Bishop's Visitation Charge 2007
Pioneer Ministry
One of the things that we see in the New Testament is that Jesus spent a disproportionate amount of time with just a few people. He spent time with those whom he was equipping for pioneer ministry and I believe we need to do the same. Whilst there are common gifts in ministry – pastoral gifts, preaching, teaching and leading worship, it is also true that in every age the church has needed some gifts more than others. When St Paul was discerning what the church in Corinth needed he wrote, ‘God has appointed in the first place apostles, in the second place prophets, thirdly teachers, then miracle workers, then those who have gifts of healing, or ability to help others or power to guide them, or the gifts of ecstatic utterances of various kinds’. (1 Cor 12:28) In our missionary church today, we have the same need for apostles (today we call them pioneer leaders) and then prophets (those who can discern the signs of the times and know what God is doing) and then teachers and healers and so on.
Pioneer ministry is about getting out of our comfort zones, taking risks and building the church in new situations and in new ways. Pioneers of course, eventually become settlers, so there is always a constant need for new pioneers to lead the church forward in ministry and mission.
By the year 2013, we estimate that there will be 450 stipendiary clergy in Wales, and that means about 65 stipendiary priests for this diocese. This reduction will come about through retirements but the alarming statistic is that without a dramatic increase in ordinations to stipendiary ministry by the year 2020 there will be 350 stipendiary clergy and about a third of our parishes will be without a stipendiary priest. This diocese is doing comparatively well with its number of ordinands, but most of them are not young and the vast majority are considering non-stipendiary ministry. We need to encourage young people to consider stipendiary ministry and also to encourage vocations to non-stipendiary ministry – my vision would be that by 2013, we shall have 65 stipendiary priests and twice that number of non-stipendiary clergy, not just to keep the show on the road, but to be involved in pioneer ministry and in encouraging the ministry of all God’s people.
I am aware that presents us with all kinds of challenges, not least among them is the way in which we train people for ministry so that their training is focussed on the kind of ministry they will undertake and that they will benefit from different ways of learning and theological reflection.
As the patterns of ministry change over the next few years, it becomes important that parish groupings work together and I know that some are doing this already in the MAPping process. I have a concern about the number of services that take place in some parishes and which are often attended by a small number of people. This places an unacceptable burden on clergy and presents difficulties in providing cover for holidays, sickness and vacancies. One matter that was repeatedly raise in the Visitation returns was the difficulty of clergy finding cover for holidays and how the diocese ought to sort this out. Well, I don’t have a hidden supply of clergy! But I would commend the practice with which I was accustomed as a parish priest and area dean when we worked out holiday dates in Chapter meetings so that we could cover for one another and spread the load. In future we shall also need to be more flexible about parish boundaries and more adaptable in leading different styles of worship.
I know that some of our clergy have been on a ‘Leading your church into growth’ course. The course organisers claim that a tenth of Anglican clergy have taken part and those I have met (of all shades of churchmanship) have told me how helpful they found it, so I hope that this will be something that we can make more widely available to resource our clergy. In addition, I am aware that many of our clergy do not find time for their own spiritual refreshment. Some never have a retreat or opportunity for spiritual refreshment away from the parish, and so I would encourage churchwardens to ensure that their clergy are not running on empty batteries and find time each year to relax and pray, to receive ministry and to be able to listen to God.
May I finish by thanking you all for your partnership in the gospel of Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be all honour and glory, both now and unto the ages of ages. Amen.