Reactions to the Annual Survey Comments A summary of the written answers with some personal comment from me about the chaplaincy, the blog and the website and attitudes towards “On the Way”JNS To What extent are you involved with On the Way Of the Readers who responded to the survey and to the question most Readers/LLMs were not involved yet- but a significant group had been taking part in meetings, both face to face and online. Concerns seemed to be centred around communication and the amount of paperwork, especially for those at the heart of discussions. One comment began “I am aware of the initiative; but find it totally uninspiring and irrelevant to the realities of the average person in Cornwall today.” But otherwise there were few strong feelings on the topic.What would you say is the most fulfilling aspect of your Ministry?Unsurprisingly, preaching and teaching were high on the list of answers but pastoral work, chaplaincy, and being alongside people from schools to care homes, and in Covid times making phone calls to those shielding. Funerals are also a key element of Reader ministry although some readers have found they are doing less of them. Leading groups, praying with people and the sharing if faith were also mentioned a number of times. Tell us about your Reader Ministry other than conducting worship on a Sunday- what have you done recently to respond to ministry needs in the current time of pandemic? The variety of Reader involvement, commitment and support for other people is truly inspiring. There was some fairly common activities such as phone ministry and leading Zoom services but Readers /LLMs also wrote weekly reflections, wrote letters and delivering treats of chocolate and ‘fun bags’ The telephone ministry included Pastoral conversations and also Phone church services!Other activities included ambassadorial work with SAT7UK.org that works in the Middle East to remote youth work in the Local Skate-park and heavy commitment to the work of the FoodbanksSome PCCs and churches, it seems, would collapse altogether if it were not for the commitment of Readers and they seem to be able to plug gaps wherever they appear and to respond to community needs as they are discovered. Here are a couple of illustrative responses:Opened the church for private prayer and supervised. Joint leader of an online Alpha Course. Acted as sacristan on 24 occasions. Attended several webinars concerning the way forward after the pandemic including, e.g. Lockdown resourcefulness, Funerals: an immediate concern, Opening the Doors, Leading through Lockdown, Midsized churches, Opening Churches. Considered increasing giving in the parish (Generous Giving webinars), encouraged the PCC to send out an appeal to people on the electoral roll and been active in producing a letter. Acted as Lay Chair for the PCC in the absence of an incumbent. Prepared for APCM. Updated risk assessments. Telephoned where I have been aware of a need. Joined two online prayer groups and led Morning Prayer fortnightly for one. Prayed daily for needs asked for. Provided a Service of Remembering and a Remembrance…
On the Way So the following thoughts might be contentious and if they ‘rub you up the wrong way’ please do respond and I will publish your reply. As Readers / Licensed Lay Ministers we are ‘of the Diocese’ and of the “Church of England” rather than being ‘done-to’ as participants in it. We are part of the wider ministry team that includes all licensed minister, both Lay and Ordained and we have a duty to be the positive, helpful, enthusiastic and optimistic face of that ministry team. We may not like initiatives, changes and policies and should, quite rightly, express our opinions- but in the right place. That right-place is in the ministry teams in our own areas, to our Deanery Reader Stewards, to the Reader committee or perhaps even as a discussion piece for other readers to put in the chaplain’s webpage. To the congregations, and to our wider communities however we need to make the most of the opportunities to “build up the people” as Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthians. The ‘On The Way Survey’ has had mixed reviews in my conversations with Readers, but it is an important tool in attempting to see how the wider community sees us. How can we respond to the needs of the community unless we know what those people think ? I suspect when we send it out in the Camborne Redruth area we might find that the community likes the church buildings, likes the being there for hatch, match and despatch, Remembrance and Christmas but otherwise finds us largely irrelevant, if not strange! I will be using social media among other things to encourage as many folks as possible to fill it in because we want a representative sample. I hope a few folks might be going out to those without access to technology with a paper version! Whatever the findings, it will help shape our response. Yes, I know we cannot ask everything but you have to draw a line somewhere. An addition the multiple choice lists of, “keep everything the same in church until I have shuffled off this mortal coil”, or “bring back one priest for every church” do not make the cut! The Church, and that means us as Readers as well as everyone else is under enormous pressure- as a the merry band of Licensed Lay ministers we have a duty to to hep the wider ministry team “build up the people” which might mean supressing our natural cynicism of new initiatives. As a deputy / head teacher we had certain categories of people you really did not want in your staffrooms or Governor meetings and the same applies to church councils and indeed any teams that are trying to get something done. The “I hear what you are saying but…. “ person, which means’ I am not listening to you because my view is the only one that is important’. The “yes, but…… It won’t work because……” usually slightly patronising…