C of E deployment and employment

 The future of the C of E - or possible lack of it - has broken through to the secular media this week. 

By nature, most of us probably love a moan from time to time. And in my experience Clergy Chapters are not immune from this. Sometimes there are a couple of especially grumpy cynical clergy who can barely agree that it is a nice day, especially if the Bishop says so. I have sometimes even feared becoming one of them. 

Clergy and parishioners alike like to moan about "The Diocese". It is hard to buy into the fact that in a sense *we* are the diocese. The parish, in my view at least, is the heart and front line of the diocese. We are, or could be, represented at all the various levels of deanery and diocesan synod, boards and committees, if we stood for election and turned up over the years. But it is easy for us to feel, as one of our local bishops used to put it, that the Diocese is a far away and disembodied tax collecting entity. 

And it is easy for the clergy to criticise the senior staff, the bishops and the archdeacons. It is not always obvious to us what they do all day, but we also worry they are likely to be far too busy for us. We want them to support and encourage us and know us, but we can be very resistant to new initiatives or anything which seems like interference. Like a policeman knocking on the door, Archdeacons may need to take to warning clergy they phone up that everything is okay: my phone call doesn't mean someone has died, or there is a safeguarding crisis, or that you have been subject to a complaint under the Clergy Discipline Measure. At least not necessarily!  

Historically speaking, the number of bishops and archdeacons has grown relative to the number of parish clergy. But it is still pretty impossible for the senior clergy to have effective pastoral or supervisory relationships with all their remote working parochial and other colleagues. 

So many of the parish clergy would like more input of just the sort they want from the bishops and archdeacons, when they want it, but if we had to choose between parochial clergy and senior staff, we don't want the front line (or at least not me or my friends) cut. Maybe we can think of someone in some other corner of the diocese we imagine might be a bit of a lazy so and so! 

There is also that odd and neglected C of E strata: the deanery. We have not really worked out what it is for, but we know that co-operation has long been the order of the day. How often churches find things they can really do better together which they can't do alone is hard to say. There is perhaps a case for some pooling if, e.g. a church wants to run some kind of debt advice service or group for those with addiction issues, but lacks a critical mass or a sufficient team. 

The Rural or Area Dean is an odd hybrid creature. She has her own parish or parishes (which might give her more than a full time job) but she is also the Bishop's Officer in deanery (of say 10 or 20 clergy) and their shop steward - a kind of two way spokeswoman and a friend / point of contact. 

In some places there has been a move towards full time rural deans. Myself I am not convinced this is an extra layer of management we really need. Or at least, if we are going to have full time Rural Deans or Assistant Archdeacons or whatever, they would need much more clout. A chat and advice from the Rural Dean is often welcome, but it is very clear (for good and ill) that he doesn't count as The Diocese: he can't cut the mustard like a Mitre could. 

No silver bullet or brilliant master plan is clear to me. 

In many places many clergy and churches will try to do more with less. In some places this will be fine, others will stagger on. We need a bit of space, of room in the system, slack or at least ability to adjust to the unexpected run of funerals or pastoral issues. It is no good saying to parishioners, "I'm sorry: I can't come to your relative's bedside or talk to you about your struggling marriage because I am already at full capacity with all the services and groups and admin and...." Sometimes less is more and we need to be crystal clear on our core business and our unique contribution. Social work and heritage projects and a million other things might be good and worthwhile, but we are here to do God! 

The welfare and well being of clergy and people really must be a priority. We all know that over worked and discouraged people are not likely to attract others or engender positive change and growth. We must find ways for refreshment and re-energisation. These must come in the final analysis from Christ in the power of the Spirit. It is the deep resources of Scripture, Sacrament and Prayer which will be the engine of the church - not a new organisational plan - and we must prioritise these things. The first question to the clergy must be, "Have you been praying and reading your Bible? And are you meeting Jesus there in a way which enables your ministry?" If anyone is so run ragged they can't do this for 20 minutes a day, something has to change fast. 

For me, parish life remains where it is at. It is the last thing I want to see cut. And, perhaps sadly, clergy need to be resourced, encouraged and helped to lead themselves. The Diocese needs to stress days off and leave and a week a year for a properly funded retreat, conference, course or equivalent. Clergy themselves need to think about practices and networks of support which will work for them. They are much more likely to participate in and benefit from things which they have deliberately bought into rather than edicts from the diocese which say "you must attend our Study Day or you will be on the naughty step!". This can seem like yet another demand, grump, grump, grump, and is not always received on the ground as the life-giving gift it is perhaps hoped to be.  

Life is sometimes tough and ministry is not easy, but it is joyful servant hearted leaders and their communities that will shine like lights in our needy world. The way we are the best clergy we can be is to seek joy and life and peace in Christ and to serve out of our sense of love and acceptance. We have the best good news in the world ever and in our right minds we would be bursting to share it. We can't always run on empty, or even on hand to mouth or second hand blessings. We must have some overflow of our own hearts, as the Spirit bubbles up within us, to share with others. 

Yes, we must debate plans and strategies. Perhaps we need some cuts in some places. But let us seek God afresh for our own souls and for the soul of the dear old C of E.