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January 2016

Statement of Need

We are looking for a Bishop of who will be:

1. An Inspired and Innovative Leader who will help all people, lay and ordained, across the to understand what and where we are, realise what we can be and where we want to get to, and navigate the way forward.

2. A Focus for Unity, secure in their faith and identity, and able to lead with clarity, humility and understanding. They will be a ‘leader of leaders’ in the senior staff team, able to celebrate and focus the leadership of others throughout the Diocese, forming a unity of purpose while holding the trust of our creative and capable Area Teams. Our new Bishop will support unequivocally the Diocese’s longstanding commitment to ordain both men and women.

3. A Voice for God and the Church in local and national contexts. Our Bishop will be someone who can live and teach the faith and inspire people to join us on the Way of Christ. A person able to speak on the national stage, and enabled to do so by a well- functioning and supportive Area system.

Psalm One expresses our hope: That being rooted in God and in the Diocese, our new Bishop should be freed to bear fruit in due season, bringing inspiration and hope to all.

Blessed is the one Who walks not in the counsel of the wicked Nor stands in the way of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of scoffers. But their delight is in the law of the Lord. And on that law they meditate day and night. They are like a tree Planted by streams of water That yields its fruit in due season, And its leaf does not wither. In all they do, they prosper.

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Purpose of the Role

To lead the Diocese of Oxford in mission and ministry and to provide episcopal oversight.

The detailed personal characteristics needed for this role are included in Appendix 2.

Challenges of the Role

1. In all the activity of a busy Diocese, to bring us back constantly to seeking God’s will and hearing God’s call for us as His people.

2. To be an intelligent and articulate voice for God and the Church in the three counties and beyond, able to live and teach the faith and inspire people to join us in the Way of Christ. The proportion of people with ‘no faith’ has increased markedly in recent years. This needs to be tackled and turned around.

3. To develop a diocesan vision and strategy that engages creatively with the Areas and gives coherence to the Diocese as a whole. This will include enabling our larger churches to play a strategic part in the life of the Diocese, where their strength can help unlock the mission potential elsewhere.

4. To oversee strategic planning for models of ministry in a Diocese that hasn’t yet been faced with the radical re-imagination of parochial structures. This will mean a significant commitment to fostering the discipleship and vocation of all people.

5. To resource and support the significant pastoral opportunities of major new housing developments in all three counties.

6. To capitalise on the value of being part of an established Area system that can enable local ministry to flourish and release the Diocesan Bishop for ministry at a strategic and national level.

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The Diocese of Oxford: a Description

The Diocese of Oxford is a wonderful place to serve God. It has a wealth of resources, human, material and financial. It has a long tradition of theological debate and spiritual exploration. The organisation of the Church provides the scope for strategic and innovative development in reinterpreting the gospel for our time. It is a Diocese of rapidly changing demographics, significant investment and extensive engagement with education.

There is much to celebrate… but much to do.

Geographically, the Diocese covers the counties of , and . This ranges from very rural areas in the north and west, to a thriving urban corridor along the Thames Valley, a centre of modern industry including information technology and biotechnology.

The Diocese sets its vision, purpose and values in the context of the five marks of mission, which is currently manifested as the ‘Living Faith’ framework. We work within an Area scheme which provides the the space for strategic innovation, supported also by a system of Boards and Committees that oversee the diverse range of work. The Bishop’s Staff play a key role in drawing together the detailed strands of activity.

Moving Forward

Since the See became vacant in late 2014, the Diocese has moved forward in a number of different areas. These include:

 An increasing number of prayer initiatives, mostly lay led  The development and approval of Archdeaconry Mission Action Plans, which are now informing forward planning  Exploration of new forms of stipendiary ministry, including the appointment of an extra full-time Rural Dean working across four rural deaneries in Buckinghamshire  A reshaped DDO team, providing greater capacity  A new focus on fostering lay vocations  New relationships between large churches and smaller parishes which are leading to exciting mission initiatives and hold the promise of significant church growth  A new initiative launched for ‘Partnership for Missional Church’ in Berkshire  Expanded relationships in education to include community schools  Increased dialogue with other faiths, including Imam Monawar Hussein addressing Diocesan Synod

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 Refocusing the work and role of a new diocesan Christian Generosity and Giving Officer, to be appointed in early 2016  The appointment of a new Director of Mission  New Diocesan offices have been purchased in with a planned move in the spring of 2016, and a commitment to open an Area office for Berkshire.

Despite the continued activity in the Diocese, the absence of a full-time Bishop of Oxford is felt most keenly in developing our diocesan wide strategy.

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Introducing Living Faith

‘Joining with God in creating a caring, sustainable and growing Christian presence in every part of the Diocese’

The Diocese has been working within the framework of ‘Living Faith’, a vision launched in 2009 with the aim of bringing the Oxford Diocese together under one overarching purpose, a set of values and five priorities, while at the same time providing scope for adaptation to local needs across a diverse Episcopal See.

Since its launch, the Diocese has developed a wide variety of resources including course guides, leaflets, mission guidance and DVDs. For the years 2010 to 2014, material was produced and courses delivered to support one particular strand of the five priorities in turn.

The aim has been to encourage the painting of local pictures, using the five colours, by offering a flexible framework to meet the needs of local circumstances.

This Description of the Diocese of Oxford is set out under the five Living Faith headings. While Living Faith has provided a useful bridge during the vacancy, the Diocese will be ready for a fresh look when our new bishop arrives.

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Sustaining the Sacred Centre

Sustaining the Sacred Centre has been by far the most used strand of the Living Faith vision. This has been played out in parishes by way of Quiet Days and an increase in the number of Home/Bible Study Groups, and in the Diocese through the work of a Spirituality Adviser, the publication of resources for prayer, an annual day exploring prayer in collaboration with Ripon College , and the launch of the Thames Pilgrim Way.

The Diocese supports an ecumenical grouping, SpiDir, that offers training in, and provision of, spiritual direction for clergy and lay people. There is also an active Cursillo group.

Uniquely, Christ Church Cathedral is both a College Chapel and the Cathedral Church for the Diocese of Oxford. It is home to a worshipping community with a rich tradition and a world famous Cathedral Choir. The Cathedral hosts a wide range of diocesan and civic events, including music, art, dance and drama. The annual number of paying visitors to the Christ Church site averages 450,000, most of whom visit the Cathedral. Tens of thousands more visit the Cathedral free of charge as worshippers and pilgrims. The , the Very Revd , who was appointed in October 2014, leads the dual foundation of College and Cathedral. The Chapter is made up of seven Canons: four are Professors at the University of Oxford, while the of Oxford and the Diocesan both hold dual responsibilities in both Diocese and Cathedral. Christ Church thus enjoys a unique place at the intersection of church, city and university.

Theological resource is rich in the Diocese. , (including the non- residential Oxford Ministry Course), Wycliffe Hall and St Stephen’s House all have close links with the Faculty of Theology, as do our many University Chaplains, who are a somewhat underused resource. CMS, which offers ground-breaking Pioneer Mission Leadership Training, is also in the Diocese.

Linked to Oxford University there are several academic institutions rooted in their respective faith communities – Jewish, Islamic, Hindu to name but three. These are, on the whole, not like the theological colleges in that they are not training people to be rabbis, imams or priests but they are centres for study with links to a variety of colleges. Relationships with them are good and the new bishop will be assured of a warm welcome if s/he chooses to engage with them.

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The Diocesan Department of Mission, meanwhile, has pioneered modular courses working with Ripon College Cuddesdon; these form the basis of all training for Licensed Lay Ministers and local ordained self-supporting ministers. The Diocese is also actively involved in the Regional Training Partnership (along with Salisbury, , Portsmouth, Bath and Wells and Guildford Dioceses). Through its work the members of the Department of Mission enjoy peer group support to the mutual encouragement and benefit of all.

The theological and intellectual resources offered in Oxford has attracted a large number of publishing houses, including Oxford University Press and Blackwells, and Christian publishers such as the Bible Reading Fellowship and Lion Publishing.

A large number of Christian organisations have their headquarters in the Diocese including CMS, The Oxford Centre for Mission Studies, Oxford Youth Works, World Vision, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Christian Concern for One World, WEC International, Latin Link, the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students and the Retreat Association.

The Diocese benefits from the prayerful ministry of a number of Anglican religious communities, including the Society of the Sacred Mission in , the Community of St Mary the Virgin at , Sisters of the Love of God at Fairacres, Oxford, All Saints Sisters of the Poor, Oxford, and the Society of the Precious Blood at Burnham Abbey outside .

A key challenge is to bring us back constantly to seeking God’s will and hearing God’s call for us as His people in all the activity of a busy Diocese.

Creating Vibrant Christian Communities

The Diocese of Oxford was estimated in 2014 to have a population of 2,295,400. It is the fifth most populous Diocese in the . More or less covering three counties (292 benefices, 621 parishes), it is the fifth largest in land area (2,220 square miles) and it has by far the largest number of churches (815).

The Diocese’s unique combination of buildings, volunteers, giving and involvement in the lives of the community makes it the largest self-funded voluntary organisation in the Thames Valley.

The Diocese geographically stretches from Milton Keynes and in the north to Newbury and in the south and from and the Cotswolds in the west to Slough in the east. It covers most of the same area as Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Milton Keynes and the six unitary authorities of Berkshire.

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As well as the major divide of the (now the route of the diocesan Thames Pilgrim Way), the most significant feature of the physical geography of the Diocese is the range of hills that runs from north-east to south-west. In Buckinghamshire these are the Chilterns, and in North Berkshire and South Oxfordshire they are the Berkshire Downs.

As a result, all the major road and rail links spread outwards from London, making travel relatively easy in some directions, but more complicated from south west to north east. This means that Milton Keynes and beyond can feel detached from the other towns of the Diocese.

Population

Town/City Population Milton Keynes Unitary District 259,245 Reading Unitary District 159,097 (conurbation almost 250,000) Oxford 157,997 Unitary District 160,825 Windsor and Unitary District 147,400 Slough Unitary District 144,575 133,208 Bracknell 77,256 71,977 Banbury 46,525 Newbury 38,762 Abingdon 38,262 32,642

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The most densely populated areas are in the south east of the Diocese, with the large towns of Slough, Maidenhead and Reading along the M4, and High Wycombe. In West Berkshire and much of Oxfordshire there are largely rural areas, with market towns such as Newbury, Wallingford, Banbury and Abingdon. Milton Keynes was designated a new city in January 1967 for a target population of 250,000. This city continues to grow and now has a projected population of 302,000 by 2022.

New communities

The significant areas of housing development right across our three counties have become an increasingly important priority for the Diocese in terms of resourcing and planning. Four years ago we established a New Communities Group, and appointed a full-time New Communities Officer on a five year renewable contract. The New Communities Officer now contributes significantly to local planning at deanery and archdeaconry level. In the last few years we have seen our development aspirations rapidly moving to reality, as houses are springing up where there were once green fields.

A key challenge will be to resource and support the significant pastoral opportunities of major new housing developments in all three counties.

New areas of large scale housing development already committed for development in the next ten years by Archdeaconry:

Oxford 885 homes Dorchester 36,633 homes Particularly in Bicester, , Grove Berkshire 17,700 homes Particularly in , Wokingham and Buckinghamshire 31,447 homes Particularly in Milton Keynes and Aylesbury

These figures – which are shifting constantly – relate only to developments of over a thousand properties, but every deanery is experiencing some expansion of housing.

Fresh expressions

The Oxford Diocese pioneered Fresh Expressions of Church in the late 1990s with its development of a number of ‘Cutting Edge Ministries’, many of whom have now developed a life of their own as larger network churches (Contemplative Fire and i-Church) or integrated into the life of the deanery (MayBe). Since then many local churches have developed Café Church, Messy Church and creative ways of reaching out to their local community, as well as flexible patterns of services to meet the needs of their locality.

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Recently two Bishop’s Mission Orders were set up, one around the ministry of Latimer Minster, based on a farm near which seeks to nurture the faith of those in their 20s and 30s and grow leaders; and the other around St Mark’s, Milton Keynes, a Christian community seeking to reach out within the centre of the city to those who frequent the business and leisure sectors based there.

In Berkshire, the development of the large medieval town centre church of St Laurence Reading as a church for all ages with a clear mission focus on reaching out to troubled young people has been innovative and a model for potential work elsewhere by using the traditional deanery and pastoral structures of the church.

We believe that across the diocese, but perhaps especially in our new communities, we are increasingly being called to explore new models of church. This requires fresh thinking and creativity. In June 2015, we convened a successful day conference to explore contemporary approaches to church planting, including ‘grafting’ and partnership working. This, combined with the national research project into Fresh Expressions taking place in our diocese during 2016, will help inform our future mission planning.

Ecumenical partners

All the mainstream denominations have churches in the Diocese; with some forming part of Local Ecumenical Partnerships. The headquarters of the Baptist Union and the Baptist Missionary Society are at Didcot. The major centres of populations have sizeable congregations of the New Churches e.g. Vineyard, New Frontiers, Community Churches and Black-Majority Churches.

Ecumenical contacts are mainly managed in the three counties, each of which has its own part-time County Ecumenical Officer. (Milton Keynes has its own distinctive ecumenical structure: and since 2001, has operated as a joint body, the Mission Partnership, made up the Anglican Deanery, Baptist Connexion, Methodist Circuit and United Reformed District.) Relationships at the local level are generally good. At county and diocesan level the regional structures of the denominations vary. The Diocese and its Bishops relate to the three Roman Catholic Bishops (Birmingham, Northampton and Portsmouth), five different Methodist Districts, three URC Synods, two Baptist Regions, and one Salvation Army Division.

The Deaf Church is relatively well developed in the Diocese and is supported by a chaplaincy team. A number of other clergy and Licensed Lay Ministers have learned deaf signing.

Attendance

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Average Weekly 55,000 54,500 52,600 52,900 50,700 attendance (All ages) Average Sunday 45,700 46,100 44,400 45,300 43,700 attendance (all ages) Easter Attendees 74,900 74,700 73,300 72,700 66,200 Christmas Attendees 145,900 143,600 154,100 139,600 134,600 Infant Baptisms 5,790 5,660 5,770 5,420 5,510

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Adult Baptisms 400 430 440 430 430 Marriages 2,750 2,810 2,710 2,800 2,600 Funerals in Church 3,500 3,450 3,440 3,570 3,520 ‘Church’ funerals 3,310 3,160 2,930 2,940 2,730 crem/cemeteries Confirmations 1,557 1,350 1,486 1,342 1,181

A large number of people attend our churches every week. However, we are not complacent. Electoral roll figures have declined from 53,900 in 2007 to 51,900 in 2014. Given the current population figures of 2.3 million, which are set to increase, we recognise that there is much potential for church growth in the Diocese.

The age profile of congregations in the Diocese reflects the national trends. There are parishes with an encouraging profile of engagement across the age groups, but many parishes will struggle as their congregation ages.

(We are acutely aware that there are weaknesses in our data collection, and we are working with the national Church of England to improve on this, so that we can better interrogate the data and plan more strategically. A new part-time, fixed term post to help address this is being advertised at the time of writing.)

Finances

Oxford Diocese is blessed financially with income from glebe investments, which together with fees, rental and other investment income, provides over 20 per cent of the finance required for the annual budget. The balance is received through Parish Share.

Share receipts have historically been high (97 per cent of the amount requested). However a dip in Share payments over recent years led to a significant review of the method of allocation to try and ensure full transparency on how costs are allocated while encouraging generous mutual support. This review came at a time when the national economy was in difficulty and parishioners were feeling the pinch. The new scheme was launched in 2014. This has been a positive change with figures showing collection rates improving.

For the last year we have had no Christian Giving Adviser, but in the meantime a task group has helpfully brought fresh thinking to this area of work, focusing especially upon ways of encouraging generosity as well as on the practicalities of fundraising. We intend to make two appointments in 2016 to take forward this important work, which includes introducing the national Parish Giving scheme in our Diocese.

We are confident that the diocesan finances are well managed. However, some parishes inevitably believe that financial expenditure must be constrained, particularly at diocesan level. This may need to be challenged if we are to respond to an enlarged mission vision, including in relation to the areas of growing population.

A reserves policy of holding three months of gross expenditure at the beginning of the year is maintained and is sufficient to give security to the stipendiary clergy and 68 full- and part-

- 12 - time staff. The cost of parochial ministry represents about 80 per cent of Diocesan expenditure.

Just as our three counties contribute to the national economy (in excess of £45 billion annually), so the Diocese contributes financially to the National Church. We are aware of our prosperity in relation to other Dioceses and take seriously our financial contribution – currently eight per cent of our annual budget – as an important part of our mission.

A summary of diocesan finances can be found in Appendix 1.

Shaping Confident Collaborative Leadership

The churches in our three counties are served by almost 850 licensed ministers (ordained and lay). There are 293 male and 98 female stipendiary clergy, 232 self-supporting clergy and 209 Licensed Lay Ministers (Readers). We have the largest number of both female stipendiary and self-supporting (male and female) clergy of any Diocese in the Church of England.

The Diocese has a large number of chaplains in hospital and educational institutions and a number of honorary assistant Bishops. In addition we have a very large number of retired clergy, of whom a high percentage have permission to officiate. Many of our rural areas are dependent on them for ministry.

A particularly important feature of the Diocese of Oxford is the large number of ordinands. Historically, we have been an ‘exporting’ Diocese, although numbers have recently declined.

Those placed within the Diocese are, on average, 15 ordained to Stipendiary Ministry and 12 to SSM each year. However the large number of SSMs coming forward for ordination in the last 15 -20 years has begun to decline. The number of ordained clergy in their late 50s and early 60s is significant, both stipendiary and self-supporting.

Year Ordained Deacon in Oxford 2015 24 2014 20 2013 26 2012 30 2011 33 2010 39

Overall, it is clear that we need new thinking on models of ministry and the development of vocations in order to fulfil our mission in the future. The Diocese is taking seriously the

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Reform and Renewal agenda’s aspiration to increase the number of ordinands by 50 per cent. We have recently reshaped and expanded our DDO team, and are beginning to develop a new Vocations Strategy, which will focus on the fostering of lay vocations as much as ordained.

In 2014 we held three successful diocesan conferences. A clergy conference, the first for many years, held in Swanwick, brought together 300 people from across the four Areas. Secondly a weekend was organised for Licensed Lay Ministers. Finally we held a Festival (the ‘Grand Day Out’) in Oxford, aimed at the whole church family. Each event made the most of the diversity in the Diocese and the rich pool of resources on which we have to draw.

A key challenge is to oversee strategic planning for models of ministry in a Diocese that hasn’t yet been faced with the radical re-imagination of parochial structures. This will mean a significant commitment to fostering the discipleship and vocation of all people.

The Area System

The Area system and the way it works is an important and distinctive feature of the Diocese. It provides the Diocesan Bishop with real scope to set and deliver significant strategic and innovative approaches to church life within the Diocese. As our previous Bishops have shown, it also provides space to take on national responsibilities.

The acts with delegated powers throughout the Archdeaconry of Berkshire, and the Bishop of does the same in the Archdeaconry of Buckingham. Each works closely with the relevant .

In 2014 the former Oxford Archdeaconry was divided, giving the (working with the Archdeacon of Dorchester) delegated powers in Oxfordshire apart from the City of Oxford. The (also a Residentiary Canon of Christ Church) works with the Bishop of Oxford when s/he is acting as the Area Bishop.

People in the parishes tend to look to their Area Bishop for most practical purposes, all the more so the further away from Oxford. However, although the degree of delegation to Area Bishops in the Diocese is high, a deliberate decision was taken not to have Area Synods. Instead the Diocesan Synod provides a focus for the Diocese as a whole.

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The formal delegation of powers by the Diocesan Bishop to the three Area Bishops in Oxford is extensive. Formal discipline is the only major exclusion. Outside the deaneries of Oxford and Cowley, the pastoral care of the clergy is the responsibility of the Area Bishop, not the Diocesan. The Area Bishops and their archdeacons exercise Bishop’s patronage on appointments.

The Archdeaconries are of ancient foundation. However the creation of the new Archdeaconry of Dorchester now reflects county boundaries created by the 1974 Local Government reorganisation. (The one exception to this is the Buckingham Archdeaconry which, in addition to county Buckinghamshire, includes one deanery in the Unitary Authority of Slough.)

The Area Teams include a Parish Development Advisor (PDA), who works with parishes on their development programmes. The PDAs are part of the Department of Mission, allowing them to draw on central resources such as training, and to assist parishes in engaging with diocesan mission priorities.

The Areas also hold key responsibility for Mission and Pastoral oversight. Each Archdeaconry has a Mission and Pastoral Committee which deals with the detailed work within their jurisdictions. Because the Archdeaconry Mission and Pastoral Committees operate effectively, the work of the Diocesan Mission and Pastoral Committee has been assumed by Bishop’s Council, where the strategic issues and requirements can be considered as part of the forward planning of the Diocese as a whole.

A key challenge is to capitalise on the value of being part of an established Area system that can enable local ministry to flourish and release the Diocesan Bishop for ministry at a strategic and national level.

There are 29 deaneries in the Diocese. Of these, six are in the Archdeaconry of Berkshire, which is co-terminous with the Reading Episcopal Area. The ten deaneries of the Archdeaconry of Buckingham match the Buckingham Episcopal Area. The Dorchester Archdeaconry and Episcopal Area has eleven deaneries, and the Archdeaconry of Oxford just two.

The two deaneries (Oxford and Cowley) that form the City of Oxford make up the Oxford Episcopal Area which the Bishop of Oxford oversees. In these there are 28 benefices (32 parishes) and 45 parochial clergy (28 stipendiary, one House for Duty and 16 self-supporting clergy), along with six stipendiary curates and nine self-supporting curates. In addition there are many non-parochial clergy involved in the University of Oxford and other institutions who look in varying degrees to the Bishop for leadership and pastoral care.

In a Diocese with some very large archdeaconries (Buckingham and Dorchester are geographically two of the largest in the country) the deanery structure is significant. In the past few years each deanery has been encouraged to produce a Mission Action Plan (MAP), bringing together the aspirations and plans of the parishes, teams and benefices. These have been an important tool in directing the allocation of diocesan resources and informing pastoral reorganisation and deployment of clergy.

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The Archdeaconry MAPs have built directly on the work of the deaneries, and have helped identify the main strategic issues for the coming years. The issues identified include planning for development posts; housing provision and ministry for areas of new housing development; and the challenges of rural areas.

The Archdeaconry plans – both their commonalities and their differences –are a key tool as the Bishop’s Council develops strategy across the Diocese as a whole. They have also informed planning by the staff who make up the support services in Diocesan Church House.

Bishop’s Council and Diocesan Synod

The Diocesan Synod also acts as the Diocesan Board of Finance. Bishop’s Council members are the Directors and Trustees of the Board of Finance. Meetings are split between meetings of the Bishop’s Council, chaired by the Diocesan Bishop, and of the Oxford Diocesan Board of Finance (ODBF), chaired by the Chairman of the ODBF. The Bishop’s Council considers the work of the Diocesan Synod and other strategic matters, advising the Bishop as required.

The Bishop’s Council delegates much of its business to Boards and Committees and a number of other small groupings. The main focus of its work is the strategic oversight of the work of the Diocese, drawing together the various strands of activity including mission and pastoral development and financial planning.

The main Diocesan Boards and Councils are:

Bishop’s Council/Standing Committee of the ODBF * Board of Education Board of Mission* Buildings Management and Strategy Committee Diocesan Advisory Committee Diocesan Trustees Glebe Committee Partners in World Mission The Board of Patronage.

* Traditionally chaired by the Bishop of Oxford

Diocesan central services

For its size, the Diocese’s central administration is lean and efficient compared with the national average, achieving many economies of scale. The Bishop’s Staff and Heads of Department work together as the Senior Management Group (SMG) to consider strategic issues which are then fed into the appropriate Boards and Councils for discussion, policy development and implementation.

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The Bishop’s Staff currently comprises:

The Rt Revd Bishop of Dorchester The Ven. Archdeacon of Dorchester The Rt Revd Bishop of Reading The Ven. The Rt Revd Dr The Ven. * Archdeacon Buckingham The Ven. Archdeacon of Oxford The Very Revd Professor Martyn Percy Dean of Christ Church The Revd Canon John Rees Diocesan Registrar Rosemary Pearce Diocesan Secretary Andrew Anderson-Gear** Director of Mission Sarah Meyrick Director of Communications

*The Venerable Karen Gorham has recently been appointed as the new and will leave the diocese in January 2016.

**Andrew Anderson-Gear was appointed Director of Mission in October 2015, replacing , who is now the . The Department of Mission encompasses a broad range of work areas, including ministry, vocations, youth and children’s work and social justice, enabling a holistic approach to mission and ministry.

The Revd Canon John Rees, the Diocesan Registrar, is also the Canterbury Provincial Registrar and further acts as legal Counsel to the Anglican Communion. The Reverend and Worshipful Alexander McGregor, Deputy Legal Advisor to the Archbishops’ Council and the General Synod, serves as Chancellor to the Diocese.

The last two Bishops of Oxford have had their main office in Diocesan Church House. This is a cost effective arrangement which allows the Bishop and his/her staff access to all the facilities of a large office – in terms of reception and meeting room facilities, office equipment and IT support. The Bishop has desk space for his/her administrative staff and chaplain and easy access to the Director of Communications and other key colleagues. This has proved extremely beneficial on all sides, and is something that diocesan staff highly value. However, the Bishop will also have a study at home and, where appropriate, meetings or entertaining can take place there.

Around Easter 2016 the staff team will move from the current location in North Hinksey to new open plan offices in Kidlington. This will provide an exciting opportunity to enhance interdisciplinary working and offer greater hospitality to the Diocese as a whole.

In recent years the diocesan Bishop lived in a house leased from Wolfson College. This arrangement has now come to an end and the Church Commissioners have bought an attractive See house in Old Kidlington, just to the north of the Oxford ring road. This will be extremely convenient for reaching the new offices, and offers an excellent link to London via the new Oxford Parkway rail station.

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Making a Difference in the World

Emmanuel Church, Bicester was originally a church planted from St Aldate’s and St Ebbe’s in Oxford in 2002, welcomed into the St Edburg’s parish in Bicester. The congregation first met in Bure Park School and in December 2012 moved into its own building, and has grown from 25 people to around 200, including 75 children.

The Church aims to be a focal point in the community. Part of its outreach includes the Bicester Food Bank, the brainchild of a former member of Emmanuel and now an ecumenical project. Emmanuel also has three Christians Against Poverty coaches who run courses on money management. The church also regularly runs the ‘The Marriage Course’. Since 2004 Emmanuel has partnered with King’s Revival Church in Negombo in Sri Lanka with its own ministry to serving prisoners and ex- offenders and running a Bible School.

The South East corner of the Diocese is in London’s shadow. It acts as magnet for the population. West Berkshire, West, South and North Oxfordshire and North Buckinghamshire (with the exception of Milton Keynes) are rural, while the M4 is the UK’s ‘Silicon Valley’, with companies such as Vodafone in Newbury, Oracle in Reading, Hewlett Packard and many other tech companies in Bracknell.

As well as the University of Oxford, the University of Reading is well established as is Oxford Brookes University. Other universities are the University of West London, Buckingham New University, and the Open University has its centre of administration in Milton Keynes. There is an independent university in Buckingham, the Joint Services College at and the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst.

Approximately 15 per cent of the population of the Diocese registered minority ethnicity in the 2011 census.

There have been significant changes in the declared faith statistics for the Diocese over the past decade. The percentage of population declaring themselves to be Christian has fallen from 70 per cent to 58 per cent, with those of no faith rising from 17 per cent to 26 per cent. There has also been an increase in other faiths, most notably Muslims, which is now

- 18 - five per cent of the total. The other faith populations are concentrated in urban areas such as Slough, Reading, Oxford, Milton Keynes and High Wycombe. Within the Diocese the number of ‘Presence and Engagement’ parishes has risen from 10 in 2001 to 29 in 2011.

The Diocesan Committee for Interfaith Relations oversees all the work in the area of interfaith matters, which are important throughout the Diocese. This committee, chaired by the Archdeacon of Oxford, co-ordinates a variety of events and arranges regular meetings for clergy in Presence and Engagement Parishes.

Social geography

The social geography of the Diocese is diverse. It stretches from the end of the runway of Heathrow Airport to the Cotswolds. Agriculture is becoming less important to the rural economy. There remains, however, a significant pastoral and spiritual need in these communities. Pubs, post offices and chapels are disappearing from villages, shops are increasingly difficult to maintain. There are many good examples of churches being developed for community use in innovative ways, including shops, schools and post offices, particularly in these rural communities.

Overall, employment is high with an emphasis on high-tech industry, science parks and research institutions in and around Oxford. The Armed Forces are also a significant employer in several parts of the Diocese. Many in East Berkshire and South East Buckinghamshire commute into London, as do those from further afield in Bicester and Milton Keynes due to good rail links. The Diocese has a significant number of senior professional and business people. Many people have high levels of income, although house prices are also high and there are significant levels of debt.

Although the average rates of child, working-age and pensioner poverty in the Oxford Diocese are among the lowest in the country, the increased development of Church Food Banks, debt advice and support of Credit Unions has revealed a significant level of need in the Diocese, with areas of deprivation rising. Approximately one per cent of parishes in the Diocese are in the 10 per cent most deprived parishes in the country with urban priority areas existing in Slough, Oxford, Reading, High Wycombe, Aylesbury, Banbury and Milton Keynes.

The social justice area of the Board of Mission acts as the central focus for diocesan wide activities for mission and outreach, supporting a wide variety of local initiatives.

The Diocese has a long history of social engagement amongst which PACT (Parents and Children Together) is a good example. Started in 1910 as a diocesan initiative to support needy families, today PACT is an independent charity providing adoption and fostering services and community projects aimed at strengthening families, and has a turnover of £4 million. The Diocese still provides some financial support to PACT.

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A large number of Non-Governmental Organisations are based in the Diocese, including Oxfam and Christian NGOs such as Asylum Welcome, Opportunity International, Open Doors, World Vision, Viva and the Windle Trust.

Chaplaincies

A large number of clergy (95 stipendiary) work in chaplaincies that are wholly or largely funded by other institutions, but which require a Bishop’s licence. These include people in the theological colleges and the Theological Faculty of Oxford University as well as those studying for further degrees. Most Oxford colleges have chaplains, though these have tended to become part-time and time-limited positions in recent years with an emphasis on the pastoral rather than the academic. There are ecumenical chaplaincy teams at Oxford Brookes and the University of Reading, to which the Diocese contributes financially.

Many of the FE Colleges in the Diocese have some chaplaincy links and some of the large number of independent schools in the three counties also fund full-time chaplains. There are now chaplains appointed to other secondary schools. The headquarters of the UCCF is among the mission agencies in the Diocese. Chaplaincy is one way in which the Diocese is engaging with the world of work. The Archdeacon of Oxford holds the remit to support the work of chaplains across the Diocese. There are a significant number of prison chaplains, hospital chaplains and chaplains to the armed forces, of whom many integrate into their local deaneries. A full-time police chaplain (himself an Anglican priest) has developed a remarkable team of chaplains of many faiths working right across the Thames Valley. The Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, the Joint Services College at Shrivenham and Broadmoor also have chaplains, and there is a town centre chaplain in High Wycombe and a chaplain to the science park at Harwell.

Overseas links

Currently the Oxford Diocese has formal links with three overseas Dioceses. The oldest of these, the link with the Dioceses of Kimberley and Kuruman in South Africa, began in 1993 and has active Link Committees on both sides. The two Dioceses support each other through prayer and fellowship. There are a good number of direct parish-to-parish links, active support of clergy training activities, and Oxford has provided funding for a Social Development Officer in Kimberley and Kuruman. A ‘Link Summit’ is planned for September 2017. The Bishop-to- Bishop relationship is seen as key to the continued flourishing of this link.

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The other two links are with the Diocese of Växjö in the Church of Sweden and the Diocese of Nandyal in the ecumenical Church of South India. Our journey with friends from these Dioceses involves us building relationships, praying together and jointly working on diocesan programmes. These include thinking about evangelism and working together to make a difference to people in need.

All the formal overseas links are co-ordinated through the diocesan Partnership in World Mission committee, currently chaired by the Bishop of Reading. Alongside these, across the Diocese, there are numerous parish links with Anglican and other communities globally, which enrich the life of the local church.

Making Disciples

The Oxford Diocese is a place where religion – and Christianity in particular— is contested with strong forces on both sides.

Although historically the tradition of the Diocese of Oxford was for a long time associated with the Oxford Movement, in more recent times the evangelical parishes in the Diocese have thrived. Most, though not all, of the churches with more than 75 children and young people attending on a Sunday are of an evangelical tradition and these are also by and large our ‘very large’ churches.

The large churches in the Diocese are both a challenge and a resource. While Living Faith has successfully united and given focus to the majority of small and medium parishes up and down the Diocese, many of the larger churches follow their own agenda and have traditionally tended to operate independently. The missional imagination of these churches is a significant (and often untapped) resource and could be beneficial to many parts of the Diocese.

A key challenge is to develop a diocesan vision and strategy that engages creatively with the Areas and gives coherence to the Diocese as a whole. This will include enabling our larger churches to play a strategic part in the life of the Diocese, where their strength can help unlock the mission potential elsewhere.

A challenge for all Dioceses in the coming years will be the debate on human sexuality. There are places in the Diocese where issues of human sexuality are particularly painful. In Oxford Diocese, with its very wide range of traditions, this debate will need prayerful pastoral guidance from its Bishop to respond to all points of view.

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Shared Conversations

Knowing the original timetable for the appointment of the next Bishop of Oxford – and given the sensitivities around issues of sexuality in some parts of the diocese – we asked to be one of the last dioceses to take part in these conversations, and to have 24 rather than 12 places. As a result our own Conversations will take place in early March 2016 in partnership with Diocese. The opportunity to take part was widely advertised and there were over 50 applicants. The Bishop of Dorchester promised those applying (who had to say what they hoped to bring to the conversation) a high degree of confidentiality so nothing has been made public about who is taking part. Having said that he is delighted that people are signed up from right across the different spectra of age, gender, sexuality

and theology including the ‘muddled middle’. Last September we organised a half day

conference, based on the Guildford model, giving three different perspectives on the current

debates. In addition the Bishop of Dorchester is organising, with David Porter’s team, an

additional Conversation (we hope in May) in the belief that having a total of 75 people around the Diocese who have experienced these at first hand could prove a ‘game changer’ in terms of handling disagreements.

As part of its response to the ‘Making Disciples’ theme the Department of Mission has been working with the Revd Robin Gamble and his team to use the ‘Leading your Church into Growth’ course in a local context. So far three, one-week residential courses have been held, along with some days in the Diocese. These have attracted around 300 participants, with a further week planned for 2016. This course has been supported by the Bishops and Archdeacons, who have attended the residential alongside clergy colleagues and parish representatives.

The Diocese also sets aside funding for mission. Over recent years this has allowed us to develop a Mission Fund allocated on an Area basis which has encouraged a wide range of activities including Family Fun Days, youth events, a memory club, community outreach and small grants to support deanery activity.

A new initiative has started in the Archdeaconry of Berkshire, which we hope will prove a valuable pilot for the rest of the Diocese. Partnership for Missional Church (PMC) is a patient, long-term faith-filled, spiritual process which seeks deep culture change by helping local churches embed spiritual disciplines for growth. Over three years, congregations are encouraged and equipped to discern what God is doing in their place and what God’s preferred and promised future for them might be. Unlike other programmes, PMC does not offer technical solutions to missional challenges, but seeks to build confidence by embracing adaptive change. Dioceses that have done this have seen a dramatic expansion of lay involvement and an increased willingness to align planned activities with budget.

Oxford Diocese has a young population. Its population is growing at 16,000 a year and the predicted growth into new areas of housing will be largely of young people and families. It is

- 22 - also a Diocese with 78,000 students in undergraduate and postgraduate education – larger than the population of Maidenhead or Aylesbury. Many students are from overseas, and form 62 per cent of 10,000 postgraduates in Oxford University. This is a missed opportunity that needs development.

A key challenge: To be an intelligent and articulate voice for God and the Church in the three counties and beyond, able to live and teach the faith and inspire people to join us in the Way of Christ. The proportion of people with ‘no faith’ has increased markedly in recent years. This needs to be tackled and turned around.

Children and young people

In common with the Church of England nationally, many of our churches, particularly in our most rural areas, have disappointingly few children and young people in their congregation. But this is not by any means universal across the Diocese. In 2012, 20 per cent of churchgoers in the Diocese were under 20, and more than a hundred people are employed across the Diocese in a youth, children or family role and work mainly with children. These are mostly appointed by individual parishes and are supported by the Diocesan Youth and Children’s Advisers.

In the last few years ‘Youth and Child Friendly Awards’ have been developed to encourage churches in their welcome and integration of young people. So far 14 churches have been through an audit process and awarded recognition.

Lighthouse is a holiday club run by Christians from local churches in Buckinghamshire. It began in and in 1987 when a group of six Christians from local churches became convinced that God was calling them to work with children and young people from the area during the school holidays. The organisers planned daily sessions of Bible teaching and craft for children aged from 5 to 11, in a marquee with a main stage. 370 children turned up on the first day and came back for the rest of the week. In the evening the marquee was used to run activities for teenagers in the area, many of whom helped to look after the children during the day. By 1989 the number of children wanting to attend had risen so much that it was necessary to divide the children up into age groups. In 1999 over two thousand children were registered and eleven marquees, plus the village hall were all put to use. Ever increasing numbers led the team to seek other locations nearby.

Lighthouse began in 2000 with around 650 children in attendance; In 2002 Lighthouse Burnham and were born giving access to 3000 children. High Wycombe Lighthouse began in 2006, Cressex in 2011, in 2013 with Lighthouse Marlow also running.

Throughout its growth the organisers have never lost sight of the fact that Lighthouse is an ecumenical Christian enterprise. In the frontline are the Lighthouse Keepers who lead a group of 10 – 15 children each, with one or more lamplighters (usually the teenage helpers). Christian adults take all sorts of roles in the week from First aid, prayer support, security to sound and lighting and administration. Now Lighthouse brings the church into contact with around 8000 children, and 8000 children in contact with the Christian faith. Free for those who attend, each year God has provided in amazing ways for all the needs.

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Schools

The Diocese has a significant number of children attending its schools. There are a very large number of independent schools including Eton College and also an unusually large number of church schools, 12 secondary and 270 primary, serving more than 55,000 pupils in total.

The Oxford Diocesan Board of Education (ODBE), currently chaired by the Bishop of Buckingham, is an incorporated charitable company. The Education department plays an important role in mission and ministry; as the largest DBE in England and Wales, measured by numbers of schools, the Board is frequently at the leading edge of both policy and practice in shaping the national landscape of change which has been catalysed by the Government’s academies programme in recent years.

Two thirds of diocesan schools are Voluntary Controlled, where church interests are in the minority, which gives us particular challenges and opportunities; a church primary school in Oxford Diocese is typically the only primary school in a village, although the varied demographic means some of our C of E schools have as many as 95 per cent of pupils from Muslim and Hindu backgrounds. Church schools represent 30 per cent of the sector in the Diocese. Nationally Oxford Diocese has five per cent of C of E schools and seven per cent of pupils.

It is important that diocesan schools are inclusive, distinctively Christian, effective and serve their local community; strategies are centred on local collaboration and choice, rather than centralised control, whilst maintaining excellent relationships and offering outstanding services on an opt-in basis so as to keep the channels of communication open. In 2012 a diocesan multi-academy trust was established (ODST) which, over the past year, has expanded from five to 17 schools; there are eight other such trusts across the Diocese run locally using schools’ own expertise, with many more expected in the future.

Working closely with local authorities, the DfE, local community schools, other sponsors and multi-academy trusts the ODBE seeks to ensure that all schools can work collaboratively towards delivering education of the highest quality. The size of the diocesan education team has doubled in the last three years and the grant income provided by parish share towards the work is supplemented by other grant funding and revenue raised from delivering services to schools, 95 per cent of which are now buying into a service level agreement the Diocese offers. This is the highest level of buy-in since the establishment of such an agreement.

Eighty-seven per cent of diocesan church schools are currently rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, higher than the national average of 80 per cent (Ofsted 2015). The priority remains to continue to improve the quality of support to our church schools and academies to ensure their effectiveness as Church of England places of learning.

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Importantly, as well as our church schools, the diocesan education strategy includes community schools in its work, to promote the building of bridges between church and all local schools, support Christian teachers and develop significant links.

There is a need for the next Bishop of Oxford to engage in, encourage and facilitate others in outreach and ministry, particularly among young people and students to enable them to explore issues of life, faith, death and meaning.

In conclusion, we are prayerfully looking forward to welcoming a new Bishop at this exciting time in our journey. The wealth of resources, rapidly changing demographics and range of diversity within the See offer both opportunities and challenges for an imaginative and strategic leader.

There is much to celebrate …. but much to do.

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A prayer for the appointment of the new Bishop

Gracious Lord and shepherd of your pilgrim Church, We bless you and praise you that you have gathered us, from across this Diocese, to be one flock, within one fold.

By your Spirit, Give us wisdom, courage and faith as we seek a faithful pastor who will sustain us on the journey feed us with word and sacrament and nurture our Living Faith inspiring us to follow you ever more closely.

This we ask in the name of Jesus, our loving, faithful shepherd who is the beginning and the end of all that we are and seek and do. Amen.

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Appendix 1 Oxford Diocese Financial information for Diocesan Profile 2015

SUMMARY STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

Year ended 31 December 2014 2013 2012 £000 £000 £000

INCOMING RESOURCES

Generated funds: Voluntary income 18,545 17,935 17,621 Investment income 3,722 3,569 3,259 22,267 21,504 20,880 Charitable activities 2,464 2,590 2,226 Other incoming resources 1,098 477 314

Total incoming resources 25,829 24,571 23,420

RESOURCES EXPENDED

Cost of generating funds 595 578 720 Charitable activities 22,369 22,560 22,593 Governance costs 171 184 227 Other resources expended 287 100 216

Total resources expended 23,422 23,422 23,756

Net incoming resources/(resources expended) 2,407 1,149 (336)

RECOGNISED (LOSSES)/GAINS

Gains/(losses) on the revaluation of fixed assets for the charity's own use 20,210 14,854 195 Gains on investments 4,467 9,042 3,392 Actuarial gain/(loss) on defined benefit pension scheme (452) 41 (1,020)

24,225 23,937 2,567

Net movement in funds 26,632 25,086 2,231 Total funds, 1 January 359,749 334,663 332,432

Total funds, 31 December 386,381 359,749 334,663

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SUMMARY BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31 DECEMBER

2014 2013 2012 £000 £000 £000

FIXED ASSETS Tangible assets 276,347 255,988 241,416 Investments 103,552 97,278 89,445 379,899 353,266 330,861 CURRENT ASSETS Debtors and loans due after one year 599 704 867 Debtors and loans due within one year 1,020 2,560 906 Investments 6,822 7,632 6,997 Cash at bank and in hand 2,611 1,754 2,223 11,052 12,650 10,993 CREDITORS Creditors falling due within one year (1,210) (2,407) (3,351)

NET CURRENT ASSETS 9,842 10,243 7,642

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 389,741 363,509 338,503

CREDITORS Creditors falling due after more than one year (2,561) (3,129) (2,917)

NET ASSETS EXCLUDING PENSION SCHEME 387,180 360,380 335,586

Defined benefit pension scheme deficit (799) (631) (923)

NET ASSETS INCLUDING PENSION SCHEME 386,381 359,749 334,663

FUNDS OF THE CHARITY:

Endowment funds 3,139 2,934 2,675 Restricted funds 312,483 293,590 273,053 Total restricted funds 315,622 296,524 275,728

Designated funds 63,094 56,611 53,359 General funds 8,464 7,245 6,499 Pension reserve (799) (631) (923) Total unrestricted funds 70,759 63,225 58,935

TOTAL CHARITY FUNDS 386,381 359,749 334,663

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Appendix 2 Diocese of Oxford Statement of Need for the Bishop of Oxford

Person Specification:

Spiritual Life  Deeply rooted in the Christian faith and its power to transform people and communities  Has a deep spiritual life that will nurture a challenging ministry  Has the insight to see and encourage what the Spirit is doing Theology  An intelligent thinker, curious about people and ideas, able to think creatively and engage with confidence in an academic and educational context Vision for mission and  Challenging, innovative and purposeful in relation to evangelism delivery and growth  Proven ability to inspire others into a vision for mission and evangelism  Able to turn vision into action and transformation  Proven ability to communicate an infectious, considered and attractive faith Engagement in community  Evidence of intelligent interaction with secular culture issues life and public issues  A proven, gifted communicator in all media  Demonstrated a willingness to challenge complacency in Church and community  Experienced in transformative community engagement  A proven collegial style of respectful partnership working with secular and faith partners  Committed and able to work effectively with inter-faith colleagues  Politically astute and able to play a role in national political life Formation of others  A record of encouraging all kinds of vocations and with a worked out understanding of the place of discipleship, lay and ordained ministries in the life of the church  A proven track record of making good appointments, and promoting and developing gifted people  Demonstrated ability to engage with young people and win their respect  A gifted teacher and preacher Management of resources  Proven ability to work collaboratively to discern vision and and structures values, and strategically to implement them  An able financial steward

Leadership and oversight of  A leader of leaders with the ability and humility to command the others respect of senior colleagues, enabling and developing a mutually accountable senior team  A proven record of effective leadership and management of a senior leadership team

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 A resilient leader, able to lead, motivate and resource themselves as well as others Working with others  Experience of drawing people together across church and faith traditions and of winning the respect of those outside the church  Proven ability to delegate effectively to lay and clergy colleagues  Demonstrable commitment to ecumenical and partnership working Safeguarding  Dedicated to creating an environment which is safe for children and vulnerable adults  Equipped to work with other agencies and public bodies on safeguarding Other  Committed to living out the Five Guiding Principles in Church life

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