NEW NORMS NEW BEGINNING House of Bishops’ Declaration On the Ministry of Bishops and Priests Including The Five Guiding Principles Report of the Bishop of Sheffield’s Ministry Provision Advisory Group March 2015 Report of the Bishop of Sheffield’s Ministry Provision Advisory Group 1 Contents Introduction 3 1. House of Bishops’ Five Guiding Principles 4 2. AiMs and Direction of Travel 6 3. Scriptural FraMing 7 4. Terminology 10 5. Buzz Words 12 6. Consultations 13 7. Issues Relating to the PCC Resolution 18 8. Flow Chart 20 9. The Appointed Bishop 22 10. Appointed Bishop – Role Description 24 11. Mutual Flourishing – Declaration 27 12. Mutual Flourishing – Particular Steps 28 13. Ongoing Matters For The Bishop of Sheffield 30 14. Personal Contributions: 32 Conservative Evangelical Traditional Catholic Ordained Women 15. SuMMary of RecoMMendations 36 Appendices: A) AiMs and TerMs of Reference 38 B) Documents 39 C) House of Bishops’ Five Guiding Principles 40 D) TerMinology Checklist 41 E) Buzz Words Checklist 42 F) Meeting with the Bishop of Beverley 43 Report of the Bishop of Sheffield’s Ministry Provision Advisory Group 2 Introduction The Ministry Provision Advisory Group (MPAG) was set up by the Bishop of Sheffield in OCtober 2014 with Aims and Terms of ReferenCe set out by him (See Appendix A). It was Charged to report on two areas: • AdviCe about the provision of ordained and ConseCrated men for parishes not able to reCeive women’s ministry as priests or bishops. • AdviCe about how the DioCese of Sheffield should be pro-active in shaping a Common life of mutual flourishing for all, whilst reCognizing and making seCure provision for those holding different views over gender and ordained ministry. Its proposals were to be set within the prinCiples and provisions of the House of Bishops’ DeClaration on the Ministry of Bishops and Priests, its GuidanCe Note, and Disputes ProCedure – with the Five Guiding PrinCiples at the heart of this doCumentation (See Appendix B). Those appointed to serve on the Group were: - The Rt.Revd.David Hawtin, Assistant Bishop (and formerly Bishop of Repton) – Chair - The Venerable MalColm Chamberlain, ArChdeacon of Sheffield and Rotherham – SeCretary - The Revd.Canon Mary Gregory, Dean of Women’s Ministry - The Revd Andy Brewerton, Area Dean of Wath - Fr. Jeffrey Stokoe, Dean of the HiCkleton Chapter, General Synod Member - Dr. Jackie Butcher, Lay Chair of ECClesall Deanery Synod, General Synod Member - In attendanCe as required: Mr.Andrew Vidler, DioCesan Registrar, Consultant to the Group. We have worked together well, effeCtively and in a good spirit, and I am grateful to members of the Group for their Companionship, hard work and good humour – enabling us to handle general issues and speCifiC details, some of whiCh have been quite Challenging. The Contribution of the Registrar has been very signifiCant, as has that of the ChurCh of England’s Legal Adviser, Stephen Slack – we thank them both for their assistanCe. I would also like to thank those who shared in our three Consultations, whiCh have Contributed greatly to our work and reCommendations, and Bishop Glyn Webster, Bishop of Beverley, for our informative meeting with him (See Appendix E). Our first meeting in OCtober was with the Bishop of Sheffield. There have been nine meetings – with muCh work done between meetings. We are grateful to those who welComed us as we gathered at ChurCh House and at the Cathedral. In what we have written, it is important to read the titles “Bishop of Sheffield”, “The Bishop”, and “The Bishop of DonCaster” as referring to holders of that offiCe male or female, not just to those Currently in post. With the exCeption of the London Plan 2014, we have found no sign of work suCh as ours being done in other DioCeses. We hope that what is set out in this Report enables the looked-for “flourishing” and “mutual flourishing” of all who are together in this DioCese of Sheffield. (Bp. David Hawtin, Chair) Report of the Bishop of Sheffield’s Ministry Provision Advisory Group 3 At the very beginning of the Ministry Provision Advisory Group’s Report we place these Five Guiding Principles. When General Synod began considering draft legislation for the consecration of women to the episcopate (November 2013), they were already in place alongside those proposals. They accompanied and informed all the detailed debate that culminated in the November 2014 agreement. They have accompanied and informed our worK too, and they were the first item presented at all the Consultations. 1. House of Bishops’ Five Guiding Principles • Now that legislation has been passed to enable women to beCome bishops the ChurCh of England is fully and unequivoCally Committed to all orders of ministry being open equally to all, without referenCe to gender, and holds that those whom it has duly ordained and appointed to offiCe are the true and lawful holders of the offiCe whiCh they oCCupy and thus deserve due respeCt and CanoniCal obedience; • Anyone who ministers within the ChurCh of England must be prepared to acknowledge that the ChurCh of England has reached a Clear deCision on the matter; • SinCe it Continues to share the historiC episCopate with other ChurChes, inCluding the Roman CatholiC ChurCh, the Orthodox ChurCh and those provinCes of the AngliCan Communion whiCh Continue to ordain only men as priests or bishops, the ChurCh of England acknowledges that its own Clear deCision on ministry and gender is set within a broader process of disCernment within the AngliCan Communion and the whole ChurCh of God; • SinCe those within the ChurCh of England who, on grounds of theologiCal ConviCtion, are unable to reCeive the ministry of women bishops or priests Continue to be within the speCtrum of teaching and tradition of the AngliCan Communion, the ChurCh of England remains Committed to enabling them to flourish within its life and struCtures; and • Pastoral and sacramental provision for the minority within the ChurCh of England will be made without speCifying a limit of time and in a way that maintains the highest possible degree of Communion and Contributes to mutual flourishing across the whole ChurCh of England These five guiding prinCiples need to be read one with the other and held together in tension, rather than being applied seleCtively. They are reproduCed as Appendix C for ease of Copying. AppendiCes C, D and E Can together provide a Clear introduCtion to the House of Bishops’ DeClaration. Report of the Bishop of Sheffield’s Ministry Provision Advisory Group 4 These “Five Guiding Principles” are the life blood of all the material that comes from the House of Bishops and of all that we propose. They have been the first item presented at the three Consultations. R.1a We recommend that the Five Guiding Principles be kept visible, studied and promoted in all parishes, and through the Diocesan Synod and Bishop’s Council. R1b We recommend that the Bishop writes an Ad Clerum, setting out this intention. Report of the Bishop of Sheffield’s Ministry Provision Advisory Group 5 2. AiM and Direction of Travel OUR AIM The aim of our work has been to make reCommendations that deliver a seCure and ConfidenCe- building proCess, whiCh reduCes the number of oCCasions when the Disputes ProCedure is brought into effeCt, whilst being absolutely Clear that that provision should be known about and made available to those PCCs that request it. The House of Bishops’ DeClaration seeks to establish a blending of two requirements – a ConsistenCy of practiCe across the dioCeses of the ChurCh of England, and arrangements that suit the texture of a partiCular dioCese. Our task has been to foCus on the DioCese of Sheffield, whilst studying Carefully the House of Bishops’ material, so that the two do indeed blend THE HOUSE OF BISHOPS’ DECLARATION, GUIDANCE NOTE, DISPUTES PROCEDURE The House of Bishops Declaration (GS MisC 1076) is a detailed doCument and all that we propose should be read in relation to it. We are not reproduCing it within our Report. Arrangements for parishes are set out in Paras 16 – 29; for cathedrals in Paras 31 and 32; for non-parochial places in Para 33. Other relevant seCtions are: Oaths – Paras 34 – 36; Grievances and mediation – Para 37; Transitional provisions – Paras 41 – 43. The relevant seCtions of the Guidance Note ( (GS MisC 1077) are the Introduction – Paras 1 – 5; Passing a resolution – Paras 6 – 12; Conversations between the bishop and the PCC – Paras 13 – 21; Review – Para 22; Disputes – Paras 23 – 25. And the relevant seCtions of the Resolution of Disputes Procedure (GS MisC 1087) are : Bringing a grievance – Paras 9 – 15; Consideration of grievances by the Independent Reviewer – Paras 16 – 21; Raising of concerns about the operation of the House of Bishops’ Declaration – Para 27. OUR DIRECTION OF TRAVEL In this we have been greatly helped by the Bishop Steven’s Presidential Address to the DioCesan Synod on July 19th, 2014 in providing the sCriptural framing for what we offer in this Report. Its themes and over-arChing spirit have informed our work. We believe that it should Continue to shape a proCess whiCh he sees as one for the next twenty years. R.2 We recoMMend that the Bishop’s Presidential Address, in a forM that he approves, accoMpanies the Five Guiding Principles in any prograMMe proMoting the House of Bishops’ Declaration. Our Report then moves to a number of speCifiCs, inCluding material from our three Consultations. Personal Contributions from three of our members follow, along with material on our “mutual flourishing” as a DioCese. We then address further points of detail, provide a Summary of ReCommendations and end with several AppendiCes, all of whiCh are an integral part of our Report.