A New Appointment to the See of Doncaster a Statement of Need from the Bishop of Sheffield

A new appointment to the See of Doncaster A statement of need from the Bishop of Sheffield

Introduction Following the announcement of the forthcoming retirement of the Bishop of Doncaster (at the end of September this year) I am writing in accordance with sections 12 and 17 of the Dioceses, Pastoral and Mission Measure, to request permission to fill this suffragan see.

A continuing Vision The Diocese of Sheffield serves around 1.25 million people across South Yorkshire and the East Riding. Our vision statement has informed the strategic direction of the Diocese for a decade: The Diocese of Sheffield is called to grow a sustainable network of Christ–like, lively and diverse Christian communities in every place which are effective in making disciples and in seeking to transform our society and God’s world. We long to see sustainable Christian communities in every place. We long to see the Body of Christ grow in depth and in numbers. We long to see every disciple, and the whole Church, better serving our local communities and wider society.

An Escalating Challenge However, our capacity to realise this vision and to minister effectively to our communities is threatened by what we are calling ‘the four-headed beast’ — ‘ABCD’, where A is for declining Attendances; B is for Budgets in deficit; C is for Church Structures unfit for mission; and D is for unbalanced Demographics, weighted dramatically to older people and to long-established rather than more contemporary congregations and patterns of worship. In terms of attendance (2016 data), the Diocese of Sheffield sits in the bottom quartile of Church of England dioceses for per capita attendance (just 1.3% for adults on Sun- days), and for attendance decline in the past decade (-12%). In 1989, over 20,000 adults worshipped routinely in our churches on Sundays; thirty years later, the number is just over 12,000. Draft 2018 figures do not suggest an improved picture. In terms of budgets, in 2009 parish share revenues amounted to £4.8m; in 2018, they had fallen to £4.3m. Similarly, funding from the Church Commissioners (aside from SDF grants) amounted to £2.1m in 2016, but has fallen to £1.8m this year. Together with falling fees income, falling revenues from rents and investments and reduced grant income, this represents a serious financial challenge. In terms of church structures, buildings are a particular headache. Even Doncaster Minster, arguably the second most iconic church building in the Diocese, has no kitchen or toilet; and its fixed pews significantly restrict the kind of activity it can host. Many of our buildings are not located where we would site them if we were building now; may are not

1 configured as flexibly as we would design them if we were building now; and many require alarming amounts of investment to keep the fabric sound. In addition, our key clergy and lay leaders are often held back from mission activity by the burden of compliance of one sort or another. In terms of demographics (2016 data), whereas on average 1.3% of the population of the Diocese routinely worships in a Church of England church on Sundays, this figure is not uniform for every age-group. It is 3.1% of those aged 66-75, 2.8% of those aged 76-85, 2.1% of those aged 86+ and 1.9% of those aged under 11; by contrast, it is just 0.9% of those aged 25-45 and 0.2% of those aged 18-24. Draft 2018 figures do not suggest an improved picture.

Renewed, Released, Rejuvenated! To meet this escalating challenge, the senior staff consulted widely with deaneries and other bodies through 2017-18, and in October 2018 launched the new strategy to realise a flourishing and generous Diocese of Sheffield by 2025: renewed, released and rejuvenated! We seek to be a Diocese renewed in the grace and power of God, by a constant reli- ance on the Holy Spirit. To this end, we have created a prayer community whose members commit to praying daily for the renewal of the Diocese. The community has 340 members so far: we are seeking to recruit 2025. We have composed a Diocesan Vision Prayer to be said daily and we are heartened by the number of people and congregations making regular use of it. We seek to be a Diocese released from the constraints which hold us back from mission, and released, as the whole people of God for the whole mission of God. To this end, we have begun a radical assessment of our church buildings to determine which are assets in mission (or have the potential to be) and which are liabilities. We have been taking part in a learning community for Setting God’s People Free and have a number of initiatives un- derway to enable all the baptised to realise their calling to be Lights for Christ in the world. We seek to be a Diocese rejuvenated — partly through a dedicated and sustained programme of outreach to families, children and young people (the Centenary Project and related SDF Children, Young People and Families Project) and partly through the creation of 75 new congregations, including 25 in our church schools. We are encouraged by the number of parishes whose 2019 Mission Action Planning returns include a commitment to es- tablishing a new congregation within the next three years. This process will undoubtedly be greatly helped by our successful SDF bid to establish Resourcing Churches in Rotherham, Goole and Wath — we expect to have 12 such churches across the full geographical and theological breadth of the Diocese by 2025.

Just 75 stipendiary incumbents? However, the Diocese of Sheffield is also in the bottom quartile of Church of England dioceses for for stipendiary clergy per capita (less than 1 per 10,000 people). Just 20 years ago, in 1999, there were 155 stipendiary incumbents in the Diocese — together with a raft

2 of chaplains, many of whom (especially industrial chaplains) were on the diocesan payroll. This month, in May 2019, there are just 97.5 — a drop of over 33% in two decades. But in 2019, we can really only afford 90: we can only balance the budget this year by selling off property — not a good or sustainable course of action. We have taken the mitigating action of declaring a moratorium on recruitment to stipendiary incumbency posts — but this is not a sustainable option either. It would appear that this decline has been budget driven throughout, but with little thought given either to how to reverse this chronic trend, or how to deploy the reduced number of stipendiary incumbents, who have simply been spread more thinly across the Di- ocese. This has had a demonstrably negative effect both on clergy wellbeing and on clergy effectiveness in mission, despite real progress in generating and nurturing vocations to self- supporting ordained ministry and by making more strategic use of retired clergy. There is no reason to suppose the trend will reverse itself; indeed given the demo- graphic profile of our congregations and the fact that our most faithful attenders are often also our most generous givers, there is every reason to fear that falling revenues via Com- mon Fund in the next ten years will reduce still further the number of stipendiary incumbents we can afford. The simple fact is that if the present trend continues to 2029 (and there are reasons to fear it might actually steepen), we will only be able to afford 75. In my view, it would be reckless at this point to continue as before, simply by spreading a sub- stantially reduced number of stipendiary incumbents still more thinly, and hoping for the best. It is time to review the way we deploy stipendiary clergy, and to plan to grow the nu- merical and financial health and strength of the Diocese for the future. To this end we have begun a process of consultation with very PCC over a model which assumes the Diocese can only afford 75 stipendiary incumbents. This is not a goal. We do not aspire to this figure. We do not believe that the Diocese can flourish longterm with so few stipendiary incumbents. Rather, we have settled on this figure for three reasons: i) First, people recognise this as the number we seem destined to have by 2029 if the current trend continues. It is a number with default credibility in the Diocese as an in- evitable outcome if we do nothing to grasp this nettle. ii) Secondly, it is a figure that we are confident we can afford for long enough to put into action our plans for growth. That’s to say: it would be disastrous for morale to cut to, say, the 90 stipendiary incumbents which we can afford in 2019 and the 89 likely in 2020, only to have to cut further in 2021 or 2022 to 85 or 80. iii) Thirdly, and positively, we believe a ‘target’ figure of 75 is conveying to the whole diocese the urgency of our situation, creating the necessary impetus for change. If we sought to cut only to 90 at this point, the temptation would be great to assume busi- ness as usual. Everyone knows that a model which assumes only 75 stipendiary incumbents will require everyone to work differently. It will enable the culture change required at congregational level, so that every baptised person is encouraged to enter the full dignity of their baptismal vocation to serve God as a minister and missionary in the world. We believe a model which assumes only 75 stipendiary clergy will ‘set

3 God’s people free’, by requiring stipendiary clergy to nurture and develop the gifts of the whole people of God, and by requiring the whole people of God to take greater responsibility for the life and mission of the local church. In other words, we are persuaded that this serious financial challenge, and its implications especially for the number of stipendiary clergy we are able to deploy, will not be a torpedo to sink Good Ship Strategy (Renewed, Released, Rejuvenated!) — launched only last Octo- ber — before it has barely left harbour, so much as the turbo-charging of its propellers to get it out into the open sea. Already the picture is not without hope: according to our 2018 statistics for mission, average weekly attendance was up 157 (1.2%) overall. Usual Sunday attendance increased in 40% of parishes in 2018 (up from 35% in 2016-2017). In the model over which we are currently consulting with every PCC, the role of the stipendiary incumbent is defined ‘semi-episcopally’ as an oversight minister, to work collab- oratively with others in three related ways: * to be a focus of unity for the people of God in a mission unit, helping each congregation in that locality to discern and articulate a vision for mission, fostering team work, fa- cilitating change and moving forward together. * to enable and support the ministries of the whole people of God, for the whole mission of God, discerning, developing and releasing the gifts of others. * to keep watch over the well-being of local churches, volunteer ministers and whole congregations, helping them to reflect theologically, to learn, and to grow as disciples. This proposed model of ministry maintains our commitment to having a worshipping Christian community in every place, which makes disciples and seeks to transform our society and God’s world. The key challenge is to achieve a culture change, in which very Chris- tian is mobilised for the serviced of God in the world. The role of an oversight minister will vary according to context, because mission units will vary considerably. Especially in suburban neighbourhoods, some mission units are likely to remain as single parish benefices right through this period of transition. Even in such places however, the role remains defined as above, with a consistent emphasis on making new congregations and on mobilising the whole people of God for mission. In other parts of the Diocese, especially in our most urban and rural areas, mission units will consist of multiple parishes. It is above all the task of the bishops to lead the Diocese in making this transition, first to a position of sustainability and then to growth: as the Ordinal puts it, ’Bishops are ordained to be shepherds of Christ’s flock and guardians of the faith of the apostles, pro- claiming the gospel of God’s kingdom and leading his people in mission’.

Episcopacy There has been a suffragan bishop of Doncaster throughout almost the last 50 years. The present incumbent has been in post since 2012, but is choosing to retire early following the tragic death of his wife in July last year, after a distressing period of illness. Bishop Peter is much loved in this Diocese, not least on account of his role as Acting Bishop of Sheffield in

4 the turbulent vacancy in 2016-17 — he is widely credited for holding the Diocese together at that time. However, he himself is the first to recognise that that costly piece of ministry, together with his bereavement, have seriously undermined his capacity to sustain a public role. He has therefore made a courageous decision about the timing of his retirement for the sake of the future health and strength of the Diocese. The wounds of the vacancy, following the nomination and then withdrawal of Bishop Philip North, remain raw. The Diocese of Sheffield is perhaps the most polarised of all Dio- ceses in terms of its ‘tribes’. Apparently, it has the highest proportion of parishes in any Di- ocese which have petitioned for extended episcopal oversight (unusually, with a notable concentration of complementarian evangelical parishes which receive the ministry of the Bishop of Maidstone, as well as a substantial number of traditional catholic parishes which receive the ministry of the Bishop of Beverley). However, it also has a higher proportion of female incumbents than most Dioceses, as well as of male incumbents who support the or- dination of women as priests and bishops. At present, Sheffield is one of the few Dioceses yet to appoint a woman to any of its senior clergy roles: the Dean, Archdeacons and Bishops are all men and these posts have always been held by men. It is fair to say that there is a considerable level of expectation in the Diocese that the next Bishop of Doncaster will be a woman. Later in the year, the current Archdeacon of Doncaster will also retire. Whilst I would certainly be prepared to appoint a man to be the next Bishop of Doncaster, were the outstanding applicant to be male, I do not believe that the morale of the Diocese could bear it, if both these posts were to be filled by men; and I certainly expect to encourage strong female applicants to the episcopal role. I also note that the Dean, Archdeacons and Bishops are all white, and in this Diocese have always been. We would also endeavour to attract BAME clergy to apply for the role. For these reasons alone, it could be argued, it is imperative to fill the See. In addition, however, there are three further principal reasons to do so.

1. Change Management and Pastoral Capacity The transition ahead of us in the Diocese of Sheffield represents a major challenge. It will require more episcopal leadership than any one individual could provide, not least because it will demand both change management and pastoral care. As the Diocesan Bishop, I have taken a lead in commending the new strategy and its implied culture change to the Diocese and I expect to continue to do so. I will undoubtedly need the wholehearted support of the Bishop of Doncaster and a share in that commendation task. However, I anticipate that (as in the past twelve months in which Bishop Peter has done this superbly), I will be looking to the new Bishop of Doncaster (with my wholehearted support and a share in the task) to lead in ensuring proper pastoral care, especially of the stipendiary clergy. No neat separation of responsibility is envisaged: both bishops will need to be fully engaged in both tasks. Certainly, both bishops will, in the words of the Ordinal, ‘serve and care for the flock of Christ. Mindful of the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep, they [will] love and pray for those committed to their charge, knowing their people

5 and being known by them’. But I will be looking to the Bishop of Doncaster to take a greater share of pastoral care.

2. The ‘Ministry’ Portfolio As the associated role description sets out, the Bishop of Doncaster will not only be the sponsoring bishop for ordinands, but will oversee the whole process of formation for ministry, lay and ordained, from the ‘Lights for Christ’ mobilisation of all the baptised in the ser- vice of God, to the calling, nurturing, equipping and deploying of all licensed ministers, lay and ordained — including responsibility for the creation of a ‘pipeline’ of interns who might wish to explore ordained ministry, right through to IME 4-7, and responsibility for the multi- plication of new congregations and the development of our network of resourcing churches. As the ordinal put it, bishops are called to ‘nurture God’s people in the life of the Spirit and leading them in the way of holiness…. [and] to discern and foster the gifts of the Spirit in all who follow Christ, commissioning them to minister in his name.’

3. The Geographical Factor In addition to its distinctive ecclesiological ‘banded-ness’, the Diocese of Sheffield is also banded geographically and socio-economically. A good indication of this is the pattern of voting in the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum. The city of Sheffield voted to leave by just 51% to 49%. The rest of the Diocese voted to leave by much wider margins: the East Riding by 60% to 40%; Barnsley and Rotherham by 68% to 32%; Doncaster by 69% to 31%. The two Uni- versities in the Diocese are both in West Sheffield, as is much of the wealth of the region. Communities east of the M1, and especially north and east of Rotherham, easily feel disconnected from and indeed intimidated by the city of Sheffield. The political impasse over devolution (in which the South Yorkshire ‘Sheffield City Region’ deal has struggled to secure the support of the local authorities in Barnsley and Doncaster) illustrates the issue. It can be hard for the Bishop ‘of Sheffield’ to forge strong relationships of trust with civic leaders to the east. The ministry of the Bishop of Doncaster has traditionally given honour to, and has focused the commitment of the Church on, to the lives and communities of those who live in the Archdeaconry of Doncaster, visibly demonstrating in that part of the Diocese the calling of the Bishop ‘to have a special care for the poor, the outcast and those who are in need’. The Bishop of Doncaster has forged an especially close alliance with the Archdeacon of Doncaster and has made special use of Doncaster Minster. Ours is not an area system, and I ensure I am visible in the east of the Diocese too — for example leading the worship there in Holy Week this year, and presiding at services of confirmation in the 6 deaneries of that archdeaconry. However, given the particularities of local politics, it has more than doubled the impact of episcopal ministry in the region to have a suffragan pres- ence in that part of our Diocese. Indeed, moving the official residence of the Bishop of Doncaster out of Sheffield and even east of Doncaster has been a master-stroke: it has ena- bled a far stronger and more credible voice for the Church of England in the public square in those communities. Even if we do not continue to use ‘Doncaster House’ for the next Bishop of Doncaster, we will certainly look to find a house in that part of the Diocese.

Timescales and Consultation The Archbishop of York has already graciously taken the initiative of encouraging me to proceed with all possible speed with this appointment and I am therefore confident of his en- dorsement of this proposal. This paper also carries the unanimous support of the Bishop’s Council. It was also en- dorsed by the Diocesan Synod which resolved unanimously (bar one abstention) on 13 July 2019 as follows: “This Synod strongly agrees that the Bishop of Sheffield should propose to the Archbishop and to the Dioceses Commission that the see of Doncaster be filled”. The impending retirement of the Archdeacon of Doncaster at the end of this year in- troduces some urgency to this appointment process: I would wish the new Bishop of Don- caster to be involved in that appointment and I hope to begin it early in 2020. For this reason, I would ask the Commission not to wait until its next meeting (which I understand is not scheduled to take place until the end of September) to consider this request. Given the interval which I am told is required between interview and nomination announcement (6-8 weeks), there would not in my view be time to complete the whole process, including ad- vertisement and shortlisting, between the end of September and the end of the year. I am therefore keen to secure the permission of the Commission in July to begin the process, so that we can then proceed at a careful pace with a thorough appointment process, with ad- vertisement etc in September and interviews in October. Assuming that the next Bishop is not yet in episcopal orders, the consecration will not follow until 25 March. I hope therefore that the Commission will agree with my view that it is necessary to fill the vacancy in the see of Doncaster as Bishop Peter retires. I am happy of course to provide further information and detail on request.

+Pete Sheffield, 15 July 2019 The Commemoration of St Swithun