Diocese of Sheffield

DAC Guidance Notes

DAC Annual Report 2014 [January 2015)

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The Role of the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC)

The role of the DAC is to work with and advise churches on how to make the best use of their buildings so that they are a positive and valued part of their mission and outreach. In offering advice, the DAC has to balance legislative requirements and the desire to preserve heritage with the need to make church buildings fit for the liturgies, uses and technologies of the twenty-first century. The Diocese of Sheffield DAC aims:

• To ensure church buildings are maintained to the best possible standard• To promote due regard for faculty jurisdiction so that churches retain control of their buildings• Provide practical advice and encouragement to congregations to make strategic and evidence led

changes to their buildings to invigorate and support worshipping congregations and offer new ways of engaging with local communities

• To encourage and assist churches to discover, celebrate and share the heritage of their building and parish.

• To employ heritage as a means of fostering educational opportunities, widening horizons and raising skills within the local community.

Influences in 2014

In 2014 a report called From Anecdote to Evidence published the results of research collated over the previous 18 months on church attendance and growth. Its findings showed that no single set of causes could explain either growth or decline in a parish but that some trends more frequently associated with patterns of growth or decline could be identified. Above all, it found that parishes had to find their own path and not slavishly follow national trends or patterns.

As in many other areas of life the report found that changing social and cultural attitudes were demanding new ways of attracting and holding onto worshippers, especially those in their teens and twenties.

Reluctance to change was identified as an inhibitor to growth and this could take various forms. Stagnation, complacency, a growing disconnection from modern life, or a fear of change was often associated with decline and the loss of congregations. In small or elderly congregations change could be seen as disruptive to familiar and cherished patterns of behaviour or to threaten the status quo. The report noted a large number of people it described as ‘de-churched’, those of all ages who had attended church in the past but no longer did so often, but not always, for the above reasons.

Julie Banham DAC Secretary January 2015

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Non-churchgoers still seek rites of passage. Attendance at Christmas and Easter services, occasional offices especially baptisms, and cathedral services were all found to be increasing. Of particular significance was the finding that between 2002 and 2012 attendance at weekday cathedral services had more than doubled. Peace and contemplation, worship, music and a friendly atmosphere were cited as reasons for attending.

Characteristics associated with growth included:

Good leadership A clear mission and purpose Willingness to self-reflect, to change and adapt according to context Involvement of lay members Being intentional in prioritising growth Being intentional in chosen style of worship Being intentional in nurturing disciples

The report noted how many churches were becoming more adept at reclaiming the de-churched and those in their teens and twenties through offering fresh expressions and a variety of activities not necessarily based on traditional forms of worship.

What constitutes a fresh expression depends upon a variety of factors, not least of which is the type of audience a church is striving or able to attract. Whilst the presence of young people could be correlated with all measures of growth, even growth in adult usual Sunday attendance, not all parishes have a supply of young people. The report makes clear that churches have to work with their parish, to understand its needs, the people who live there and tailor their mission and outreach accordingly. In some cases, this may mean a focus on the elderly, or the single or single parents. Churches are encouraged to understand the environment in which they live and respond to what is there rather than always try to work with young people if this means ignoring large sectors of their community.

Burdensome Buildings

The report noted how church buildings could be seen either as a hindrance or as a help to church growth. The researchers report that roughly one half (47%) of incumbents in the survey considered building maintenance to be a significant burden. Time spent fundraising for repairs, understanding plans and faculty applications, dealing with specialist contractors, the DAC, and conservation bodies are seen as detracting from the core role of clergy.

However buildings are also seen as assets. Their unique place and presence in a community can considerably enhance mission; their heritage attracts visitors, they are held in great affection by those with family and Julie Banham DAC Secretary January 2015

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personal associations and they are a focus for the community in time of need. Improving buildings can have a positive effect on growth. The report quotes how:

The recently reordered building gives us a more friendly space for worship and also makes it more usable during the week, so our contacts through weekday activities have grown.

...the new centre is used for Messy Church, after-school club etc. We are reaching a much wider group of folk than when I came 21 years ago.1

Good Neighbours: How Churches Help Communities FlourishPaul Bickely, Theos2

This recently published (June 2014) report shows how churches are becoming engaged in a wide variety of projects aimed at providing essential material and emotional support to local people. Churches can promote and embody ‘neighbourliness’ – building, and helping people build, relationships of mutual support. They are more than just providers of various community projects and social action initiatives. Strong relationships and social networks (social glue) can help communities become more resilient in the face of social and economic challenges and helps to improve neighbourliness in a time for many of increasing social isolation.

For the main part, members of churches did not speak about being motivated by a set of abstract Christian principles. Rather, they were shaped by being part of a worshipping community of a particular kind and in a particular context that was responding to their communities in particular ways.

In addition to those attending Sunday services, Christmas, Easter, Harvest, baptisms, weddings, and funerals, the Church in England reaches approximately 10 million people each year through its community activities.Activities include food-banks, lunch clubs and cafes, exercise classes and healthy eating courses, relationship support, financial education and advice, access to computers and the internet, and providing opportunities for volunteering.

Among the most frequently used community services were children and youth services, cultural events, and activities for older people. Some parishes provided support to asylum seekers and people with addictions, whilst others offered counselling and ‘street pastoring’. The activities and community services were more likely to have been used by younger people (18-44) than older ones.

1 From Anecdote to Evidence, Findings from the Church Growth Research Programme 2011-2013, p30.2 http://www.cuf.org.uk/sites/default/files/PDFs/Research/Executive-Summary-Good-Neighbours-2014.pdf

Julie Banham DAC Secretary January 2015

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Sheffield DAC in 2014

The DAC increasingly works with parishes to help them understand and realise the potential of their building so that they support their mission and outreach. Decent heating, toilet and kitchen facilities, comfortable seating, a space for socialising, clearly defined worship areas, good lighting and a sense of an orderly and cared for building are all factors that help churches show their accessibility and openness to the communities they serve. However, this is far from a carte blanche invitation to remove the pews, relocate the font, and fit carpets throughout in the assumption new people will be attracted. Rather, it is to encourage churches to carefully and prayerfully consider how well their buildings work towards generating and sustaining growth. A successful project will be based upon serving a clearly identifiable and sustainable need(s).

• Listen to your parish. Consult with local groups and individuals to understand its needs, its composition, its strengths and weaknesses.

• Be clear about your vision for the future. Connect this with your Mission Action Planning.• Develop Statements of Significance and Statements of Needs. Understanding your building,

community and parish and being able to explain to others why the changes you propose need to be made now is an essential requirement for most faculty applications and funders.

• Be willing to ask for help from people with particular skills you need: form a Friends’ Group and be willing to accept the views of others

• Begin planning• Keep praying and listening.

Members were very active with visits across the diocese to parishes making strategic changes and undertaking remedial works. The start of the year saw the introduction of new faculty forms with routine questions separated into a supplementary short standard information form that once completed can be held on file and routinely submitted with applications, thus reducing the amount of form filling.

Nationally it was found that many churches had confused receiving DAC Certificates with permission to start work. Consequently, DAC Certificates have been replaced by Notifications of Advice setting out the DACs views on the proposal(s). Accompanying letters and the DAC section of the diocesan website stress that obtaining a faculty is a two-part process consisting of a DAC Notification of Advice and the Faculty (permission to proceed) issued by the Chancellor or Archdeacon.

Julie Banham DAC Secretary January 2015

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The DAC said farewell to the Revd Dr Michael Bayley who is devoting his time to Hope for the Future and welcomed two new members. Dr Julie MacDonald and the Right Revd Dr Tim Ellis bring considerable expertise and experience to the DAC which remains freely available to parishes. Preliminary and pre-application advice can save considerable time and effort and visits to parishes are always welcomed.

In 2014, 125 Notifications of Advice were issued with 64 or 51% proceeding to faculty by December 31st. This could be due to a variety of reasons such as churches not understanding the faculty process, deciding not to proceed with the project or waiting for funds and external permissions. Nevertheless, it indicates that more support and training is required on why the process exists, the jeopardy of losing the right to control our own buildings and how to obtain a faculty. The DAC Secretary will be writing to Area Deans offering to talk at deanery synod meetings and explain the process.

Many churches continue to avoid using their QI architect for advice or plans when work is required. Applications lacking relevant plans and detail cannot be accepted by the DAC and so often the costs of remedial work, of using cheap materials or employing contractors without tendering to a specification costs the parish far more than the architect’s fees.

In January 2014 the DAC Secretary was approached by the Headley Trust offering to supply small grants to medieval churches in rural areas needing repairs. Considerable work was submitted by the Secretary on behalf of 9 churches that fitted the criteria. Sadly, after an initial approach from the Trust, only 3 churches took up the offer of applying for funding. Of those, all three received grants between £2-3000. The Headley Trust is a prestigious and highly respected funder of church restoration projects. Whilst the sums offered may be relatively small receiving a Headley Trust grant often encourages other charities to see a project as worthy of support. The Church Buildings Council noted that there continues to be many opportunities for churches to apply for funding but that parishes in the Northern Province appear particularly poor at applying. Again, the reasons may be varied but it is vital that our churches grasp opportunities to secure funding which can have such a beneficial impact not just on their building but on their mission and outreach.

As noted above, taking the time to produce a detailed Statement of Significance is essential in helping parishes understand their building, resources and the nature of the communities they serve. Preparing a Statement of Significance is an opportunity to explore, explain and share understandings of your church and parish with others so that they can help you achieve clearly-defined needs and why they have arisen. A good Statement should include:

A history of your church Where it is and who it serves Any important monuments, artefacts or architecture in the church or churchyard How the parish has changed over time – population, employment, education, resources

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What is the nature of your locality, its resources, wants, and needs

Statements should reflect the nature of the proposal they support and guidance is available for writing Statements in support of major and general projects:

Further guidance and sample can be found under the relevant section for Statements of Significance and Needs on the diocesan website. In conjunction with the Mission Action Plan (MAP) Tool, statements offer parishes a clear understanding of their place in the community and a plan for the years and challenges to come.

All the above indicate the need for greater training and understanding in a wide range of subjects including faculty jurisdiction, applying for grants, expressing the voice of the church and its community, understanding heritage and its use in opening buildings.

Major Events

In June, the Right Revd Dr Steven Croft, Bishop of Sheffield, opened a well-attended conference at Sheffield Cathedral entitled Our Buildings Speak of Us. Speakers included Richard Giles, author of Re-pitching the Tent, Becky Payne author of Churches for Communities, adapting Oxfordshire's Churches for wider uses and Roger Munday of Living Stones as well as representatives from local churches sharing their experiences of discerning how to make the best use of their buildings.

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Revd Phil Townsend describing how the health-check questionnaire

Is your church a millstone or springboard? helped discern change at St Timothy Crookes.

The work of the DAC is featured in the newly launched diocesan website under the heading Church Buildings. The section contains the summary report of From Anecdote to Evidence, the church health-check and a range of tools to help parishes make the best use of their buildings. As well as being able to download and complete faculty forms electronically, sections on care and maintenance, health and safety and caring for churchyards can be found alongside areas that help churches discern their mission, explore their heritage and seek ways of opening their building to the service of the wider community.

The site will continue to evolve and adapt to the needs and requests of parishes so please bear with me as this is a work in progress and do get in touch if you there is anything you would like to see featured. Responses for information from parishes to be included in a diocesan guidebook proved disappointing. However, with the new website, it is possible to develop a heritage section and work will start on this as the year progresses.

The DAC Section also includes a Google Map showing the location of all churches in the diocese. In time it will show links to each A Church Near You entry, together with the postcode and a photograph of every church.The diocese of Sheffield is unusual for having churches that reflect the many different styles of Anglican worship. The result is an astonishing array of church buildings spanning centuries of architecture and history and the hopes, fears, traditions, myths and faith of generations.

In September a photography competition was launched to raise the profile of the amazing buildings in our diocese. Richard Taylor of the National Churches Trust and author of the BBC’s How to Read a Church presented prizes. The standard of entries was very high and prizewinning and highly commended photographs were used to produce the first diocesan calendar for 2015.

Julie Banham DAC Secretary January 2015

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Winners of the first diocesan photo competition, November 2014L-R Julie Banham DAC Secretary, Gerald Robinson, Tim Leach, Tim Wragg, Richard Taylor

Summary

Travelling back and forth across the diocese it is possible to see examples of Saxon, Romanesque, Gothic, Enlightenment, Victorian and Liturgical Movement churches it would be difficult to find anywhere else in the country in such a relatively compact area.

Several churches in the diocese have unique and important contributions to make to national history. According to the TV historian Michael Wood, Burghwallis may be the long lost site of the decisive victory of the English over the Vikings in 937. Campsall has some of the earliest English writing in the country to be found on a rood screen; Hampole Priory near Adwick was home to the mystic Richard Rolle.

Why does this matter? Churches are often the oldest building in the area and contain the memories and monuments of those who have worshipped in them and the times in which they lived. By working up a heritage project based upon the life of Richard Rolle, Adwick-le-Steet St Laurence has recently secured £100,000 from the HLF to improve their church and engage in community outreach. Socially, they are often the only remaining public space in a parish where people of all ages can gather and are being put to greater use than ever before. They have an increasing role in everyday life and are an important part of our local and national heritage. Churches are focal points of worship and ritual, of reflection and contemplation. They are where we mark the passing of the seasons and the major life events of baptism, marriage and death. The Heritage Counts Report 2014 reveals that almost three-quarters (73 per cent) of adults and 69 per cent of five to 15-year-olds visited historic sites in 2013. Visiting different types of historic places has a positive impact on life satisfaction and general wellbeing.

People benefit mentally and physically through volunteering for heritage projects Self-esteem improves and new skills acquired relevant to other areas of life They have a strong sense of belonging to their immediate neighbourhood The vast majority of people who had seen investment or regeneration of their local historic

environment thought it improved the area and boosted local pride.

Caring for an old building is not easy but we have a lot to celebrate and be thankful for. Exploring how church buildings continue to change and evolve offers a fascinating insight into our own lives and the lives of those who have gone before us. Their shape, art, atmosphere and history help us understand something of life beyond our own immediate experiences. They are not museums, they are living and reflective buildings shaped by those who use them and they shape us.

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The Year Ahead

• Where are we now?• In which direction is God calling us?• What do we need for the journey?

The challenges facing the church do not need to be reiterated in full here, rather this is an attempt to summarise some of the key developments within the Church and wider society that it is anticipated will have an impact on church buildings.

The need to find new ways of attracting and retaining young people. The main problem comes in late adolescence and early adulthood when the transition from family to independent participation occurs.

Willingness to use social media to broaden outreach An anticipated decline in older volunteers as they continue to work for longer Fear of change –Congregations need to understand that their fate is in their own hands; the parish

church is not a club run for the benefit of existing members. Attendance at the local parish church is being replaced by attending a church which offers attractive

forms of worship often tailored to certain groups and not general attendance Attendance at festival services such as Christmas and Easter, at baptisms and at cathedrals continues

to rise as people continue to value ritual. Maintenance and upkeep of church buildings is often seen as a burden

• How do we get there?• How do we know we are on the right track?• How will we know when we have arrived?

Reports published by faith, government and heritage groups show that church buildings are a valued part of our culture and landscape.

There is a growing desire to see churches open and accessible to a wide sector of society As part of their core mission and outreach churches are recognized as having the potential to offer

social and cultural services specific to the needs of their communities

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The historic environment contributes to the well-being of society and provides millions of people with enjoyment, inspiration, learning opportunities, mental and physical health benefits, and a sense of place and identity.

Evidence from the National Churches Trust Survey of 2011 indicates the creation of Friends’ Groups provides a means for both worshipping and non-worshipping local people to be involved in supporting an important and iconic building and that on average they can help raise an additional £6000 p.a. that otherwise could not be accessed.

Comprehensive Statements of Significance and MAP help to discern the needs and direction of church and parish.

Publications such as From Anecdote to Evidence, the forthcoming From Evidence to Action, and Good neighbours: How churches help communities flourish, indicate that the church has the opportunity for a significant and growing role in supporting local communities and extending their mission and outreach.

Grants are available for maintenance and for enhancing the facilities offered by churches to make them more accessible, flexible and sustainable.

Buildings that can combine the best of their past with contemporary facilities can help support the creation of new social and worship groups.

Select Sources

ChurchCare National Churches Trust Arthur Rank Centre Church Urban Fund Crossing the Threshold: a community development approach to the use of church buildings From Anecdote to Evidence Good Neighbours: How churches help communities flourish

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Jerusalem Trust prizewinners 2013 Church of the Good Shepherd Kirk Sandall and Edenthorpe, Revd Mary GregoryDetail of the prizewinning stained glass window designed by the parish and community, created by Eleanor Bird and installed December 2014.

Julie Banham DAC Secretary January 2015