A NEW training programme for resource-church leaders within the north of England will play a “pivotal role” in revitalising parishes which are facing decline — estimated to number 40 per cent of the full — its leaders suggest. Among the goals is to extend the range of resource-church leaders, and to instil a healthy leadership culture, avoiding a “hero” model.
The Camino programme, which shall be delivered by St Hild College, in partnership with the Office of the Archbishop of York, has been awarded £437,000 by the Church of England’s Ministry Development Board to run the training for five cohorts over the course of 5 years — totalling 70 participants — starting next September.
In addition to the grant, the Strategic Mission and Ministry Board has awarded a £1.76-million grant for a five-year “northern enabling strategy” to assist northern dioceses to launch as much as 600 “additional recent worshipping communities”, a press release from the Office of the Archbishop of York said on Thursday. The funding will make small grants to local parishes who’re “working with a training partner” to launch a recent service, congregation, or community, “where other funding will not be available”.
New worshipping communities in estates and low-income communities, shall be prioritised, while money will even be allocated to “increase the capability of churches to revitalise other parishes through sending church-planting teams”. The press release refers to a goal to determine 3000 recent worshipping communities across the north. The national Vision and Strategy features a goal of 10,000 such communities established by 2030.
A proposal paper for Camino by Dr Christian Selvaratnam, Dean of Church Planting at St Hild, and Canon Dr Mark Powley, the Archbishop’s Mission Enabler for the North, describes resource and church-planting churches as “crucial” for reaching this national goal. It also speaks of the importance of preparing and training those tasked with leading such churches, setting out plans for an “enriching environment” for participants that addresses “burnout and stress”. It says that Camino will “intentionally avoid leadership models emphasising individual charisma or dominance”, and that candidates will develop “critical awareness of the risks of a ‘hero’ leadership model”. They shall be offered an expert psychometric assessment, reflecting the leaders’ remark that “self-awareness is a critical think about the success of resource church leadership”.
“We can see the strains in some church leaders. . . It’s almost as if the conventional journey of maturing as a frontrunner is accelerated, maybe even too quickly,” Dr Selvaratnam said last week. “Suddenly, you’re leading a booming church of 300, and everyone seems to be telling you that you just are amazing, and deep down you think that ‘I do not know what I’m doing.’” There was a have to avoid waiting for people to “crash”, by “doing a greater job of preparing them”, he said.
The programme will seek to diversify the leadership of resource churches. Currently, just 19 are led by women, and three by individuals from a UKME or GMH background. Targets have been set for 40 per cent of Camino participants to be women, and 15 per cent from UKME/GMH backgrounds. While candidates shall be nominated by their bishop, the paper also refers to attracting “those that can have been previously ignored”. Dr Selvaratnam noted that “not everybody is on a bishop’s radar”. A key aim is to interact what are described as “underrepresented Anglican traditions”, including Anglo-Catholics.
Each cohort will train part-time for 16 months, attending a mix of residential online sessions. The curriculum includes training on safeguarding (there have already been discussions with the National Safeguarding Team), governance, and fund-raising. Recruitment will begin within the New Year; candidates are expected to be ordained incumbents.
It is estimated that, over the subsequent ten years, resource churches led by graduates of the programme will generate 148 recent Christian communities, or revitalised parishes, engaging 16,435 recent adults and 21,490 children.
The paper states: “With a minimum of 40 per cent of parishes facing decline and nearing unsustainable sizes, Camino will play a pivotal role in revitalising these communities through effective resource church engagement, seeding hope for a parish system revitalised for mission.”
The estimates for growth are based on a recent report by the Ven. Bob Jackson and Dr Bev Botting, New within the North: New worshipping communities within the Province of York (2023), an evaluation of the 2023 Statistics for Mission that’s on account of be published this month. This report estimates that, last yr, adult attendance at resource churches increased by 11 per cent, and child attendance by 19 per cent — greater than double the typical adult growth, and triple the typical child growth. In 2023, resource churches accounted for 29 per cent of the provincial adult attendance growth, and 42 per cent of the kid attendance growth. St George’s, Leeds, a resource church, has consistently produced one third of the brand new ordinands within the diocese.
There are currently 135 designated resource churches in England, of which 57 are within the Northern Province. The paper speaks of an “urgent need” for a “regional training pipeline”, describing this as “crucial to the plans of each northern diocese”.
Responding to news of the SMMI grant last week, the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen Ann Hartley, wrote on social media: “My own view (as bishop of a Northern diocese) is that initiatives like this should be paused until the recommendations of Makin and Scolding [two recent safeguarding reviews] might be implemented and urgent matters of culture and governance within the Church might be attended to.”
