- Joint Annual Report
For 2008
At the beginning of last year’s APCM report we highlighted the need for gifts of stamina, patience and faith as we journey together to discover God’s vision for our Benefice. This is a time consuming process which is requiring diligence and effort in order to come up with a plan which can be realised. The plan needs to produce growth not only in our discipleship of knowing God, but also confidence in telling others about our faith which will attract others to worship and become disciples of Christ. In November, 2008 both of us attended a four day course, Leading Your Church into Growth. Most of the Clergy raised the concern that their churches were pre-occupied with three B’s: Buildings, Budgets and Bureaucracy; whilst these are important, if we focus solely on these issues in the Vision for the future, we will only maintain the current situation of a gradual decline which is experienced across the Church of England. To grow we need to focus on the Mission aspects of our Vision Document Feeding Moseley with God’s guidance, generosity and love; this calls us to focus on how we can develop the aspects of Worship, Discipleship, Evangelism and Hospitality and Pastoral Care. Over the last three months a small vision team made up of equal members of both churches have spent considerable time and effort trying to come up with options of how we put some of these into place. The group have worked extremely hard and Andrew Mottram from Ecclesiastical Property Solutions has begun the long process of helping us try to achieve what we will soon agree are our priorities for the future. In particular Andrew has reminded us that the important task at the moment is that we need to come up with the things that we want to see happen to allow our churches to grow.
That list is starting to emerge and it’s important that it has a good balance between making sure we maintain and improve our current physical facilities but also and equally important that we remind ourselves that the main task here is to worship and proclaim Jesus Christ afresh for this generation. Advice from those who have experienced church growth is to avoid the temptation of believing nothing is happening and acting on a quick fix urge ’simply to do something because nothing has happened for 5 years’; this may take up great energies if we focus solely on maintaining buildings and are diverted from the primary task of being Christ’s Church encouraging it’s people to grow in faith, confidence and size. What is good and we need to remind ourselves of, is that our two Churches are already doing enormous work in serving people under the four mission headings (above); there is a huge amount happening and we should recognise that and be proud of it! We hope by Easter that areas of the Vision Document that have not been addressed will have received attention and that we can fairly prioritise our future, addressing one or two issues well, rather than attempting to solve everything in a haphazard and unsuccessful way.
The Vision Document draws together our aims for the future, much of which is built on what is already fruitfully happening at the moment. The accompanying document reveals some of these highlights. In particular we celebrate that we are reaching out to more people where they are much of which takes places away from Sunday. This often goes unseen and needs to be recognised and valued as we think forward to how we create a sustainable pattern of ministry with fewer resources.
In March last year, Joan Griffin retired after 37 years of active and loyal service in Moseley; Peter Hansell is now part time and finishes his curacy in the summer and finally Eric Dwyer in marking 45 years of being Reader retires at the end of May (although we look forward to him continuing to help us!). We give thanks for their ministries and pray for them in their journeys ahead. As you will read the Ministry Team Report in the Worship section, the reduction of ordained ministers and the amount of activity that is happening in the Benefice has raised questions about who should be responsible for the day to day running of our eventful life. In the last few months the Ministry Team and PCC’s have begun to recognise that of the roles traditionally headed up by the Vicar need to be shared and delegated; the developing roles of the Vice Chair and Heads of proposed Serving Teams may begin to shoulder this. External advisers have recommended that we should consider looking at the appointment of a Benefice Manager to oversee much of the maintenance and development of this large plant, in a way that is done in a Health Centre or Firm of Architects. Parallel to the Vision process, it is important to prioritise the overall needs of the benefice rather than the individual and therefore feel it is right to ask whether youth work is still a priority or whether there are other areas that need developing such as Mission, Faith Development or Nurture?
On a more personal note, we have begun our third and fifth years in Moseley; we can appreciate more about our common life and have a deeper understanding of the importance of networking and getting involved in local activities. Through initiatives such as the Stations of the Cross Project, Every Child matters to God and the Peace Garden, there is much mileage in developing our spiritual contribution to the local community and hope that serious thought can be given to exploring the creation of an Arts Church.
Looking to the future can only be possible by the valued support and encouragement of colleagues and our Think Tank groups which are getting off the ground; the formation of the Benefice and reduction in staffing creates huge challenges and we are grateful for those who have shown understanding and support — for Rosemary especially when it was necessary to take time off to recuperate from a series of traumatic events and for Jeremy when it has been important to reflect about how to move forward without facing burn out.. That is still a risk and this comes with a warning that the listening process needs to continue in particular to both the external consultants and the experience we bring; we all need to be prepared to change and act on recommendations that are given to us which will ensure that the outcomes we hope for can be delivered and sustained.
Both of us are looking forward to the next year and after Lent Series of Recognising God’s Vision for us, we are looking forward to working with Peter Howell Jones, our Diocesan Missioner to begin drawing up the priorities and a timetable for be God’s people delivering his message and ministry to Moseley.
Revd Jeremy Dussek and Revd Rosemary Donovan