Appointment to Chaplaincy for Ibiza & Formentera 2020 Archdeacon’s Statement The Chaplaincy for Ibiza and Formentera is a well establish church community using two catholic church buildings for Sunday worship at a small rent. There is a positive evangelical tradition to the chaplaincy although congregation members value a wider mixture of individual worshipping styles both formal and informal. The post is suited to an open evangelical, comfortable with liturgical worship, or a central church tradition priest, open to incorporating more informal elements into the Sunday liturgy. The main Sunday service is a eucharist and work has been undertaken to regularise the liturgy for this over the years. The Chaplaincy also has a newer bi-lingual family service which has grown recently and will need to be supported by the newly appointed Chaplain. Due to the use of Catholic Church buildings by the Chaplaincy it is regretfully not possible to open this post to the priestly ministry of women. The Chaplaincy has, for this reason alone, adopted the House of Bishop’s resolution in this regard. Accommodation The Chaplaincy rents a ‘stand alone’ two floor house for the Chaplain’s accommodation divided into upper and lower flats. The upper of these two flats has previously been occupied by the Chaplain but both are available for the post holder’s use. A part of the change during the vacancy has been an assurance by the congregation that the whole site for the house is for the sole use of the Chaplain and their family. The accommodation has the advantage of beautiful surrounding countryside with coastline nearby, and the nearest supermarket a ten minute walk. All utility bills are paid and a chaplaincy car is provided. Ecumenical Context The Diocese in Europe has a particular ecumenical vocation on the continent and our priests are key to carrying out this vocation. The diocesan guidelines and regulations state that the Diocese in Europe seeks; “to minister and engage in mission in partnership with other Churches especially the historic Churches of the countries in which we live”. The Ibiza Chaplaincy enjoys the use of local Catholic Church buildings by virtue of it being part of the Church of England and while these relationships are good there is scope for some development. In addition there are ongoing relationships with the more evangelical group ’24 / 7’ group who are funded from overseas and focus on a ministry among the club scene of the island. There is also space for nurturing this relationship while maintaining an Anglican identity. Financial Situation As regards the post, the Chaplaincy is offering a near to full time stipend with an allowance of a five rather than six day working week to compensate for this. A forecast has been undertaken and despite this predicting a deficit the Chaplaincy are confident to rely on their faith in God’s promises to fill that funding gap. Like all other chaplaincies Ibiza has been affected by CV19 and the reduction on income that this entails. There has been an ongoing relationship between the Intercontinental Church Society and the Ibiza Chaplaincy and while the Bishop remains the patron, ICS have provided access to a Church Commissioners pension for this current appointment in their ongoing support. Archdeaconry and Diocese Ibiza is part of the Archdeaconry of Gibraltar within the Diocese in Europe. The licensed priest is required to participate, along with the lay representatives, in the life of the Archdeaconry primarily through an annual meeting of the Archdeaconry Synod, which is usually residential over a total period of 3 days, although in this coming year the Synod will be held via zoom. The Archdeaconry clergy chapter is traditionally held the day before the Synod. While this will also occur via zoom for 2021, the Chapter also meets using zoom informally during the year once a fortnight on an ‘opt in’ basis for mutual support. In the diocese either the Diocesan Bishop or the Suffragan Bishop is lead bishop for a given archdeaconry, providing pastoral care for the clergy and congregations, oversight of routine vacancy and appointment processes, care of title curates, consultation with mission agencies, strategic direction, mission planning and new initiatives. The Suffragan Bishop in Europe, Rt Rev’d David Hamid is the lead bishop for the Archdeaconry of Gibraltar. Clergy Support It is important to say that while clergy can seem at times isolated within the Diocese in Europe where the next door colleague might be a flight away, there are structures in place for clergy to meet for mutual support and the chapter alluded to above is one such example. However in addition, over recent years the Diocese has been keen to encourage informal clergy cluster groups where in confidence chaplains can offer peer support. There is a cluster group for the clergy based in northern Spain that is chaired by the local Area Dean (Rev’d Paul Strudwick of Minorca) and the appointee would be a member of this group. Conclusion As with all of the Chaplaincies in Europe, Ibiza has been affected by the 2020 Covid 19 outbreak and work will need to be undertaken in re-establishing a sense of the continuity of the church community, coming out of emergency regulations and a vacancy, in its worship and its events. Ven David Waller (Archdeacon of Gibraltar) November, 2020 .