Welcome-To-The-Diocese-Of-York.Pdf
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Welcome to the Diocese of York The Diocese of York is a family of 607 churches and 127 schools in 470 parishes, stretching from the Humber to the Tees and the A1 to the coast. We hope this pack will give you a good idea of what it might be like to live and work in the Diocese of York. Contents: Vision and mission Living in the Diocese Housing and money Ministry together Lifelong learning Spiritual sustenance York Minster Central support Young people Who’s who “We will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” Ephesians 4:14 & 15 Vision and mission We have a vision of Generous Churches Making and Nurturing Disciples. “We will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Ephesians 4:14 & 15 As a Diocese, we want to see our churches making disciples of all ages. We want to see mutual resourcing to build up the Body of Christ, to grow in five areas: • Christ-likeness Becoming like Christ is the fundamental call of Christian discipleship. It is not always easy to assess, but we often recognise the flavour of a life becoming more godly. • Commitment Commitment itself has several features, including: commitment to God, to seeking God’s kingdom, to Christ’s body the Church. • Partnership Working with other churches, locally and globally, with schools, community groups, people, organisations for the common good, peace, justice and a healthy environment. • Influence Seeking to influence attitudes and behaviours in our communities and wider society. • Numbers Increasing the number of people associated with our churches, as worshippers and disciples. If you think you could help our churches to become generous churches making and nurturing disciples, we’d love you to come to the Diocese of York. Living in the Diocese The Diocese of York is a wonderful place to live and work. Whether you’re based in a city, town or village, you’ll find people here to be some of the friendliest in the country. Stretching from the river Humber to the Tees, and from the A1 to the Yorkshire coast, the Diocese contains vibrant cities, friendly market towns and villages, beautiful coastline and stunning moors. The Diocese has excellent transport links (it’s two hours from York to London by train). Middlesbrough has a great history of manufacturing iron and steel, and the steel works in Redcar has recently been Hull city centre bought by an Indian company, meaning continued employment for many people. Hull is a busy port, and a centre for chemical and health care sectors. Recently, plans for a huge offshore wind turbine manufacturing plant have been unveiled. York is the historic centre of Yorkshire. It’s a great little city, full of Roman and medieval history. It’s major industries are science, media, service industries and tourism. On the East coast, Scarborough, Bridlington, Filey, Hornsea, Withernsea and Whitby are our lively seaside towns. The North York Moors is a National Park with a beautiful landscape of stunning moorland, spectacular coast, North York Moors ancient woodland and historic sites. However, there are many challenges facing our region at the moment. There are areas of great poverty and unemployment, both in urban and rural areas. A recent survey by End Child Poverty revealed that 40% of children in Middlesbrough are living in poverty. Middlesbrough is the second most deprived local authority in the country, and Hull is the fifth. Government cuts are hitting people hard. We need people who can help their churches serve these communities, and respond to their needs. Whitby Housing & money The Diocese of York provides excellent housing for its clergy. We want you and your family (if you have one) to have a good house, both as a home and a place for you to work from. We have a dedicated property team led by the Diocesan Surveyor, Graham Andrews, to help with the day-to-day repairs and maintenance of the building. The Diocese also makes sure your home is insured, and can help you with information on insuring the contents of your home. Before you move into your home, the property will have had a full review and any repairs will have been carried out. The Diocesan property team is continually making improvements in our portfolio of clergy houses – if any improvements are proposed whilst you are in occupancy, we’ll obviously check that’s ok with you. Every five years the Surveyors will make an inspection to put in hand necessary repairs and external decoration on your home. We do our best to look after your home to allow you to focus your time and energy on your ministry in your parish or benefice – we’ll look after that blocked gutter so you don’t have to. The Diocese of York will pay your stipend on a monthly basis. Our finance team at Diocesan House, led by the Finance Manager, Catherine Evans, make sure that your stipend is reliably and regularly paid, and the team are there to offer any help you may need. We know that sometimes, money matters can be difficult. It’s always best to deal with financial problems before they get out of hand, and our Archdeacons are always ready to help and offer advice. If you do need help making ends meet, the York Diocesan Ministers’ Relief (2009) Fund is there for times of difficulties, and there’s advice on how to apply to the trustees on our website. Details of resettlement grants and removal arrangements will be sent to succesful appointees. Ministry together We don’t expect our clergy to be lone rangers As well as support from fellow clergy, our - if you work here you will have support priests can expect support from lay from colleagues in the Diocese. colleagues. Reader ministry is important in the Diocese, and we have over two hundred In the Diocese of York, clergy support each Readers, supported by a network of of other across the Diocese, across their deanery sub-wardens. Archdeaconry, Deanery and Benefice or Parish, as well as receiving support from We have a new training scheme for their Bishops and Archdeacons. We also Recognised Parish Assistants, with pastoral, have a Dean of Women’s Ministry and a worship or mission emphases. This lay Dean of Self Supporting Ministers. training scheme is intended to encourage and develop lay ministry from the ground Clergy in every Deanery meet together in upwards. their Deanery Chapters, and these meetings are a chance to share successes or worries, We also think that churchwardens, PCC receive and give support. All our clergy come secretaries, treasurers and members have together periodically for clergy days, and we important ministries, and offer them have a brilliant clergy conference every three training and support. We hope this allows years. them to fulfill their roles effectively as well as offering support to their clergy. Our Co-ordinator of Pastoral Care also runs clergy supervision and support groups for We also have a covenant with the Methodist people who want the help of their peers to Church and the United Reformed Church, reflect on issues. and work closely with them and other denominations. The Diocese has a good mix of stipendiary clergy and self-supporting ministers. Our We hope that if you join the Diocese, you’ll clergy work together, whether they are bring your gifts and talents to share in this stipendiary, house for duty, or self- ministry together. supporting priests and deacons. Lifelong learning The Diocese has an active training team, and we think lifelong learning for clergy and lay ministry is crucial. We describe what we do as ‘Pathways for Discipleship’ to remind us all that we are called to grow as disciples as Christ, and that there are many paths down which he takes us in order to grow. If you’ve just been ordained, Initial Ministerial Education Years 4 – 7 is an important part of the training offered by the Diocese of York to curates as they begin their public ordained ministry. It will complement and support the training gained in your title parish and from the training incumbent. We think that learning is something that should continue throughout your ministry, and there are a number of opportunities for clergy to continue their ministerial education and development once they move on from IME. All licensed clergy who have completed IME 4-7 have access to a personal Continuing Ministerial Development (CMD) grant of approximately 1% of an incumbent’s stipend each year. We’ve recently formed the York Leadership Programme - over 100 clergy have already taken part or are signed up for future sessions. The Revd Clay Roundtree from Ingleby Barwick took part and said “The YLP was a bit like being given a toolkit with time to learn how to use the tools. I feel I've become a bit more personally aware, better equipped for public leadership in today's church and have explored ways of working better with the people of my parish.” All clergy on common tenure will have Ministerial Development Reviews every two years with, alternately, the Suffragan Bishop and the Archdeacon. The interviews are set within the context of a pastoral relationship, and will be structured according to a set of notes, based on themes drawn from the Ordinal. Spiritual sustenance The Diocese offers many opportunities for spritual sustainance.