An Evening with Bishop Peter, Chard, March 2004

It  was a dark wet night in Chard.  The school was not easy to find, the parking was inadequate.  The school hall was cram packed, and the seating spartan.  Yet when Bishop Peter started to speak - every one of these problems were forgotten by us all.   How amazing!  There were hundreds of us in the room, yet we all felt that Bishop Peter was speaking to us and just us.  It was a fireside chat; full of extraordinary insights.  Anecdotes of Bishop Peter’s history.  What inspired him – inspires us too.  What challenged him - challenges us.

We heard about the night before his heart operation. After he celebrated communion and when all his family had gone home, those awkward questions came to the fore: “Who are we?” “Where have we come from?” “How shall we live if this is who we say we are?”

Other anecdotes were:

• The newcomers on a Portsmouth council estate who shared with the vicar that the reason they did not accept the invitation to come to church is that they would not know what to do.
• The congregation in Peckham who when asked: ‘Who has been burgled?’

EVERYONE put their hands up.

• The Deenajanea Community in Bangalore, who, once Christians had helped them to get a water tap, became ‘a people.’

“Once you were not a people, now you are a people.”     1Peter 2:10.

Bishop Peter has been visiting all the Deaneries in the diocese to help members of our churches to resource the ministry to which God is calling us in our communities. Of course that involves money. But it also involves all of us sharing the ministry and equipping ourselves to meet the challenge of changing lives.

Our Deanery Meeting was at Holyrood School in Chard. Over 350 people were there. Thanks to all the volunteers. There were those who provided refreshments, car parking stewards, and a great team who packed us into the room – ensuring that the front row was a full as the back – this was a meeting of Anglicans after all!

Our PCC’s have been given a challenge by Bishop Peter. Soon each parish will receive a visitor to discuss how we can respond. Can we identify God’s resources for His mission? Can we raise our game—in God’s name?

First to the Lord - A Briefing

First to the Lord is a program to help parishes look at the way they resource their mission. It is an extension of the First to the Lord project which took place in 2001. The plan is to involve everyone of the 28,000 church members in our Diocese, and the program will help each of our 490 parishes to meet the challenges of rising costs, within the context of deepening Discipleship. Full details of the program plus information about related activities can be found on the Diocesan web site.  Visit: http://www.bathwells.anglican.org/fttl/index.php

There are four-strands to the program:-

1. Changing Lives – the Bishops has toured all the Deaneries giving spiritual vision and refreshment. The Bishop visited our Deanery in March, and a report on the event is given on the next page

2. Reviewing Expenditure - taking a careful look at how we all use the resources we have. Diocese expenditure will rise from 6.8 million in 2003 to £7.3 million in 2004. Costs in all Parishes are likely to rise. So managing our resources carefully remains a top priority.

3. Equipping the Preachers - helping clergy and Readers to teach about stewardship. Over 400 clergy and Readers attended the six Training Days events in November.

4. Sharing the Challenge - helping Church members understand how their money is used and inviting them to resource their vision of Christ's Church.

We need to pass on some clear messages to our worshippers, including:-

• Christian teaching on generosity, giving and our responsibility to God for all that we possess.
• How and why the diocese follows the Biblical pattern of sharing costs and bearing each others burdens.
• Where the money that parishioners give to their local Church goes.
• How the Diocese resources the ministry in parishes, and in schools, among young and old people, and for those less able then ourselves
• How the Diocese provides leadership and other resources to tackle issues associated with Rural Isolation in Somerset.

What should my Parish do?

These are the guidelines provided by the FttL team:

• Spend some time revisiting your 2001 First to the Lord aims and objectives.
• How will they need to be different in 2004 and 2005?
• Start to think about how First to the Lord can help you to lay the challenge before your own Church members.
• Prepare your 2004/5 budget in the light of the expected increases in Common Fund.
• Prepare some simple figures on the giving that will be necessary to sustain your own pattern of Church Life.

Prayer

Join our prayer circle for the success of First to the Lord!.  Visit http://www.bathwells.anglican.org/fttl/prayerdiary.php

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