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At the Team Council later in the week, the members started to look at the ministry the Team Churches will need in the next 5 to 10 years. At the forefront of our thinking was the information given by Archdeacon Martin at the Visitation Service that 47% of current full-time clergy will retire in the next 5-10 years. However, though this is an important factor, it is the empowering of the laity for exercise of baptismal ministry and discipleship which matters more than simply replacing a clergy deficit.
At the heart of the Deanery Strategy for Ministry is the absolute conviction that Baptism is the call to discipleship and ministry - a call which, as we develop a mature faith, leads us to witness to God's holiness, mercy, justice, faithfulness and love to the world. Our call to this ministry does not require any further commissioning beyond baptism. Licensing and ordination for specific ministries within the whole ministry of the people of God are developments of this wholeness of ministry. They don't replace lay ministry, they enhance it through prayer, service and the vital process of educating, equipping and enthusing. We are called together to be the Royal Priesthood which the First Letter of Peter spells out in detail and deserves prayerful study and consideration. Read 1 Peter 2: 4-10
We are charged with a sharing in the Mission of Christ to bring people into His Kingdom of Love. We are given gifts in order to do this - different gifts which when used together provide a mighty resource for Jesus Christ to use. Of course, this mission also needs money. Too often in the past, though, the Church has started with money. How much we have determines the resources we can provide and this therefore dictates the mission - often a watered down mission because it is underfunded and under-resourced.
The truth is that we must approach it the other way round. First know what our mission is and the wideness of it. Where do we start to find the answer to What is our Mission? The Gospel of course, and you can't get a wider vision of mission than that! Then we must ask what resources (especially people) do we need to fulfil this mission? And finally, how much will it cost? (T S Eliot would reply - Not less than everything)
Of course, our three churches are a bit strapped for cash just now, but we need to think long term. AS we start to give ourselves more joyfully, deeply and enthusiastically to the Gospel Mission and, as we ask God to help us develop the gifts He has given us - then we shall discover that the true cost of the Church has already been settled by Christ. By joining in, we have to give of ourselves but as usual we then discover how much we have received. Our current work at PCC and Team Council level seeks to help us all to see that wonderful truth an hopefully encourage us all to be a part of God's loving action.
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