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Report of 7 March 2009 Synod

Notices

The Big Feast - Saturday 20 June 2009 for all primary-school aged children, parents and church leaders at the Cathedral.

Minutes of Meeting on 22 November 2008

It was pointed out that Question 6 on the members of the Vacancy in See Committee was still outstanding. However it was also noted that it was not permitted to fill vacancies once the Bishop has resigned. The Minutes were then accepted.

Bishop John gave the Presidential Address

Bishop John said that we are facing a storm in the form of the financial crisis, which is causing confusion and threatening panic. No part of society will be untouched. The Christian community is awakening from a dream, becoming a body of contemporary theology for practical aid to the community. From the time of Augustine to the present time there has been such a movement of connection to social engagement - Wilberforce, Temple, Trevor Huddleston etc. It is amazing how much of the New Testament is connected to money. Jesus addressed taxation, stewardship and gifts to the poor, in his parables and we hear in the letter of James the question of money, power and position in the Church. The Church has had a dislike of usury - charging interest on loans - and Islam is still opposed to it. How do we come to terms with growing levels of debt? We sat by as banks and institutions fuelled property prices believing the level of growth showed prosperity. The Church seems to have been more concerned with what goes on in the bedroom than in the boardroom!  Lent needs to be more than giving up chocolate. The Unemployment Conference on 26 March will feature someone who did not shrink from these problems and give us a chance to listen to what God is saying to the church at this time. This crisis will not be the same as previous ones; when we come out of it things will have changed. Can we move to a better life? Damage will have been done and we need to address the pastoral needs of those caught up in it, the pensioners dependent on savings, the cracks in people’s identities and personal lives. We can offer friendship, places where people can go to be cared for, and prayer and help challenge the despair that the storm will not pass. On the macro issues we are bound to challenge prosperity on the basis of debt and live within our means. This is also true at the ecological level. If the UK standard of living were replicated world-wide it would need three earths to sustain it. Increased levels of well being do not lead to contentment. We talk of affordable housing, but the growth of prices made that unattainable. All housing needs to be affordable. The business sector needs to get back to investing what they have and can afford. This is not good news in the short term. There are no immediate ways of dealing with problems such as high unemployment. We can only help the victims and then look to the future. Are the Gospel and the Church commodities to be marketed? Is it religions’ place in culture to be in competition with retail therapy? We need to discover what it is to be human and the corporate way of human life. From the pulpit we need to encourage people to talk about these things, to wrestle with the truth, to seek the will of God. The Church will not escape; charities are already feeling the effects, e.g. Christian Aid has seen a rise of 23% in costs due to the fall of the pound. This diocese balanced the books in 2008, but did not achieve the progress with Parish Share as was hoped. So thanks for the efforts, but we need to do better! Every parish must develop a programme for progress, to move the Gospel forward in each community, e.g. using house for duty, local ministry, joining with neighbouring parishes, joining with ecumenical brethren. The idea of “Give us more money and priests and we can carry on” has had its day. Banks will be different and the Church will not be the same. We are shaking out the old and testing the foundations for the future. Pray for wisdom and strength and what this means for the future. God will bring the Church to a new day. May the Church become a refuge in these dark and difficult times.

Good News Story - Mission Opportunity Fund

Steven Webb reported on 18 successful bids for Mission Opportunity Funding. In September 2008 the Assessment Committee met to decide distribution of £450,000 available. The over-riding objectives were to develop new congregations, to meet people in areas that needed strengthening - communities not necessarily tied to a geographical area. Some funding was in partnership with deaneries, and match-funding partnerships. If a scheme was to exist beyond the initial funding period then it had to show sustainability. Volunteers and training was a common theme, i.e. no cost in the future, but initial pump priming. There were 28 applications for approximately £1mm, of which 18 were approved totalling £445,512. The distribution was 5 in the Colchester Area totalling £160k, 5 for Bradwell at £180k and 8 for Barking at £110k. It is intended to hold a rough balance between the areas into the future.

The schemes were mostly for a 3 year period, but 4 were for 2 years or one-off projects. There were schemes for “tweenagers” and teenagers to retain them in Church life as they grow up; some for pre-school ages to build commitment; one for a regeneration missioner in an area of housing growth; for church plants; for children’s spiritual development; for a school outreach worker; for a youth worker; for collaboration with other faith-based communities to support young females (already addressed for males); one with parish, ecumenical partners and local authorities for a drop-in centre, with finance from all the partners; one for collaboration between deanery and school to provide pastoral care and spiritual development; one for the creation of space for welcoming and bringing people into the church; one to gather local musical performers together in the community; one for a Fresh Expression church in a new housing area; one for a Fresh Expression church in a deprived community.

The Church Commissioners have included Chelmsford in grant funding to £500k for regeneration and new housing, and this will be used in the Mission Opportunity Fund.

Each initiative has a named leader and will report and confirm the need for continued funding during the scheme. In the past review and monitoring has been sketchy, but this will not be the case. In fact the Church Commissioners’ funds demand such reporting. Charlie Kosla will also keep a watch on the initiatives and with those who were not successful. There will be a series of workshops for those who are considering application (by 15 September).

To questions from Synod Steven said that the payment of Parish Share would be taken into account, but was not the number one priority. However it was unlikely that “won’t pay” parishes would receive grants. The monitoring will be done by an annual report, using the aims of the application form as a basis. This would also provide an incentive to others.

New Mission & Pastoral Committee - Membership & Constitution

Since some amendments were to be made to the paper, there was no formal vote, but Synod was invited to comment to inform the final paper. Steven Webb said that stipendiary numbers would decline in the short to medium term, so ministry needs better utilisation of resources. The new committee is required to have a different focus, ecumenical and mission focussed. The membership should be as effective and efficient as possible, keeping the Committee at a workable number but with good geographical representation. The Archdeacons are obliged to be members; the bishops - including the Diocesan Bishop as Chair - are needed. There would then be three elected clergy, one from each Area, so a total of 11 clergy. The lay representation would be a combination of elected and appointed members with a focus on some 25 year-olds and under - the youthful voice. The Committee needs to be running by August, so appointments and elections are required between the June Synod and August.  The Committee will have the power to delegate to the Area Mission & Pastoral Committees.

Comments included that the required expertise of members should be published; that a casual vacancy should be filled by the original method, not by the Bishops’ Council; that this was not a Bishops’ Staff committee but did not appear to be related to the Diocese as whole; that there were too many ex-officios and appointees by ex-officios and that the numbers elected should be increased instead; that the 25 year cut-off may be too ambitious; that if the meeting time of the Committee was during the day then it will have an effect on candidates; how do we hear the ecumenical perspective; who will be the electorate; will the elected members also be on the appropriate Area Pastoral Committees, and not just appointed ones; that a diagrammatic scheme to show the links between committees would be useful.

Steven responded that it would be a poor show if we can’t get people 25 and under; that where there is an ecumenical aspect we can bring in expertise, but not on a permanent basis; that meeting times a thorny subject generally; the electorate will be deanery synod members; elected members will also be on the appropriate Area Pastoral Committees.

Reports

a) Bishop’s Council

The phrase “Considering medium and long-term future” of the Retreat House was questioned and Steven said that these words were used about the development of the building, not its future. The report was then accepted

b) Finance Committee

A question was asked about the progress of the repayment of the loan, which was not mentioned in the report. Steven said that the loan has been partly repaid and was now £1.1m.  Another payment will be made in the coming week to take it to £950k. It is the intention that the further sale of houses would repay the balance by year end, but that depends on the market conditions. The report was then accepted.

Far Right Politics

Bishop David said that of 56 elected members of the BNP, Barking has 18. The party is showing gains increasingly throughout Essex. The timing of the debate is ahead of the 2009 European Elections, but also before the London and Borough Elections of 2010. The scope of the debate, which follows a similar debate in General Synod, is wide. It has to do with racism in our society and failure of mainline parties facing the issues. It has to do with relationship, with community, with the call to vocation.

Steven Saxby said that the paper follows on from the General Synod action to prevent clergy being members of the BNP. Legal advice has been taken and the paper is consistent with the Ministry & Public Affairs Department. We should encourage church leaders to promote participation in political life including standing for election.

There was an amendment on the day paper, to remove the word “hustings” from the bullet point “To ensure that where parishes make their buildings available for hustings meetings that racist political parties are not invited nor permitted to take part in the meeting” and an amendment was proposed by a Synod member to insert another bullet point “To urge all major political parties to address the issues which draw people to vote for far right political parties”.

Debate on the amendments

Being councillors gives the BNP credibility and provides them access to information; we should not underestimate them, only 10 people are required to propose nomination for an election. We need to love the unlovable; in tackling the party we are not challenging the issues. We need to tackle the hearts and minds of people. With regard to hustings they give the opportunity for other candidates to explain why the BNP are not included in cross-party bodies. The best advert for not voting for them is in the hustings - they don’t have any answers to the issues. Extreme conditions lead to anxiety; we need to engage in dialogue with those likely to go down the road of racist politics. At hustings it gives the electorate the chance to hear all the candidates and the candidates the chance to challenge each other. Removal of the word “hustings” would exclude them from any meetings whatsoever; we should be in dialogue to persuade them to change their minds.

The first amendment was lost but with substantial abstentions.

There is a difference between free speech and incitement to racism; one member said that the BNP is descended from the Nazis who were responsible for the death of a hundred of their family members as Jews. There is a corrosive atmosphere of superiority, even in churches! Slavery was at large in Paul’s time and Christian people down the ages have profited from it. We need to address the issue that people feel their views are not counted. One couple received a letter from the bailiff to put them out on the streets in four days time; they tried all the political parties and the only one without an answering machine was the BNP; the BNP acted and got action; the couple now vote for the BNP as do their friends and families.

The second amendment was carried.

Debate on amended Motion

We need to address the concerns of people; racial politics isn’t only the remit of the BNP, a recent leaflet published that “the country is full - we need to control immigration”, was from the Christian Alliance! The BNP’s attraction is to those who feel the mainstream parties don’t understand their concerns. Recently the BNP did well in places where there are not large ethnic minorities. People are swept into racial politics where that wasn’t their intention.

Bishop David said that we need to engage with those we don’t agree with, but it is an unfortunate way they use this engagement and we should resist engagement at an official level because of this. They only need 8.7% of the vote in London to get a seat in Europe.

The motion was put in two sections, voting firstly on the bullet point on hustings which was lost - for 29, against 52, abstentions 18. The remaining motion (without that bullet point) was carried  - for 98, against 2, abstentions 4.

Questions

To a question from Revd Martin Howse on how many parishes under Resolution C have petitioned (or are petitioning) for extension of oversight, both Catholic and Evangelical, Bishop John said that 22 have petitioned and 4 are petitioning. They all need to show they have fully consulted with the parishioners before it is granted. To a supplementary question on how long the process takes Bishop John said that it takes as long as necessary until they have met the requirements. Bishop John was then asked what percentage are the 22 in terms of electoral rolls, but said that the information was not available without notice.

To a question from Stuart Chillingworth on whether there was any appropriate help available in the Dioceses to people who had experienced redundancy, Bishop John said that that this is vitally important and that the conference would air that question and the website used to advise resources.

To a question from Revd Martin Howse about the opening hours of the Diocesan Office, the Print Unit and the Resource Centre Steven Webb said that the office is open from 09.00 until 17.00. No problems had been experienced in this area. The switchboard message details those times. As the hours are not particularly unusual there is no need to publish them further.

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