Diocesan Review - Update 1

Diocese of Liverpool

Review Update

Issue 1: March 2002

DIOCESAN REVIEW - PROGRESS REPORT

The Diocesan Review was commissioned as a response to the very serious financial situation facing the diocese. It was publicly launched at the annual Consultation meetings in October 2001. Well over 150 written submissions were received, in addition to the many and varied comments made by those attending the Consultation meetings. A report was written by the Review Group which was launched at a special conference at the Cathedral in December. The report was then considered by Bishop's Council and Diocesan Synod.

What was decided?

The report is extensive (it runs to 38 pages - full copies are available from Church House). However, there were 42 keynote recommendations on which much of the discussion centred. These keynote recommendations, along with the key themes, are reproduced within this leaflet.

The following motion was put to Synod:

'This Synod notes the summary of themes and recommendations as the way forward and authorises Bishop's Council, after due scrutiny, to implement the review, bringing to Synod all matters that relate to the structure of the diocese or that vary from agreed budgets.'

This resolution was backed unanimously by Bishop's Council, and Synod voted 96:2 in favour.

So is everything now agreed?

No. The review document is only the start of a process. Much more detailed work needs to be done. This is happening as follows:

Bishop's Council is setting up a series of short-term working groups to do some detailed thinking on each issue. These are not permanent groups. Most will only last 3 - 4 months until they have produced a written proposal.
These working groups will each produce a paper on how they think the recommendation can best be put into practice.
Each paper will then be discussed by the relevant diocesan and deanery committees.
Then each paper goes to Bishop's Council for a decision.

Please note:

Not everything needs to go back to Synod. Only those recommendations that change agreed annual budgets or the way in which the diocese is structured (committees, deanery boundaries and such like) need to go back to Synod.
Nothing can be implemented without having gone to Bishop's Council first.

So is everything being decided in secret?

No. Although Bishop's Council meets in private and - unlike Synod - there is no right to observe proceedings, it is important that all church members feel that they can have a voice in the process. Therefore, this leaflet:

Lists all the discussion papers due to go to Bishop's Council, and when.
Lists all the members of Bishop's Council, plus their contact details.

This should mean that everyone in the diocese can contact some or all the Bishop's Council members on those issues that they feel strongly about. Furthermore:

All Bishop's Council agendas will be published in advance on the Diocesan website.
Summaries of Bishop's Council and Synod meetings will be sent to all parishes via the monthly mailing. We will also post these summaries on the website.

In summary
Synod and Bishop's Council want to get a balance between proper consultation and involving all church members on the one hand, and speed on the other. As a diocese we face a serious financial challenge which there is - or should be - no getting away from. To balance the budget by 2006 will be very tough, and the longer we delay the worse the situation gets.	However, money isn't everything. We don't want to go down completely the wrong road just because there is a huge financial shadow hanging over the diocese. Fundamentally the review is about mission, and the Word of God dwelling ever more richly in the lives of as many people as possible in our diocese.

A word about deaneries

The review argues for a greatly enhanced role for deaneries as the best bodies to plan for local mission and ministry. On this basis there will be a much heavier work-load for Deanery Synods. In 2002 all deaneries will be asked to consider their current boundaries and whether they are appropriate for mission. From 2003 deaneries can take the major responsibility for planning mission and ministry strategies in their area.

All this means that from May 2002 onwards, Deanery Synods will be looking at key - and sometimes complex - issues which will directly affect local mission and ministry. For those on Deanery Synod, it will be an important and challenging time. They will need all our support and prayer.

REVIEW RECOMMENDATIONS - A SUMMARY

Key themes
The following is a list of the key themes running throughout the Review document:

Parishes must be the focus of ministry and mission, and available resources deployed accordingly
The best solutions are usually locally devised
Lay people are the back-bone of the diocese
We should not look for uniformity across the diocese - mission and ministry must reflect the local context
Young people within their family context and young adults should be our priority areas for evangelism
Support for mission and ministry in Urban Priority Areas is a key concern
Deaneries should take strategic responsibility for local mission strategies and priorities, and the deployment of resources
In general, we may well need to do less, but better
This document is a starting point not a conclusion - much debate and detailed work will be needed from here
The status quo is not an option
We need to be both radical and pragmatic
The whole diocese (including all its support structures) needs to be geared towards mission and ministry
The diocese wilt need to act if parishes/deaneries are too slow in delivering the financial changes necessary
We aim to balance the diocesan budget by 2006 at the latest
Structures need to be the vehicle for, not the barriers to, mission and ministry

	Keynote recommendations There are 42 keynote recommendations in the Review. These are not listed in order of priority.	Paper due to Bishop's Council
	*Developing Ministry*
1	Affirm and encourage lay people of all ages in their service of God	November 2002
2	Encourage, support and equip lay people in a wide range of ministries	November 2002
3	Identify expertise and share good practice across the diocese	November 2002
4	All churches to take active steps to welcome and integrate children and their families into the worshipping life of their church	January 2002
5	Prioritise security needs in UPA vicarages	June 2002
6	Help all clergy reflect on and re-assess their priorities in their ministry	September 2002
7	Offer clergy more effective support through the appraisal process, but within a context of greater accountability for development targets and activities	September 2002
8	New elements of clergy training to maximise the use of available clergy time	June 2002
9	The Council for Lifelong Learning to develop and model collaborative approaches to clergy training and development	November 2002
10	All trainee curates to have some experience of best practice in UPAs as a substantial part of their training	June 2002
11	Explore possibilities of using OLMs and NSMs as 'Priest in Charge' of parishes	September & November 2002
12	Explore possibilities of using Readers more widely	September & November 2002
13	Provide information and training for clergy and laity on maximising the possibilities of work in schools	September 2002
14	Establish a half-time stipendiary post to be a chaplain to young adults	June 2002
15	Create a new post with specific responsibility for discipling children in their family context	June 2002
16	Develop an on-going programme of race awareness training across the diocese	September 2002
17	Set a target of a 10% growth in Usual Sunday Attendances within 20% of churches in the diocese by 2006	May 2002
	*Resourcing Ministry*
18	Deaneries to take strategic responsibility for mission, pastoral reorganisation and ministry numbers	September 2002
19	Re-consider deanery boundaries	March 2002
20	Encourage parishes to cluster together	June 2002
21	Every parish should produce a development plan	September 2002
22	Build systems of accountability across the diocese	January 2003
23	Affirm Bishop James' statement that there is no barrier to baptised and practising Christians from other denominations to Holy Communion	September 2002
24	Encourage existing and potential Local Ecumenical Partnerships	September 2002
25	The cathedral to develop a more transparent approach to its finances and structure	January 2003
26	Fundamentally review committee structure	September 2002
27	Reduce people time spent on diocesan committees by 33% by end 2004	January 2003
28	Instigate a thorough review of working practices within Church House	September 2002
29	Sell and relocate Church House	November 2002
30	Explore inter-diocesan cooperation in administration.	January 2003
	*Financial*
31	11% decrease in stipendiary clergy numbers over next 4 years	May 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
32	Real terms reduction of £125,000 a year in DBF expenditure by end 2004	May 2002, 2003
33	Increase DBF income by £100,000 (other than from parishes) by end 2004	May 2002, 2003
34	Aim to keep quota increases within RPI + 2.5%	May 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
35	The diocese should accept the separate financial status of the cathedral but explore a contribution system from the cathedral to the diocese	January 2003
36	Deaneries to propose building development plans (including closure of unnecessary and/or unduly expensive buildings) by end 2003	September 2002
37	Contract out management of DBF assets in two deaneries on a trial basis by end 2003	January 2003
38	Re-examine Quota by Potential system in 2002	May 2002
39	Maximise the benefit to the diocese as a whole current levels of parish reserves	November 2002
40	Funding for ecumenical work conditional on recipient bodies demonstrating good outputs at the local level	June 2002
41	Promote a diocesan giving campaign to increase average giving to 5% by end of 2008	January 2003
42	Maintain minimum 3 months' usable reserves in DBF accounts	May 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005

Members of the Bishop's Council - March 2002

Ex-Officio Members

Bishop of Liverpool, Rt. Rev James Jones
Bishop of Warrington, Rt. Rev David Jennings
Dean of Liverpool, Rt. Rev. Rupert Hoare
Provost of Liverpool Hope University College, Rt. Rev lan Stuart
Archdeacon of Liverpool, Ven Bob Metcalf
Archdeacon of Warrington, Ven Peter Bradley
Chair of the House of Laity, Chris Pye
Chair of the House of Clergy, Rev Eric Bramhall
Dean of Women's Ministry, Canon Cynthia Dowdle
Chair of the Board of Education, Rt. Rev lan Stuart
Chair of the Council for Life-long Learning, Rev Bob Wilkes
Chair of the Diocesan Board of Finance, David Tomkins
Chair of the Board for Mission & Unity, Linda Jones
Chair of Board for Social Responsibility, Angela White
Diocesan Secretary, Mike Eastwood

Liverpool Archdeaconry representatives

Rev Roger Driver, Priest in Charge of St Matthews Bootle, St Andrew's Litherland and St Leonard's Bootle
Canon Anthony Hawley, Team Rector of Kirkby
Rev Bob Wilkes, Vicar of St Matthew & St James Mossley Hill
Stephen Derringer
Val Jackson
Derek Miller

Warrington Archdeaconry representatives

Rev Chris Bray, Vicar of All Saints & All Souls, Southport
Rev Colin Pope, Vicar of Emmanuel Southport
Rev Steve Parish, Vicar of St Ann, Warrington
Lesley Michell
Joyce Roberts
Diane Wright

Dates of Bishop's Council meetings 2002

January 23
March 6
May 14
June 17
6/7 September
21 November

Members of the Bishop's Council may be contacted via:

Church House
1 Hanover Street
Liverpool L1 3DW

0151-709 9722