Deanery Synod Report for 2011 APCM 1

Arborfield with Barkham, Bearwood, California, Crowthorne, Finchampstead, Hurst, Owlsmoor, Ruscombe and Twyford, Sandhurst, Sonning with Charvil, Wargrave with Knowl Hill, Church

at White House, Winnersh, Wokingham All Saints, Wokingham St Paul with Emmbrook, Wokingham St Sebastian, Woosehill

www.webjam.com/sonningdeanery

Sonning Deanery Synod Report for 2011 APCM

The Deanery Synod is made up of clergy and elected lay representatives from the above churches. Your lay parish representatives on the Deanery Synod during 2010 have been Julia and Paul Arscott and Carolyn Fox throughout the year, Gill Myall till the 2010 APCM and then Julie Morley. Rev Richard was a clergy member and Rev John continues to be an active clergy part of the Synod. The present term runs until 31st May 2011.

One of Synod members’ involvements in 2010 was to nominate and vote for ‘8 members of the House of Laity to represent the Diocese in the General Synod of the Church of England for 2010 – 2015’ following the dissolution of the 2005 – 2010 General Synod in July 2010.

Other business when clergy and elected lay members of the Deanery Synod came together 5 times during the year (January, March, May, September and November) was largely focussed on activity within the 16 parishes/church groupings that make up Sonning Deanery.

After a long search the January meeting held in our Church Centre was presented with two candidates for Lay Chair of the Synod and Martin Hughes from California was elected. A working group was formed by the Area Dean to put together and consult on a draft Deanery Mission Plan for 2010 – 2015. At this stage, the main proposal was for a parish re-organisation involving Hurst, Bearwood, Winnersh, Woosehill and St Paul’s Wokingham. The other business at that meeting was to set the contribution from parishes to the Deanery for 2010 at £20 per allocated place and to fix the Quinquennial Levy at £120 per church building. The intention is to collect enough money to pay for every church to have an Inspection every five years.

The March meeting at St Mary’s Twyford continued the process of producing a Deanery Mission Plan. It also voted grants to St Mary & St John towards the Holy Week labrynth, to Sandhurst for a secondary school worker and to St John’s Crowthorne towards the Hopezone Youth Work. (Any parish in the Deanery can apply to the Synod for funding for initiatives or for help at times of financial difficulty. The Synod has funds by virtue of a small levy on each parish in line with the number of representatives each is entitled to elect (see previous paragraph) and also from the Diocesan rebate received each year when all parish shares in the Deanery have been paid to the Diocese on time.)

Deanery Synod Report for 2011 APCM 2

At the May meeting at St Andrew’s Sonning the revised Deanery Mission Plan including the proposal to re-unite Finchamptead and Califirnia was adopted. It included responding to the Wokingham Borough Core Strategy on housing development which will affect several parishes besides our own if and when large numbers of extra houses are built. The Deanery Synod Plan includes collaborating with parishes in pushing for worship facilities and provision for baptisms, weddings and funerals for these new communities. Grants were approved to St George’s Owlsmoor for a feasibility study on a building extension.and to the Stagefright Theatre Group to maintain and extend its work with a Christian ethos in the area of Youth Theatre and after-school clubs. Stagefright’s work comes under the heading of ‘Fresh Expressions of Church’ as it is out in the community encouraging young people, some from churches around the Deanery and many from none, to explore their faith development through drama. (They are now running an After School Drama Group at Finchampstead C of E Primary School. They have a play at the Oxford Playhouse on 11 April, performances at South Hill Park and are taking over a shop in Peach Street Wokingham in Holy Week to encourage young people to prepare for activities in the town centre on Good Friday.)

The September meeting at All Saints’ Wokingham heard that the Deanery Mission Plan had been considered by the Archdeaconry Pastoral Committee in June. The Diocese had insufficient resources to provide a requested extra priest so the Deanery will have to think of other ways to support the Winnersh part of the Plan. A debate began about how the growing Deanery Reserve Fund should be used, whether used for this purpose or whether some or most should be allocated to the parishes.

A proposal was then brought to the November Synod at St John’s Crowthorne and agreed that £20,000 of the Deanery Reserve Fund should be retained for commitments already made, £30,000 should be kept to cover cash flow timing issues and £12,000 for other grants, £50,000 should be available if needed for support of ministry in the new parish of Winnersh and £50,000 should be given to the parishes pro rata to the 2010 Parish Share. (Our repayment was calculated to be £3738.) At the same meeting it was agreed to request the Diocese ‘to consider reducing its own expenditure in view of the strong possibility that the parish share level is unsustainable.’ A reply from the Diocese this week advised that the Deanery resolution has been passed to the Diocesan Planning Committee. At the November Deanery Synod meeting it was agreed to waive the membership levy for 2011 but to increase the Quinquennial Inspection Levy to £200 per church building in view of the rising cost of Inspections (now about £1000 each.) There was also a talk from a Sub-Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford about its ministry in education, evangelism, pastoral care, regular and special services of worship, work with tourists and the complementary relationship it offered to parishes.

The term of office of present Deanery Synod members comes to an end on 31 May 2011 and new representatives are to be elected at APCMs this year for the coming three years.

Carolyn Fox March 2011