THE RT REVD ROBERT WICKHAM BISHOP OF EDMONTON 27 Thurlow Road, , NW3 5PP [email protected] Tel: 0203 837 5250

Bishop’s Statement for Christ Church Cockfosters

Christ Church is a vibrant Church, serving the exciting community of Cockfosters. We have an impressive history of numerical and spiritual growth, where there is a significant “can do” attitude within the leadership of the Church, along with a desire to not coast. The Church building, hall and people all point towards God’s interaction with the local community, and speak loudly of a local church which has, at its root, a missionary zeal for our locality, a desire to offer good and thoughtful teaching and preaching, and a desire to offer a pastoral place of welcome and hospitality.

Clearly, Christ Church has reached an important moment in its ministry, and I believe there to be four main challenges which the new priest will need to address.

These are:

Firstly, building upon a solid platform, we are looking for a new priest who will focus upon developing our healthy models for church growth, in partnership with other churches in the area. There is a great scope to work with the Senior Staff of the Diocese and others in the Deanery to enable this growth, aided by the pioneering work of the Bishop of . The new priest must take seriously the need to discern new forms of Church presence, and be excited by the possibility of new forms of church which continue to reach out to the wider community in mission.

Secondly, the congregation is drawn from people from a number of different socio- economic communities within the locality, along with people of different ages. There will be the task for the new priest to help develop a local leadership, and congregational make up which continues to reflect the age, ethnicity, and economic diversity of the local community, so Christ Church is seen as a place where everyone in the community might find a home and belong. Given that 24% of the population live on their own, there is ample need for supporting those who live in isolation. There is a greater than usual proportion of older people in this parish (26%). In addition, the creative use of children and youth work is key to this task of reflecting the wider community within the gathered worshipping community, building ever greater links with the church school.

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Thirdly, there is the expectation of discerning, fostering and supporting vocations within the , to a variety of ministries. Explicitly, the Edmonton Area has a paucity of clergy from BAME communities, and it is important within church communities like Christ Church, which serves a parish where 44% of the population would not class themselves as white British, that there is a healthy environment to foster new vocations to a variety of different leadership roles within the life of the parish and wider church.

Finally, there is the need for creative engagement with other churches within the Deanery in a time of significant change. This particular deanery has many opportunities for partnership, given its size and its economic diversity. The new priest therefore must have a heart for working with others in bringing the Gospel through words and actions into new contexts, recognising Jesus’ heart for the poor. In order for each church in the Deanery to flourish, we are looking for clergy who are able to respect and indeed pray for each church to thrive in a spirit of generosity. This means that Chapter and Synod will need to be high priority for the new priest, as they play their role in developing a cohesion for our mission across Enfield.

These challenges, if faced with enthusiasm, along with the vision set out in the Mission Action Plan and the Diocesan Capital Vision 2020, offer an exciting and rewarding ministry for the right man.

+Robert Edmonton November 2017

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