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You are here » Home» Churchwork» Hereford Deaneries» Hereford Deanery

Hereford Deanery

Click here for Deanery Contacts

Latest news
Mission Statement
Making the new Deanery work for church growth
Churches and service times
What do we do as a Deanery
Our People

Strengthening the team - three exciting appointments

We are delighted to announce that after a careful and prayerful process, the right priests to fill the three Deanery vacancies have been announced - and all three are clear that God has called them to this new phase of their work.

Revd Chris Moore will move from Tenbury Wells to take up the psotion of Priest-in-Charge within the Fownhope group of parishes, where he will start on November 17th 2011. The following evening sees the start of Revd Rana Davies-James' work as Priest-in-Charge within the Credenhill group, to where she will move from Dorstone. And then early in 2012 Revd Jane Davies will be taking up her post in the Lugwardine group, having left her current parishes based around Bishop's Frome.

All three bring great gifts and wide experoience, and as well as servign the parishes they are called to, we know that our shared mission and ministry in the Deanery will be enriched by their presence, and by the faith and talents.

Please pray for the parishes as they prepare for this new phase in their lives of worship, witness and service; and for these three priests and their families as they prepare to move; and for the churches where they currently serve, as farewells are said.

Hereford Deanery Mission statement

To promote Christian worship, mission, prayer and service throughout the Deanery

We will seek to fulfil this vision through:-

the mutual support of the clergy chapter,
to be achieved by meeting regularly for fellowship, friendship and good administration
"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works" (Heb 10:24)

the dedication of Deanery Synod to this shared purpose, to be expressed through
a developing sense of unity
effective reporting from Synod to PCCs and vice-versa
the adoption of agreed policies wherever possible
sound financial management

the engagement of the whole network of congregations and church members in a pattern of mutuality, which may be displayed through
the sharing of good practice with regard to mission, worship and finance
the offering of suitable training resources on a Deanery-wide basis
a dedication to "bear one another's burdens" (Galatians 6:2)

You can download this Mission Statement as a pdf file

This Deanery, which forms a loose federation of 48 Anglican churches covering over a third of the population of the county! With churches ranging from Bodenham in the north to Callow in the south, and from Bridge Sollars in the west to Woolhope in the east, and taking in the city-based churches such as St Martin's in South Wye, and Holy Trinity in West Hereford, and of course the Cathedral! We really are a living demonstration of "unity in diversity".

For two years now we have been exploring the best way of sharing our ministry resources, and working together in service and mission, across this wide range of communities.

Following the decision to merge, we are developing a long-term strategy for more effective collaboration, so that all our communities may benefit though the pastoral care, Christian worship, prayer and friendship that lie at the heart of the living Church.

Making the new Deanery work for church growth

At The Synod on June 23rd 2010 the Rural Dean presented a proposal for every parish, benefice and group to discuss, to encourage churches and groups of churches to think and plan towards the future in four main areas of work - renewing our spiritual roots; engaging with the local community; adding skills through training; and a renewed approach to stewardship and finances. Within each category the Rural Dean listed a few suggestions, which he made clear were in no way intened as a menu of options, but rather as discussion starters.

The text presented can be downloaded here. The document is called the "Deanery Stewardship Programme".

The proposals were:

Key
To be real it must be local - what is appropriate for your parish / benefice / village?

We would urge that every church community, at a suitable level, gives thought and attention to each of the following, with the hope that some fresh steps are able to be taken, or some current work is given additional resources.

a) spiritual roots
a parish day of prayer; prayer triplets; establish a study group; a parish prayer diary; the "Faith Comes by Hearing" material; a church or parish "away-day"

b) engaging with the local community
something to write to people about / invite them to
Come to Church Sunday; a "baptism-plus" day; renewal of wedding vows invitation; an All Souls' memorial service; a parish picnic / bonfire; a "search the parish registers" session

c) adding skills through training
identify at least one aspect of the church's ministry which could be strengthened through training and resourcing lay members
planning and delivering all-age worship; linking with your local primary school; reading lessons and leading intercessions in worship; running a home group; pastoral visiting / hospital visiting; leading public worship; baptism preparation and follow-up

d) financial resources
a fresh looked at planned giving - annual renewal or starting a new scheme; tax-efficient schemes; teaching materials on Christian approaches to giving; the place of a Gift Day - and maybe not just financial!

For a list of churches and their service times click on Hereford City or Hereford Rural

Click here for DeaneryContacts

What we do

The network of churches is supported through two interlinked ways of working. The clergy group - the Chapter - meet each month for training, information exchange and mutual support.Their recent activities have included a retreat at Llangasty, and hearing and responding to a seminar paper of the ethics of assisted suicide.

The wider group of both clergy and lay members, the Deanery Synod, meets four times a year, and these meetings are normally a mixture of information and education, together with necessary admin and business. At our meeting in September 2009 the Synod heard about ecological issues, and particularly about the work of two Christian charities working in widely differing ways. 'A Rocha UK' works in conservation and similar projects, whilst 'Eco-Congregations', as the name name suggests, start from the local gathering as church. See www.arocha.org.uk and www.ecocongregation.org to learn more!

A complete contrast of focus at the November 2009 meeting came through an introduction to the work being done in and around Hereford to address issues of homelessness and drug addiction, with speakers from DASH (Drug Advisory Service, Hereford) and the Herefordshire Council's Homelessness Unit.

The March meeting was, as reported above, mainly about the plans to merge the two deaneries. The background work that was done before the Synod included a detailed look at the statistics of church membership, Sunday attendance figures, and church finances for each parish or benefice. (The report that was collated from that work is available here (text of report) and here (statistics and charts) for those who would like to see them.)

Of course it was recognised that if this merger is to be effective for the Kingdom of God it needs to be more than merely managerial, or simply about staff and money. We understood that we need to address issues such as church strength, and lay ministries, and to do all these things with an underlying spiritual purpose of making Christ know in a culture and context that appears to know little, and care less, about not just our Christian heritage, but also about the joy of living faith.

To help us assess our aims and objectives the Rural Dean published to the Synod members a draft Deanery Mission Statement, which he invited members to reflect on and discuss with others, so that it could inform our discussions at our September meeting. To see this Mission Statement please click here.

Our next Synod meeting Monday 20th February 2012 at 7.30pm in Holy Trinity Church, Whitecross Road, Hereford.

Deanery Synod report on Stewardship

At the Synod meeting in November Synod received a report from Peter Louis in his capacity as Deanery Stewardship Coordinator, and the report is available to download here as Giving Insight Results.

Synod voted to engage all PCCs in this review of Christian givign in our churches, and shortly all PCC secretaries will be receiving a letter and questionnaire for them to take to a PCC meeting in 2012. In case others of you wish to see what is being suggested, you can find the letter to scertaries here, and also the Parish Questionnaire that has been devised.

We trust you find the material - and the discussion - stimulating.

Healing on the Streets (HOTS) Hereford

This exciting ecumenical project was launched locally in January 2011, and each Saturday this year has seen a group of Christians kneeling in prayer in High Town, Hereford, and then inviting those passing by to come and experience a loving touch from God in their lives.

There have been some very moving testimonies of how people's lives have been transformed by loving encounters with God through the gentle, caring, prayerful touch of these moments.

If you would like to read some of the stories from HOTS then please visit one of these websites and follow the links to HOTS

Hope4Herefordshire

www.spsj.org.uk

Our People

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