May 2017 E Final.Pub

BRO FAMAU GROUP OF CHURCHES MAGAZINE May 2017 In the Mold Mission Area 2 IN THIS EDITION • Parishes Letter • Mission Area Structure • Messy Church on Facebook • Prayer Diary • Around the parishes • Plus all the usual features Parish Organisation People are asking lots of questions about the changes that have taken place recently, with our Mission Area becoming one large parish and church committees replacing what were Parochial Church Councils. It would be surprising if this were not so, because this is the biggest change in hundreds of years! If you have a question, it is likely that many others are thinking the same. Please forward questions via your church magazine representative, to [email protected] or by telephone to 01352 810677. We will obtain an answer from the best source possible. LETTERS: If you wish to submit a letter for publication please use the contact details above. All letters must be accompanied by the name and address of the sender. Letters may be edited and shortened. The magazine panel welcomes the submission of relevant articles for consideration for publication. email to [email protected] 3 THE PARISHES LETTER …Rev Carole Poolman Are you yourself? Do you behave as you want to, or as others expect you to? Several years ago, a clergy friend and I were talking about our churches. He had moved during the previous year, and I asked how it was going. He said he’d been aware in the first few months of tensions within the church but wasn't sure why. Then one day the Wardens came to him and told him, very politely, that he was not living up to their expectations and people were unhappy. As they sat and talked the Wardens told him about all the things that people found difficult, all the things that he did differently from their last priest. At the end of the conversation my friend said to them “Right, as I understand it, you don't want me at all, you want some - one completely different. I’m sorry but I can't be anybody other than myself”. The Wardens went away, and they must have talked about what he'd said with others, because from that day onwards things began to get easier. The problems didn't disappear straight away but gradually they learned to live with one another. We all have expectations of each other and sometimes accepting one another for what we are, rather than expecting people to be what they are not, can be really difficult. We probably all know that feeling when, having asked some -one to do something, or accept- ed an offer of help, we find ourselves thinking “But I don't do it like that!”. However, we all have all kinds of gifts to offer, when we accept our differences and embrace them, life not only becomes easier for everyone involved, it also becomes far richer. The Rev’d Daniel Stroud, will not be like The Rev’d Canon Adrian Copping. He will do things differently, he is younger, with a wife who is a priest and a young child (and a dog!). His Family Life will demand things of him, that Adrian’s didn't, but he will also bring as- pects of his Family Life to the role that Adrian couldn't. His Training and Experience of Church is different, his Churchmanship may also be different. So, as we all welcome him into the Mold Mission Area and the Bro Famau Group, we are going to have to be very 4 careful that we don't expect him to be a younger American Adri- an. As he uses his gifts and talents and goes about things in a totally new, and perhaps challenging way, I sincerely hope that we can all accept and value him as he is. Trying to fulfil the expectations of others is a thankless task and it isn't only something that happens between clergy and laity. We all expect things, and we don't always get what we expect. How we deal with that is important. Jesus calls us to love one another as he loves us. He doesn't ask us to change first and then offer to love us, he accepts us as we are, and sometimes through loving him and being loved by him, we grow and change. But our willingness to change is not a condition of his love. It is, perhaps, inevitable that our churches and our people will change as the Mission Area matures. We will get used to work- ing together in ways that we have never even thought of before. However enabling one another to grow is very different from im- posing our expectations on others. May God give us the grace to give everyone within our church families, and our human families, the freedom to be themselves. Yours in Christ. Rev Carole Poolman Mold Mission Area Leader 5 WORSHIP in MAY 2017 Sunday 7th May Fourth Sunday of Easter Cilcain 11.00 Morning Worship Gwernaffield 11.00 Morning Worship 18.00 Holy Communion (Healing Service) Llanferres 9.30 Morning Worship Nannerch 9.30 Holy Communion Rhydymwyn 9.30 Morning Worship Sunday 14th May Fifth Sunday of Easter Cilcain 8.00 Holy Communion Gwernaffield 11.00 Morning Worship 16.00 MESSY CHURCH in the Church Hall 18.00 Evening Prayer Llanferres 9.30 Morning Worship Nannerch 9.30 Family Service Rhydymwyn 9.30 Holy Communion Sunday 21st May Sixth Sunday of Easter Cilcain ** 10.30 Capel Gad Service Gwernaffield 11.00 Holy Communion 16.00 MESSY CHURCH in the Church Hall Llanferres 9.30 Holy Communion Nannerch 9.30 Morning Worship Rhydymwyn 9.30 Morning Worship 6 Thursday 25th May Ascension Day Group Mission Area Eucharist 19.30 St Mary’s Mold Sunday 28th May Seventh Sunday of Easter Cilcain 11.00 Holy Communion Gwernaffield 9.30 Family Praise (in Church Hall) 18.00 Evening Worship Llanferres 9.30 Morning Worship Nannerch 9.30 Family Service Rhydymwyn 10.30 Family Service Mid week Services Tuesdays at Holy Trinity, Gwernaffield 9.30 a.m. Wednesdays at St Mary the Virgin, Cilcain 10.30 a.m. 7 The Mission Area Structure The establishment of mission areas within the diocese is now complete, and there is a very useful map on the back of the present Teulu Asaph which has been done by Canon Ian Day. It shows that there are 21 mission areas in the diocese, some named after geographical characteristics, like our neighbouring Estuary & Moun- tain , some after districts like Maelor, and some like ours after a central town, Mold. Mold Mission Area has been in development some three years, but because the present mission area structure was decided by the diocese last year we have only just achieved the arrangement that is now our established plan with the annual meetings of this year. The twelve churches within our mission area constitute the parish of Mold Mis- sion Area*. The former PCCs (Parochial Church Councils ) will still exist, but are renamed church committees. They will have most of the former tasks but be re- sponsible in doing them to the Mission Area Conference ( MAC ) to which they will each send two delegates and appoint a reserve delegate. The MAC will be the new PCC. An area of interest to most is finance, since a church works hard to build up what money it has. The stewardship of money will remain with the church committee with the proviso that if more than £5,000 is spent on a single project, it must be reported to the MAC; this does not mean it will not be spent, but it will be scrutinised. So for instance, when St. Mary’s Cilcain found it necessary to spend £11,000 on treatment against death - watch beetle there would have been no question that it was necessary for preservation of the church. If a church that could not afford it applied to the MAC for such a project, there would be consideration of how they could be helped. Faculty applications will also be scrutinised by the Buildings Committee of the Mission Area. The MAC is comprised of delegates from each church - 24 of them in our case; there are two MAC churchwardens who may act as the co -chairpersons of the meetings and take a supportive interest in each church. Other officers required are secretary and treasurer and MAC has the option to appoint others, such as safe- guarding and training officer: if the skills are not present in the group, people may be co -opted to fill these specialised roles. Dr Emily Clarke -Jones is our mission area development officer; she has a doctorate in Change Management and though not a voting member sits on MAC since she has an input to projects. Clergy ( 4 in our case ) and lay ministers licensed by Bishop Gregory complete the group. The MAC will meet four times a year, though it could be more often if necessary. To make daily progress on MAC decisions a smaller group is needed, and this is the Mission Area Executive ( MAE ). It comprises delegates from the MAC, the MAC wardens, clergy, lay ministers licensed by the Bishop, and Dr Emily Clarke - Jones. 8 In addition there is the Shared Ministry Team. This involves clergy and Readers, though probably also other lay ministers in time. The SMT occupies itself with mat- ters of worship and in our mission area at least, is the successor to the clergy Chapter. Our Mission Area Leader is Revd.

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