| Reports and statements concerning the life of our church |
On a visit to our parish earlier this year the Reverend Dr Ralph Bowles shared with us our Natural Church Development profile. This was very encouraging:
However, whilst this profile is very encouraging, as Joshua said to the children of Israel there remains much land to be possessed. In other words we cannot rest on our laurels. Ralph also left us with some challenging questions, as we think about those areas of our church life where we need to improve our effectiveness. I have also added my own statements/questions to his and I submit them to the whole parish here as we all seek to play our part in raising our game. RB= Ralph Bowles SH= Simon Hattrell
Rector’s Provisional Report for the calendar year 2011 to be submitted to the Annual General Meeting 26th February 2012 Pastoral care As we look back on this past year, there has been a very strong emphasis on training in the area of pastoral care. A lot of thought has gone into how we can best oversee a Pastoral Care Scheme, which has now been officially launched at a Parish Combined Service on Sunday the 29th of January when the Bishop commissioned ten Pastoral Assistants. PASTORAL ASSISTANTS/CARERS are those in whom the Church has discerned special gifts for pastoral care in the church and the wider community. They are not people who know all the answers. But they are men and women of prayer; people who reflect on the dilemmas of modern life in the light of the Bible and Christian tradition; and people who want to share with others the message of Christ through caring action. They are people who are willing to develop creatively their abilities in teamwork, leadership, listening and caring. Pastoral Assistants/Carers are those with pastoral gifts, who will exercise a leadership role in this ministry, acting as an example and encouraging others to use their gifts. Pastoral Assistants/Carers may have a variety of roles including: healing & wholeness, supporting the sick & bereaved, hospital, prison, industrial & other chaplaincies, working with caring agencies in the wider community, assisting with occasional offices, helping to co-ordinate a pastoral care team, visiting baptismal families and assisting those parents who bring their children for baptism, collaborating with clergy and other ministers and last but not least pastoral visiting & support. The calling and recognition of the Pastoral Assistant’s ministry comes from our local context. Here we have provided extensive training last year through the visit to our parish of the Reverends Ian McGrath (BCA) with the Mental Health First Aid Course and John Morse (Tabor College) and the God’s Love in Action; Pastoral care for Everyone course, as well as the follow up sessions we held with Bishop Bill, Fr Ian McAlister, Connie Cairns (House of Prayer) and Anne McCutcheon (Cathedral Parish and On Bundock). We have sought to initially provide training and support for this ministry. Permission to minister has come from my personal recommendation to Parish Council and then to the Bishop. This was formalised and set in motion through a commissioning service at which the Bishop presided at the end of January. The Pastoral Assistants/Carers may also find themselves working as part of a Ministry Leadership Team with our clergy and other lay leaders/Portfolio leaders on Parish Council. However, there are many folk in the parish, who continue to care in an informal way, which is a vital part of church life, as I shared at a service at the Upper Ross at the end of October from 1 Thessalonians 3:12. It has always been my aim to affirm those people too, such as Home Group Leaders and participants as well as existing Authorised Lay Ministers. Nevertheless, it has been observed that this training that we have offered is very different and far broader than those who are Authorised Lay Ministers (formerly known as Eucharistic Assistants) as their licence is focussed on leading public worship on a Sunday morning and in some instances to preach the Word of God, where in this latter case, they have to show that they have received appropriate training for such a responsibility. The scope of this ministry of Pastoral Care is far more demanding. I have had to reassure those who are currently licenced ALMs that I am more than happy for them to continue what they are doing. Some just don't have the time or energy to commit to Lay Pastoral Care, although it can be argued from scripture that a ministry of care involves us all as members of the body of Christ. See for example what Paul says to the Galatians in ch 6:2. At the combined service at the end of January this year the Bishop commissioned us all (ie the whole church!) and lead us all in a prayer of commitment before he specifically commissioned those who were to be granted a licence as Pastoral Carers. This gave a very strong message that we all have a part to play. I sat down, listened to and shared with all those who want to pursue this vocation. We, as clergy, need to care for, supervise, co-ordinate and assist those in this parish, who are called to this vital ministry. Of course I would love to see more folk putting their hand up, but I recognise that it is better to start small and lay a good foundation. The clergy of the parish have also read the book 'Can the pastor do it alone?', and attended a DVD seminar with Dr Mel Steinbron based on his book at the end of November to enable us to get an even firmer grasp on the underlying theology and principles of this 'model'. We will be repeating this seminar for all Pastoral Carers. I have said to the clergy and other leaders that my hope and prayer is that we will all take ownership of this scheme and see this as a way of making a contribution to the health of our parish. As mentioned in other communications over the year, I will need to actively co-ordinate this, but we can all play a part with those who have been commissioned to assist them and collaborate with them in establishing a 'network of love and care' within our parish. Our weekly clergy gathering on Friday mornings is a 'clearing house' for those needs that come to our attention during the week and we can keep each other informed with respect to pressing needs. The clergy team will continue to pray together during this time but we will also need to meet at least once every 2 months for a 2 hour session of training and support of our Pastoral Carers, as it is vital that we care for them and make sure that they are 'resourced' for the ministry they have been called to. One way of exhausting people is to overload willing horses. This can be prevented by spelling out the value of everyone sharing in the work. It has a number of advantages. It gives everyone a chance to contribute: sometimes the most unlikely are the best. It reduces the power of the power-hungry. As Robert Warren has observed it tends to mean that the one job which is done is actually done well (there is time and the focus of commitment to do so). We clergy in particular need to turn our efforts from ‘doing everything’ to ensuring everything is done’. There is a big difference! Natural Church Development (see the graphic above) The Natural Church Development survey that we undertook also highlighted again how our so called minimum factor areas needed to be addressed, as we continue to score low in the area of Passionate Spirituality, Inspiring Worship Services & Need Oriented Evangelism, three of the 8 quality characteristics of healthy growing churches. Regarding our practice of the spiritual disciplines, Gerard Hughes in his book God of Surprises has said that ‘Training in prayer should be the main preoccupation and service given by bishops and clergy to the adult members of the church’. I agree. That is why I wrote at the beginning of this year (2012) that I wanted to “challenge all of us to take seriously the call to come daily before God in prayer while at the same time listening to his voice in Holy Scripture. These are the most basic spiritual disciplines, which we need to give attention to and make the bedrock of our Christian life. It’s never too late to start!” The Book of Common Prayer encourages us to “..daily hear Holy Scripture….so that we might continually profit more and more in the knowledge of God, and be the more inflamed with the love of … true Religion.” I know that many of us use various Bible reading tools and other devotional aids to help us in our life of prayer and the reading of the Bible. This year, however, I would encourage us all to use the Daily Office in our Prayer Book and the Bible readings from the lectionary that we put in the pew sheet every week in order to take the time every day for reading scripture and giving our prayer time a healthy shape using a time tested tool. The E100 challenge was a great success but we need to push on and take it to the next level, getting serious about intercession and engaging with the life changing message of scripture. Our services have sought to highlight the church year and the richness of the liturgy has reflected this. We have had some positive and helpful feedback about the 9am All Age Service and the monthly Café Church, which will continue this year. Thank you to Ange Stanfield and Trevor Schimke for leading this. The 5 playgroups now functioning in the hall are a wonderful God given opportunity to form strong friendships with young mothers and their children. The Helping Hands food bank both at Heatley and the Upper Ross church has been well received in the community. We continue to develop as a friendly and welcoming church. The Upper Ross congregation is to be congratulated for their commitment to Christian Hospitality and the warmth of their welcome. Our regular weekly ministry to the folk at Masonic Care is greatly appreciated. Thank you to the Reverend Andrea Maslin for leading this. The Combined Services held on the 5th Sunday of the month either at the Upper Ross or at Heatley have been great celebrations and promote parish unity and a common vision. We await the results of the next NCD survey to be completed at the end of March and then Ralph Bowles will visit us at the end of April for debriefing sessions. Our National Church Life Survey profile will be another helpful indicator of how we are progressing in other areas as well as the challenges that it will bring. We had extensive discussions last year with the Bishop and the new CEO of Church Army, the Reverend Martin Morgan, about outreach and ministry in the Upper Ross. Martin is scheduled to visit the parish in early March and we are hopeful that a Church Army team can spearhead outreach and training in evangelism after Pentecost. If we persevere and attend to these areas, seeking to ‘lift our game’, I am confident that we will see a marked improvement over time. Thank you everyone! Once again I would like to thank everyone in the parish for their support this past year, especially your understanding of my personal health situation and enforced rest period in May. The Clergy and the Wardens are a wonderful asset to this church. I want to thank the clergy especially for the unity which we have enjoyed, their commitment to an open collegiality and for their exceptional priestcraft, their preaching and their pastoral support and care in many and varied situations. We are truly blessed to have such a committed team. The Reverend Andrea Maslin will be giving more time this year to Pastoral Visitation. I thank John Chacko for his service as my Warden for the last two years and Treasurer over the last 18 months. John stepped in when Sue van Homrigh resigned and we thank John for his taking this on. He is standing down as Warden but continuing as Treasurer for the next year. I have nominated Jim Morrison as my Warden. Barry Preston is standing down as Warden but continuing to care for our grounds and the maintenance of our property. What would we do without Barry and Thelma? As you are all aware we have lost three couples just recently, David and Clare Coates, Peter and Marilyn Ellis and Harry and Patti Martin. These people represent 75 years of active ministry in this church and they will leave a big hole. I am sure I speak for you all in thanking them for their great contribution. David and Clare gave so much to our parish for the last 30 years faithfully serving on Parish Council, in the Church Office, and fostering support for Home Groups and the cause of World Mission as well as new migrants, just to name a few contributions they have made. After 45 years, David has finally left CSIRO! He joined that organisation in 1966. I reckon that after four and a half decades he deserves a break! Peter and Marilyn also gave of themselves unstintingly over three decades in this parish, whether it be on Parish Council, at Synod, on the board of the Good Shepherd Home, or hosting and leading a Home Group. It would be remiss also not to mention their leading of Marriage Encounter and more recently the Marriage Course. Many couples owe a great debt to Peter and Marilyn for their encouragement. Harry and Patti Martin spent the last 12 years in this parish, making a huge contribution to Childrens' ministry, All Age Worship and outreach, both encouraging and co-ordinating the visits of groups like the Covenant Players as well as assisting Stable on the Strand. Both Harry and Patti will be missed for their zeal for the gospel and the study of God's word. We all wish them well as they adjust to life in the Alice and pray that God will open new doors of effective ministry there. I also thank all those who have led and hosted our Home Groups, welcomed people to worship, read the scriptures, led intercessions, and provided for as well as organised the morning teas and other parish meals that we have shared in, mowed lawns, arranged flowers, looked after and cared for our property, administered rosters, produced church bulletins, taken minutes, served faithfully and with great dedication as Wardens, Lay Ministers or in various portfolios on Parish Council, the Mothers’ Union for their untiring efforts, those who have played musical instruments for the glory of God, and those who have assisted families as they brought their children for baptism and for all who have served our larger community. Together we are making a difference as a local expression of the Body of Christ here in Townsville. Let us go forward in faith! Simon Hattrell, Rector. |
