The turn of the year is always a good time to take stock of
life, direction and purpose. I want to take this opportunity to set out some of
the reflections I have as the new incumbent three months or so in to my time
here as we look towards 2019 in this parish.
I have begun to share these thoughts at the two meetings of
the Parochial Church Council (PCC) that I have chaired since my licensing in
September and to explore them with the newly constituted ‘Ministry Team’,
comprising a College of Priests (the clergy of the Minster and St George’s) and
College of Lay Minsters (the Readers and Southwark Pastoral Assistant [SPA]
from the Minster and St George’s)
There Are Gifts And
Talents Here!
At the outset my first reflection is that this parish has
an abundance of gifts and talents in the people who worship here and pass
through the doors and that there are countless ways in which the church can
serve the parish, the centre of Croydon and all who worship here. There are
good and strong foundations to build on. We need to be confident in what God
has already given here.
Changing Times Mean New
Responses
Nevertheless as society changes in its values and thinking,
the ways in which the church is called to respond change too. This does not for
a minute mean diluting the essentials of the Christian faith, but often it
means articulating them for people for whom a living knowledge of Jesus Christ
is remote or alien. It does mean that what we have used successfully in the
past may no longer serve the present. The PCC has already begun looking at how
and what we communicate and with whom. This has opened up deeper questions
about who we are, what we are really passionate
about and how to draw others into that.
There are some steps that will give us a good footing to
engage in fresh ways. We will need to review our Mission Action Plans (MAP). St
George’s plan is very much up and running and focused in the community of Waddon.
For the Minster there is a more thorough going to task of review that needs to
be undertaken, but this is an opportunity if we see the MAP as a tool to focus
our vision, values, mission and purpose here.
More widely the Minster, St George’s and St Andrew’s will
be exploring the opportunities of being drawn together as a Team Ministry which
means that strengths can be shared and shortcomings supported. Fr Gareth Powell
is also working more widely with Bishop Jonathan on how mission is undertaken
to central Croydon in partnership with St Michael’s, St Andrew’s and this
parish as an application to the Church Commissioners for a Strategic Funding
Bid which is about sustainable mission in a new shape for a new age.
Fostering a Culture:
From Passive Recipients to Active Participants
My task as Priest-in-Charge here, shared with colleagues,
is to celebrate the sacraments, preach the word of God and lead the church. All
of that is about fostering a culture that opens up the mission of the church
and in which everyone is enabled to become an active participant in the life of
the church and not a passive recipient.
This is about unleashing and releasing gifts and hopes and
being open to growth, personal and corporate. That is a threefold task: first, we
open ourselves up as disciples under God in worship and learning at all ages
and stages of life; secondly, we are responsive to the needs of our church in
looking out for one another; thirdly, that we go out in peace each Sunday intentionally
to love and serve the Lord in workplaces, homes, the wider community and with
those with whom we share our lives.
This does not happen in isolation, in my head or in plans
on my desk; this is a corporate task that I share with churchwardens and the
PCC in the operational and strategic oversight of the church and with each one
of you. I have put a challenge to the PCC: what might God be up to here; how do
we take leadership and encourage the whole church to respond to that?
Challenges and
Responses
We are entrusted with a stunning building at the Minster,
but it is a financial burden in heating and lighting as well as ongoing
repairs. And, of course, as in every church when we look at the accounts we
worry and break into a cold sweat. With excellent churchwardens and treasurer
we have the right people in place to work with our professional advisers, such
as the church architect and auditors, to spot warning signs and respond
effectively.
Croydon Borough Council values the setting of the Minster
and its historic place in the community, and to that end they want to improve
the environment in terms of aesthetics, safely and wellbeing. This is a process
that the churchwardens and I are actively engaged in and that the PCC has fed
in to. I am also acutely aware of just how many people pass our doors: the
challenge to us is to help them connect with what we’re about and to serve them.
I would love to see a way for us to keep the church open at regular times, and
not all dependent on Denise Mead as our verger.
It is easy to focus on buildings, and our heritage within
Croydon is a real asset, but prior to that are the ’living stones’ of the
church, its people. That means a number of things: first, excellent pastoral
care is essential, both to those who are ‘casual callers’, those who are of our
number but may be housebound or in hospital, and indeed those who come to
church bearing many burdens and buffeted by life; secondly, that people are fed
and nourished in the faith through study and discussion opportunities; thirdly,
that we offer worship in which we glimpse the beauty of God through care and
attention to what we do and in music that lifts the heart; and fourthly that we
care well for all those employed by the church.
To that end reviewing our stewardship is a priority for
2019. This connects directly to our discipleship. This will need to be an
imaginative engagement with the priorities that the Ministry Team and PCC begin
to identify – there is so much we could do, but we want to do a few things and
do them well. I am not keen any more on the phrase ‘stewardship campaign’
because of associations with campaigns that are about extracting money; they
are doomed to lead to disillusionment. Stewardship
that is about reconnecting with our faith will be blessed by God. We don’t
need ‘campaigns’ but an ongoing daily awareness of God’s presence and our
joyful, generous response. We will announce a day for all members of the
church, probably a Saturday in Eastertide, to come together to be enthused and
engaged in where we go from here.
The Greatest Threat
The greatest threat to the church here is not material
poverty, but poverty of imagination:
poverty of imagination comes when we put our trust in ourselves and not in the
word and works of God as our inspiration and hope. Poverty of imagination is
expressed in phrases that veto of anything new or fresh such as: ‘we’ve always
done…’ or ‘we tried that 10/50/100 years ago and it didn’t work…’ All our
hopes, aspirations and plans will be blessed if we seriously ponder them in our
hearts and pray for them to be blessed.
The Greatest Hope
I believe God is passionate about this place and its
mission, and that God challenges and inspires each one of us to work out his
purposes here. That’s why I came to join you in that task. We’re all in this together! We are the Body of Christ, in one
Spirit we were all baptised into one Body. Let us then pursue all that makes
for peace and builds up our common life.
“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord,
plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then
when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search
for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13
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