#ruralpresence post - #Salisbury Diocese’s #Rural Ministry & Mission Programme – a summary

(this post was 1st published on the Rural Presence Blog)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Below this summary is some background on the programme, some ideas from it that maybe implementable without the substantial funding the Salisbury Programme has, and a bit more detail on each of its 5 strands.  The programme’s substantial funding is from the Diocese and Church Commissioners.  The 5 strands are:

1. Rural placements for young adults (18-30) who are considering whether they have a call to ordained ministry, to allow them to explore in a rural context God’s call to them.
2. A Rural Training Pathway designed with Sarum College, to equip those training for ordained ministry for the specific challenges of ministry in the countryside.
3. For those without rural experience – placements for post curacy clergy and serving clergy in mid-career – allowing them to explore a possible move to rural ministry.
4. A four-year development programme – called ‘Leading into Growth’ – for ordained and lay rural church leaders.
5. Support for parishes in local mission and ministry through facilitation, seed-corn funding for mission projects, topic-based training and mentoring.

In drawing up the programme there was consultation, (starting 2012), and analysis of the make-up of the diocese and clergy age profile, (in 2014).  Diocesan Synod approval was in 2015.  Since then there have been a series of 24-hour residentials for 60 rural incumbents to talk about the issues, and discussions between Bishops/Archdeacons and parish and benefice clergy/staff as well as discussions with Rural Deans.

The programme has in place the sort of arrangements those familiar with change management programmes in the public or private sector would expect – so:

• explicit governance and reporting arrangements and roles;
• resourcing and communication plans;
• risk assessments with regular reviews;
• programme and project success indicators, (lead and lag);
• referenced evidence-based research to support the initiatives chosen;
• intentional partnerships with other organisations.

BACKGROUND

What follows is a summary of Salisbury Diocese’s Rural Ministry and Mission Programme, (full title “Renewing hope through rural ministry and mission” – RHRMM).

It is funded till the end of 2021 by some £m from the Diocese and from the Church Commissioners’ Strategic Development Fund.  Further details are in a 4 page Q&A and 39 page 2017 to 2021 Programme Plan.  Both documents and other information are available via the Salisbury Diocese’s Rural Ministry & Mission Page

The programme is managed with a dedicated part-time Programme Manager through a Steering Group reporting to the Bishop’s Council.  It provides for a number of resources including 4 part-time roles and one full time role to support parishes and deaneries with their parish development and mission.

IDEAS FROM THE PROGRAMME THAT MAY BE IMPLEMENTABLE WITHOUT SUBSTANTIAL FUNDING

I’ve extracted and merged together ideas from the programme I think match the heading above.  Doing this has prompted me to have some other ideas which I’ve added in using red coloured font.  These ideas maybe implementable without the sort of substantial level of funding Salisbury Diocese has secured.  Of course implementing them in another diocese would be a partial solution.  But it might also be viewed as a way of piloting the ideas to assess their applicability.  The ideas are:

1. Rural 2 week placements in market towns or multi-parish benefices for post curacy clergy and serving clergy in mid-career.  (2 weeks is apparently the optimum period of time for contextual immersion whilst allowing some time for reflection).  These would:

• be alongside an experienced incumbent/keen curate who are tasked with providing a rich programme of events during the placement, (maybe helped by a centrally generated ideas sheet for such events);
• ideally involve the participant living with a church member during their placement.  (It will be stressed that this is primarily an act of service by the host to help others explore their vocation);
• include Sunday worship with local communities;
• conclude with a reflection on the placement and the insights gained – facilitated by another experienced rural incumbent.

2. Appointing a house for duty clergy – alongside a full time colleague to bring together two benefices into one to ensure greater collaborative working and support.

3. Appointing a house for duty musical director  – to work with a full time clergy to establish musically based initiatives, (like community junior choirs possibly linked to local schools), to serve a benefices’ community and provide missional opportunities.

4. Purposefully harnessing the gifts and skills of retired clergy and laity to help organise and resource some of the ideas described above.

A BIT MORE DETAIL ON EACH OF THE 5 STRANDS

What follows is a bit more detail on each of the 5 strands.

1. Rural placements for young adults (18-30). The plan is to have 4 rural placements per year.  Participants – “Rural Explorers” – will:

• live with church members in their placement benefices, (Hosts will be paid an accommodation allowance to offset their costs but it will be stressed that this is primarily an act of service to help a young person explore their vocation);
• gain practical experience, develop new skills and gain insight into rural ministry through parochially-based placements working with experienced supervisors;
• receive theological training at Sarum College where they will take part in rural ministry seminars led by practitioners in the diocese;
• attend a vocational retreat;
• participate in ministry taster days in various forms of chaplaincy, religious broadcasting and with street pastors.

2. Rural Training Pathway for those training for ordained ministry.  The plan has two parts.  One is to increase the number of summer placements for ordinands and curates by requiring all curates to complete a rural placement.  The other part is to have 4-8 ordinands p.a. go through a Rural Training Pathway, (approved by Ministry Division in February 2016 and developed in partnership with Sarum College and in consultation with the South Central Regional Training Partnership).

Students of the Pathway Training will enjoy the support of the Sarum learning community.  They will be based in a rural benefice and supervised by an appointed training minister who has a lively ministry and commitment to rural ministry.  The course will offer training tailored to the distinctive theology and praxis of ministry in various rural situations.  Topics include:

• the narratives of living and working in rural areas;
• developing discipleship;
• innovative mission;
• nurturing vocations;
• inter-generational ministry in numerically small groupings;
• the care and missional use of buildings;
• collaborative leadership in multi-church benefices;
• self-care and resilience in ministry.

3. Placements for post curacy clergy and serving clergy in mid-career.  The funding will pay for a Rural Ministry Co-ordinator and defray some costs so that, for example, expenses will not be a barrier to placement in a poorer parish where good experience can be gained.  Placements will:

• be available in rural contexts such as a market town or multi-parish benefice;
• last around a fortnight, (apparently the optimum period of time for contextual immersion whilst allowing some time for reflection);
• be alongside experienced incumbents and keen curates who will provide a rich programme of events;
• include a ‘Sarum Saturday’ with a keynote speaker and opportunity to share and reflect on their experiences;
• include Sunday worship with local communities.

4. Leading into Growth – a 4 year development programme  – for ordained and lay rural church leaders.  A Discipleship Co-ordinator encourages people to develop a deeper understanding of whole-life discipleship and strengthens lay ministry by bringing together training for lay ecclesial ministries. The programme’s aim is to have 5 people per rural benefice on the programme.  Leading into Growth comprises of 3 strands:

a) Leadership development – with the following characteristics:

• using existing CMD courses and Leading into Growth initiatives targeted initially at parishes that have a clear capacity to grow and then extending to others;
• focused on individuals
  •  a “Called to Lead” programme – which provides 1 to 1  mentoring through Sarum College and targeted development opportunities for those with key leadership roles such as rural deans, incumbents of large churches or multi-church benefices, lay chairs and diocesan posts;
  • for rural incumbents – two residential conferences a year bringing them together to share good practice, discuss matters of common concern, support one another and learn together;
  • support for some individuals – to undertake the Germinate Leadership Programme.
• focused on teams:
  • a diocesan residential conference for rural incumbents  – with more opportunities for teams from rural benefices to participate in training provided by other organisations.
  • Leading your Church into Growth (LyCiG) course – run throughout the country for over 20 years.  It engages lay and ordained people together and is highly effective at motivating and equipping church leaders to lead their churches into growth in numbers, spirituality and mission commitment.
  • THRIVE  – a newer course for lay leaders, influential lay members and clergy in multi-parish benefices.  It is a more up-to-date learning model than LyCiG and may more effectively embed transformational learning.  Participants commit to four two-day non-residential gatherings over two years plus a final day for review and commissioning.  Much of the work and the learning takes place between these gatherings.  Those who have been part of a learning community may be well placed to facilitate further THRIVE communities.
• supported by mentors, (perhaps organised as action learning sets), after they have completed LyCiG or THRIVE  – so that new practices and behaviours are sustained.

b) Growing through the local church – comprising of:

• Energising Local Ministry (ELM)  – encourages lay people to recognise and use their God given skills.  ELM was developed from observing practices in Salisbury’s link diocese of Evreux in France and has been used in multi-church/parish benefices.  In it a facilitator helps small groups take responsibility for specific areas of parish life such as prayer, maintenance, administration, visiting, worship.  New practices have taken root and are renewing life in the parishes and churches concerned.
• Money and mentoring is available to parishes embarking on mission initiatives.  The mentoring shares good practice and allows experienced practitioners to share insights and advice with the less experienced.
• Ministry for Mission (M4M)  – clergy and lay people have demonstrated a real appetite for mission focussed training, taking up almost 1400 training places.  M4M has created ‘hubs’ which bring together practitioners in the diocese with a specific interest or calling.  Supporting and increasing the number of hubs is a vital and growing part of M4M.
• Project groups  – to bring lay and ordained people together  – on subjects such as New Housing, Parish Development and Resourcing Mission – to encourage shared working and energise mission across the diocese.
• More local training – to improve access and increase uptake. Topics will include setting up and sustaining rural discipleship and learning courses, rural fresh expressions, social justice and changing ministry patterns.

5.  Support for parishes in local mission and ministry.  Feedback from parishes consistently show the importance of working with them.  Particularly where parishes face long term or deep-seated issues, there are no quick fixes. Helping them make sustainable improvements is based on listening, helping them to articulate the issues, providing advice and practical support and working with them and walking alongside them.  This needs care, time and experienced practitioners who will engage with parishes for as long as they are needed.  Salisbury Diocese have experimented with a variety of patterns of ministry in multi-church benefices including:

• Appointing a Pioneer Minister to work alongside the ‘traditional’ priest in a large multi-church benefice. This has ensured there is someone with the time to develop new areas of ministry and has met with a great deal of success;
• Appointing house for duty clergy alongside a full time colleague bringing together two benefices into one to ensure greater collaborative working and support;
• Fostering associated lay ministries, including Licensed Lay Ministers, Lay Pastoral Assistants, Lay Worship Leaders and Churchwardens, to resource the local church, with the full time priest acting in an oversight capacity;
• Harnessing the gifts and skills of clergy and laity, (including the retired), to take on a voluntary role;
• a small but growing number of pastoral reorganisations to reduce the number of PCCs in Team and Group ministries, using the advice from the Simplification Task Group from Renewal and Reform.

Future plans include:

• Forming a Parish Development Group – of mission mentors/companions for benefices and deaneries.  At the invitation of the parish, a member of the Group will work alongside the parish to help it develop patterns for shared lay and ordained leadership, remove blockages and streamline governance in ways that are appropriate for them.  The Group will work closely with staff in Salisbury’s  Ministry and Mission teams and be supported administratively from Church House.
• Mission posts – the funding from the Church Commissioners enables five mission posts to be established.  Based on Salisbury’s M4M hub experience, their task will be to set up local action centred learning communities and provide support and targeted training.  The hubs will enable learning and good practice to be shared  – and will remove some of the barriers to engagement presented by the isolation of many rural areas of the Diocese.
• Addressing the burden of administration  – a second phase of the programme beyond 2019 will look at improving the systems for managing administration and considering how large multi-church benefices could be better served administratively.