Re-Imagining Ministry
My maiden speech on the General Synod! I welcome the opportunity to speak to the Quinquennial Challenges in a maiden speech, as I serve the Diocese of Derby as Continuing Ministerial Development Officer. In this capacity, I have followed with great interest all of the three priorities, but especially that of Re-imagining Ministry. In particular, I welcome the emphasis on lay ministry and the identification of incumbency as an area in need of support. But neither of these two areas is much more than a recognition of the needs of the church for its current approach to ministry. It has been more than a little disappointing to see that Re-imagining Ministry has been largely a top down exercise coming from the Ministry Division to the dioceses and parishes. Ministry is something that we receive as a gift and as a calling. The first question, then, is where is the church gifted and called. As the challenge of Re-Imagining Ministry goes forward it would be really good to take t