When the Map Runs Out - Part Two
Last week, we spoke of the consultations that were about to be undertaken in Napier to help discern the structures of future mission in that city. As part of that process, Reverend Alan Burnett spoke to the community in Taradale of the strangeness of the past 60 years in the Church. With the birth of the baby boomers, the population and the wealth that accompanied it, the church grew and expanded in an unprecedented way. Churches that were planted as ‘daughter churches’ to meet the needs of suburbs and villages suddenly found themselves of a size and of resource to employ their own clergy and run their own vestry. As a result, independent parishes proliferated. This was a reality that the church had not known in the past. Within the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches historically, there had always been centre churches that planted and helped to manage smaller churches around them in a process of evangelising a city or region and providing for the spiritual needs of the people. This can be seen as far back in the churches of Jerusalem, Rome, Constantinople, and Ephesus. If you explore the history of your church, the chances are it either planted the neighbouring churches or was planted by one. The challenge with this experience is that, in many ways, it represented a ‘bubble’ – an expansion that did not have the capacity behind it to be maintained once a population shift occurred or membership fell. In some ways, the challenges we face as a church is not a mass decline in people wanting to be Christian, but instead a small generation that followed the Baby Boomer generation and that was not big enough to maintain the grand edifices of structures and independence we had built. We are still wrestling with the consequences of this.
The great challenge as we do so is the question of independence. No community wants to lose its independence. In the reflections of the consultations in Napier, the core questions were of identity – will we be able to continue to be who we are in a new structure, or will a new entity try to reshape us. We have a deeply connected conception of identity as communities and the independence that comes from setting our own direction and priorities. While many churches have resolved this tension by simply amalgamating, we must acknowledge that when this is done out of weakness, out of a desire to maintain the status quo it fails – and it fails 80% of the time from Church of England statistics. Considering this challenge, as the diocese has sought to develop pathways and structures to support all our local churches to be flourishing expression of Anglican mission there has been a deliberate wrestling with the tension of independence and centralisation, self-determination and relationship, the church local and the church universal. One of the responses to this is the model of Resourcing Parishes.
Two weeks ago, we released a document outlining this concept (you can access that here) but, in essence, it would help to establish new licensing and administration arrangements that offer opportunities to lighten the load on local leaders and local governance, freeing them for more community facing ministry and mission. This not only reflects our discipleship focus, but also our connection focus, as we attempt to leverage the strengths we have across parishes, organisations, and boards to bring help foster flourishing communities and flourishing people. The Resourcing Parishes will offer a relationally focused means of partnership and relationship across units through memorandum of understandings but maintain the structures of independence and identity that is so treasured by our parishes and people. We believe when this is executed well, it bridges the divide between the central and the local to best leverage what we have for the benefit of all. Our desire to ensure this is executed well is, in part, why this has not been launched sooner.
We recognise that many would love to see more and see it more speedily introduced. There is no one in our communities that does not, in their own way, have a deep and enduring love for the churches, communities and history of our diocese. When we talk about where we wish to go, however, we inevitably carry with us what we have been and the futures that have not or that cannot be. As such, the process for all movement is considered, prayerful and deliberate. Keep your eyes and ears open for the announcements that will be coming and the weekly updates about our strategic implementation, but in the meantime continue to pray – for your church, for your town or city, for the work of the diocese and for the Church universal that seeks to proclaim the good news that has been handed down to us and made alive for us in Christ.
Recognising significant things have been announced in the past few weeks, we offer this as a collection of these movements across the strategic streams alongside discipleship. The other four key streams of the strategic plan focus on:
Koru Ministry: The employment of two regional roles and the establishment of a Koru team under the Reverend Alan Burnett’s oversight is the first stage in a process of regenerating this ministry in the diocese and in the local parishes. Our vision is to see every parish offering some degree of ministry that endears another generation to the life of our communities.
Whakapapa: Even the work of our strategic plan itself is an expression of our whakapapa – we are a missionary diocese, navigating land, peoples, and experiences to foster the life of the church in our diocese. We are particularly excited about developments with Te Pīhopatanga ō Aotearoa and te Hui Amorangi ō Tairawhiti around the concept of pilgrimage as a model of discipleship, especially in the space of our whakapapa.
Vocation: Announcements are still to come regarding elements of the work in vocation, but initiatives are already underway. The Leadership Collective at Holy Trinity, Tauranga and the Ministry Collective based in Napier are examples of new ways of engaging those with a love for the church in the conversations that matter and help us discern the work of God in our communities. Alongside this, the developing the Resourcing Parishes will offer to those in ministry across our diocese ever greater opportunities to gain experience, serve and be mentored in their work. We are also excited about the beginnings of a new diocesan training option of licensed lay and other interested people.
Connection: This is an area that is already bearing fruit, particularly as the Bishop and Anglican Care Waiapu explore how the strategic plan can be a tool for uniting our boards in our common mission and direction. Outside of this, the implementation of Resourcing Parishes will see significant diocesan investment into the regions and into the local church through personnel, finance and opportunity which, we pray, will see a re-engagement with the joy ministry can bring when the load is shared, and the fruit becomes visible.
In many ways, the strategic plan is like the constellations that the explorers of uncharted lands used to find their way. It offers guiding principles and orientations that inform the reflections, considerations, and planning of the diocese from the most local of levels to the most important of boards. The constellations will not tell you exactly what is around the corner, or how to respond to every issue that arises, but it will help us journey together to the destination God is leading us toward. This is a plan for uncharted territory, not the comforts of known paths and waterways. It is a plan that asks us to pray again “your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.”
With the Bishop’s Leadership Team established and meeting fortnightly, we are streamlining communication. For all strategic matters, please email us at strategy@waiapu.com.
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