Ministry Areas on a Journey

The Venerable Rhod Green, Archdeacon of Llandaff

Christian ministry is incredibly demanding. Priests and deacons are busy with the daily grind of services, prayer, study, pastoral visiting, occasional offices, personal administration, evangelism, mission, and community outreach. As a result, clergy often feel lonely and isolated. So, as Archdeacons, we wanted to create a space for ministry area clergy and lay leaders to pause, sit back, take stock, see the big picture, and spend time together. That’s the thinking behind our Archdeacons Visitations. Historically, Archdeacons Visitations have been all about compliance. The Archdeacon asks whether the church is using the right ink in its registers, whether the logbook and terrier are up-to-date, or whether the silver plate is where it should be. Though these things are important, we felt as Archdeacons that we could reimagine visitations as something more creative and helpful.

Last year we invited every ministry area in each Deanery to come together for a whole day. We considered why we do what we do; exploring the great commandment and the great commission, and what they mean for our churches. We then took stock of what we were already doing before imagining what we might be doing in 10 years’ time. We then agreed some next steps as part of a new development plan.

Next year we will complete the three-year cycle by looking at our evangelism and outreach, but this year our focus was on resourcing for that mission. First, we celebrated everything each ministry area had achieved over the last year. This was hugely encouraging. For some ministry areas, this was just putting a plan in place, for others, it was regularly meeting together as clergy teams, in one visitation every church there was growing one way or another. My heart was full as we celebrated all that God has been doing in the diocese. We then began some profound and challenging discussions around three areas. First, people; how do we organise and encourage volunteers and lay vocations. Second, buildings; how do we make the most of the assets we have. Thirdly, we wrestled with our finances; how do we create a culture of generosity in our churches and how can the diocese support ministry areas through the reform of Fairer Share. Each conversation was honest and real but hopeful. It was a privilege to see all the hard work and effort put in throughout the day from everyone involved.

A key part of the process is the follow up. Each Archdeacon meets every ministry area council from across the Archdeaconry to see how their development plan is being implemented and to explore what additional support might be required. Archdeacon Mark and I are looking forward to receiving the 2024 development plans over the next few months which will guide our conversations as we continue to discern together where the spirit is leading us, both as individual ministry areas, and together as a diocese.