The Rector of Stantonbury

A few years ago, most of the team ministries in Milton Keynes decided to suspend the post of Rector so that there would be no confusion of role between the Team Rector and the Team Leader. While this may have helped clarify the role of Team Leader it generated a number of legal problems associated with the fact that there was therefore no Anglican incumbent to handle legal issues relating to admin, appointments and sharing agreements.

We are now beginning to tidy up some of these situations and appoint Rectors in the LEPs. Today the first appointment was made in Stantonbury and Willen. By the end of 2009 there will be no rector-less teams.

The issue for the future is to ensure that the Team Rector role is clearly limited and that the team leaders are given space to lead. The Mission Partnership will need to do some work to clarify the role of Team Leaders and the rest of us will need to ensure that we are clear about the difference between the roles. In short, the Anglican Team Rector has responsibility for Anglican admin, Anglican appointments and for the Anglican side of sharing agreements - and that is all. The Team Rector has no responsibility for leadership, vision, pastoral care of clergy or the developpment of collaborative ministry - these are all tasks which need to be worked out ecumenically.

Jayne and Simon

Jayne and Simon were married at St Mary's today. It was a super wedding with great readings by Mandy and Emma. We were reminded that "a chord of three strands is not easily broken" - so may God be with them as they continue their journey...

This was the first wedding that Liz has been involved with in Watling Valley. She's been part of a few wedding prep sessions but today she observed and led the intercessions. I'm looking forward to her first wedding in February.

After the service I popped into Stantonbury where a new baptist minister, Chris Howden, was being inducted. The sermon was by Brother Graeme, and Elder from the Holy Transfiguration Monastry - apparatnly one of only two baptist monasterys in the world (see Mr Jones and Me) I'm afraid I wasn't there long enough to get any good pictures, but anyone who asks a baptist monk to preach at their induction service should be a fairly interesting person!

P.S. Geoff Colmer has also mentioned this on his blog entry: Baptist Monk