Bishop's Letter
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The next major activity for faith communities in our Diocese will be the Regional Assemblies. Material has already gone out to explain these and to assist faith communities in their preparations for these significant mission events. These are not meant to be substitutes for synods as they are pastoral gatherings open to all Anglicans across the Diocese. Their primary purpose is to bring together as many people as possible, lay and clerical, so that we can explore as the Body of Christ, how we might best shape the local Church for its mission.
These are to be pastoral assemblies and not legal bodies and will have as their focus the local level of Church. These will also be opportunities for disciples of Jesus to gather together to listen to each other, to share with each other and work together on how we might work, in a collaborative way, to grow as men and women of faith and to help our local and regional Church to grow in faithfulness to our mission. They are about empowering, animating, encouraging and looking at how we might resource local mission initiatives and projects.
At the recent Lambeth Conference the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, stressed the need for all Anglicans to work on “building the bonds of affection” that exist between us through our baptisms. For Archbishop Rowan, this was a fundamental mission tool. If we cannot work together in love then we will never convince the world of the value of the Gospel message. He also talked about the need for a “careful and principled loosening of the structures” of the Church so that we can take the Good News of God’s love out into the world that may not know Christ.
This is what our Regional Assemblies will enable us to do. It is not about changing our structures or getting rid of parishes. It is about bringing people together within a geographical area of the Diocese, to engage with the challenges of renewing, strengthening and growing the Church. This cannot possibly done from the Bishop’s registry. It will only happening in an enduring way when local people come together, with a willingness to work across parish boundaries, for the sake of the future Church.
Our objective for these initial pastoral assemblies is very simple: they are to bring people together so that we (bishop, priests and people) can put in place some regional mission objectives and explore together what shape and structure the local Church might need in order to move forward in our mission. The hope is, that at the end of our time together, we can agree on the shape we might need for these things and how we might collaborate across a region (and the diocese) for the sake of what God is calling us to do and to be.
Over the coming weeks, Fr Peter Yeats, our Ministry Development Officer, will be sending out further materials for discussion and reflection as a part of our preparations. Please do not hesitate to contact either Fr Peter or myself if you would like further information or assistance and please keep these important pastoral assemblies in your prayers.
In Christ,
+ Michael