Worshipping locally
The church in Okehampton Deanery has changed massively in recent decades. The vestries are still hung with fading photographs of past vicars, who had nothing but a parish of a few hundred to look after. Now we are faced with the reality that by 2012 there will be just five of us looking after 24 quite distinct congregations spread over several hundred square miles of glorious West Devon countryside, connected by roads where the hedge can often touch both sides of your car at the same time.
…clearly not all these services can be taken by clergy…
I arrived in 2002, just after the disaster of foot and mouth. During that time many rural churches had been closed and congregations had worshipped together. This period of enforced togetherness had shown that, although existing church members might travel to worship, only the local church could serve the local parish. There has to be a worshipping Christian presence in every place.
As a result our strategy has been to try to ensure that every community has a service of Christian worship at the same time every Sunday. Anything different
tends to create a ‘members only’ approach, where only those with the knowledge and motivation to unravel the mystery of church timetables can be expected to attend. Without the gift of omnipresence, clearly not all these services can be taken by clergy so the parishes were encouraged to find people from among themselves to take the services. This has led to the development of Lay Worship Leaders (LWL). These are people identified by the local congregation and trained in how to lead a service of the word. They tend to fall into two categories: there are the BCP matins specialists and the family service experts. LWLs are relieved from preaching but encouraged to read something appropriate or tell a story. This is already bearing fruit and we have several Readers and ordinands in training. Over 40 LWLs have been commissioned and it has transformed worship in the Deanery.
It has been humbling to discover that people who have sat in the pews listening to clergy are quite capable of coming to the front and doing it themselves. There is no shortage of talent; the challenge has been to train, mentor and equip so that the LWLs are affirmed and supported. Readers have taken on the bulk of this acting as a mentor and resource person during LWL training.
As the numbers of LWLs have grown, so has the complexity of making sure each feels valued and supported in their ministry and I would strongly advise anyone starting down this road to think this through carefully before they begin. Quality assurance is also very important. While we are sure the basic strategy is right, quantity is no substitute for quality and worshipping God in the garden might well be more edifying that a dull service badly led. LWLs are encouraged to see themselves not as gap fillers but as people with a mission to enable others to worship locally, regularly and well.
We are not there yet, and we are increasingly seeing that there is an ecumenical dimension to this: sometimes two small congregations will be meeting within close proximity at the same time, and that seems a huge waste of effort, opportunity and resources. We feel we are on the right road and we are looking forward to finding what is round the next bend.
Stephen Cook
Stephen Cook is Team Rector of the Northmoor Team, centred on Okehampton in the Diocese of Exeter.
He is also Rural Dean of Okehampton.
www. countryway. org. uk 21
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