Pastoral Re-Organisation

Formal changes are made under the provisions of the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011. The Measure sets out a process involving consultation leading to the making of a Pastoral Scheme or, for more minor proposals, a Pastoral Order. The sorts of things that can be done by Scheme or Order include:
• Creating a new parish for an area which has recently seen major housing development and now has its own worshipping community
• Uniting benefices to create one benefice with a designated Rector or Vicar
• Changing parish boundaries to make sense of people’s natural link with a particular geographical centre
• Creating a Team or Group Ministry to provide for co-operative ministry between the clergy in a local area
Formal changes can also be made to the status of church buildings, for example making a small, rural parish church a chapel of ease within a larger united parish or, very rarely, closing a church building which no longer has a sustaining worshipping community.

There are a variety of tools to recognise, authorise and support new worshipping communities which may be geographically based (in a new housing development) or non-geographically based (eg focusing on a particular group within the community). These include:
• Appointing a Pioneer Minister to build up and serve the new worshipping community
• Recognising the new worshipping community by means of a Bishop’s Mission Order
• Designating an area as if it were a parish, by means of a Conventional District Agreement

There are examples of creative ways of using pastoral re-organisation (Mission Scenarios) on the website of the Church Commissioners’ Pastoral Division.

Other links: Mission Resources | Church Growth website | Messy Church

There are less formal ways in which parishes and clergy can work together:
• Local Area Mission Partnerships (LAMPs) – a LAMP is a partnership between clergy in different benefices, often with a particular mission focus. There is guidance on LAMPs below.
• Working in a Multi-Parish Benefice – Guidance about working in ways that reduce time spent on administration, to release energy for mission. See the guidance below.

Many churches co-operate informally with local churches of other denominations. Where more formal links are being considered, please have a look at the guidance provided by Churches Together in England.

The Archdeaconry Ecumenical Officers are available to provide advice:
Bedford – The Revd Stephen James Toze
Hertford – The Revd Paul Edward Seymour
St Albans – The Revd Miriam Ruth Mugan