archdeacons’Spring 2016 - issue 14

Our (three new and one experienced) Archdeacons have been grappling with that question as they work through their new roles in our diocese. As they get acquainted with the needs of around 50 or so parishes in their areas, they are looking at how to balance their legal and ecclesiastical duties with a strong desire to make a contribution to the mission of every parish.

Roger Preece, Archdeacon of Warrington and St Helens, said: “We want to be Archdeacons who remove obstacles and help solve problems that are blocking

parishes working well in their local mission. We want to think practically and strategically about growth and how the desire to make a bigger difference in terms of community impact can be delivered”.

Our Archdeacons need to be involved in many ways – from supporting the crucial area of parish appointments and vacancy to answering questions on PCC rules or Team Councils. They do this supported by St James House staff and working closely with our excellent Area Deans, but ask for patience as they work this role out.

As Pete Spiers, Archdeacon of Sefton and Knowsley, explained: “Every request for advice can be a learning opportunity and we thank you for your patience as we try to respond”.

Supporting the leadership role is important. They want to support all ministers, lay leaders, those in teams and those seeking out leadership roles. They want to enable the development of ‘superparishes’, the use of interim ministry and discipleship as our diocese works to be fit for the mission of being a bigger church making a bigger difference.

Jennifer McKenzie, Archdeacon of Wigan and West Lancashire, added: “We want to be responsive to the needs of parishes, but also try and ensure some consistency across our areas. We want to be courageous and willing to have difficult conversations when needed and to be encouraging in recognising and celebrating the wonderful work that goes on day in day out in all the parishes of our diocese”.

So as they work out what being an Archdeacon fit for the mission of the new and evolving roles means, they all look forward to meeting wardens, clergy and sidespeople at this year’s visitations. As Ricky Panter, Archdeacon of Liverpool, states: “Are we doing a good job? It is too early to judge, but we welcome all ideas and advice as to how we can use our experience to be of support to all our parishes. We look forward to continuing to learn and grow and become more useful as a team as we increase in experience and strengthen our relationships on the ground”.

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From left to right: The Ven. Pete Spiers – Archdeacon of Knowsley and Sefton, The Ven. Jennifer Mckenzie – Archdeacon of West Lancashire and Wigan, The Ven. Roger Preece – Archdeacon of St Helens and Warrington and The Ven. Ricky Panter – Archdeacon of Liverpool.

Some dioceses already audited have not come out too well, particularly over how policies are actually implemented at parish level. We all know how easy it is to approve a policy at the PCC and then it gets left in a cabinet somewhere and is not properly implemented.

Every welcoming church must be a safe place where vulnerable children and adults are protected, knowing that they will always be treated with appropriate respect and dignity. Because we are welcoming and open our doors to all comers, it is absolutely essential that we have boundaries in place to minimise risk, especially for the most vulnerable.

That is where ‘Safeguarding Matters’ comes in. All parishes received a copy of that diocesan policy document last year. We hope your PCC has examined it thoroughly.

We have, in Su, Ruth, Helen and Debbie, a diocesan safeguarding team who are seriously good at assisting parishes to get this right. They have a lot of additional work to do as the Goddard Enquiry gets underway. But if you have any concerns about local practice, please make use of their expertise. Proper recruitment processes must always be followed and training accessed for all clergy and lay volunteers in how to be vigilant in keeping everyone safe.

For more information go to www.liverpool.anglican.org/safeguarding

As Archdeacons, we have continued the conversation based on the “Fit for Mission” paper from last year to look at how the ideas could become realities.

Archdeacon Roger explains: “We would love to see the creation of some larger parishes that can bring together a number of parishes into one structure. A shared leadership team of ordained and lay, paid and unpaid, would work together to lead ministry across the whole of the enlarged parish”.

The advantages would be:

having a diverse leadership team with different gifts

providing potential to develop specialist ministries such as children, youth, business chaplaincy or care for the elderly

allowing centralised support for the whole superparish, such as administration

enabling skills and other resources to be shared more widely

having care already in place when clergy vacancies come up

being able to do more mission activities and develop new congregations.

In the past, Team Ministry has not really been about creating teams, it was simply joining separate parishes because of

reducing clergy numbers. Many of our existing teams still run on the model of a vicar or part of a vicar caring for a small parish in relative isolation from the neighbouring parishes.

Roger added: “We would love to see this change. We know it takes a generosity of spirit and a willingness to look beyond the church building we have been attending for worship as ‘our church’. It will mean pooling financial resources and using them for the best result of the overall new combined parish. We will need to think and pray carefully about this!”

We want to keep a diversity of worship styles and encourage the creation of new congregations that can bring new people into our churches.

In Fit for Mission, Bishop Paul used the example of the way in which cathedrals work, with multiple congregations all being supported from a cathedral chapter of ministers who all work together to share the leadership of the whole community. The new superparishes can work a bit like this.

The Archdeacons are working closely with a number of visionary clergy and teams of parishes to explore ideas around how to create these new parishes.

How safe are your safeguarding practices?In2016safeguardingmustbehighonallouragendas.Thisisbecauseeverydioceseinthecountryisbeingexternallyauditedtoseewhereourprocessesneedimproving.ItwillbeasthoroughasanyOfstedinspectionandwilltakeplaceinourdioceseinearlyJuly.

Superparishes could make us Fit for Mission

Recovery after a floodIf the worse happens and you areflooded make sure you:

contact our claims team on:

0345 603 8381for specialist advice on drying out,cleaning up and repairs

take photographs of flood damage

be aware that flood water could becontaminated

keep any damaged items until ourclaims team say it is ok to destroy them.

We will work with you to get yourbuilding back in use as soon aspossible.

In total, 70 churches we insure were badlyaffected by floodwater, often many feet deep.At times of major incidents like this, our claimsteam pull out all the stops to provide quickand effective support to affected customers.This includes sending out our specialist claimshandlers to meet customers, assess theirsituation and help with any immediate needs,such as providing emergency funds orsecuring alternative accommodation.

We also use the services of loss adjusters whowork closely with us to help churches after majorevents. In this case we brought in our specialistrestoration partners Richfords Fire & Flood whosent in an expert team from Cornwall, morethan 400 miles from the affected areas!

A sensitive response toBoxing Day miserySt. Mary’s, Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, is aGrade I listed building dating back to the 13thcentury. On the morning of 26 December2015, the nearby River Irwell burst its banks,

swamping the church along with hundreds ofnearby properties. The flood water, at its peak,was waist high in the church so we sent in ourspecialist cleaning teams who started work toclear-up the devastation and with the help ofour documentation specialists, we removed,for restoration, the delicate books, recordsand other artefacts that were damaged.

According to Rev Hayden: “Everyone (atEcclesiastical) has been amazing; they’vetaken away a huge amount of the pressure.Ecclesiastical and their partners have goneover and above what I would ever haveexpected – they’re so sensitive to workingin a church building – it’s made our life mucheasier as a result.”

Flooding in your church and associatedproperties can cause inconvenience andheartache to your church community. It’simpossible to fully flood-proof your churchproperties, but there are some simple actionsyou can take to reduce the damage a floodmay cause on our website atwww.ecclesiastical.com/churchflood

There when youneed usThe end of 2015 was a traumatic time for many of ourcustomers in Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire. Extreme badweather and floodwater caused by Storms Desmond, Eva, andFrank devastated many communities including their churches.

Serving ourcustomersWe survey you, our churchcustomers on a regular basis tomake sure we are continuing todeliver the service you have cometo expect from us.

If you’ve called Ecclesiastical with achurch query you will have spoken toour friendly customer service team.The team only deal with churchinsurance and are on hand to give youexpert support no matter what thequestion. Out of all the customers wesurveyed, we were delighted that 98%(684 responses) were satisfiedwith our service.

Of course, howwe handle claims is criticalfor our church customers and we werevery pleased to see that satisfaction withour church claims handling in 2015 isnow at 99% (393 responses) of allsettled claims we surveyed.

To back up ourcustomer satisfactionscores, we were alsodelighted to beawarded CorporateChartered Insurerstatus which meansthat we have been

recognised for our professionalcommitment, service and ethicalapproach that places clients’ interestsat the heart of the service we provide.

FAITH CL

AIMS

SURVEY

2015

99%

SATISFAC

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St. Mary’s, Radcliffe

Alongside traditional fundraising events, thePCC decided to turn to social media, using acrowdfunding website to invite people topledge a donation. They were unaware justhow successful the approach would be, as thecrowdfunding not only quickly met its target,but led to a number of other benefits too.

For a crowdfunding appeal, charities haveto offer something in return to thank theirsupporters. St. Marks’ offered the ability to usea shared space that would be for everyone, notjust the church. The idea caught on with peoplefrom beyond the congregation, and during theTT races, the vicar was even interviewed onlocal TV as the church offered the new spaceas a refuge for bikers visiting the island.

The space is now used by a range oforganisations beyond the church, including

local cyclists and motorsports groups, as wellas the Isle of Man Post Office, which uses thehall for business meetings.

A social media campaign to promote thecrowdfunding got St. Marks’ noticed furtherafield, and the parish is now forging arelationship with the Trustees of St. Omer’sTrust in Liverpool who are keen to provideescape breaks for family groups.

It has brought the local population togethertoo, a priceless achievement in such a ruralcommunity. The World Wide Web has madeall the difference to this global village.

Find out about our 2016 Community useof Church Buildings competition and howto enter at www.ecclesiastical.com/churchcomp

The wisdom of crowdsSituated in a beautiful rural setting on the Isle of Man, St. Mark’schurch needed to raise £9,000 to install an LPG gas boiler andconvert an oldWC into a disabled toilet and shower room.

She is a stonemason atWorcester Cathedral,where she is in year three of a five-yearcourse. She is employed by the Cathedraland is on a degree course sponsored byEcclesiastical under the auspices of theCathedrals’ Workshop Fellowship (CWF).

The partnership between nine cathedralsand the University of Gloucestershire hasbeen supported for the last four years byEcclesiastical. The students are nominatedby their cathedrals and they study a range ofwork-based subjects, including ornamentalcarving, stone selection and geometry,

architecture, archaeology, structuralengineering and practical conservationtechniques, for just less than two years. Alsoincluded is a ‘tailored’ personal developmentprogramme, which the course graduateshave all found highly valuable.

With HRH The Prince ofWales as its patron,and Ecclesiastical’s support, the Fellowship’simmediate future looks positive and thanks tothe CWF the nation will continue to producemaster stonemasons whose traditions reachback over a thousand years, yet whose eyesare firmly on the future.

Emily Draper, StonemasonEmily originally trained in Fine Art and is an incredibly drivenand interesting individual, who does not fit the stereotype ofa traditional stonemason.

Looking for newfundraising ideasfor your church?We were overwhelmed by the number– 424 – and quality of entries to ourfundraising competition last year.There were so many great ideas thatwe wanted to share some of the mostinnovative with our customers.

We are committed to supporting thechurches that are at the heart of somany communities across the countryand so we have made 25 of theseideas available to read or downloadon our website. The ideas include thewinning entries but also those judged tobe most helpful to churches looking fornew ideas. Read just one of theseideas opposite. Plus, we have analysedall the entries and picked out the top tipsfor organising and publicising events.To see all the case studies, please visitwww.ecclesiastical.com/fundraising

Emily Draper

©PeterKilleywww.manxscenes.com

Newfundraisingideas

The birth of a child and the death ofsomeone we love couldn’t be moredifferent in the spectrum of human lifeexperience, yet they’re both significantmoments when the ministry of the Churchof England can really make a difference.Baptism and funerals have been the focusof two major projects of the Archbishops’Council, supported by a grant fromAllchurches Trust. Extensive, independentresearch into these life events and offeringspecially produced resources to supportministry across Church of Englandparishes lies at the heart of the work.

Every year the Church of England conductsover an average of 3,000 funeral ceremoniesand 2,000 child baptisms every week. Togetherwith weddings, this offers contact with half amillion people each week – a huge opportunityshow the welcome of the church and God’sgrace and truth, in times of joy and celebration,

as well as in momentsof sadness and grief.

The Rev’d. CanonDr Sandra Millar,Head of Projects &Developments, andher team have beenpresenting to dioceses

all over the country, sharing all that’s beenlearned through the research and explaininghow the new resources can help.

Sandra said: “Being there for people at everystage of life is at the heart of parish ministry,whether it is discovering the good news ofJesus at the start of a life, or realising thecomforting presence of God in times of sorrow.Reflecting on how we approach these coreministries can make a real difference to thelocal church.”

There are two new websites for thegeneral public:www.churchofenglandchristenings.org, andwww.churchofenglandfunerals.orgwhich offer information andadvice to those organising and/or attendinga baptism or a funeral.

Andwww.churchsupporthub.org offerschurches the research findings, access tocustomisable printed resources, plus sharedideas and articles, all in one place. There’seven an online reminder system,www.pastoralservicesdiary.org to helpchurches keep track of services, relatedfinances and to follow up with contactsalready made – a key driver of church growth.

For more information, and to find an event nearyou, visitwww.churchsupporthub.org

Allchurches Trust (ATL)Supporting the Church ofEngland Baptism andFuneral projectsATL provides support to many churches and charities throughits grant programmes and also helps support some largespecial projects. One example of a special grant is for theChurch of England funerals and baptisms projects which areaimed at increasing the engagement of the church with thesekey life events. You can read more about these projects below.

To find out more about AllchurchesTrust visit www.allchurches.co.uk orcall 01452 873189 or emailatl@allchurches.co.uk

Let’s talk about deathGraveTalk, the Church of England’s caféspace to talk about death, dying andfunerals, was launched through theFunerals Project and is making a bigimpact across the country. It is organisedby the local church and can be held in ahall, a home or a real café. At each event,a pack of GraveTalk questions aredistributed – there are no answers, justconversation. And it’s open to people ofall faiths and doubts. The Rev’d MarkSalmon successfully introduced it inHarlescott and said: “Marking space forpeople to remember loved ones and talkabout death through GraveTalk isbecoming part of the life of our parishes– we look forward to making this a partof our long-term pastoral care plan.”Sandra Millar added: “The taboo oftalking about death is coming underchallenge and the Church of England iswell-placed to be part of thatmomentum.” If you’d like to know more,visitwww.churchsupporthub.org/article/gravetalk

Keeping in touchFollowing a Baptism projectpresentation in the Diocese ofDurham, Curate Bryony Taylor, fromHoughton-le-Spring, wanted to shareher experiences via the ChurchSupport Hub website.

She was inspired to learn that 9/10people say they welcome contact fromthe church after their child’s baptism butchurches could do better with staying intouch over the longer term. She said:“People do actually want what we’reoffering, they do want the good news,but we’ve been hiding our light under abushel for too long. Keeping in touchneed not be complicated or timeconsuming, so I decided to share somereally simple, low-cost things we’d doneto keep in touch with families in ourparish.” See Bryony’s Article here:www.churchsupporthub.org/baptisms/articles

Full of risk management guidance anduseful information, you can quickly find outabout important topics like health andsafety. Many customers also now getregular updates by email – just let us haveyour email address if you too would like tobe updated in this way. For furtherinformation:

Our website:www.ecclesiastical.com/church

Customer services:call 0845 777 3322 oremail churches@ecclesiastical.com

Claims:call 0845 603 8381 (24-hour service) oremail churchclaims@ecclesiastical.com

Our customer service lines are normally openMonday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, except forbank holidays. However, claims can beregistered at any time during the day or night.

Keeping up to dateDon’t forget our Church Matters website has a wide rangeof information, guidance and tools you can use to help youlook after your church.

BuildingWorks Made SimpleChurches call us all the time for advice about works they arehaving planned so we have introduced another in our MadeSimple guide series to provide help and advice about theinsurance implications.

Arson advicefor churches fromLoyd GrossmanOBEWe have enlisted the help ofLoyd Grossman OBE, Chairman ofThe Churches Conservation Trust,to present a new video for us on themajor disruption that arson can bringto churches and their communities.

Arson poses a major security challengefor church communities. Fires can bestarted deliberately, either by arsonistsor thieves concealing their crime andchurches are often viewed as a softtarget. In the event of a serious fire, achurch may take 2-3 years or more tofully restore causing major disruptionto services and other church activities.Loyd explores these issues andprovides some practical tips to reducethe risk of arson affecting your church.

Visit our website atwww.ecclesiastical.com/churcharsonto find out more and also downloadour arson checklist.

Don’tForge

t

We can also insureyour home!Just call us for a quote on 0800 917 3345or go online atwww.ecclesiastical.com/churchworker

The guide sets out when you need to contactus and the issues that might arise, such asdifferent types of contract, hot works andscaffolding. Our website also includes simpleforms to complete where you need to applyfor confirmation of insurance cover to getfaculty approval and for you to tell us aboutmore significant building projects. Just visitwww.ecclesiastical.com/madesimplewhere you can view this and the otherguides in the series.

The Construction (Design andManagement) (CDM) Regulations 2015

Don’t forget, if your church is employinga contractor you have duties under theConstruction (Design and Management)Regulations 2015. The Regulations aimto protect the health and safety of peopleworking in construction and others whomay be affected by their activities.The Health & Safety Executive (HSE)

websitewww.hse.gov.uk explains whatclients need to do and you can find out morein our Building Works Made Simple Guide.

Independent Financial AdviceDo you need help with your finances? Ecclesiastical Financial Advisory Servicescan offer you totally independent financial advice on investments, retirement andprotection. They can also help parishes who have funds to invest. Please note, thevalue of investments can fall as well as rise and past performance is not a guide tofuture performance.

For more information call: 0800 107 0190 or email: getadvice@ecclesiastical.com

In November 2015, the Church of England enacted a new regulation that allows clergy appointments to be made on an interim basis. The Diocese of Liverpool is pioneering this form of ministry and it is already proving advantageous as the church faces increasing challenges of low numbers in attendance, funding and available clergy.

Our ability to take the lead on this initiative and effectively appoint vicars on an interim basis is bolstered by the experience that Archdeacon Jennifer brings from The Episcopal Church

where she has both studied and served in interim ministry roles. We are further helped by a task group that has undertaken practical study of the interim option, basing their work on a report by The Revd. Chris Jones who studied the American model.

Consulting with Archdeacon Jennifer, the group has produced a paper for guidance in our diocese as we continue to make interim appointments. This covers ideas around:

When would we appoint an interim priest? Turnaround situations in ‘fig tree’ churches

which might go either way

Pastoral disruption or breakdown, significant conflict or pastoral trauma

Significant change on the horizon such as pastoral reorganisation, viability, Parish Share or building-related issues

Following long incumbencies

Helping a church to die with dignity

The defining characteristics of interim ministry Timescale: typically for 12-18 months

Focus: while attending to the liturgical and pastoral duties of parish ministry, the primary focus is the transition, the neutral zone of a church in vacancy

Shared ownership: successful interim ministry depends on shared ownership between the congregation, the interim priest and the diocese

Process: interim clergy lead the church through a five-stage process of ‘holy conversations’ which typically explore heritage, leadership, connections, mission and future

Outcomes: the interim minister thinks and works backwards, his or her ministry being informed by some established outcomes and working to realise those goals.

There are a few churches currently served by interim clergy; others might also benefit from such an appointment. Our greatest challenge in making interim appointments is a lack of available trained interim clergy, a challenge we are facing by developing training modules and recruiting potential candidates for this specialised ministry. We believe that this is not a stopgap but a vitally important ministry that helps churches and parishes discern the right future for them under God.

Leading the way with interim ministry

Soon after Jesus began his ministry, he began to call people to follow him. People like Andrew and his brother Peter. They became his disciples and watched how Jesus dealt with people, listened to his teaching and parables, experienced the ups and downs of his life and got to know him very well. After his resurrection, he sent them to share all that they had seen and heard with all peoples.

The call to follow Jesus as his disciples remains today. This is not supposed to be an extra activity, but an essential component of being a Christian. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus says that He will build His church on Peter, and then soon after says that if any want to be his followers, they should deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him.

Instead, all too often, we have tried to build the church by planning worship services,

looking after the building, caring for those in need, developing a programme for young and old and ensuring we have enough money coming in to achieve all this. This requires a lot of effort, usually by a small group of people, and can consume all our energies to keep the show on the road.

We have forgotten that our role is to make disciples. The plural of disciple is church. The biggest challenge facing our churches at the moment is to reach those who don’t yet know Jesus for themselves. We will only do this when we all accept the call to live out our Christian faith so that we will make a difference in our homes, workplaces and communities. Jesus is calling us to love God with everything we have and to love our neighbours as ourselves.

All too often, someone comes to faith in Jesus but doesn’t grow as a disciple. We find them a job to do in the church rather than a ministry in the world. We rightly invest lots of resources into ordained ministry, but not nearly enough into laity. We forget that every Christian is in full-time Christian ministry! We know that churches grow when they are intentional in making disciples.

If we want to be a bigger church so that we can make a bigger difference, we will need to re-discover what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

Rediscover what it means to be a disciple of Jesus

Whilst Ecclesiastical has used reasonable endeavours to ensure that the information in this newsletter is correct at the time of publication, please note: (a) the information is not intended to constitute a definitive or complete statement of the law on any subject, (b) the information may over the course of time become incorrect or out of date; and (c) neither Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc. nor its subsidiaries can accept any responsibility or liability for action taken or losses suffered as a result of reliance placed on the information provided in this newsletter.

Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc (EIO) Reg. No. 24869. Ecclesiastical Insurance Group plc (EIG) Reg. No. 1718196. Ecclesiastical Life Ltd (ELL) Reg. No. 243111. E.I.O. Trustees Ltd Reg. No. 941199. All companies are registered in England at Beaufort House, Brunswick Road, Gloucester, GL1 1JZ, UK. EIO and ELL are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

© Ecclesiastical Insurance Office plc 2016 4/16

For more information call 0345 777 3322

email churches@ecclesiastical.com visit www.ecclesiastical.com/church

More than 250 delegates from across our diocese packed into the Select Stadium in Halton for our Making it Easier Day 2016. Participants included churchwardens, PCC Secretaries, Treasurers, Gift Aid Secretaries and other current or potential PCC members who took the opportunity to access the experts from St James House and get up to date on what we can offer to Make it Easier to run your parish.

Bishop Paul opened the event by reflecting on his experience as a churchwarden’s son, emphasising how these roles are all ways in which we can make a bigger difference.

Around thirty diocesan staff took part, alongside guest speakers Luke Tatum and Stephen Borton from Diocesan Registry in London, and Neil Pugmire, Communications Adviser to the Diocese of Portsmouth and author of the recently updated book 100 Ways to Get Your Church Noticed.

Between them they ran 33 well-attended workshop sessions throughout the day on themes ranging from welcome to working with children and young people, from getting

your church noticed to safer recruitment, and getting the best from your buildings to managing finances and legal basics.

There was a great buzz on the day, and our team gathered first impressions that people felt the event was informative, with delicious food and friendly staff at the venue.

Peter Gladney, a Reader at St Peter’s Birkdale, wrote after the event: “Just to say a huge thank you to all who organised the Making It Easier conference. Excellent input, excellent organisation and excellent food! This is just the sort of conference that parishes need – hope you will repeat it in the future”.

“The conference parishes needed”

Keep up to speedKnowing what’s going on in this busy world is vitally important. Stay on top of the news by signing up to the weekly bulletin. Go to the website: www.liverpool.anglican.org to add your name to our list of over 3,500 subscribers.

Has your parish signed up for the Parish Giving Scheme?This modern, tax-efficient way of managing giving to your church is tried and tested by several dioceses. It will:

dramaticallyreducethetimeyourTreasurersandGiftAidSecretariesneedtodevotetoadministration

giveyouregularandspeedypaymentsandreturnsfromGiftAid

offeraneasywaytotacklestaticgiving.

TheParishGivingSchemeallowsallwhocurrentlygivebystandingorder,envelopesorlooseontheofferingplatetoplanandmanagetheirgivingthroughaDirectDebit.Interested?Thengotowww.liverpool.anglican.org/parishgivingschemeforfulldetails.

It’seasytosetupandmanage.AllthePCCneedstodoispassaresolutiontostarttheschemeandshowleadershipbyjoiningandencouragingotherstojoin.