IN THIS STEP

The Church of England’s structures and finances embody the assumption that the standard form of ministry is full-time stipendiary ordained ministry and that all other forms of ministry are auxiliary optional extras. But during this course, we have discovered that in the New Testament the standard form of ministry is the ministry of the whole church and that ordained leaders exist to resource, enable and connect the ministry of all God’s people. We have seen that the role of the vicar as the focus of leadership and pastoral care in every parish is becoming increasingly unsustainable and we have explored the idea of churches led by lay people.

What, then, is to be the role of the clergy? How does the leadership of the clergy complement or dovetail with the lay leadership of the local churches?