Diocese of York

Living Christ’s Story

‘Introducing our Consultation’ video transcript, February 2021

Archbishop Stephen Cottrell Archbishop of York

Dear sisters and brothers, it's good to be speaking to you all and I'm just sorry that we can't meet face to face at the moment. It's really frustrating, but I'm looking forward to the time when we will be able to get together and I can get to know the people and places of the great Diocese of York. I've been Archbishop for, well, quite a few months now, and it's been good to get an idea of what's happening in the diocese over the past few years as you've been doing a lot of mission planning and putting ideas into practice.

But what does it really mean to be the church? For me, it means to be a Jesus Christ centred and a Jesus Christ shaped people. What I mean is that, first of all, we hear the story of Jesus. The story of God's love for the world shown us in Jesus, sending his son into the world for love's sake and how Jesus lived: what he said, how he died and overcame death and the wonderful good news that God has raised Jesus to life. This is the great message of the Christian faith.

It is this message which defines us and reaches into our deepest selves, and it becomes a part of us because we know that we become ourselves – that we know ourselves; that we can only make sense of our lives – because of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. So that's what it is to be a church that is Christ centred. And then secondly, we are people who, today, live out the story of what Jesus is doing in the world, and by the power of God's spirit, and through the life and work of his church.

We are living and sharing that story with others. We are Jesus Christ shaped. We hope that we can encourage other people in their journeys of faith. We offer care to other people. We strive to make the Christian voice heard in society and we point to the need to safeguard the planet itself. We're learners in Jesus' school of discipleship, and we are ambassadors for Jesus' way in the world.

This is a vision of what it means to be missionary disciples centred on Christ and shaped by Jesus Christ, and we're going to have some conversations, a kind of consultation around the Diocese about how that vision of Living Christ’s Story – of being Jesus Christ centred and Jesus Christ shaped – helps us to become more like Jesus Christ. How that vision can be a reality, and how we can work together to make it fully a reality for you in your life, in your home, in your family, in your household, in your community, and of course in your local church – and this is an exciting but also a challenging time for the church in this Diocese. We are committed to ensuring that there is a viable, flourishing, sustainable ministry in every community. We want there to be more church, not less, but we know that will mean a variety of ministries, and we call upon everyone – every member of our church, young and old – to join in this consultation, as together we seek where God is calling us.

Bishop Paul Ferguson Bishop of Whitby

There's a lot of good things that have happened over the past few years. Since we adopted our diocesan goals of ‘Reach, Grow, Sustain’, we've seen the start of the Multiply initiative with ministers around the Diocese, who have a special commission to work among younger adults.

Mustard Seed is a program based in parts of the Diocese where there's poverty and things can be tough, helping people to grow in confidence to live out and share their faith, setting up community hubs where people can find welcome hospitality and support, experience God's love, explore faith, and encounter Jesus.

Some parishes have been working with our Generous Giving team looking at transforming their finances and thinking about how giving is an essential part of Christian discipleship. And of course, there are hundreds of places in the Diocese where we're doing today what Christians have done for centuries; praying, worshipping, making the most of our church buildings and sacred space available to the whole community and meeting people's needs as a response to the love of God that we ourselves experience. All of that is just great.

So we're looking at how we can continue the best of this. We're thinking about what could be different to fulfil God's calling to us as the Diocese of York over the coming years, and there are two things that we're going to be looking at, especially ministry and finance.

Revd Fiona Meyer-Jones Vicr of Northallerton

So let's just deal with finance.

The members of our Diocesan Synod are fully behind this consultation process, which isn't all about money, but we do need to address squarely together. The fact that our finances need transforming if we are to grow in mission. Since the Free Will Offer was introduced a good few years ago now, we've seen a lot of generosity, but the total amount of money coming into our Common Fund has been static, which means, of course with inflation that actually it's dropped significantly in real terms.

Now we've managed this situation by us holding back on some of the spending that we'd otherwise really have wanted to make. At the same time, the National Church is having to reduce the amount of financial support that it gives to diocese such as ours and the plain fact is that we need to find ways as the Diocese of York of living within our means so that we have enough money to spend well and to make the mission of God's church here possible.

How we do that is a question for all of us to take part in addressing.

Bishop Alison White Bishop of Hull Crucially, how might our ministry and our mission evolve over the next few years? How can our shared resources, including those of the office in York, best serve and enrich and enable what happens across the whole of the Diocese? In the big picture, we hope and we pray to see more ministries flourish and especially our lay ministries. Together, we are committed to places where there's poverty and where life is tough and to helping our young people grow in faith. The question is how can we make the best use of the paid ministries that we can afford? How could the role of vicars evolve and what priorities shall we set together?

Now, no one can give detailed answers to that right now (and nor should they) because the whole point is that we're beginning a process of conversations about ministry and mission, and what we long to become all around the Diocese. And that's where you come in.

Dr Nick Land Chair, House of Laity, York Diocesan Synod

Our Deaneries are key to turning our shared diocesan goals into local goals. So there will be Deanery Leadership teams meeting in February and we're inviting those teams to send us a first response by Easter.

There's also going to be an opportunity for parishes to be involved in the consultation later on in the summer, and there'll be information about that going out in due course.

I understand that everyone is under pressure at the moment, but the reason that we're starting now is to allow time for praying and thinking, and to ensure that everybody's voice will be heard.

Lorna Heatley Diocesan Communications Officer

I'm Lorna and I'm one of the Diocese communications team. The best conversations happen when we've got good information. So we've provided an information pack for Deaneries and Parishes that will be available on the website (at www.dioceseofyork.org.uk/living-christs-story). We'll provide a short version and then links to more information for those that want to take a deeper dive. There are also going to be some virtual roadshow shown on the dates below. Again, it's a shame we can't meet in person, but everyone is welcome.

Archbishop Stephen Cottrell Archbishop of York

So please do take part, and pray that we really can be that church of missionary disciples; that church that God wants us to be. A few years ago, we started thinking about our diocesan goals with the question, “Who isn't church making contact with, and what has to be different?” It's vital that we are a church where people can be welcomed and grow in faith, no matter what their circumstances or background. That's what it means to be more diverse.

The reality is that we must learn to be a humbler church, relying only on Christ and not on privilege, riches or human power, recognising that we have got things wrong in the past and that we probably will get things wrong in the future. We must be simple. Because although we inevitably have rules and processes that go with being a big organisation, our first love (which we must never lose sight of) is Christ and service of others for his sake, and that's something that's been very apparent during the COVID pandemic. Despite all the difficulties and restrictions, the life of prayer and the life of service goes on; these things – that simple following of Jesus – are what defines us. But we can also be bolder because we have the Gospel in our hearts – in our DNA – and I want it also to be on our lips, so that in words and actions we can share the beautiful message of what God has done in Jesus Christ. We can be part of the most wonderful transformative movement the world has ever known: the church, us, the people of God, men and women who have been so impacted by the life and example of Jesus that we have risen up and are following in his way. Humbler, simpler, bolder, Living Christ’s Story, a church of missionary disciples; younger, more diverse, sustaining and growing the church in every community. This is our vision.

It isn't going to be easy, but if we work together and with the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, I believe that God is calling us to a new spring time of discipleship for the church here in the Diocese of York.

www.dioceseofyork.org.uk/living-christs-story