St David's Day Announcement!

I am setting up a new blog at the beginning of a new chapter of my life. After spending all my adult life in England, I am off to pastures new in Wales!
It was announced on Sunday, St David's Day, that I would be formally leaving my beloved church St Barnabas, Winchester, to serve in an area north of Newport in the Diocese of Monmouth (Church in Wales).
The Church in Wales is at a really exciting point in its history - it feels like a Kairos moment to be joining. As they look to celebrate their 100th anniversary in 2020 (they were disestablished in 1920), they are facing up to the challenges which confront them - not just about survival but revisiting the fundamentals of what church is and who and what it is for.
Let's be honest, every church denomination, even the 'new' ones, develop a culture and practices which accrue rather like the barnacles on the bottom of the boat.  We get so used to them that we assume they have always been there and that is part of what church is......but it is not. They need to be removed if they are not to impact on the boats ability to fulfil its purpose.  I am sure you can see the parallel!  It is our cultural baggage which we have added on over the years, rather like the Pharisees added so much additional 'stuff' to what it meant to be a faithful Jew.  I am joining the Church in Wales and the Diocese of Monmouth at a time when these things are not only being examined...but starting to be dealt with.

Location of the Ministry Area church buildings (and Newport!)

So, my post is about leading a Ministry Area - moving beyond ideas of Deanery and Parish to units of ministry that are big enough to allow resources, including people to be shared but small enough that there is a sense of community and place.....where people are known as individuals.  The vision is about creating church for people in that place and community - to make sure that we help people, including ourselves, to encounter God in a way that engages, inspires and transforms.
I will still be very much a Vicar, based in Caerleon a famous Roman settlement with an impressive history and Roman sites to visit.  The Parish ministry is substantive - Caerleon, Ponthir and part of Cwmbran (Welsh: Cwmbrân) all have significant populations and then a more sparsely populated area around it.  There is a secondary school in Caerleon itself with Lodge Hill Primary School and Charles Williams Church in Wales Primary School. There is another Church school, this time in Ponthir, the Ponthir Church in Wales Primary School. A major university campus will be closing down and there is a significant health presence in the form of hospitals and the local Health Board.
So, while we need to ensure that familiar forms of church are here and thriving, we also need to work out what the Church needs to become for the people who live and work here.
Needless to say, the task is massive - but he who calls equips. I do not see that in exclusively individual terms i.e. I am equipped...but rather that we, together, have the gifts and people to see God's kingdom grow in this present age.
The Licensing will take place in St Cadoc's Church in the heart of Caerleon on Tuesday, 21st April 2015 starting at 7.00pm.