IN THE 17 parishes in the first minster community (MC) in the diocese of Leicester, PCCs are considering proposals to meet the cost of its ministry, as required by the diocesan framework. The number of stipendiary ministers is to be one, a revised form of “oversight minister”, who, it is proposed, will prioritise work with church schools in the four parishes that have them.
The MC framework is just one of the models being rolled out across the Church as dioceses work to reduce structural deficits — forecast to reach £62 million in 2024 — and encourage both an increase in giving and a broader culture change, typically entailing greater collaboration across parishes and increased lay leadership.
Addressing his diocesan synod last year, the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Revd Martyn Snow, suggested that MCs supporting the costs of their own ministry was “the only way we can address our financial deficit while also continuing with a bold and audacious plan to work with God in growing the Church”. It was “an important means of incentivising generosity and empowering local people”.
At its launch in 2023 (News, 26 May 2023), Launde’s became the first of 20 to 25 MCs expected to have been formed in the diocese by 2026, incorporating all 234 parishes (News, 8 October 2021).
As the number of full-time stipendiary posts in the diocese was expected to fall to 80 by 2026 (there were 82 in 2024), the diocese offered the assurance that, at a minimum, each MC would have at least one stipendiary cleric, while each church would have a named minister, who might be ordained or lay. In a 2023 statement that warned of “inaccurate reporting”, the diocese said that each MC team was “expected to be made up of a minimum of four stipended posts”. This will vary across the MCs, however.
There are 33 churches in the Launde deanery. Of the 24 parishes, 17 have agreed to become part of the minster community. In total, the 24 parishes serve an area with a total population of 7800 and 600 worshippers. At its launch, the MC had two full-time stipendiary priests, in addition to a pioneer self-supporting priest, and an allocation of some of the time of the Warden of Launde Abbey, together with a team of lay leaders. PCCs raised concerns about whether a proposed doubling of giving, necessary to fund four stipendiary posts, could be achieved, given small congregations.
When the Priest-in-Charge of the Whatborough Group, the Revd Jayne Lewis, who is also serving as joint area dean, retires at the end of May, the MC will have just one stipendiary priest in post: the oversight minister, Canon Jonathan Dowman, who is the other joint area dean and the deanery’s Growing Faith Enabler.
Minutes from a deanery-synod meeting last month indicate concern. One layman asked: “Does the Synod agree that it is both unacceptable and unsustainable to expect one minister to perform the combined roles of area dean; have responsibility for the oversight of worship in an entire Minster Community; be leader of school worship in the four local junior schools; and be the only stipendiary ‘vicar’ able to provide a visible presence to help promote growth of worship — and thereby generous giving — in 29 villages spread over a very wide geographical area; all in the absence of the peer support essential to ensure good governance, as well as providing protection from stress at work?”
Concern was also expressed at the Launde deanery synod that parishes were “already finding availability of finance difficult”.
Canon Dowman told the meeting that the diocese had confirmed that clergy leaving or retiring would not be replaced unless parishes could pay for their stipend in full. Parish share in the MC currently pays for the stipend of the oversight minister and a deanery administrator.
He agreed that the position of the oversight minister was not sustainable. It was to be revised with the diocese’s agreement. In the mean time, in the wake of Mrs Lewis’s retirement, the oversight minister would prioritise working with the four church schools in the MC and the surrounding communities. The minutes refer to developing “outward-focused services in each parish, once a month . . . tailored for those connected with our church schools”. The oversight minister would also be available to another benefice every Sunday. Parishes would be able to have other services on a Sunday, some of which could be led by laity. The synod agreed to “explore and develop” this proposal.
In future, Canon Dowman suggested, the oversight minister could remain focused on these four parishes with schools, while remaining the oversight minister for the other parishes, which would therefore not be in vacancy.
A diocesan spokesperson said this week that there was “a growing concern amongst some PCCs about their church’s future” and that a “significant number of churches” had shown interest in exploring the possibility of being designated as a Festival Church. This was “a positive, proactive decision and is intended to be a springboard to a sustainable Christian presence and mission”, they said. “It is not a step on the road to closure.”
The diocesan framework states that each church in a MC will have a named minister. The diocesan spokesperson highlighted the presence in Launde of two authorised lay ministers, locally authorised ministers who led worship, and several priests with permission to officiate who “offer their services on a regular basis to individual parishes”. Some lay people were exploring focal ministry. Since 2021, giving in the deanery had been “relatively consistent”, but had fallen by about one third since the pre-Covid period.
The deanery has another stipendiary priest: the Revd Stephen Bishop, Rector of the Six Saints Benefice and a freehold incumbent who has chosen not to participate in the MC, although he is offering some service cover to parishes within it.
Every parish in the diocese of Leicester has now been invited to begin the process of considering joining a MC. In October, the diocese reported that two-thirds were taking part in the MC formation process. This week, it confirmed that “six or seven” MC proposals were currently being written to form the basis of consultations.
Churches involved in the North East Leicester area — another pilot site — are exploring being a part of other MCs in the city of Leicester, after initial discussions highlighted the extent of differences — over Prayers of Love and Faith, among other things — in the original grouping. Churches in the other pilot — Coalville and surrounding villages — have formed four provisional MCs.
The structural operating deficit in Leicester diocese stood at £2.3 million in 2023, up from £1.9 million the previous year. The annual report cites as the key factor the high rate of inflation and the failure of parish contributions to keep pace. The budgeted deficit for 2025 is £1.5 million. In the past decade, average Sunday attendance has fallen by 39 per cent; in 2023, it was 24 per cent below 2019 levels.
In 2023, the diocese was awarded £925,000 in a strategic-capacity grant to support the formation of MCs, enabling the funding of several new diocesan appointments. It has since applied for national funding for a Growing Faith lead based in the Launde MC. It is also in the process of applying for Diocesan Investment Programme (DIP) Funding from the Strategic Investment in Ministry and Mission Board.
In the wake of warnings of a “discrepancy between our ambitious aspirations that require stipendiary clergy and our current short-term situation in relation to finance” (News, 11 February 2022), the national diocesan finances review has recommended that a total of £200 million be provided for dioceses over the course of nine years (News, 31 January). This would include an increase in DIP funding to “address short-term financial pressures and fund existing ministry costs whilst waiting for missional interventions to translate into improved financial health”.
The chair of the Archbishops’ Council’s Finance Committee, Carl Hughes, has suggested that “the primary crisis the Church is facing today is missional. The financial challenges are consequential” (News, 12 July 2024). But a warning has been given by one diocesan secretary that “the current model of ministry funded principally through giving may be unsustainable in many places” (News, 31 January).
In a filmed conversation with Bishop Snow, published last year, Canon Dowman spoke of “smaller churches beginning to feel more confident in working and partnering with other churches locally”. But he reported that, when asked about what sort of church they wanted to be, some parishes would respond: “We just want to open up on a Sunday and have a priest who leads us.”
MC conversations were challenging because, in a time of “a perceived lack of resource”, parishes were being asked to say, “What if it was down to us? What are we going to do? . . . How deep are we prepared to go together and share with other Christian communities around us?”
