Deanery Refreshment Away Weekend
19/21 February 2010

‘Growing together into ministry’

led by Rev'd Stephen Adams Dean of Ministry Developmen, St. Michael’s College

At Glenfall House, Charlton Kings, Cheltenham

Glenfall 2010 retreat blog page

Easter Joy at Dawn

Easter Morning, 4th April 2010, 6.00 am

Eucharistic Service for the young at heart

Followed by breakfast

Meet at Foxhunter carpark on the Blorenge

Bible Teaching Session

‘Discipleship’ by Archdeacon Richard Pain

Monday 19th April 2010 7.30pm

At the Glen-Yr-Afon Hotel, Usk

And also:
Monday 7th June – Reverend Paul Roberts
Monday 6th September – Reverend Jonathan Williams
Monday 15th November – Reverend Andrew Morton

All 7.30pm at the Glen-Yr-Afon Hotel, Usk

These sessions will last no more than an hour.

Please bring a Bible.

Report of Deanery Meeting Saturday 28th March 2009

Intro. from Tim Clement:

Bishop Dominic has recently reported that current diocesan statistics show that more clergy are due to retire than to begin their ministry over the next ten years, and that if this continues to be the case, by 2020 we could be down to only 37 stipendiary clergy operating in this diocese.  On top of that, current diocesan statistics also show that regular worshipper numbers are still dropping, and that some parishes are having to dip into their reserves to cover their costs.

In one respect that puts us all in a position of captivity, or should I say, if we’re not careful we can allow ourselves to be held captive by negative thoughts of overall decline.  And in that position, I suspect we could easily create a self-fulfilling prophecy that drives us rapidly to a perishing end.  But I guess, because of your presence here this morning, none of you want to go in that direction.

In order to stand in a positive position rather than a negative one, we would do well to bring back to mind the two pieces of scripture I have already quoted.  “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”  And, “I will build my church.”

As we heard from John Leach at our away weekend, in Isaiah 61 we see that God moved His people from captivity to comfort.  Remembering God’s promises not only puts us in a positive position, but it also brings us comfort, as it reassures and deepens our faith in Him.  It reassures us of His presence, and of His desires for us.  However, God won’t want us to just to sit there feeling nice and comfortable – that’s unlikely to help Him build His church.  So, in that position of comfort, He will be strengthening our confidence – strengthening our confidence in His word, strengthening our confidence in His call to us both personally and corporately, and strengthening our confidence to step out and exercise our gifts on His behalf and for the benefit of His church.

And that brings us to the last point John Leach made.  God moves His people from confidence to co-operation.  As He does that, His Church will grow - more folks are moved from captivity to comfort, from comfort to confidence, and from confidence to co-operation – His Church grows more, and the cycle keeps on repeating itself.  The question for us is – do we want to be a part of God’s Church, His growing Church?

God’s Church is about people, not about bricks and mortar.  We are the building blocks, and we need to work together as a team, not clergy together and laity together, but as a single cohesive team.  I want to read you some daily notes from ‘The Word for today’ earlier this week.  I think they’re quite appropriate.  They are entitled: How to build a strong team -

“Many of us would rather settle for achieving less, than to put up with ‘people-problems’.  But fulfilling a great dream usually means having a great team.  And great teams are made up of people with strengths and weaknesses.  God seldom call us to the job alone; He calls others to stand with us.  So, do you know who belongs in your life?  Jesus chose twelve disciples to help Him fulfil His mission on earth.  One of them doubted Him, one denied Him, and one betrayed Him.  Yet He called them, knowing what they were; and could become. 

After listing hardships that would make your worst day look like ‘a walk in the park’, Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 11:28, “Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of … all the churches.”  How did he evangelise Asia, guide the church and write half the N. T.?  Through a team!  One of his team-building secrets is called Love.  If you don’t genuinely care about people they’ll sense it and they won’t stay with you.  If you’ve a high turn-over in your relationships, that could be your problem.  Even your best team members will go through times that affect their performance.  Jeremiah got so stressed out that he wanted to quit ministry and go into the motel business (Jer. 9:2).  Paul advised his right-hand man Timothy, “use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.” (1 Tim. 5:23).  ‘Love cares more for others than for self’.

The success of the N.T. church was driven by two things: 1. A sound scriptural foundation, and 2. A sense of belonging.  On good teams, players extend trust to one another.  Initially it’s a risk because your trust can be violated and you can get hurt.  At the same time they are giving trust, each team member must conduct themselves in such a way as to earn the trust of others by holding themselves to a high standard.  When everyone gives freely and bonds of trust develop and are tested over time, they begin to have faith in one another.  They believe that the people next to them will act with consistency, keep commitments, maintain confidences and support each other.  The stronger their sense of belonging becomes, the greater their potential to work together.

An important key to building a strong team is being open to new and different ideas.  One of your greatest dangers as you become older (or more successful) is that your thinking can become institutionalised; which is just another word for ‘fossilised’.  To remain successful you must create an environment in which the free exchange of information and ideas takes place.  If people had not been permitted to try new things out we’d still be travelling by horse and carriage, dining by candlelight, and dying a lot earlier from preventable diseases.  We must honour what we’ve learned by building upon it, but we must never stop asking, ‘Is there a better way?’  Champions don’t ease up because they’re ahead of the competition; they’re still accelerating as they cross the finish line.  The competition keeps them sharp.  You need competition.”

I agree with all that, but how are we going to fight the competition of complacency, apathy, despair, selfishness, lack of commitment, fear of change, and the like, and at the same time build a strong sense of belonging in each member of the team, which is caring, inclusive, supportive and loving, and which is open to new and different ideas?

We need to seek - God’s vision for our deanery - God’s guidance to achieve His vision - God’s call to discern our individual gifts.

Notes of ideas taken from the discussion which followed:

• A pastorate system consisting of a larger teaching group and smaller home groups, to develop teaching/learning, prayer and fellowship.
• Deanery teams to take lead on various aspects of the life of the deanery – mission, worship, youth work etc.
• We need to continue to break down parish and ecumenical barriers.
• There are possibly three separate levels or groups of people; those at the core, those on the fringes and those on the outside. We need to find ways to meet the needs of each of these groups.
• Should we develop the deanery website?
• Mon TV covers all the old Monmouthshire and includes a faith section.
• If looking for the future vision, we need to avoid planning for yesterday.
• Personal invitation is the best form of communication – do we need to designate a communication person from each parish?
• It’s a two-way process – we can help you, but you can also help us. We may bring people in by inviting them to do something practical (and not necessarily attend a church service).
• Should we have a tent or presence at the Usk show?
• Could we have some form of follow up to the Bishop’s Lent talks? Perhaps a monthly talk written up on the diocesan website for use by deanery/parish groups.
• Could we supplement the monthly informal worships and quiet times with monthly teaching sessions and monthly house groups? - a deanery activity each week of the month.
• Whatever we do needs to be planned carefully and avoid duplicating or adversely affecting current parish and/or deanery initiatives.
• We need to circulate a leaflet giving details of current deanery events at the Lent Course on Monday 30th March. This should include Quiet Times, Informal Worship, Easter Vigil Service, Easter Dawn Service and details of the Deanery Website. We should also circulate a sheet for people to sign up to be kept informed of developments.
• We need to identify people to attend the Fresh Expressions – Mission Shaped Ministry Course. Hywel, Sue and Joan expressed an interest.
• We need to meet 4 times a year – Saturdays at 9-30am – Tim to decide date of next meeting.

If you have any comments to make please contact Tim, but please consider the following questions:

• What do we want to do?
• Who will lead and be involved?
• How will this be achieved - What method(s) will be used?
• When will it happen - What is the timescale to develop and implement the initiative?

deanery coffe morning

At the 2009 Deanery conference it was decided to continue the annual Deanery charity coffee morning, which has been run for many years by the Llangwm group of parishes in support of St Luke’s Hospital, to support other charitable work. It was proposed that the coffee morning should take place on the first Saturday in November to be run by each group of parishes in turn. Below is the schedule.