Removing Boundaries
In an example from North Yorkshire, many administrative boundaries were removed to create a network to support small rural churches, based on sensible local geography.
The Rural Christian Community Network was formed during 2003 in the North Yorkshire Wolds. It is an informal ecumenical group ministry of 41 churches cutting across established boundaries, sitting within two counties and comprising parts of two archdeaconries, three deaneries and five circuits. There are three full-time ministers, five part-time ministers, four house-for-duty posts, two ordained local ministers and several readers and local preachers. The average congregation in each place of worship is around 10-15.
However, this is not about structures. All the churches and chapels involved have similar size problems and similar size congregations. The villages, while of course all totally different, are similar demographically and there are strong links between them. The aim is for congregations to support each other better by fulfilling needs and offering gifts, by attending each other’s celebrations and fund-raisers and sharing personnel wherever possible. Collectively there is a critical mass sufficient in size to provide effective, professional training, for example in leading worship, Bible study and discipleship.
Equal emphasis is placed on each village; large settlements are not allowed to dominate and soak up resources. This makes it easier to bear each other’s burdens and understand each other’s problems, without the fear of the attitude ‘you are too small and therefore too insignificant to bother about.’
Questions for Discussion Activities
• This section tells us that the rural church has an important part to play in Christian unity. In what ways does your church offer the priestly, prophetic and evangelising ministries for the whole Church? What things are done well, and what things could be opened out to become more inclusive in your community? [Suggested Bible passage: Ephesians 4.11-13.]
• Invite any members of the congregation to speak of their own backgrounds in other denominations or faiths. What are they sad to have left behind and what are they glad to have found? Gather this up by listing the skills, insights and experience that can be brought into the church by individuals from other denominations.
• In pairs, think about people of other Christian denominations that you know or whose churches you have been to. Share together what you know about the churches and worship of other Christians. Make a list of the denominations you have encountered and add some words which describe your experiences.
• This section mentions a caravan which is used as a base for pastoral care. How could your church offer more mobile witness and care for the community? In what ways can the church reach out and include people of other denominations and faiths?
• Mission link: Make a plan to find out how people outside the church in your community register Christian ‘presence’. What does the church building mean to them and what effect does the presence of churchgoers have on the sense of community? Find three things which could strengthen the sense of ‘presence’ and act on them (e.g. the church open during the day, bell ringing, noticeboards, Remembrance Day procession).
• Worship link: Agree a plan to include hymns, prayer and experience from other traditions into worship. Allow people from other denominations the chance to offer something from their own tradition to the rest of the congregation, perhaps explaining the rosary, using icons, or praying with scripture.
• Community link: Consider whether it is appropriate to make a ‘Declaration of Ecumenical Welcome’ in your community. This is a good starting point before considering whether becoming an LEP or working across a wider area is really a possibility.
• Celebration link: choose a time and place to celebrate Christian unity and plan activities and/or worship, to enjoy the diversity of Christian traditions. Use the question material and other activities as a foundation for this occasion.
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