AOCM

Let’s Work Together!

The Revd Canon Roger Salisbury used to be Team Rector of Great Chesham, a united benefice in Buckinghamshire, and is now on the staff of All Souls’ Langham Place in the Diocese of London.

Team ministries are a reality within the Church of England, attractive to some but treated with suspicion by others. They are attractive to those who, for example, see a job as Team Vicar as a natural stage between curacy and incumbency or for those who prefer not to carry the ultimate ‘can’. Yet for others it is right to begin by facing the doubts or questions about the motive for setting them up on the one hand and their ability to deliver Christian mission on the other.

Being Honest

There is no doubt that teams and groups were a convenient way for the authorities to deal with the shortage of clergy, comfortably termed ‘pastoral reorganisation’. This practical ‘solution’ to an obvious numbers problem was then bolstered by a heavy concentration on the value of collaboration - almost, sometimes, as though ‘collaboration’ was an end in itself.

If motives could be suspect then so also could be the results. Barry Rogerson, when Bishop of Bristol, wrote in ‘20/20 Visions’ ‘[Teams] have expended much time and effort in maintaining team relationships, time and effort that could have been used much more effectively in the mission of the Church’.

What that says is not that teams are no good, but that we have to be aware of the dangers and work wisely to ensure they are good. Teams come in a whole variety of shapes and sizes, and I am not qualified to speak on behalf of the very rural situations across the country. My own experience has, overall, been positive, so much so that I genuinely recommend team ministry. I suggest there are at least three features that teams take on board if they are to be effective.

Same Direction

Any member of the Church of England is automatically aligned to a broad cross-section of belief. However, teams have to agree on a common mission task. Diversity is fine up to a point, but the Church of England report ‘A Time to Share’ must be right in seeing ‘a shared purpose, aims and objectives’ as fundamental to collaborative ministry. Only with that agreed common purpose can a team tackle the evangelistic goals together. Otherwise the team sinks to a cosy but useless lowest common denominator.

What do we mean by common? Although stretching at times it is healthy if teams are not only like-minded but complementary as well. Churches don’t have to follow precisely the same patterns - their separate histories would make that unnatural anyway. Clergy committed to the agreed objectives need not be clones of one another. For example it is very possible for clergywomen to work alongside men unsure about women’s ordination as long as both are fully supportive of each other’s ministries.

Feeling Free

Some teams run the risk of a church or minister wanting to make a break for independence. It is tempting for the Team Council or overall PCC to respond by taking on a policing role - checking that potential rebels maintain club rules and are brought into line should they show signs of following their own course. Such a response is a recipe for poor relationships and unnecessary irritation.

Money is often a good test. In the example I know best the overall Team treasurer meets with the local church treasurers annually to discuss and decide how much each congregation contributes to the common funds and diocesan share for the following year. Each treasurer makes their own case but also recognises difficulties another church may be facing. At the same time any church council can approach the Team Council seeking backing for a new major initiative they fund themselves on condition they also pay their full dues into the Parish pot. It combines mutual discipline with local freedom.

Times change and it is important that a Team Ministry can agree to develop in a way not necessarily prescribed when the team was first set up. Initially some teams work together because they have to. That may be fine for a start but then it is vital that they progress until they work together because they want to.

Enjoying Support

There are all kinds of practical benefits about working as a team. Administration can be rationalised - a combined parish office can be a huge resource. Ministers can cover for one another - for holidays, days off and the like. Certain financial, buildings, and other responsibilities can be handled corporately. However the advantages go deeper than that.

The old Parish boundary often makes little sense to those outside the church. A Team can set out a strategy and a pastoral responsibility for a complete locality. Youth and children’s work are best planned to cover more than one church or parish, especially where some churches have few volunteers or small numbers of young people. Recently a Children’s Worker was funded by members of one church within the team, but for the benefit of the whole, until all the churches felt ready to take on the financial responsibility together. A combined Weekend Away enables smaller churches to experience what normally is only open to the larger ones.

There is nothing more exciting than to see members of a church enthusiastic about a project started by another one, perhaps asking if they can join in. Clergy are individualistic by tradition, but within a team they, and other staff, can offload their cares, try out their ideas, be challenged by different views, debate current issues, pray together regularly, engage in joint Bible study and enjoy relaxing and having a good laugh. Without those benefits isolation can easily set in which doesn’t bode well for the Gospel or for the well-being of the Minister.

In the End

Every ministry situation is both tough and rewarding, whether it is based in some form of formal team context or not. Team ministries neither eradicate all the pressures nor prevent us exercising a full-blown work for the Gospel of Jesus. We need to be alert to the danger of missing the opportunities or hiding from the challenges wherever we are placed. The greatest resource of all will never be ourselves, individually or corporately, but the potential of the Gospel to transform any life and the power of God’s Spirit to use our humble inadequacy and sacrificial commitment.