Renewing Ministry began in the autumn of
2003 when Deaneries across the Diocese developed plans that gathered
groups of parishes together in units called ‘Mission and
Ministry Areas’. This resulted in 57 MMAs being formed,
and they are indeed 57 varieties! Some are single parish MMAs,
where parishes are already large. Others are big groups of parishes
and there are many in between. You
can see a map of how the Diocese looks.
MMAs are now busy forming MMA Councils which
will be the bodies that help steer ministry and mission in the
areas they serve. Each MMA is served by an Area Vicar who has
the task of overseeing the life of the MMA and ensuring its activities
are well coordinated.
The Church of England is currently losing a large number of
clergy through retirements, and in this Diocese we are losing
20% of our full-time parochial clergy. This means we have to
change how we do our ministry! The Renewing Ministry programme
is helping us to look at new ways of doing ministry, working
more collaboratively in teams of clergy and lay people, and encouraging
new expressions of church life to flourish in our communities.
