Deanery Synod

Tonight we had our annual meeting of the Deanery Synod. Synod only meets once a year because the Mission Partnership Assembly is regarded as a Synod meeting - since the denominations chose "convergence" a few years ago.

Although this is fine in principle, there are some issues about representation - as this evening showed. Many Deanery Synod members only find out what's going on once a year - if they attend the meeting. A number of churches don't feel that they have anyone to represent them at all and some people miss the opportunity to be Anglican.

We spent most of the evening explaining how the deanery works, which I think was really important for new members. It also enabled more established members to reflect on things a bit...

I don't think I could be accused of being non-ecumenical but it does strike me that the principle of convergence has some weaknesses. It obscures very real distinctions and requires people to deny part of their own identity. It makes it difficult for people to have real relationships since relationships are dependent on their being more than one party involved. It also encourages us to downplay representative decision-making bodies like Deanery Synod and emphasise converged bodies where only brief reports are possible.

We are still waiting for the final draft of the Mission Partnership review, but I hope that this will address some of these issues...

Ecumenism is good, but it's a journey of pilgrims drawing ever closer to one another as they follow Christ. When it becomes an obsession with structural unity, it is very easy to loose valuable Spirit filled life in order to gain very little.

The LEPs are, on the whole, functional Christian communities with multiple allegiances. Tearing them apart would be a denial of authentic Christian community, but the way forward is not (necessarily) the creation of one pseudo-denomination in Milton Keynes. The reality is that new expressions of Christian community will continue to evolve and spring up with whom we must learn to live and work. We are one - whether we like it or not. Structures don't create that unity, although they sometimes facilitate it...

And the future for the Deanery of Milton Keynes? Watch this space...