IN THE 17 parishes in the primary minster community (MC) within the diocese of Leicester, PCCs are considering proposals to satisfy the associated fee of its ministry, as required by the diocesan framework. The variety of stipendiary ministers is to be one, a revised type of “oversight minister”, who, it’s proposed, will prioritise work with church schools within the 4 parishes which have them.
The MC framework is just one in every of the models being rolled out across the Church as dioceses work to scale back structural deficits — forecast to succeed in £62 million in 2024 — and encourage each a rise in giving and a broader culture change, typically entailing greater collaboration across parishes and increased lay leadership.
Addressing his diocesan synod last yr, the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, suggested that MCs supporting the prices of their very own ministry was “the one way we will address our financial deficit while also continuing with a daring and audacious plan to work with God in growing the Church”. It was “a very important technique of incentivising generosity and empowering local people”.
At its launch in 2023 (News, 26 May 2023), Launde’s became the primary of 20 to 25 MCs expected to have been formed within the diocese by 2026, incorporating all 234 parishes (News, 8 October 2021).
As the variety of full-time stipendiary posts within the diocese was expected to fall to 80 by 2026 (there have been 82 in 2024), the diocese offered the reassurance that, at a minimum, each MC would have a minimum of one stipendiary cleric, while each church would have a named minister, who is likely to be ordained or lay. In a 2023 statement that warned of “inaccurate reporting”, the diocese said that every MC team was “expected to be made up of a minimum of 4 stipended posts”. This will vary across the MCs, nonetheless.
There are 33 churches within the Launde deanery. Of the 24 parishes, 17 have agreed to grow to be a part of the minster community. In total, the 24 parishes serve an area with a complete population of 7800 and 600 worshippers. At its launch, the MC had two full-time stipendiary priests, along with a pioneer self-supporting priest, and an allocation of a few of the time of the Warden of Launde Abbey, along with a team of lay leaders. PCCs raised concerns about whether a proposed doubling of giving, essential to fund 4 stipendiary posts, may very well be achieved, given small congregations.
When the Priest-in-Charge of the Whatborough Group, the Revd Jayne Lewis, who can also be serving as joint area dean, retires at the top of May, the MC can have only one stipendiary priest in post: the oversight minister, Canon Jonathan Dowman, who’s the opposite joint area dean and the deanery’s Growing Faith Enabler.
Minutes from a deanery-synod meeting last month indicate concern. One layman asked: “Does the Synod agree that it’s each unacceptable and unsustainable to expect one minister to perform the combined roles of area dean; have responsibility for the oversight of worship in a complete Minster Community; be leader of college worship within the 4 local junior schools; and be the one stipendiary ‘vicar’ in a position to provide a visual presence to assist promote growth of worship — and thereby generous giving — in 29 villages spread over a really wide geographical area; all within the absence of the peer support essential to make sure good governance, in addition to providing protection from stress at work?”
Concern was also expressed on the Launde deanery synod that parishes were “already finding availability of finance difficult”.
Canon Dowman told the meeting that the diocese had confirmed that clergy leaving or retiring wouldn’t get replaced unless parishes could pay for his or her stipend in full. Parish share within the MC currently pays for the stipend of the oversight minister and a deanery administrator.
He agreed that the position of the oversight minister was not sustainable. It was to be revised with the diocese’s agreement. In the mean time, within the wake of Mrs Lewis’s retirement, the oversight minister would prioritise working with the 4 church schools within the MC and the encompassing communities. The minutes check with developing “outward-focused services in each parish, once a month . . . tailored for those connected with our church schools”. The oversight minister would even be available to a different benefice every Sunday. Parishes would give you the chance to produce other services on a Sunday, a few of which may very well be led by laity. The synod agreed to “explore and develop” this proposal.
In future, Canon Dowman suggested, the oversight minister could remain focused on these 4 parishes with schools, while remaining the oversight minister for the opposite parishes, which might subsequently not be in emptiness.
A diocesan spokesperson said this week that there was “a growing concern amongst some PCCs about their church’s future” and that a “significant variety of churches” had shown interest in exploring the potential of being designated as a Festival Church. This was “a positive, proactive decision and is meant to be a springboard to a sustainable Christian presence and mission”, they said. “It will not be a step on the road to closure.”
The diocesan framework states that every church in a MC can have a named minister. The diocesan spokesperson highlighted the presence in Launde of two authorised lay ministers, locally authorised ministers who led worship, and several other priests with permission to officiate who “offer their services frequently to individual parishes”. Some lay people were exploring focal ministry. Since 2021, giving within the deanery had been “relatively consistent”, but had fallen by about one third for the reason that pre-Covid period.
The deanery has one other stipendiary priest: the Revd Stephen Bishop, Rector of the Six Saints Benefice and a freehold incumbent who has chosen to not take part in the MC, although he’s offering some service cover to parishes inside it.
Every parish within the diocese of Leicester has now been invited to start the technique of considering joining a MC. In October, the diocese reported that two-thirds were participating within the MC formation process. This week, it confirmed that “six or seven” MC proposals were currently being written to form the premise of consultations.
Churches involved within the North East Leicester area — one other pilot site — are exploring being an element of other MCs in town of Leicester, after initial discussions highlighted the extent of differences — over Prayers of Love and Faith, amongst other things — in the unique grouping. Churches in the opposite pilot — Coalville and surrounding villages — have formed 4 provisional MCs.
The structural operating deficit in Leicester diocese stood at £2.3 million in 2023, up from £1.9 million the previous yr. The annual report cites as the important thing factor the high rate of inflation and the failure of parish contributions to maintain pace. The budgeted deficit for 2025 is £1.5 million. In the past decade, average Sunday attendance has fallen by 39 per cent; in 2023, it was 24 per cent below 2019 levels.
In 2023, the diocese was awarded £925,000 in a strategic-capacity grant to support the formation of MCs, enabling the funding of several recent diocesan appointments. It has since applied for national funding for a Growing Faith lead based within the Launde MC. It can also be within the technique of applying for Diocesan Investment Programme (DIP) Funding from the Strategic Investment in Ministry and Mission Board.
In the wake of warnings of a “discrepancy between our ambitious aspirations that require stipendiary clergy and our current short-term situation in relation to finance” (News, 11 February 2022), the national diocesan funds review has advisable that a complete of £200 million be provided for dioceses over the course of nine years (News, 31 January). This would come with a rise in DIP funding to “address short-term financial pressures and fund existing ministry costs whilst waiting for missional interventions to translate into improved financial health”.
The chair of the Archbishops’ Council’s Finance Committee, Carl Hughes, has suggested that “the first crisis the Church is facing today is missional. The financial challenges are consequential” (News, 12 July 2024). But a warning has been given by one diocesan secretary that “the present model of ministry funded principally through giving could also be unsustainable in lots of places” (News, 31 January).
In a filmed conversation with Bishop Snow, published last yr, Canon Dowman spoke of “smaller churches starting to feel more confident in working and partnering with other churches locally”. But he reported that, when asked about what kind of church they desired to be, some parishes would respond: “We just wish to open up on a Sunday and have a priest who leads us.”
MC conversations were difficult because, in a time of “a perceived lack of resource”, parishes were being asked to say, “What if it was right down to us? What are we going to do? . . . How deep are we prepared to go together and share with other Christian communities around us?”
