St Lawrence entered an interim process following the departure of it's last vicar, the Revd Chris Rankine.

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Bishop Pete has written that the time of an interim ministry is an opportunity for a church to:-

 

• Understand and celebrate the past, lose old fears and find new hopes, and perhaps discover a fresh identity;

• consider its future witness, mission and ministry;

• reassess its resources, needs and priorities

• see where and how it needs to change, and work through the inevitable transition 

• make plans for the future and prepare for the next chapter of its life. 

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Fr John has been present in the parish as interim minister since February 2020 and is working as a team with the Revd Andrew Corsie and the Revd Jody Stowell to engage with the tasks above.

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Congregational meetings 

 

Over lockdown, the interim ministry work that took place for St Lawrence’s was extended out from meetings with members of the Standing Committee to the whole congregation through Zoom meetings. This provided for earlier learning to be shared, but more importantly, for the process to be widened.

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Engaging with this work online wasn’t easy, but it was still possible to make significant progress. Since lockdown, we have had an opportunity to work together with the whole congregation. Meetings have included:

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• Our histories: using activities to learn about the stories of different members of the congregation to see how these fit together.

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• Who we are today: activities to take stock of the mix of people who make up St Lawrence’s and to think about the wider community and what this means for our shared life.

 

• Considering those around us: shared activities to map out our connections to people and organisations around St Lawrence’s; to think about how we relate to local churches, other faith communities and the Church of England. To consider what leadership St Lawrence’s has – and needs.

 

There has also been work on:

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• Hopes and needs for the future of St Lawrence’s

• Unconscious bias

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We are also being asked to engage with the resources for:

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• Living in love and faith – the Church of England asks that we ‘participate in a process of learning and praying together as part of discerning a way forward in relation to matters of identity, sexuality, relationships and marriage’.

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A prayer guide for the period of interim ministry has been put together by members of the congregation and is available under Publications