Struggling parishes need our help now
by Jim Morell
Are you committed to the future of the Anglican Church in New Brunswick? Are you interested in facilitator training to enable you to help guide struggling parishes through a process of self-assessment
that leads to positive change and growth? Do you know anyone else who loves the Anglican Church enough to accept this important challenge? If you answered yes to any of these questions, please contact Hazel MacKenzie, chair of the Parish Support and Development Team (PSDT) of Diocesan Council at 506/327-6726 or <mhmack at nbnet.nb.ca>.
Troubling trends — like decreasing Sunday attendance, aging congregations, fewer children and young people, poor communication, decreased income and increased operational costs — make it clear our church faces very serious problems with long-term implications for both the parishes and the diocese. Some parishes could well disappear within a few years unless some of these trends are reversed. The need for help is real and immediate.
The PSDT is convinced the impetus for growth and change has to start at the parish level. In order for that to happen, it is important to identify and train capable facilitators to act as outside resources. We are convinced that leaders with the knowledge, skills and experience to help parishes wrestle with the challenges of growth, visioning, cooperation and communication dwell among us.
The findings, resolutions and recommendations from the task forces on rural and struggling parishes and budget support struck following Synod 2007 will address these challenges and are on the Synod 2009 agenda. But the Parish Support and Development Team of Diocesan Council (PSDT) wants to get to the business of helping parishes now, by working toward the mobilization of diocesan resources — both human and financial — in support of parishes wishing to grow numerically, financially and spiritually.
The task force on rural and struggling parishes found that most of the 85 parishes in the Diocese of Fredericton, regardless of their location, are struggling in one way or another. Clergy and lay leaders are worried about the health and future of their congregations, parishes and the diocese. They need both support and guidance as they try to maintain their presence and grow their ministries in times of economic and social uncertainty as well as spiritual confusion.
At Warden’s Day last November PSDT got the same urgent message. The PSDT offered parish leaders a list of 21 areas of concern and asked them to choose the ones they needed help to tackle. Congregational growth, parish visioning and planning, spiritual growth and learning, proactive parish communication and cooperation with other parishes were at the top of the list.
The planning study prepared by the Letting Down the Nets (LDTN) initiative of General Synod also identified many of the same challenges in our parish and diocese and recognized the need for help.
In the coming months and years, those who volunteer to take on these challenges in our diocese have a unique opportunity to make a difference here and, by extension, to have an impact on our national and international Anglican Church family.
Reports of the Rural and Struggling Parishes, and the Budget Support task forces will be fully discussed at this year’s synod June 4 – 6 in Saint John.
Jim Morell is a member of the Parish Support and Development Team.
