Godstone Deanery Synod

Report on the meeting held at Horne on 21 February 2006

“Youth Work and Ministry within Godstone Deanery and Beyond”

Speaker: Dean Pusey, Southwark Diocesan Youth Adviser

Thanks to his satellite navigation system, Dean Pusey eventually arrived along the winding country roads to Horne on a rather bleak night, just as we were beginning to wonder whether he would! However, he was worth waiting for and spoke inspiringly of his passion for and commitment to youth work and ministry.

He began with a cartoon of two fish in a bowl with the caption “I don’t know about you but I was kind of expecting more out of life”, and continued with his love of the Biblical story of Joseph who “entered the scene at the age of 17 by grassing up his brothers”. We follow Joseph as a young person ready for a challenge, through to his death at the age of 110 (Genesis 37-50).

Dean said each parish should develop a 0-19 strategy for young people and allocate 10% of its funds to this, questioning its vision and purpose and seeking to build a sustainable legacy of community, rather than concentrating on church buildings. Youth ministry should go beyond secular youth work, to help young people explore and develop their spiritual self. We need to focus on young people and consider how to nurture, support and develop them in leadership roles, encouraging them to join PCCs for example. We should identify our strengths and weaknesses and our needs in terms of people and resources.

On a Deanery level we should consider what we can do together that we cannot achieve alone, although the large geographical area of our deanery does pose its own problems which need to be tackled creatively. We were encouraged to engage proactively with our church schools, one of our greatest resources.

He advocated a family-based approach, beginning by forming partnerships with parents.

Business Meeting

• There is a DVD suitable for children on the Zimbabwe Link available to buy or borrow.
• It was decided not to hold a Deanery Event this year, but to reconsider this for 2007.
• Tom Sutcliffe, General Synod member, was co-opted to Godstone Deanery Synod to be a link between the two synods.
• This year elections to the Diocesan Synod are to take place. Anyone on a parish electoral roll can stand.
• The Revd Canon Nicky Tredennick, formerly Vicar of St Matthew’s Redhill, has been licensed to the United Benefice of Godstone and Blindley Heath, and has become a member of Godstone Deanery Synod.
• The annual charge to parishes for each potential Deanery Synod member is to be increased from £12 to £15.

Next Deanery Synod Meeting

This will be on Wednesday 7 June 2006, St Peter’s Hall, High Street, Limpsfield. The speaker will be the Revd Lyndon van der Pump, chair of SPIDIR (Spiritual Direction Network). The Standing Committee will meet on Tuesday 9 May 2006.