Church News - March 2007
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“Call to Arms” – Extracts from the Bishop of Winchester’s Letter
Below
are a few of the main points made in Bishop Michael’s letter of February 2nd
this year to the Clergy, Licensed Ministers, church-wardens and members of PCCs
to tell us what many have been doing to take forward the intentions and hopes
and decisions of April 1st 2006 to explore “OUR CALLING UNDER GOD”
– intentions, hopes and decisions which were built upon the
Consultations of the previous autumn and which, translated into a programme of
work, were endorsed by the Diocesan Synod in May last year under four headings:
 | Vocation and Ministry: to review the categories of licensed ministry, lay and ordained to ensure that they continue to meet the needs of today’s Church in this Diocese |
| Leadership: alongside current provision for initial ministerial training, to provide specific training for Leadership, lay and ordained, in our Church communities |
| Growth: to strive for healthy growth using Mission Audit (see article below) everywhere and sharing its results with each other by Pentecost 2008 |
| Framework
for Ministry: so as to ensure that our organisations are flexible and
appropriate to sustain growth, to review the size, structure, numbers and
role of each Deanery. (highlightedby DFM for emphasis) |
All this work is well in hand, and the small groups responsible for each part of it are reporting regularly to the Diocesan Standing Committee and to the Synod (DFM – we have no knowledge of any such group in the Andover Deanery). We are arranging to draw it all together in a second Consultation in the autumn 2008.
Review of “Parish Share”
Alongside these is a fifth strand of work, to look at our “system of
allocation” to each parish of its “share” of responsibility for the
Diocese’s budget. Our Diocese has
very little in the way of endowment income; we receive very little indeed from
the Church Commissioners – because this rightly goes to Dioceses in the poorer
Midlands and North of England. The
Diocesan Synod will soon consider proposals of a kind that will encourage every
parish, and each one of us, to view our giving towards meeting the annual budget
of our Diocese. At a time when
Government, pursuing a secularising agenda, is aggressively seeking to restrict
the freedom of people of Faith to offer our vision, our convictions and our
service into the public life of the country, it is more important than ever that
every parish, and our Diocese as a whole, should be “fit for purpose”. (The letter of course is very much longer, and explains
more fully the brief extracts above. It
is available by email to anyone who might wish to have a copy, from
david-broadwater@dmac.co.uk)
Mission Audit of Amport Parish during 2007
As the final stage of reflection in examining the way ahead for Amport Church Parish, to take account of reduced clergy and rising costs of Ministry, we are expected to conduct a Mission Audit reporting to the Diocese by Pentecost (May) 2008. The Statement of Purpose is: “to pay attention to the world in which we live in such a way as to enable the local church to discern the shape of God’s call to mission for this church, at this time, in this place”.
Our Audit in Amport will take account of our current Development Plans, and these were preceded by a survey in 2004 which helped us decide what St Mary’s Church should provide for future generations, which is: ‘ to strive for success in making St. Mary’s Church more useable for all who live in the Parish.’. The following four related themes for further development were identified and are currently being refined. The related themes are: Inclusiveness: St. Mary’s will be at the service of all parish residents. Youth: Renew our commitment to young people, including relations with the Amport School. Families: Support young parents and their children. The Community: St. Mary’s will be at the heart of our community. The long withdrawal of English churches from the centre to the periphery of village life has weakened country parishes. This trend must be reversed.
This mission audit is not a churching audit, but a wide consultation, including surveys to find out what issues are important to people, aiming to connect with all in the village. Following this, to decide on priorities, and to consider whether there are things to be stopped (close churches even?). To do this, we need to map the village, set up an action group, make and implement a plan, and produce a short report.
If
there are people who are willing to lead, from both within the PCC and more
widely, we should consider whether a Benefice Action Group should be formed to
work on common interest areas, in parallel to Parish-led practical actions.
Here Parish and/or Benefice should consider the use of a course, and also
one which includes children, as is offered by the Diocesan Office. ‘Religion lies more in walk than talk’ – Anon
Fundraising
The Lily Appeal has been running for a year, and of course a lot of change has already been implemented, including the completion of the Garden of Remembrance, designed by Val Aisher, the reordering of the Nave, and the beautiful hanging screen made by Sara Courtenay. In addition, most of the floor, which was found to be rotten, has been replaced, and a new carpet fitted, and a large store hut has been erected at the back of the church. As important, have been the efforts of new volunteers, and the recent extensive work by Ted Perren, helped by David Horne, to clear the woodland provides a major example.
The Appeal was for £175,000, and needed to pay for several different projects. In addition to the £40,000 allocated by the PCC, the people of Amport have raised about £40,000, by personal gifts or through events, and about £40,000 has been given or pledged from Charitable Trusts. We must all be grateful for such generosity and effort, but we are still well short of the money we need to rebuild the Porch to provide a WC, Kitchen and small meeting area, and must raise a further £50,000 before starting that work.
Future fundraising will include more events, and hopefully more support from individuals. However, the main money must be found from outside. Accordingly, we shall seek further funds from the Veolia Trust (who pledged £5,000 for the Tower restoration), from the Big Lottery Building Fund (the Community Fund having turned us down), other charitable trusts, and from Test Valley and Hampshire County Council.
We in the PCC are well aware that the School Governors wish to develop the School, and of course we gave £10,000 from our funds towards the 1999 classroom. We are delighted that the PTA Members are joining us in running Amport Fete to be held on 21 July, and sharing the proceeds. This union is the best thing that could possibly have happened for Amport.
In all this, we in the PCC must remember that we need to raise over £26,000 annually, beyond the Lily appeal, with the subscription to the Diocese of about £17,000 forming the main cost. So, along with the Lily Appeal continuing, we also must now plan for this money for 2008 and beyond.