PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

FOR DIOCESAN SYNOD – Saturday 21st February

Ministry – A Forward Look

I don’t want to add anything further to the Pastoral Letter about my retirement issued yesterday.  But I thought it would be appropriate to make a few preliminary remarks to the main business that Synod is transacting today. 

First of all, we’re carrying on in more detail the work commissioned by the last Synod on the strategy for ministry and mission.  Synod debates many matters, with different consequences.  But the delivery of ministry in the diocese in the coming years, with an anticipated reduction in the number of stipendiary clergy, concerns everyone.  And that means working closely with deanery synods and the parishes.  As I’ve already said before, I don’t know where this process is going to lead.  But by God’s grace, we shall get there!  The sheer variety of communities within such a  small geographical area is reflected in our eight deaneries, Island as well as mainland.  And as the Kairos process has demonstrated, it’s not just a case of ‘one size doesn’t fit all’, but ‘one speed doesn’t fit all’.  Today Synod will be looking closely at some material and proposals on which the Bishop’s Council has been working, as a catalyst to carry matters forward. 

Secondly, I want to say that I own this process two hundred per cent.   And I would go further: any incoming bishop would give his eye-teeth to run with it!  Moreover,  matters of ministry are the direct concern of the bishop, because it is the bishop who ordains priests and deacons, and it is the bishop who is responsible for admitting to office churchwardens, lay readers, and others.  Here the variety of rural, rural-suburban, suburban, and urban contexts will present real challenges in the eventual outcomes.  Not everyone is going to get what they want.  And there are certain things that occasionally surface in discussion that are not part of Anglican polity, such as lay presidency of baptism and of the eucharist.  I hope that we will end up with something that strikes a mean between a free for all, on the one hand, and something over-prescriptive and inflexible, on the other.  But that’s probably fairly obvious! 

Thirdly, have I a particular slant that I want to ensure is brought to this process?  In my meetings last year with the area deans and the deanery chapters,  I had a number of interesting “throat clearing” discussions on new patterns of ministry – pushing at the edges of existing structures.  These included initiatives such as “fresh expressions”, “pioneer ministry” and other patterns, as well as the all-important Mission Fund.  This was motivated by a concern I have that we are about ministry for mission, and not exclusively for maintenance.  I know it’s easy to set mission and maintenance against each other. But we must avoid spending all our energies on what might be described as propping up the existing structures.  The parochial system is historic, and embedded in  the unique character of the Church of England in the life of the nation.  But it is a tool, and not a weapon – because history has shown time and again that other forms of ministry are required as well.  I’m thinking here of the preaching of the Franciscans in the Middle Ages, often in their own Churches, which were independent of the parochial system (and could be a source of friction); in more recent times the school and further and higher education chaplaincies   Then, there are important housing developments planned in different parts of the diocese, which the recession is unlikely to halt.  I commend those deaneries that are doing some forward planning here; these include the prospect of building a new Church at Whiteley.  I’m also delighted at those deaneries that are investing their Kairos savings in employing Youth workers.  All youth leaders in the diocese have my fullest support, and not just because the Church of England now employs more Youth Leaders than any other organisation in the country, a fact that is often overlooked. 

Finally, a word about the centrality of baptism. That central stone font in the Cathedral, modelled on those of antiquity, is a constant reminder that all ministry, ordained or other, starts at baptism.  We are all called to ‘inspiring discipleship’ (to echo the theme of the Diocesan Conference at Chichester 18 months ago) - as baptised Christians.  But we are not all called to formal, authorised ministry.  We don’t want to become a church made up of people with all sorts of pieces of paper that tell them - and others - what to do!  Ministry of whatever kind, from the bishop upwards (!), is about nourishing the whole people of God, and not somehow taking them over.  Anything that we plan, therefore,  must be Portsmouth-shaped – and that was very much in my mind when I put together the material for last November’s Call to Prayer. 

The next Bishop of Portsmouth, whoever he is, will have his own gifts, experiences, and perspectives to bring to you all – but he would, I am sure, rejoice in these present endeavours.  So keep going, please!  And may God bless you all!

+ Kenneth Portsmouth