Andrea Mulkeen Acting Pastoral and Closed Churches Secretary 7th August 2018 Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011 Theale and Englefield (Diocese of Oxford) Proposed Pastoral Scheme 1. The Church Commissioners have now carefully considered 107 representations (including four joint representations) against, 18 (including five joint representations) in favour and four out-of-time letters of comment relating to a draft Pastoral Scheme providing for: the dissolution of the benefice of Theale and Englefield; for the creation of a new benefice of Theale comprising the area of the parish of Theale, appointment of its first incumbent, her place of residence and the future patronage arrangements for the new benefice; for the creation of a new benefice of Englefield comprising the parish of Englefield and the future patronage arrangements for that new benefice. 2. The Commissioners have come to the decision that the Scheme should proceed notwithstanding the representations made against it and the following statement indicates the reasons for their decision. Background 3. The representations against the draft Scheme came from: the Priest-in- Charge of the benefice of Theale and Englefield; the Associate Minister at Holy Trinity, Theale; the churchwardens and PCC of Theale (some members of which had also wrote in their personal capacities); the Clerk to Theale Parish Council; the Councilor for Theale (West Berkshire Council); and residents, parishioners and members of the congregation of Holy Trinity, Theale. 4. The representations in favour came from: the retired house-for-duty Assistant Curate/Resident Priest at Englefield; one of the two Patrons of the benefice; the Chair of the Englefield Charitable Trust; the Churchwardens of St Mark’s, Englefield; a member of Deanery Synod and Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3AZ Direct Line: +44(0)20 7898 1780 Switchboard: +44(0)20 7898 1000 Fax: +44(0)20 7898 1873 Email: [email protected] DX: 148403 Westminster 5 Website: http://www.churchofengland.org/ The Church Commissioners are a registered charity (number 1140097). the Deanery Pastoral and Standing Committee; and parishioners and members of the congregation of St Mark’s, Englefield. 5. The draft Scheme carried the following “diocesan rationale” as a footnote: “There had been a troubled relationship between the parishes of Theale and Englefield which goes back 40 years. In 1981 a memorandum was drawn up between the then Bishop of Reading and Sir William Benyon MP to detail the legal situation and working arrangements required of a new joint benefice brought into being by a Pastoral Scheme. The expectation then was that although legally the incumbent of the benefice (living in Theale) was responsible for Englefield, the day-to-day running of Englefield was entrusted to a Resident Priest. Full cooperation between the priests and parishes was expected and was encouraged. Twenty years later in 2001, in the light of experience, a further memorandum was written by the Bishop of Reading at the time emphasising that for such an unusual arrangement to work well, openness, trust and good personal and professional relationships between the two parishes and their clergy was vital. Despite the two memoranda, the lack of clarity inherent in these arrangements had proved to be unhelpful. Relationships over the 40 years had not been easy and precious time and energy had been expended in resolving ongoing disputes and tension; the gospel had not been well served. Since good relationships cannot be imposed, the Bishop considers that it is time to consider a legal solution which will enable both parishes to flourish. In light of experience the Bishop is convinced that the separation of the parishes of Theale and Englefield, and the creation of two new autonomous pastoral units is the solution which will lead to the flourishing of both parishes. The proposed new benefice of Englefield (comprising the parish of Englefield), entirely responsible for its own affairs, will be able to concentrate on being a gathered church offering pastoral care and worship for people in Englefield and beyond. The proposed new benefice of Theale (comprising the parish of Theale), will continue to develop and build on its own local mission opportunities and initiatives - family church, mothers and toddlers group, work in two schools, ecumenical Alpha and so on. These opportunities, and impressive progress in recent years, had already been recognised by the Deanery. The Deanery is committed to supporting the new benefice through the continued provision of full-time ministry. Work had already begun within the Deanery and in conversation with the Diocese on the financial arrangements to make this possible. It is intended that the Revd Nicholas Wynne-Jones, currently Assistant Curate in the benefice of Theale and Englefield, will be appointed Assistant Curate of the new benefice of Englefield and continue to live in St Mark’s House, a property owned by the patron. Because he is over 70, he cannot be made incumbent and so the Bishop will consult on the immediate suspension of presentation to the proposed benefice of Englefield.” Summary of the main points in the representations against the draft Scheme 6. Those against said that: • The two communities of Theale and Englefield were intertwined and worked “better together” in terms of mission • Theale was a relatively poor parish and would find it difficult to increase its parish share to the level which would be required of it in a separate single-parish benefice; • In terms of process, the proposal was driven by a small group on Englefield PCC and had been flawed. 7. They said that residents of Englefield, as opposed to the gathered congregation of St Mark’s, looked to Theale for shops and other facilities; Englefield Primary and Theale Comprehensive Schools had pupils from both parishes; and the churchmanship of St Mark’s did not suit some residents of Englefield with young families. They said that relationships between the two PCCs had been good at times in the past; that there were still good relationships between many residents of the two parishes and a desire by most at Theale and some at Englefield to work together. In their view the difficulties at the PCC level arose from a small group of Englefield parishioners who wished the parishes to be separated and the immediate cause of the current situation was Englefield PCC’s decision to reduce its contribution to the benefice’s parish share (from 48% to, initially, 29% and then to 11%), against the urging of the then Archdeacon and the Diocesan Registrar and Diocesan Finance Officer. 8. The representors against believed that the financial challenge of increasing the parish share for Theale as a separate benefice would deter applicants for the incumbent’s post and would distract from ministry and outreach. They said that a satisfactory financial support package from the Diocese and Deanery to enable the share to be met had not been agreed. Many were concerned that if the financial target was not reached and sustained Theale may lose the full-time incumbent, which it needed, and Holy Trinity church may then close. Some said that the Church of England as a National Church operated on a mutual support basis and that Englefield should maintain its support of Theale as a matter of social justice. If not, they thought that the Diocesan or Deanery parish share system should be amended to take more account of ability to pay. 9. They said that the process had been flawed by the Bishop of Reading announcing his recommendation before a meeting to hear the views of both PCCs had been held and that alternatives, such as a team ministry or a “footprint” parish for St Mark’s or making it a proprietary chapel, had not been considered. Summary of the main points in the representations in favour of the draft Scheme 10. Those in favour said that: • There were no natural links between Englefield and Theale; • The current structure was unnecessarily complicated and hindered, rather than enhanced, the objective of both parishes, which was mission; • Separation will have no financial impact on either parish and the funding requirement would remain identical whether or not the benefice was dissolved. 11. Englefield’s congregation overwhelmingly supported the dissolution. They said that the parishes had a strong, but different, sense of mission and churchmanship: over 80% of the electoral roll of Englefield lived outside the parish, the Deanery and, in some cases, the Diocese and, due to the demographics, mid-week joint activities were unlikely ever to attract large numbers. 12. They said that there had been a troubled relationship between the two parishes in the benefice which was not conducive to mission. The benefice’s clergy, past and present, had all failed in their attempts to bring the parishes closer together, despite much effort, and the effort wasted on profitless internal matters had drawn focus and energy away from the proclamation of the gospel and the furtherance of Christ’s kingdom. They considered that that had been an unhelpful deterrent when recruiting to the post of Resident Priest at Englefield. 13. In terms of finance, they said that the Diocese and Deanery and Theale PCC had agreed a ten-year financial support plan for Theale. They thought that planned new homes should bring in several hundred extra residents with potential for giving to increase and for Theale’s congregation to grow and flourish as an independent parish. 14. They said that the Englefield PCC had voted unanimously in favour and a petition to the Bishop in 2015 had had 134 signatures in support. Letters of comment (out of time) 15. Three letters of comment re-iterated some of the points made by those opposing the draft Scheme.