B10
Diocesan Provision: Established by Resolution of Diocesan Synod on 7th June 1997. Constitution amended by Resolution of Diocesan Synod on 10th June 2000.
Task
The task of the Board is to propose and steer policy in development and learning for the Diocese. In particular, the Board is concerned with adult learning, recruitment to ministry, ministerial training and appraisal, work with children and young people and stewardship.
Responsibility and Reporting
Responsibility for policy lies ultimately with the Bishop and Diocesan Synod, generally mediated through the Bishop's Council. It is the responsibility of the Board to initiate, shape and steer policy in the light of the overall strategy of the
diocese. It is incumbent on the Chair of the Board to communicate with and consult the Bishop on issues of significance and to report regularly to the Bishop's Council.
Operation of the Board
The Board is to meet at least four times a year. Five members, including at least two elected members, constitute a quorum.
The Board may set up working groups in order to achieve particular tasks, at the same time deciding on a date when the group in question is to cease its work. The Board may authorize support/advisory groups for the officers working in the area of its concerns. The Board's approval is to be sought for the membership of such groups and the membership is to be reviewed at the outset of each triennium.
Review of the Board's work
The work and policy of the Board are reviewed by the Bishop's Council every three years and the Board reports annually to the Diocesan Synod. The Board is to carry out an annual review of policy implementation in all areas of its own work.
Membership of the Board [maximum of 15 members]
The Board's membership consists of:
Chair: appointed by the Bishop
One Archdeacon (leader of the team working in the area of the Board's concern):
ex-officio Nine members elected by the Diocesan Synod (who need not be members of the Synod): three from each Archdeaconry
One member (who need not be a member of the Synod) nominated by the Bishop's Council
Up to three members (who need not be members of the Synod) co-opted by the Board. In exercising its power of co-option, the Board is to have regard to the balance of its membership and to ensure that at least three members of the Board are members of the Diocesan Synod. The members will serve for a term of three years.
Relationship with Officers
The Archdeacon who supervises the team of officers working in the area of the Board's concern is the executive representative on the Board and the officers' line manager. The Archdeacon and the officers work to the policy of the Board. The work of the Board is organized into three teams: Vocations; Ministerial Development; and Parish Development. The convenors of each of these teams will represent the officers on the Board, and one of the three team convenors will sit on the Bishop’s Council. Other officers attend meetings of the Board when requested to do so.
Servicing of the Board
The Archdeacon is the executive secretary to the Board. Secretarial services, including minute-taking, are provided by a secretary working in the area of the Board's concern.
Committees of, or relating to, the Board for Christian Development
INITIATIVES IN SPIRITUALITY
Diocesan Initiatives in Spirituality were set up in 1998 to encourage prayer, spiritual direction, and retreat work throughout the diocese. It organises training courses in spiritual direction, and runs a 'brokering service' for those who are looking for a spiritual director (contact details for the service via the Administrator). It also organises workshops in spirituality (contact: The Administrator of Initiatives in Spirituality). Its publication Spirituality Newsletter is circulated in the Bundle and advertises a wide range of lectures, courses, workshops and retreats
ST. ALBANS DIOCESAN READERS ASSOCIATION
All Readers are members of the Diocesan Readers' Association. This has an executive committee of members elected by the Association and Deanery Advisers. Responsibility for Reader ministry comes under the 'umbrella' of the Board for Christian Development. Oversight for Readers is the responsibility of the Warden - appointed by the Diocesan Bishop. The Warden is Chairman of the Readers' Committee. Day-to-day administration is undertaken by the Secretary - also appointed by the Bishop.
A Deanery Adviser acts as the Warden's representative, with pastoral oversight of Readers in a Deanery. The Deanery Adviser also interviews enquirers and applicants for training.
Groups of Deaneries are designated as 'Areas', each with an Area Secretary - appointed by the Secretary with approval by the Warden, they act as a point of contact for clergy who require the services of a Reader. The Association arranges two all day conferences each year, usually in March and September, each concluding with a Service of Admission and Licensing, at venues in various parts of the diocese alternating in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire.
Before Admission Readers are required to prepare a Job Description and submit it to the Warden. This is done in consultation with the Reader’s Incumbent, the Deanery Adviser and Pastoral Committee. The Deanery Adviser will ensure and arrange for all Readers' Job Descriptions to be reviewed every three years. It is hoped this practice will enable Readers to be well used without being put under unreasonable pressure. Readers in their first three years of ministry are required to take part in the CME 1-3 scheme organised by the diocesan CME Office. Officers of the Association are given in the Diocesan Directory. The Warden is the Bishop of Hertford. See also Handbook Sections F3 and I8.
LOCAL MINISTRY
The Local Ministry Scheme was adopted by Diocesan Synod in 1999 and a full-time Local Ministry Officer was appointed from 2000. The Officer’s Job Description covers:
- implementing the diocesan Local Ministry Scheme.
- supporting adult Christian learning
- with the Ministerial Development Officer, sharing responsibility for CME, especially the early years.
Collaboration is of the essence in all Christian ministry and it does not depend on the establishment of a Local Ministry Team. Informal shared ministry will continue.
But the Local Ministry Scheme provides a framework which parishes etc. may choose to use when it is helpful in furthering mission and ministry. The Scheme is part of the diocese’s strategy for developing ministry and strengthening parishes in their worship, pastoral care, education, evangelism and mission. At the same time, it fully supports incumbents in their crucial role sharing with the Bishop as they do “the cure of souls” within a given parish.
Members of a Local Ministry Team will not have to undertake the demanding training required for the ministry of a licensed Reader or an ordained minster. Instead, all who are called by the local Church - together with Ministers and
Readers - will be able to be trained locally as a team and minister within the Church in some formally recognised way.
It is expected that the number of stipendiary clergy will continue to fall slowly over the next five years. However, the indications are that the number of Non-Stipendiary Ministers and Readers will keep rising. Local Ministry Teams allow for greater flexibility in development to meet the challenges we face together.
Remembering the early Church’s model (see Acts 2: 42 - 47) the Scheme encourages the mutual sharing of training, experience and skills. These can be shared across the churches within a Local Ministry Team in a properly authorised
way, without dismantling existing boundaries.
A Training Manual and a Handbook about Local Ministry Teams are available from the C.M.E. Office and the L.M.O. is available to provide encouragement and support. Contact the Local Ministry Officer at the Diocesan Office (Email: lmo@stalbans.anglican.org)
MINISTERS IN SECULAR EMPLOYMENT (‘MSE’) GROUP
Purpose: The St. Albans MSE Group supports and encourages all licensed ministers (men/ women - lay/ordained) whose secular job is seen as an integral part of their overall ministry.
What are MSEs?
They practise within and through any kind of secular work. Work and working relationships are the ministry’s raw material. By being in the workplace they are saying: “This work, these situations, these people, and the people for whom this work is done matter to the God who has called me and to the church which has licensed me”.
CHRISM
The MSE group is affiliated to CHRISM (Christians in Secular Ministry). CHRISM is a national, non-denominational, association whose mission is ‘To help ourselves and others to celebrate the presence of God and the holiness of life in our work, and to see and tell the Christian story there’.
Support/Training
As a small group under the auspices of the Board for Christian Development we see our primary role as being a support function for MSEs who exercise an often misunderstood, and sometimes isolated, ministry. We also recognise the need for training. Initially this principally happens via official courses such as the Readers Course and St. Albans and Oxford Ministry Course. However, the amount of time devoted by these to work issues is almost nonexistent. As a group we are currently involved in the annual SAOMC ‘work’ weekend and have in the past led a training day for Readers. We see part of our role being that of informing clergy and congregations (and possible future ministers) about our ministry. From a diocesan view point we have made presentations at various Deanery Synod meetings and are happy to be invited to do so. We have also run a series of feature articles in See Round. We have
available a one-page leaflet which describes our operations and gives some live examples and personal stories’. CHRISM itself is currently preparing a Bishops Training Pack to be given to all new Bishops. The ongoing training of our members is not done in any formal way but happens by experience and by optional participation in CHRISM organised conferences and the like.
Further information about the group contact the Co-ordinator (E-mail:
‘hughwikner@lineone.net):