Radical plan to modernise Church in Wales; New Director RSCM; Awards seek Christians passionate about change
A radical new vision for the future of the Church in Wales is set out in a report launched yesterday.
Supersize parishes run by teams of vicars and lay people, creative ideas for ensuring churches stay at the heart of their communities and investing further in ministry to young people are among the report’s recommendations following an independent root and branch review.
The Church in Wales commissioned the review a year ago to address some of its challenges and to ensure it was fit for purpose as it faced its centenary in 2020. Three experienced people in ministry and church management examined its structures and ministry and heard evidence from public meetings across Wales attended by more than 1,000 people.
On the Review Group were: Lord (Richard) Harries of Pentregarth, former Bishop of Oxford, who chaired it; Professor Charles Handy, former professor of the London Business School; and Professor Patricia Peattie, first chairwoman of the Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust and former Chair of the Episcopal Church in Scotland’s Standing Committee.
Their report will now be presented to the Church’s Governing Body for consideration.
It makes 50 recommendations which include:
• Parishes replaced by much larger ‘ministry areas’ which would mirror the catchment areas of secondary schools, where possible, and be served by a team of clergy and lay people;
• Creative use of church buildings to enable them to be used by the whole community;
• Training lay people to play a greater part in church leadership;
• Investing more in ministry for young people;
• Developing new forms of worship to reach out to those unfamiliar with church services;
• Encouraging financial giving to the church through tithing.
The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan, welcomed the report. He said, “We are enormously indebted to the Review Group because it has absorbed a great deal of information about us as a church in a short period of time and has made some very perceptive and insightful comments and recommendations. I am also grateful to members of the Church in Wales who in large numbers have enthusiastically engaged with the process. We, as a church, will have to give serious consideration to this report and its recommendations from parish up to province and decide where we go from here.”
Lord Harries said, “The Review Team found the Church in Wales to be very warm and welcoming and there are many good things happening. But in order to serve the people of Wales effectively, particularly its young people, we believe some radical re-thinking is necessary.”
The full report is online at http://www.churchinwales.org.uk/review .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-18906518
New Director RSCM
The Council of the Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) has appointed Andrew Reid to be the next Director in succession to Lindsay Gray, who is leaving the RSCM this autumn. Andrew Reid is currently Director of Music at Peterborough Cathedral. A start date has yet to be agreed.
Andrew Reid has been Director of Music at Peterborough Cathedral since 2004. Before that he served in a number of assistant organist posts including both Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral.
Originally from Sevenoaks in Kent, he studied at Cambridge University where he held organ scholarships at St Catharine’s and Robinson Colleges, studying the instrument with Peter Hurford and David Sanger. In 1994 he performed the complete works of JS Bach in one twenty-five hour recital. As Assistant Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral from 1996, and four years later as Sub Organist of Westminster Abbey, he accompanied both resident choirs in recordings, broadcasts and on tour. He also played the organ for occasions of national significance including the funeral of Cardinal Basil Hume and the state funeral of the Queen Mother in Westminster Abbey.
At Peterborough Cathedral, he has directed the Cathedral Choirs of boys, girls and lay clerks in live broadcasts of Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3, has performed with renowned groups such as His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts and Charivari Agréable, toured the Netherlands, Ireland and France, and has given many concerts within the UK. Andrew Reid is looking forward to the new post. “I am delighted and honoured to be appointed Director of the RSCM. As a parish church chorister I greatly benefited from the work of the RSCM, and its inspirational leadership. I look forward to leading the RSCM forward in its work of inspiring, training and encouraging church musicians.”
Commenting on the appointment, Lord Gill, Chairman of the RSCM Council, who also chaired the appointment panel and is Scotland’s most senior judge, said, “Andrew Reid has been chosen from a strong field of candidates. His experience ranges from choral music at cathedral level to the training and encouragement of amateur musicians and singers in the parish churches, including young people. His vision for the RSCM is imaginative and exciting, and we look forward to a successful directorship. Andrew will build on the foundations laid by our departing director, Lindsay Gray, whose contribution to the RSCM has been immense.”
The Dean of Peterborough, the Very Reverend Charles Taylor, said, “Although Andrew’s departure will be a real loss to the Cathedral community and the Diocese, we congratulate him on his appointment to a post of national and international significance. He will take with him remarkable gifts of musicianship, choir training and teaching as well as a strong sense of vocation, vision and purpose.”
Awards seek Christians passionate about change
This week saw the launch of a competition to award promising Christian initiatives that will reach the vulnerable and transform communities.
The Mustard Seed Awards are looking for Christians with great ideas about how to make a difference in their communities. The ‘Dragon’s Den’ style awards are being run jointly by Premier Christian Media and the Christian Initiative Trust. A top prize of £12,000 is up for grabs, as well as two smaller awards of £10,000 and £8,000. The judges are looking for people with the passion and skill to change their communities for the better.
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/awards.seek.christians.passionate.about.change/30311.htm