Introduction This, the second annual report of the Archbishops’ Council, chronicles another year of challenge and achievement for the Church and the Council. In its second year of existence, the Council has sought to build on the firm foundations it laid following its creation. Its major concern has been to develop – in collaboration with the House of Bishops and the General Synod – a set of Themes which can help guide its future work. In November 2000 the newly elected General Synod endorsed four Themes: • engaging with social issues • equipping to evangelise • welcoming and encouraging children and young people • developing the ministry of all These – together with two fundamentals, worship and the quest for full visible unity, which will be reflected in the way the Themes are pursued – will set a framework for all the Council does over the next five years. Specific initiatives undertaken by the Council in 2000 included the publication, following its discussion in Synod, of Common Worship and the launch of reviews of the structure and funding of training for the ministry and of the legislation governing how pastoral ministry is provided. This was in addition to the ongoing work of the Boards and other bodies which answer to Synod through the Council. This report records the highlights of the invaluable work they have undertaken in the service of the whole Church. We pay tribute to all those – Synod members, staff and others – who offer their time and talents to the Church in this way. At the conclusion of 2000, at the time of the Synodical elections and fresh elections to the Council, we said farewell to four founder members of the Council. They are Michael Turnbull, Bishop of Durham; Pete Broadbent, now Bishop of Willesden; Canon John Stanley; and Christina Rees. We are immensely grateful for all they contributed in the formative years of the Council. 2000 was also a year of financial challenge. The welcome rise in the number of ordinands in training had in part to be funded by reductions in staff posts in Church House. Whilst we believe that this is the correct priority, we recognise the additional burdens which have fallen on the Council’s staff. At a time when dioceses and parishes are rightly asking for rigorous attention to the cost of the Church at national level, it is important to remember that that cost is the same in real terms now as it was in 1994. 2000 was the millennium year, the 2000 th anniversary of the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. It is encouraging that, as the Church of England enters this new millennium in the continued service of God and nation, it does so with reformed national institutions including a Council determined to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church and to direct all its energies in the service of Our Lord and His mission on earth. George Cantuar: David Ebor: Joint Presidents of the Council Church House, Westminster (Signed by the Archbishops on 3rd May 2001) 1 Contents Introduction by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York 1 The Archbishops’ Council in 2000 3 The work of the Divisions of the Archbishops’ Council Church and World Division 4 Introduction 4 Board of Mission 5 Council for Christian Unity 8 Board for Social Responsibility 11 Board of Education 13 Hospital Chaplaincies Council 15 Council for the Care of Churches 16 Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England 17 Committee for Minority Ethnic Concerns 18 Ministry Division 18 Vocation, Recruitment and Selection Committee 19 Theological Education and Training Committee 19 Deployment, Remuneration and Conditions of Service Committee 20 Committee for Ministry among Deaf People 22 Central Readers Council 23 Finance Division 23 Christian Stewardship 25 CCLA Investment Management Limited 25 Ethical Investment 26 Communications Unit 27 Central Services 29 Human Resources 31 Legal Services 34 Central Secretariat 35 Members of the Archbishops’ Council, its associated bodies and its advisers 37 Statement of the Responsibilities of the members of the Archbishops’ Council 40 Report of the Auditors to the members of the Archbishops’ Council 41 Financial Statements Balance Sheet 42 Statement of Financial Activities 43 Cash flow Statement 44 Notes to the financial statements 45 Management Accounts (not forming part of the audited financial statement) (i) 2 The Archbishops’ Council in 2000 ‘Building on Firm Foundations’ 1. The principal focus of the Council has been to build on the foundation laid in its first year by establishing a framework of key themes which can guide its work in the lifetime of the Synod elected in October 2000. At the same time the Council has had regard to the continuing need to ensure that its work delivers best value to the Church at a time when the Church is faced with pressing demands on its resources. 2. Work on the Council's Themes was developed during the year in consultation with the divisions and Boards and Councils and culminated in a document (setting out the four key themes with their intended outworkings) which was presented to the House of Bishops and then to the newly inaugurated General Synod at the November 2000 group of sessions. Following the Synod debate, when a motion to include a fifth theme on the search for visible unity attracted significant support (but was defeated), the Archbishops’ Council agreed to some final amendments to the document which emphasised that worship and the quest for visible unity and Worship were each a "fundamental" within the national work of the Church. 3. The Themes (set out earlier) are now being developed within work programmes and budgets for the short and medium term, with a view to producing services and pieces of work which reflect those themes and which can most effectively be done nationally. The fundamentals of worship and the search for visible unity will also be placed at the core of the work which the Council seeks to support, indeed they are already reflected in the Council’s work on Common Worship (the publication of which was one of the landmark events of 2000) and its concerns to bring current conversations with ecumenical partners to a constructive conclusion. The Council hopes the final document will also be helpful to dioceses and parishes which are seeking to construct a new focus for their work and mission. A number of dioceses have already considered the document in that context. 4. Although some of the Council’s work is properly concerned with helping forward the internal running of the Church, its concerns are primarily with the impact of the Church’s mission in the World. Issues forwarded by the Council in this context included: - the concerns of rural communities , on which a debate on the farming crisis was held in Synod in February 2000 - the report of the review of the Church Urban Fund, debated by Synod in November, which the Council is now pursuing in conjunction with the Fund’s Trustees the follow-up in and outside the Church to the report of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry (which was also debated by the Synod in November). 5. The Council’s planning for the future included consideration of the programme of legislation which will be presented to Synod over the next five years. A number of significant reviews initiated by the Council were completed, including that of arrangements for managing the funding of training for the ministry (the Vote 1 Working Party) and the Statistics Review Group. Statistics can sound a rather dry subject but the aim of the exercise was to enable the Church to gather the right information about the wide reach of its work and to ensure the best use of that information in serving God’s mission. The report of the Review Group – chaired 3 by Bishop Nigel McCulloch – was well received when debated by the Synod, and its implementation in partnership with the dioceses is now being pursued. 6. Two exercises of considerable potential significance for the future scope of ministry were launched by the Council. These were: - a review of the structure and funding of ordination training, chaired by Bishop John Hind - a review of the Dioceses, Pastoral and related Measures, chaired by Peter Toyne These exercises are expected to be completed later in the quinquennium, when the reports will be presented to the House of Bishops and the Synod. 7. The Archbishops’ Council approved the recommendations of reports of Activity and Value Audits on the work of the Central Secretariat and Human Resources. The AVA process draws in staff expertise and external assessment in order to evaluate the work which is done and the way in which it is done in order to improve its effectiveness and identify any scope for savings. Four more AVAs (on the Church of England Record Centre; Secretarial and Support Staff; Ministry; and Church House Publishing) have commenced, within a rolling programme which will eventually embrace all areas of work carried out under the auspices of the Archbishops' Council. 8. At the end of the year the Council agreed that a Group chaired by the Bishop of Guildford should undertake a Review "To recommend to the Archbishops' Council how the structures of the Church and World division, the Boards and Councils and the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns may best be arranged to deliver their work, as shaped by future needs, agreed priorities and resources; and to strengthen relationships (particularly with the Archbishops' Council); taking into account the experience and work of other Churches and the National Church Institutions; and to report to the Archbishops' Council by the end of 2001". This review will take up some of the structural issues left in abeyance when the Turnbull reforms were agreed.