2012 Annual Reports to Diocesan Synod www.chelmsford.anglican.org Contents CONTENTS 1 FOREWORD FROM THE BISHOP OF CHELMSFORD 1 2012 ANNUAL REPORTS TO SYNOD: AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 BARKING EPISCOPAL AREA 3 BRADWELL EPISCOPAL AREA 5 COLCHESTER EPISCOPAL AREA 6 MISSION & MINISTRY 7 EDUCATION 9 COMMUNICATIONS 10 THE BISHOP’S COUNCIL 10 DIOCESAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE 11 HOUSES 11 INVESTMENTS 12 LONDON OVER THE BORDER 12 MISSION OPPORTUNITY FUND 13 DIOCESAN MISSION & PASTORAL COMMITTEE 14 YOUTH 15 CHAPLAINCIES 16 HEALING & DELIVERANCE ISSUES 18 ORDINANDS 18 READERS 19 RURAL ISSUES 19 DIOCESAN ENVIRONMENT GROUP 20 CHELMSFORD CATHEDRAL 21 INTERNATIONAL 22 COMMITTEE FOR MINORITY ETHNIC ANGLICAN CONCERNS 23 MOTHERS’ UNION 23 FAITH IN ACTION 24 RETREAT HOUSE OF PLESHEY 24 ST PETER’S CHAPEL 25 CHELMSFORD DIOCESAN BOARD OF FINANCE 26 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 27 Foreword from the Bishop of Chelmsford As a diocese we spend a lot of time looking forward, and rightly so. We are in the process of re-imagining ministry. We are envisaging new ways of being church and doing church, and exploring healthy and sustainable ways of being the ‘body of Christ’ in Essex and East London. This requires prayer, imagination, teamwork and future planning. But in the Old Testament we read time and again of how the ‘people of God’ are encouraged to look back and to remember God’s faithfulness as they face new challenges, and walk into an unknown future. And so as Joshua succeeds Moses, God says to him that he will be with Joshua just as he was with Moses. And the call is to be strong and courageous, and not to be discouraged. (Joshua 1:5,9) Wherever we work and minister across this diocese, we will be facing new ways of doing things; new opportunities and new challenges. I was reminded recently of the extraordinary challenges facing this diocese in its early years of formation, during the war years. Back then the challenges were enormous. But prayerful and imaginative responses lay a strong foundation for the future: prayer books were created to give to the soldiers, hospitality became a vibrant expression of Christian relationship, and prayer was the pulse of this diocese. Whilst thankfully we are not living through the turbulence of war, we are nonetheless facing our own turbulent times. But perhaps the response is in fact the same, a call to courage and collaboration. None of us can ride these waves of change on our own. We need each other in a way that is also new to us. We are learning a new dependency. God loves his church and so we need to ensure that all the gifts are being used for the building up of His church. And that means recognising the new ministries God is raising up. We are therefore likely to see a proliferation of Licensed Lay Ministries springing up in this great diocese in the months and years to come. And we are committed to developing both new and traditional forms of ministry. So as we work together with a united focus on mission and transformation, we will be a sign of life to our communities of a God who is actively at work today. In Ecclesiastes we are reminded that there is a time for everything: ‘a time to plant and a time to uproot’. In a sense I think that is where we are. We are planting new ministries and uprooting some old ways of working, for even greater growth. And so whether it’s in our parishes, or in the diocesan offices: in Education, Finance, Communications, Mission and Ministry, and HR, we can support each other through the changes. I pray that we will discern the times and seasons in this diocese so that we may not run ahead of God’s agenda nor lag behind. I thank God that he has called us all for such a time as this. +Stephen 1 2012 Annual Reports to Synod: An Executive Summary 2012 was a crucial year in the continuing development of the mission and ministry of the Church in the Diocese of Chelmsford. It provided many challenges, but also many opportunities. We had to face some uncomfortable truths, which required thought as to how we moved forward. This set of annual reports detail many of these challenges and opportunities and we hope that you enjoy reading them and that they give you a sense of what is going on across the length and breadth of our Diocese. Throughout this year members of our Churches continued to work with Transforming Presence, working out what it means for them, where they are. Things all started with the Time to Talk conference in January, which was attended by 1000 people, representing every Deanery. The conclusions from this day have dramatically shaped the thinking on Transforming Presence and all outworkings and helped us to identify key areas to focus our energy. A similar event was held in the summer for young people in the Diocese, Time for Youth. Key to how the Church moves forward is how it engages in mission and evangelism. In 2012 it was announced that the Diocesan centenary year, 2014, will be a year to prioritise evangelism. There are many ways in which our Churches are responding to this call to be missional. New missional communities are being established and growing. The institutional Church is now responding to these developments. In 2012 work on the first Bishop’s Mission Orders began. There are three in total, one church plant in Brentwood, one youth based Fresh Expression in Havering Deanery and a Deanery Network Church in Colchester, and there are more to follow. It became clear in 2012 that there are many instances around the Diocese where congregations had begun work or had started to formulate plans to make the buildings they inhabit fit for mission. This may be through providing new halls, extensions to their church building and in some cases starting from scratch and building a new place of worship. 2012 was an important year in thinking about how we equip ourselves for mission. Training in mission and evangelism was one of the key requests coming out of the Time to Talk conference. There will be training events held in each Deanery in 2013. The Evangelism Enablers course was revamped and is now more accessible for those wanting to explore this vocation. The year also saw some key developments in training, resourcing and supporting of leaders in mission. Whilst there were fewer Ordained in 2012 than 2011, there was the very positive news that there has been a steady increase in those who are offering themselves for Ordination. One notable development is the increase in Locally Deployed Ministers. Lay Ministry had the most significant review in some time, introducing the new role of Licenced Lay Ministers. Grant making bodies such as the Mission Opportunity Fund and London Over the Border continued to support leaders in mission financially. The launch of the Engage course offers a new opportunity for those working with young people. 2 This is a period of rapid change in the education landscape. In the last year we continued to support our 140 schools, including a new primary and Church of England ‘free school’. The education team worked to support schools converting to academies and geared up to become accredited as an academy sponsor. We continue to shape the lives of around 100,000 young people through schools, Churches and other groups. The overall financial situation remains one of challenges, as in 2012, the shortfall in parish share reached £975,000, some £150,000 worse than 2011. The pattern and timing of vacancies together with other savings absorbed much of this shock and the General Fund recorded only a small deficit in 2012. It remains true that the Diocese spends considerably more on parish ministry than the total sought in parish share; and we receive five times more funding from the National Church than we contribute to it. It would be impossible to reflect back on 2012 without reference to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. These events brought the nation together and made Stratford and other locations in our Diocese the centre of attention throughout the duration of the Games. More detail on how the Church responded can be found in the reports. Our thanks go to all those who organised and led outreach events in connection with the Games. Please read the set of reports below and hold those involved in various activities and with particular responsibilities in your prayers as we journey through 2013 and beyond. Barking Episcopal Area London Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012 and the Olympic Legacy Highlights included Ultimate Gold – a mission involving 20 Stratford churches working together led by St John’s; God in the Park involving Churches from Redbridge and Barking and Dagenham; Praise in the Park involving Churches across Harlow; Opening Ceremony Festival in Central Park Dagenham and the Village Olympics involving eight villages and schools. Bishop David and Bishop Adrian Newman, Bishop of Stepney, are working together with their clergy and support teams to make the most of the legacy offered by the regeneration of this part of East London. Five new villages [three in the Barking Area and two in the Stepney Area] are to be built over the next 20 years around the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, as well as the East Village previously the Athlete’s Village coming on market very shortly. The joint team from Stepney and Barking Areas are looking at reimagining ministry to respond to the challenge of such an increase in population especially without any guaranteed worship spaces.