Diocese of Salisbury Statement of Needs [Jun 2021]
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Diocese of Salisbury: Statement of Needs 2021 CREDIT: Max Trafford ‘Love bade me welcome’ CREDIT: Sally Wilson CREDIT: Ash Mills As a Diocese we are committed to the local They capture the hospitable heart of Anglicanism, with courage, vision and holiness to renew its Formed by the union of two ancient sees, All Church traditions find a home here and honouring the Five Guiding Principles, church and its ongoing evolution, with important aspects of which were worked out promise for a beloved place and its people. Sherborne and Ramsbury, the removal of the we encourage service and growth rooted in and to the flourishing of the small new worshipping communities working in here in Salisbury – not only by Herbert, but Diocesan seat from Old Sarum to the new city prayerful attention to God’s call upon every number of parishes with alternative partnership with the parishes that remain our contemporaries John Jewel and Richard Hooker, The Church in this Diocese continues to be of Salisbury some eight hundred years ago is a person. All ministries are valued equally, we episcopal oversight. core. In the church doorway of one of these, who defined our church’s breadth and reach: nurtured by extraordinarily deep roots, with historic precedent for our current readiness to nurture a culture of collaborative working St Andrew’s Bemerton, is etched the words not by its limits, but its centre in Christ. some of the longest continually inhabited places develop and grow. Even the old, eternal rocks at all levels. In this description, we hope to give a “Love bade me welcome” – composed by in Britain. Probably the earliest known image forming the world heritage site at Stonehenge clear, concise impression of the life of our former incumbent George Herbert, who Hope, writes St Paul, is our Christian inheritance: of Christ anywhere in the world is from the were rolled carefully into place. Stability in The ordained (and episcopal) leadership Diocese – its vision, setting, structures and lived opposite. a future handed down to us. The next Bishop floor of a Roman villa at Hinton St Mary and transition: a key task for the new Bishop will be of women is welcomed. We believe people – as the context in which our new of Salisbury will find this gospel to be our the Saxon Church here included women as to oversee the attachment of the deaneries of that our new Bishop will ordain women. Diocesan Bishop will lead us in writing tangible heritage – and will, we trust, lead us well as men in positions of authority. Jersey and Guernsey to the mainland Diocese. At the same time, we are committed to the next chapter in Salisbury’s story. 2 Diocese of Salisbury Statement of Needs 2021 3 “Bishops are called... ...to lead God’s people in the way of holiness; Contents ...to feed God’s pilgrim people and so build up the body of Christ; ...to share the oversight of the Church; ...to love and pray for those committed to their charge, knowing their people and being known by them; 5 Holy, Visionary, Courageous, Unifying, and Visible ...to proclaim the gospel boldly, confront injustice and work for righteousness and peace in all the world.” 6 The Diocese of Salisbury needs… The Ordinal, Introduction to the Declarations 8 Who and where are we? 12 Life of the Diocese of Salisbury 22 Mission and Pastoral Plan Holy, Visionary, Courageous, 30 Schools, Children and Young people Unifying, and Visible The Diocese of Salisbury needs a Bishop who is 32 Financial framework and DBF Review HOLY, VISIONARY, COURAGEOUS, UNIFYING, AND VISIBLE 39 Conclusion: Our hope for the next Bishop of Salisbury • Who shares her/ his faith with others, • Who is approachable, inclusive, prayerfully, confidently and joyfully – HOLY and hospitable – UNIFYING 40 Our Diocesan team and offices • Who will discern new and emerging • Who will engage with people and possibilities for Christ’s service – VISIONARY communities locally, nationally, and globally – VISIBLE 41 Appendix • Who will inspire us to grow spiritually and numerically – COURAGEOUS 4 Diocese of Salisbury Statement of Needs 2021 5 The Diocese of Salisbury needs… A holy Bishop: A visionary Bishop: A courageous Bishop: A unifying Bishop: A visible Bishop: A faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, grounded Valuing the local, working with colleagues, Unafraid to be Christ’s voice in the public Holding in creative tension the diversity An excellent preacher, ready to proclaim in their relationship with God and nurtured lay and ordained in mission and ministry square, confident that God is at work in it, of the Body of Christ in our Diocese; the Gospel of Christ, and a skilled by a life of Biblical study, public worship, across urban, rural, market and coastal in a manner that is engaging, compelling communicator, ready to share the prayer and reflection; town settings; and attractive; Listening to those inside, outside and on Diocesan story, with a variety of audiences the edges of our churches; and in a variety of media; Comfortable in themselves, manifestly a Integrating creatively our call to Reaching out to the Diocese including its person of integrity, bearing witness to the evangelism, our call to seek social children, young people, and others who are not Calling us together in worship and sending Willing to speak truth to power whenever love of Christ in all their relationships; justice, and our call to the care of creation well represented in or served by the Church; us out in mission, baptising and confirming she/ he needs to; (as embodied in the Anglican Communion’s new Christians, and commissioning and Honouring and enjoying the range of Five Marks of Mission) through a time Resilient and will build trust to make the tough ordaining new ministers; A catalyst for developing social capital in, theological traditions and political/ social of profound change in the Church and and potentially unpopular decisions about from, and through our churches, schools opinions that they will encounter here. the world; finance and deployment required to equip us Known by people throughout our Diocese and communities. for our current and future challenges; and being their pastor, taking particular Thinking and speaking theologically, care of the morale and wellbeing of their strategically, and creatively. Energetic and passionate for a complex fellow pastors; and demanding role; Able to model what it means to be a Committed to making the Church a safe community with Christ at its centre, setting place for all, taking seriously and responding a culture of collaborative working from appropriately to all allegations of abuse the heart of the Diocese. and working to address any issues through the Diocesan Safeguarding Team and the National Church Institutions. 6 Diocese of Salisbury Statement of Needs 2021 7 434 Who and where are we? parishes From the M4 to the Jurassic Coast – and But for those who are least well-off, issues of with the new attachment to the Channel inequality loom large. With some of the most Islands – the Diocese of Salisbury covers expensive properties in the world at Sandbanks most of the counties of Dorset and Wiltshire, and possibly the lowest earned incomes in the stretching into Devon and Hampshire. While UK in Weymouth and Portland, life on the coast with predominantly rural, with these distinctive presents an extreme case of life throughout the CREDIT: Max Trafford challenges, there is a significant urban Diocese. A few are incredibly well-off; most are 573 population on the south coast around Poole getting by; more than might be anticipated are churches and Weymouth, (whose populations swell struggling from day to day. considerably during the tourist and holiday season) as well as the larger county towns The Diocese also contains one of the oldest such as Trowbridge, and Salisbury itself. populations in the country, with an expectation that the percentage of older people will increase in Most of the Whilst many communities are relatively over the coming years. The need to curate dearly rural parishes affluent, our Diocese contains areas of serious loved traditions, while extending the mission 138 are grouped in benefices deprivation in both urban and rural areas. In and ministry of the Church to people and benefices of up to the countryside especially, this can be obscured places these may not reach, is one of the – not least by the beauty of the landscape. (often creative) tensions of ministry in Salisbury. 15 The population churches of the parishes ranges from a rural 50 to an urban 23,000 CREDIT: Ash Mills 50% of the people 90% of parishes live in 8% are rural CREDIT: Stuart Bexon CREDIT: Webb Aviation of the parishes 8 Diocese of Salisbury Statement of Needs 2021 9 It has been remarked that the Church and the Recent government incentives for service military are the two principal institutions in personnel to buy houses, together with the our two main counties – and whilst inherited pandemic-prompted migration from the city Anglican faith is doubtless in decline, there to rural areas (and their improved broadband), is some truth in this observation. Military has led to a sudden increase in the number of presence is certainly important in both Dorset families in villages, especially around Salisbury and Wiltshire, with particularly strong impact on Plain. The rural community is changing and communities around Salisbury Plain. Lyneham the local church along with it. is the regimental headquarters of the Royal, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers; Tidworth, Military presence brings both youth and ethnic Netheravon, and Bulford Garrison form one diversity, as do the universities in Bournemouth of the nation’s ‘super-garrisons’, locating large and Poole. These institutions also attract other numbers of military personnel and their families industry and employment opportunities; with in the area.