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The background to this is a recent paper from the Diocese about Deployment of Ministry in the coming five to ten years - a period when the number of clergy retiring will exceed new ordinations to the priesthood. It would have been easy to make a crisis reaction as the number of full-time clergy declines but we recognised that fostering vocations to all ministries in the church, lay and ordained, is not about stop-gap policies but rather something that should be at the forefront of our responses to God's baptismal call to us to BE the Church and to engage in our Lord's ministry and mission with enthusiasm, zeal and commitment.
Every parish and team has a duty to ensure that there are vocational discernment processes available to all the baptised and appropriate opportunities to test and develop the vocation of each and every Christian. Our Lord makes no exception when he tells us to make him known to the world and proclaim his Good News through our lives and our witness. It is a charge He lays on every Christian.
The gifts of all God's people are valued and need to be able to find release in the life of the Church. This is crucial if the Church is to speak of Jesus to a work in great need of His Saving Love.
Alongside the call to fulfil our vocation there is the call to responsible and extravagant Stewardship. Our Christian Giving includes giving sufficient money and other resources so that the Mission and Ministry of the Church is not thwarted by lack of resources. Whilst all our Team Churches are facing difficulty in making ends meet we are not asking people for a 'bail-out' donation We are asking you to put a value on God's generosity to you, to your life and the grace you have received through his Love shown to you in Jesus Christ. Jesus was prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for us and we have to ask ourselves - what does that mean for our response in return?
The Church in the Epping District Team Ministry is very healthy and there are many good things happening as we develop our outreach to our community and feed each other with the spiritual gifts of God to equip us to do this work better. We are asking for more money, not to prop up a crumbling organisation but rather that we may go on responding to God's initiatives - which we are invited to join in. Like Vocation, good Stewardship is a Baptismal commitment. It says how serious we are about how we respond to God's infinite generosity to us.
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