B. PASTORATE ARRANGEMENTS
The Pastorate has been scoped for two Ministers with the understanding that the Ministerial Team at Cheltenham will take an active role in District / new Synod committees, roles and responsibilities. The details of exact responsibilities would be discussed and agreed with the future Ministerial Team by the District / new Synod. The United Reformed Church in Cheltenham has the benefit of the additional services of five retired Ministers, some of whom also support the District / Synod as members of committees and as Interim Moderators.
The two Ministers will not be assigned to any congregation but will use their talents to support the URCiC as a whole. It will be imperative that the two Ministers work as a team holding weekly team briefings to ensure that pastorate matters are communicated and understood by both Ministers.
The Ministerial Team will be expected to support, guide and encourage those involved in existing work with children and young people as well as investigating and implementing new initiatives in the Churches mission with children and young people.
Pastoral care throughout the Pastorate is given by the Ministers and Elders (or in the case of St Andrew’s, pastoral care teams,) wherever the need arises. Ministerial care is not allocated or “rationed” to the worship centres. There is an element of regular visiting for some members by both the Minister and by Elders (to those on their care lists and those in hospital), but many members prefer to request visits when the need arises.
With regard to Sunday services, all three worship centres hold morning services every week. Evening services are held monthly at St Andrew’s and a monthly mid week evening service was piloted and is under review at Warden Hill. Family worship takes place at Prestbury and Warden Hill on a monthly basis. Ministers would be expected to work out their own fair rotation around the three worship centres in conjunction with the Church Council. There are two united pastorate services at St Andrew’s each year and united services split between Prestbury and Warden Hill when a fifth Sunday occurs in the month. Weekly prayers take place at Warden Hill on a Tuesday morning at 11.30 a.m. which currently coincides with the Ministerial Team and office briefing.
When one of our own Ministers is not available for a Church on a Sunday, there are a number of retired Ministers and guest preachers who take services. These Ministers are not just from the URC but are also from the Baptist and Methodist denominations. We have two members who are District Accredited lay preachers, as well as one member in their final year of the TLS course and all three Churches also have their own worship teams of members and adherents who plan and lead services on a regular basis.
A reasonable number of weddings, baptisms and Infant blessings are conducted by the Ministerial Team. The URCiC has a wedding and baptism policy to strike a balance between welcoming in those who approach us and using the mission opportunity with the need to show some level of understanding and commitment. The Ministerial Team would be expected to explore marriage and baptism or blessings to ensure the level of understanding and commitment.
Elders’ and Church Meetings are chaired by a Minister. Currently Church and Elders’ Meetings are held in each worship centre with the addition of quarterly united Elders’ Meetings and two United Church Meetings. The Church Council meets on a bi-monthly basis and this is also chaired by one of the Ministerial Team but both Ministers should be in attendance. Other committees are chaired by members or the Minister by agreement. The Elders recognise that the current level of meetings is unacceptable. Both the Elders’ and United Church Meeting have agreed that during the vacancy the Church Council and united meetings will deal with the appointment of the new Ministerial Team. This decision could be used as a catalyst to review the roles and the necessity of the various meetings held to manage and run the affairs of the URCiC
These arrangements will be discussed, reviewed and agreed with the future Ministerial Team.
The discussions at Elder’s Meetings all follow roughly the same pattern. The topics that are discussed include:-
pastoral care concerns,
the state of the finances and the buildings,
Church management issues,
the mission and outreach of the Church,
any special events and occasions
At Church meetings there are the committee and finance reports, news of members, information on forthcoming events and discussion on matters of concern to the congregation.
The Church council discusses issues relating to the whole Church. The council receives a financial report, reports from all three Churches and the world Church and mission committee. However the council’s main focus is around mission, action and unity.
All three worship centres hold coffee mornings, social and fundraising events Ministers would be expected to use these opportunities to get to know the three communities and to support and encourage those who run these activities.
The new Ministerial Team will be expected to promote the issues of the wider world – we are contributors to the Commitment for Life scheme and support the Fairtrade initiatives.
As one of the biggest Churches in the URC, the URCiC wishes to play its part
on the national and local stage and the new Ministers should encourage and
facilitate this.
[ Context ] | [ Pastorate Arrangements ] | [ Priorities for the Pastorate ] | [ Ministry and Mission ]
[ Local Church Life ] | [ Statistics ] | [ Appendices ]