin).

• Encouraging the setting up of ‘Friends of’ organisations to involve non-attenders in raising funds for church buildings, mindful of the difficulties that are sometimes involved.

Method of implementation

6. The evaluation of progress towards implementing this mission plan will be an item on the agenda of every Deanery Synod meeting.


ANNEX 1 - Current ecclesiastical boundary issues under consideration

Note: this is not intended to set out every issue in every benefice and parish in the Deanery, but issues which are currently being considered or implemented

1. Creation of benefice of Raunds, Hargrave, Ringstead and Standwick (to remain within Higham Deanery) and the benefice of Thrapston, Denford and Islip (to transfer to Oundle Deanery) – these were provided for in a scheme of 23 May 2007 and came into effect when the current benefice of Thrapston became vacant on 31 August 2007.

2. Creation of Whitefriars parish in Rushden – a scheme came into effect on 1 January 2008. It created a new parish and benefice of Whitefriars in two separate geographic areas of Rushden: one in the area of Whitefriars Junior School, where Whitefriars Church currently meets, in the south of the town, and one at the northern side of the town, where there is scope for planting into either Rushden Community College or a primary school. The new benefice is part of the Rushden Group. There were consequent changes to the boundaries of the parishes of Rushden St Mary and Rushden St Peter, and Whitefriars is able exercise mission and ministry without an ecclesiastical building. Whitefriars looks to work with others in the Deanery in developing its ministry, particularly within its two areas in Rushden.

3. Possible transfer of part of Irthlingborough ecclesiastical parish to
Wellingborough Deanery: much of the land where the Wellingborough East (Stanton Cross) development is due to take place is in Irthlingborough ecclesiastical parish and hence Higham Deanery. In practice, the Wellingborough churches are discussing mission and ministry in Stanton Cross. Latest position: The Rural Dean has formally requested Irthlingborough PCC to consider the issue and is to arrange a meeting with the clergy involved from both deaneries.

4. Possible transfer of Wymington and Podington parishes from St Albans
Diocese, or informal collaboration without a formal transfer – it was thought that collaboration could take place – at least initially on an informal basis, perhaps with a link to an adjacent parish in Higham Deanery. Latest position: Higham Deanery positively encourages further exploration of this possibility.

5. Possible transfers of Finedon and Irchester parishes to Wellingborough
Deanery
- this proposal was made at a Diocesan level, to more closely align deanery and district council boundaries, and has been discussed in the deanery and the parishes concerned. Decisions would need making on how each parish would relate to the existing benefices and parishes on the eastern edge of Wellingborough Deanery. Latest position: discussions are taking place locally.

6. Irthlingborough, Woodford and Great and Little Addington – encouraged by the Bishop and Archdeacon, informal links are being made between the parishes.


ANNEX 2 – Mission & ministry to new and future housing developments in Higham Deanery

Background information

1. Many of the towns and villages in Higham Deanery have experienced significant housing and population growth in recent years. To a large extent, this pre-dates the growth that central government is now promoting in Milton Keynes & South Midlands Growth Area and which will have a significant impact across Northamptonshire, particularly in the Wellingborough, Kettering and Corby areas.

2. As a result, the churches within Higham Deanery are already responding to the challenges of population growth, with support from the Diocese, There is, however, scope for doing more, both from the narrow perspective of providing places of worship and the wider perspective of ensuring that the new developments become vibrant communities, with at least adequate public services and a strong community spirit.

3. Across Northamptonshire, churches of the main Christian denominations have responded by appointed a Churches’ Officer for New Communities (Bob Purser, currently based at Corby). He is playing a useful role in ensuring that local churches are encouraged to tackle the challenges presented by population growth in their area, and are supported in doing so. In practice, however, the main priorities of the Churches’ Officer lie elsewhere in the county, with none of the ‘large developments’ with which he is working being in Higham Deanery (except for Stanton Cross on the eastern side of Wellingborough, part of which is currently within Higham Deanery, but where Wellingborough Deanery is involved in discussions). Raunds is, however, listed as one of the medium-sized towns in Northamptonshire where he expected to be working with local churches during 2007.

4. Examples of engagement with issues relating to population growth within Higham Deanery include:

• The proposal to create a third parish in Rushden takes account of the recent and planned significant population growth in the town; and

• Active church involvement in the new primary school in Higham Ferrers and in lobbying for improved facilities and infrastructure in the King’s Meadow Lane area of the town.

The role of Higham Deanery

5. Higham Deanery sees its role as ensuring – in collaboration with the East Northants Faith Group - that individual parishes are able to engage in an informed way in discussions relating to their local area, whether or not the Churches Officer is able to be involved actively too.

6. Several church organisations are already involved at a strategic level in considering churches’ involvement in new housing developments. These include a county-wide ecumenical Steering Group of Church Leaders, the Peterborough Diocese and Shire & Soke (Churches Together in Northamptonshire & Rutland). Given this, the active involvement of Higham Deanery as a whole in discussions would appear to add unnecessarily to the hierarchy of structures involved, and cause delay.

ANNEX 3 – planned future deployment of clergy in Higham Deanery

1. Figures issued in April 2007 show that, in 2005, Higham Deanery had 19 churches; an average adult Sunday attendance (ASA) of 1,015; a population of 68,353; and 9.3 stipendiary clergy posts. This gives it the following positions among the fourteen deaneries currently in the Diocese:

• The lowest number of churches (tying with two other deaneries);
• The fourth highest ASA;
• The fifth highest population; and
• The seventh highest number of stipendiary clergy posts.

2. Applying the new clergy allocations formula, using weightings of 30% to the number of churches, 40% to population and 30% to ASA, gives a total of 10.4 stipendiary clergy posts in 2005: 1.1 more than the actual number of 9.3.

3. For 2007, the allocations formula gives 9.1 stipendiary clergy posts for Higham Deanery, 0.8 above the actual number, of 8.3.

4. Looking ahead, the figures issued in April 2007 include clergy share figures across the whole Peterborough Diocese – provided by the Archbishops’ Council - of 152 for 2009 and 144 for 2012, with the numbers to be allocated across deaneries (after allowing for dignatories, non-parochial posts and tile curates etc) being 131.4 and 123.0 respectively. Applying the formula for each year gives figures for Higham Deanery of 8.8 stipendiary clergy posts for 2009 and 8.2 for 2012.

5. The above figures take no account of population growth since 2001, which has been greater in Higham Deanery than in many other parts of the Diocese, although more recent consistent figures are not currently available. Neither do the figures take account of any posts that will be funded from the Diocesan Mission Fund.