Running the parish whilst carrying vacancy of Community Priest
Thank you to everyone who attended and participated in the Church Leadership Team meetings and Church Forums over the last four weeks, as we together grappled with the implications of the impending vacancy in the post of Community Priest.
Jeremy Tear finishes his work with us very shortly. From 1st September we will be operating for the next few months with one full time clergy person. Marion Pyke, John Dudley and Rachel Smith have all kindly offered their services to help resource our pattern of worship on Sundays, at midweek services and at the major festivals. However the CLTs and Church Forums all seemed clear that it was not good for them, or sustainable for the parish, to ask too much of them.
PCC decisions
The PCC have a responsibility to agree, alongside with the Rector, on the pattern of worship and that the wider life of the parish can be kept going. The PCC met last week, and received reports of the various church conversations informed by a briefing I had written.
In their discussions the PCC grappled with the competing issues of the lack of on-hand clergy resources and the reasonable desire to protect our pattern of worship. We were very conscious that decisions about altering our pattern of worship should not be undertaken lightly, but reverently, soberly and after much thought (to misquote the marriage service).
The PCC’s decisions outlined below were all made unanimously, and will take effect from 1st September 2015.
Use of external clergy resource: the Church Forums had raised the issue of whether either the Diocese of Oxford would supply funding to allow us to buy in clergy help, or whether the parish would fund this from our own resources. The diocese has rules that mean that it is only Interregna (vacancies in the incumbent) that are funded. Our vacancy is that of an assistant post and so does not attract funding – a number of people have felt that unjust, but the rules of using parish fees to fund the supply of temporary cover are national ones and cannot be altered to suit our circumstances.
Marion Pyke and John Dudley are of course already clergy who offer their services to us for nothing. They could choose to work in any church in the diocese, and choose to help us here, so in a sense we already have that supply of external help.
The PCC felt that it was not right, on a weekly basis, to ask for additional support. The PCC also wanted our administration resource to be focussed on the priorities of our parish rather than sustain our existing pattern of worship by the booking and supporting of visiting clergy. The PCC therefore agreed that we would use only internal clergy resource as our basis for operating during this vacancy. It recognised that during clergy holidays, illness and other unforeseen absence then the parish will buy in clergy help.
Sunday worship time: To create the opportunity for the clergy, when appropriate, to be able to take more than one mid morning Sunday service it would be helpful to move worship services times. The PCC have agreed these service times to be 9.30am St Peter, 9.30am St John and 11.15am St Margaret. The 8am Eucharist and 6.30pm Evensong at St Peter will remain at the same time. The PCC agreed this change of time is expected to be permanent, although of course always kept under review.
Sunday mid-morning services: Each church will have a Eucharist on three out of the four Sundays of the month. Each church will have one Sunday that is non-Eucharistic, which will be led by a lay person. The PCC chose not to prescribe the format of this service, but I will want to ensure that any worship offered is fitting for the occasion, and has my approval. I will be offering training to those who volunteer to lead these non-Eucharistic services.
The PCC agreed that in any month with a fifth Sunday we would have only one mid-morning service in the parish.
St Peter’s 8 o’clock Eucharist: the PCC have agreed to two Sundays a month being Eucharistic and two Sundays being Matins, led by a lay person. I will ensure anyone who offers to lead this service is offered some training.
St Peter’s Evensong: the PCC agreed to maintain a weekly service of Evensong, with this being led once a month by a clergy person, and other Sunday by a lay person. I will ensure anyone who offers to lead this service is offered some training.
Lectionaries: the PCC also agreed that readings for all the Sunday services would come from the Common Worship Sunday Eucharistic lectionary. Different biblical translations of the readings would be offered where needed to suit the language preferred at different services.
Midweek Eucharists: will remain as present on Wednesday at St Peter at 9.30am and on Thursday’s at St John at 10.00am.
Major festivals: The PCC agreed to look at the service provision for all major festivals on a case by case basis. The principle was agreed that with reduced clergy resource it may not be possible to provide all services we are used to.
Chairing of meetings: The PCC agreed that the chairing of the PCC, Standing Committee, CLTs and Church Forums could rotate to allow the Rector to be freed from this role. Different churches and bodies will agree their own pattern.
The PCC also considered other issues that arose, particularly affecting St John’s Church, including the pastoral care, management of meetings and links with external organisations.
I have compiled the attached summary of the agreed Sunday worship pattern which I hope explains the changes.
Agreed pattern for Sunday worship across the parish
The table below shows a standard month of worship. The pattern will change due to clergy absence (holiday or illness) or the effects of major festivals. Wherever possible however, the following pattern will be sustained.
| St Peter | St Margaret | St John | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8am | 9.30am | 6.30pm | 11.15am | 9.30am | |
| wk 1 | Matins (lay led) | Eucharist (with baptism) | Evensong (lay led) | Service of the Word (lay led) | Eucharist |
| wk 2 | Eucharist | Eucharist | Evensong (clergy) | Eucharist | All age (lay led) (priest if bapt) |
| wk 3 | Matins (lay led) | Eucharist | Evensong (lay led) | Eucharist (with baptism) | Eucharist |
| wk 4 | Eucharist | Service of the Word (lay led) | Evensong (lay led) | Eucharist | Eucharist |
| wk 5 | x | Parish wide | x | Parish wide | Parish wide |
Training for lay led services
A number of people have been in touch with me to volunteer to help lead the new pattern of lay led services we will be having. I realise that this is not for everyone, but I am delighted that some of you have responded so positively, especially some new voices.
I would like to put in place some training for those wishing to learn about leading worship, or to refresh themselves in this area. As the first round of services is in September, we need to conduct this training this month. I would therefore like to invite you to a training session in St Peter’s Church from 3-5.30pm on Sunday 23rd August. This will be an opportunity for us to think about some of the principles of leading an act of worship, to look at the detailed text of a service and understand the role of the leader, and to have a go practicing the role. Do please get in touch with Caroline Smith (996 8836 / admin@ctmparish.org.uk) if you would like to attend. You do not have to have spoken to me already, and the session is open to everyone.
Mike Smith