Thinking ‘out of the box’

THE Hub Style Ministries Project was set up by the Church of Scotland in late 2017. Its purpose is to encourage presbyteries to look at developing new models of ministry in the face of three challenges: decline in the numbers of church members and ministers, the commitment to remaining a national church, and placing mission at the heart of local church life and ministry. No model of ministry has been imposed from the centre; presbyteries have been encouraged to develop models relevant to their context. One of the first presbyteries to become involved in the project was Argyll. Their experience is described below by the Rev David Mitchell of the presbytery of Argyll.

“When the Ministries Council started the project, in Argyll we were thinking already about how we might do things differently as part of our Presbytery Planning. Being part of the project sounded like a good opportunity to test out our ideas.

“Some of the project presbyteries seemed to be interested in developing team ministries that would work across a number of parishes. In such situations, congregations wouldn’t see the minister every Sunday, so others would be enabled to lead worship and provide pastoral care. In Argyll, such a form of ministry was already the norm. A charge might be three to five churches structured as a linkage, with the parish minister supported by Readers, Auxiliary and Ordained Local Ministers (OLMs), local worship leaders and Ministry Development Staff(MDS). The challenge we faced was in supporting our considerable number of vacant charges.

“Since 2006, on average, 50% of the charges in Presbytery have been vacant. The average length of a vacancy is four to eight years. The pressure on ministers and Presbytery in trying to provide interim moderators and to ‘prop up the system’ was draining. The Hubs Project encouraged us to think ‘out of the box’, to manage our growing number of vacancies, and to release our parish ministers from interim moderator duties to concentrate on ministry in their own charges.

“Following consultation with the Ministries Council, Presbytery agreed to experiment with two models of ‘vacancies hubs’, to be evaluated after a year of investigation. The first model supported a cluster of 12 vacant churches in nine congregations, in three charges, with the appointment of a full-time MDS coordinator post. The co-ordinator was an auxiliary minister and was called the ‘Hub Minister’. The second model, supporting seven vacant churches in four congregations, in two charges, employed an elder in a half-time MDS coordinator post working with a neighbouring parish minister who acted as ‘Hub Minister’.

“The co-ordinators were named Interim Moderator for all the vacant congregations in their hub. Presbytery considered but rejected sisting the vacancies during the period of experimentation. As a result, the hubs have changed as new ministers were inducted into vacancies and new vacancies arose. “During the experimental period the co-ordinator roles have developed. They not only manage vacancies but now also offer training and support. Under the direction of the Ministry Committee and line managed by the Ministry Convenor, the co-ordinators work together to sustain a pattern of administration and worship across the vacancies. Their work includes: acting as Interim Moderator, advising Kirk Sessions, facilitating local meetings and worship; acting as vacancies advisor alongside the Vacancy Advisory Committee of Presbytery, offering advice to Kirk Sessions and Nominating Committees; ensuring that there is a system of pulpit supply and sacramental cover; coordinating training so that congregations are more self-reliant – they provide worship leader training, training for Elders to moderate Kirk Sessions, and in the conducting of funerals and pastoral visiting; they also co-ordinate the placement of Locums; and they provide pastoral care and support for Session Clerks and congregational office bearers. So, a real variety of responsibilities!

“Throughout the year, the hub coordinators met regularly with their line manager and also with a support and planning group. This provided on-going evaluation and enabled us to make changes in the light of experience and challenges. The congregations in the Hubs came together after 11 months and offered their feedback on the experience. The Ministries Council also held two conferences where the different presbyteries in the project shared progress and ideas.

“Our evaluation of the experiment has produced clear findings. After 10 months, there was still considerable confusion about the term ‘Hub Ministry,’ so we dropped the term and we now talk about having ‘Ministries Co-ordinators’ responsible for networks of vacant charges.

The role of the co-ordinators has developed to cover a wider range of training and support than we first envisaged. There has also been considerable backing for Presbytery being seen to be doing and trying something. We decided to drop the second model, involving the support of a neighbouring parish minister, because the time taken for hub work took the minister away too much from their own parish. “The perception in project consultations was that Hub Style Ministries might lead to calls for significant changes to church law. This has not been our experience. We have found existing church law to be flexible and it has allowed us to be creative. However, there is a need for joined up thinking and listening by the councils as we continue to face challenges. For example, it is difficult for charges covering large geographical areas, and with multiple church buildings, to meet their Ministries and Mission Allocation. It is also difficult for presbytery to meet the costs of pulpit supply across charges where there is a need for additional supply 52 weeks a year.

“The national statistics show a reducing number of parish ministers and we know in Argyll that managing long periods of vacancies is a challenge. It’s projected, within five years, 75% of the charges in our presbytery could be vacant. However, the increasing numbers of OLMs and Readers offer a resource and a hope that can foster change. One advantage of the hub experiment is that presbytery has become accustomed to change and thinking differently. Presbytery has embarked upon a review of its Presbytery Plan to make us less dependent on parish ministers, to make more creative use of OLMs and Readers, to use appraisal to reduce the burden of congregational administration across charges, and to support congregations in becoming self-sustaining and resilient. We have now incorporated the two ‘Ministries Co-ordinator’ posts within our plan.

“The hubs experiment has been a very valuable experience and having the support of the Ministries Council has been greatly appreciated. The posts are now embedded in our Presbytery Plan and we will monitor their effectiveness. It represents a step forward in our support of vacant congregations. We are achieving our own local aims of helping congregations to develop and become more self-reliant. It bodes well for presbytery and the future of the church in Argyll. And, I would say, it is a model that others might profit from in the wider Church.

If you would like further information about the Hub Style Ministries programme contact Rev Dr Kenneth Fleming at Ministries Council at KFleming@churchofscotland.org.uk