Reorganisation of dioceses in the Church of England doesn’t sound like the sexiest of subjects, does it? Especially in a week that has seen the slaughter of so many young people in Norway and the tragic death of Amy Winehouse – to say nothing of impending economic meltdown in the USA and the continuing grief in the financial markets.
But, even diocesan reorganisation represents the continuing of ordinary life in the face of ‘big’ and mortality-reminding events in the wider world.
And that is actually the point of the proposed reorganisation of the West Yorkshire dioceses (Ripon & Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield): it is about enabling the church better to relate to and reach out to the communities of these areas. Contrary to the rather lazy (and oft-repeated without critical thought) assumption that this proposal has arisen from either (a) financial decline or (b) numerical decline, the proposal to dissolve (not ‘abolish’) three dioceses and create a single larger diocese with an internal ‘episcopal area’ system is born of a desire to do our ministry and mission better and more effectively. There might be savings and consolidations eventually, but this is not driven by finance or staffing.
So, where are we now that the Dioceses Commission has issued an interim report today? Well, we are simply where we are. The interim report does not address the big questions of (a) the name of the new diocese, (b) the status of the cathedrals, (c) the precise location of the episcopal areas or whether the Diocesan Bishop should have one, and (c) where the diocese will be ‘based’ (in terms of location of central administration. All that is still to come. Today’s document states the response of the Commission to the responses it received following the original proposals last December… in respect to the potential moving or certain border parishes from one diocese to another.
The Commission will now draft a Scheme (a formal proposal) which will come to us in the autumn and initiate a six month period of formal debate and decision making. The Commission will then consider the outcomes of this formal consultation in the three dioceses before then deciding whether to amend the Scheme before sending it to the General Synod for final decision. In other words, what we have now is the second word in a multi-stage consultation/conversation – not the final word. So, if any reporting suggests that ‘the Church of England is to abolish’ dioceses, they are spouting rubbish.
There also seems to be an assumption that I will be the Diocesan Bishop of the new diocese if and when it is created. That also is nonsense. The posts of the three current Diocesan Bishops will be dissolved, the Bishops of Wakefield and Ripon & Leeds will retire, and I will look for another post. The church might ask me to do another episcopal job or it might not (or I might not feel it right to do so). So, I will happily look at all options and not worry about it. But, it would be helpful if people stopped assuming I will be the bishop of the new diocese as the only certainty for me is that the success of the Scheme will see the end of my See. And that’s fine. Our job is to do the best for the Church in order that we can best serve the people and communities of our country.
So there. It’s not boring, is it? The Church hasn’t really done this before. It is interesting, challenging and potentially exciting. An ‘area system’ would bring Area Bishops closer to the ‘ground’ than a Diocesan Bishop can currently be, and would give places like Bradford two bishops for the price of one: an Area Bishop devoted to the Episcopal Area and a Diocesan Bishop representing Bradford also.
Yes, there are details to be hammered out and there will be losses as well as gain. It might not even go through in the end. But, whatever eventual decision emerges must be rooted in vision, courage, faith and adventure.
July 27, 2011 at 11:38 pm
The larger diocese system seems to work well in Oxford, although we are perhaps short of Archdeacons. The Diocese seems to run very light – I still think that the apostolic model requires more Bishops to enable mission and ministry, something some in the Church struggle with. With my background in NFI I perhaps have different expectations of apostolic oversight!
July 28, 2011 at 12:24 am
Has anyone demonstrated why Leeds Parish Church is not the obvious location to become the cathedral of the new diocese? None of the existing three cathedrals is realistically accessible from the rest of the proposed new diocese. Leeds is in the middle and has a large parish church with a renowned choir.
I can understand why each of the existing cathedrals might want to stake a claim to be the set of the bishop of the new diocese but do their claims make sense if mission is the priority?
July 28, 2011 at 9:07 am
As you mention, Nick, the important thing is to keep the end goal in mind. If the re-organisation will help the CofE to interact better with the ‘world’, then great.
We need to be missional and outward facing first, and worry about the admin stuctures which supports that mission, second.
I for one, have no doubt that you will be led by the Lord in what you do next, and not by a drive to climb any greasy pole. I await the proceedings with interest.
July 28, 2011 at 10:40 am
Nick,
Although modesty is a virtue, you should not be shy to claim the new diocese for the gospel.The people of Halifax and Huddersfield have suffered long enough under the legacy of Walsham How. It is essential that the new diocese be evangelical if it is to meet the challenge of the future.
July 28, 2011 at 12:05 pm
Did you know that the Area Covered by the Bradford Diocese is really important for Nature Conservation and includes a greater area of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) than many/most other Dioceses?
http://rainforest-save.blogspot.com/2011/07/bradford-diocesw.html
(Conserving our wildlife for future generations is vital. )
I used the report http://www.churchofengland.org/media/1122094/guide.pdf
The Dioceses Commission – Review Report No. 2: – Dioceses of Bradford, Ripon & Leeds, Sheffield and Wakefield – November 2010
to find a map of the Bradford Diocese and see its boundaries.
I calculate that about One tenth of the Bradford Diocese is SSSI .
Some important habitats: We have half of mainland Britain’s limestone pavement. We have peat bogs. We have relict Arctic alpine relict species in the limestone high hills in the west.
We can be proud of our wildlife habitats within the Bradford Diocese –
It is also a responsibility to care for them for future generations.
Thank you Bishop Nick, for coming to /launch/unveil the Eco-Congregation Award Plaque at Ingleton Church on Sunday
http://rainforest-save.blogspot.com/2011/07/ingleton-ecocongregation-bishop-nick.html
and for making time to listen to so many of the people in the congregation afterwards.
July 28, 2011 at 5:10 pm
It’s an interesting reversal of the historic tendency towards smaller dioceses and ever more bishops. We recently had a proposal to merge two Methodist Districts, creating something which would rougly have covered the old Saxon kingdom of Mercia. It was an odd situation, since nobody ever put up any argument for accepting it, and it was inevitably rejected.
July 28, 2011 at 5:28 pm
Blimey, viz quote 5 above from poeceae, the Dioceses commission had better factor in the relevant percentages of peat bogs and limestone pavement in the new Diocesan areas. In fact, I can’t believe they may have missed that on the initial consultation paper…
Apologies to whoever wrote that: really, I admire Ingleton Church for their eco-congregation award, but is that seriously a comment on the Diocesan reorganisation programme?
I assumed it was a joke at first, but the links look kind of genuine. But what on earth is Nick supposed to do about it?
Though of course he can walk on water, like all bishops are trained to do…
July 29, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Blimey indeed! Am I missing what the new diocese will be called? I rather like the idea of Leeds Parish Church as cathedral for the new diocese – even at the risk of giving posthumous vapours to the C19 Bishop of Ripon who described it as a ‘pestilence on my diocese’ – I think the last straw was the installation of a confessional box…
July 30, 2011 at 12:40 pm
The Church is not exempt from the adage that we need to work ” smarter, not harder”.
So long as the new arrangement is sensitive and responsive to the needs of those on the ground it.can prosper.
I write during a visit to the largest Anglican Parish in Europe, that of Christ the Good Shepherd in Poitou Charante, France. It is the size of Wales, so maybe your Diocesan communication plans may look a little more do-able from this perspective. I can hardly imagine how thing work in South Sudan. Maybe we can learn some lessons from our wider communion?