20 September 2024

In March this year, we announced that the Church of England Strategic Mission and Ministry Investment Board (SMMIB) has awarded Chelmsford Diocese £2.2 million in capacity funding to enable missional work in deaneries and parishes across Essex and East London.
In a key role, funded by the SMMIB grant, the Rev Becs Challis has been working with people from parishes in the Barking Area to help shape this work.
Becs has shares her reflections on the experience so far:
“Having completed my Curacy at the end of 2023, I felt God’s call on my life; for this next season at least; to be something other than Parish ministry. This wasn’t at the time a particularly comfortable position to be in having trained for Incumbent level ministry within a church!
"However, after many supportive conversations, some interviews and a realisation that God is always moving us towards all we are created to be, even if that includes building on career experience prior to Ordination, I started in July 2024 as a Programme Manager for Chelmsford Diocese. I was licensed as a Public Preacher in early September which means I can also continue ministry on a self-supporting basis.
"But stepping away from being a full-time local parish minister for a season, does not mean stepping away from local parish ministry. Supporting those who serve in our parishes is very much at the heart of my role as a Programme manager. My main focus is to work with Bishop Lynne, Archdeacon Chris, Caroline Leveaux (who is a consultant from the Church of England Vision and Strategy Team) and the Barking Area Team to design and discern a proposal to be submitted to the National Church Institutions (NCIs) for funding from the Diocesan Investment Programme (DIP) governed by the Strategic Mission and Ministry Board (SMMIB).
"Now it wasn’t the many acronyms that excited me about this position, but the potential to be involved in supporting an Area wide programme of mission-focussed change that could really make a difference to our shared lives as Christians within our local parishes and church communities. Especially as through Bishop Lynne’s leadership the principles within the Barking Area proposal are focused on supporting and growing the local leaders we have in our parishes and amplifying the good things that are already happening. This is not about top-down initiatives. One of the underlying principles of Travelling Well Together as a diocese is enabling local voices to participate in the change. Within the Barking Episcopal Area we have ensured that as many people as possible can have a voice in developing our proposals through a series of conversations and consultations. My role, working with Archdeacon Chris, is involved in ensuring that the investment we are working to secure, positively impacts those parish churches and local communities where it can have the greatest missional effect.
"One of the joys of my role is getting to know people across each deanery such as Danny Jebanesan from the Redbridge deanery who is keen on ensuring that we help and equip PCC’s to free up energy and time for mission.
"I’ve enjoyed working with Emma Anderton the Children, Youth and Families Advisor within the Mustard Seed Team. Emma has been a part of the listening sessions helping us to think through what interventions may work to address the challenge we all feel at key points of transition for the children and young people in our congregations.
"An aspect of ministry particularly important to the Barking Episcopal area is the large amount of new development, especially social housing estates and low-income communities, some of which already have a Christian presence from those serving in Estates Churches. However, there is always more that can be done, by speaking to Revd Dan Scott and Revd Alan Moss there is a whole list of potential ways that the already existing and excellent Chelmsford Diocese Estate Churches Network can be strengthened to in-turn equip others.
"The hope I have is that through listening, wise investment, partnering together and God’s call on each of our lives as missionary disciples we will be able to enable and empower our parishes as they discern how to be God’s people in the communities they serve.”
Becs is part of the Programme Management Office led by Dawn Weddell, Head of Missional Programme Management. While Becs’ work focuses in particular on the Barking Area, the SMMIB funding will enable missional work across the whole diocese. We’ll be providing more information and sharing more stories in the coming months.