Supplementary Report

Transcription

1 The Future of the Anglican Church in this Place Fredericton Archdeaconry Commission Supplementary Report The Amalgamation of the Parish of Prince William into the Fredericton Archdeaconry Prepared for: Prepared by: Archbishop Claude Miller The Fredericton Archdeaconry Commission Archdeacon Patricia Drummond, Chair Canon Bruce McKenna Canon Walter Williams Ms. Nancy Cook Jim Knight, P. Eng. April 2014

2 How A Debatable Plan for the Archdeaconry of Fredericton The Fredericton Archdeaconry Commission Table of Contents 1 Introduction Prince William Parish Ministries Parish Facilities Future Opportunities Potential Parish Partnership Scheduled Implementation Closure... 5 ii

3 1 Introduction The Fredericton Archdeaconry Commission was appointed in April 2012 and made it final report to the Archbishop in April The Parish of Prince William has subsequently become part of the Fredericton Archdeaconry. This supplement is a report on consultations with the Parish. It includes a number of recommendations for consideration by the Parish and the Diocese. 2 Prince William In November 2013, the Commission was reactivated and provided with recent information with respect to the operation of the Parish of Prince William. The Commission toured the Parish facilities and met with the congregation on December 7, A detailed report of the visit was prepared and shared with the Parish. Comments were received. The report was finalized and filed with the Rector. The following is a summary of our findings and recommendations to you and to the Parish. The detailed report that was provided to the Parish is available from the Commission at any time. 2.1 Parish Ministries The Parish employs a full time Rector and has two trained layreaders. There are no Deacons or Deacons-in-training, nor are there any Parish Nurses. The Parish has essentially established St Clements, located in Prince William, as the Parish Worship Centre. St Luke s, Temperance Vale and All Saint s, Magaguadavic are used for services during the summer only. With the closure of St John s, the Parish has a vision of establishing a continuing presence in the town of Nackawic. The Parish has experimented with innovations, including regularly hosting a men s community breakfast and, very recently, organizing a Messy Church, both at St Clements, to attract others to the Parish. The Commission commends the Parish for these initiatives and recommends that the Parish communicate with other parishes that have had success with Messy Church, Vacation Bible School and other innovative ministry models. 1

4 2.2 Parish Facilities The Parish has a modern Parish Worship Centre at Saint Clements located in Prince William. The rectory and a detached study/garage are located nearby. St Luke s, Temperance Vale and All Saint s, Magaguadavic are used only seasonally (summer), except for very special services. The ACW leases a former school building located in Magaguadavic from the Province. St John s, Nackawic has been deconsecrated and approved for demolition and sale of the site. The Parish also is responsible for a number of cemeteries. The insurance inspector for the Diocesan plan inspected all Parish facilities and filed reports with the Parish in St Clements and St Luke s churches had minor insurance issues that have since been mainly resolved. There were more significant personal safety / liability issues identified in the inspection reports for All Saint s church and the ACW Hall. There were later concerns raised regarding adequacy of insurance coverage on St Clements. These issues had not been addressed, nor had responses been communicated to the Diocesan Insurance Advisor at the time of the site visits. There were no insurance issues raised with respect to the rectory or the study/garage other than a request that an inventory of Parish owned property be prepared. The Commission observed that St Clements and St Luke s churches and the ACW Hall appear to be well looked after and are in good condition. We would share similar concerns about All Saints as those raised by our insurer. The Diocesan Property Committee should assist the Parish and our insurer in more precisely establishing the condition of this church, and in identifying the repairs required to make it safe for worship. We also have some concerns about the rectory. All of the bedrooms are located in the basement, there have been problems with a water leak, and the floors are carpet directly over unfinished concrete. The occupants raised concerns with respect to the operation of the heat recovery ventilation system and air quality in the basement. With respect to properties, the Commission recommends that the Parish: 1. request the Diocesan Property Committee (DPC) inspect All Saint s church and, in consultation with the Parish and the Diocesan Insurance Advisor, make recommendations; 2

5 2. pending the results of the advice from the DPC and decisions by the Parish on the future of the church, formally respond to 2010 issues raised by the insurance inspector; 3. respond to air quality issues related to the rectory; 4. consult with the Diocesan Insurance Advisor with respect to the adequacy of insurance coverage, particularly on St Clements and the rectory; and 5. complete an inventory of Parish owned articles in each of the facilities, including the Rectory and study/garage, as per Canon. In summary, the Parish includes a Parish Worship Centre in Prince William and a church in Temperance Vale that could be designated as a Chapel of Ease. Pending decisions with respect to repairs to All Saint s church, it too could be designated as a Chapel of Ease. An alternative for Magaguadavic would be to establish a community worship centre at the Hall. The Parish is in the process of having the Nackawic church demolished and the property sold. The Parish could establish a community worship centre in the town using an existing facility. The rectory and study/garage appeared to be in good condition overall, by should have some attention to air quality related matters in the rectory basement. The roofs of the rectory and the garage need to be repaired. 2.3 Future Opportunities The Commission was impressed by the outreach initiatives being undertaken by the Parish and their support of ministries within and outside of the Parish. There appear to be active ACW groups and the Commission understands that the Parish has recently hosted Messy Church at St Clements. The Parish has taken recent steps to better organize its finances, and prudently makes use of the facilities it operates. However, the Parish struggles to generate sufficient income to support a full time Rector and to support its ministry and outreach programs. The accumulated deficit (pre January 2012; $27,960) owing to the Diocese was recently forgiven. The Shared Ministry Ask has been reduced by 37% from $13,980 in 2013 to $8,859 in The Parish should be encouraged to support the current Shared Ministry Ask. 3

6 The Parish expressed interest in working with other adjacent parishes, particularly the Parish of Bright. With respect to further ministry development in the Parish, the Commission recommends that the Parish: 1. continue it exemplary efforts to combine and rationalize various accounts and funds; 2. consider how to re-establish a presence in Nackawic by using an existing facility in the town; 3. open discussions regarding future opportunities to collaborate with the Parish of Bright, and consider the working model of the Parishes of Cambridge-Waterborough and Gagetown with respect to a shared ministry; and 4. explore opportunities to work with the Fredericton South cluster. The Parish currently employs a full time Rector, while the Parish of Bright employs a retired Priest part-time and has a resident Deacon. Both parishes have layreaders. There are a number of retired or retiring priests in the Fredericton area. Looking to the future, the two parishes could work toward a model of a shared full time Priest-in-Charge serving the two parishes with the assistance of Deacon(s), retired clergy and layreaders, with the Wardens, Treasurer and other lay leaders taking on more of the administrative work in the Parish of Prince William as is currently the case in Bright. With respect to a potential schedule of services, the Priest-in-Charge could take a Eucharist service in each parish each Sunday. A Deacon, retired Priest and/or a layreader or layreaders could take services at the other Parish Worship Centre in Bright and/or a Chapel of Ease or a community worship centre in Prince William on Sunday or during the week. The schedule for the main Eucharist services of the week could see them alternate between 8:30 AM and 10:30 AM from week to week between the two parishes. With the example of having a Deacon in the Parish of Bright, additional discernment and support might be encouraged by both parishes to identify other candidates to the diaconate to encourage the growth of this ministry. The ministries of layreaders, Parish Nursing and Fresh Expressions could also continue to be encouraged. 4

7 2.4 Potential Parish Partnership The parishes and churches that would make up such a partnership within the Fredericton Archdeaconry are as follows: Parish of Bright Parish of Prince William* All Saints, Crock s Point; St Paul s, Zealand St. Clements, Dumfries; All Saints, Magaguadavic; St Lukes, Temperance Vale *Officially the Parish of Prince William, Dumfries, Queensbury, and Southampton. 3 Scheduled Implementation The Archbishop charged the Commissions to develop a plan that will have 1, 5 and 10 year milestones. These were laid out in the original April 2013 report. Some of the Year One milestones are already being met by the parishes of Prince William and Bright. Both have been active within the Greater Chapter and have been in open communication with surrounding parishes such that there is opportunity for them to catch up and meet the Year Five and Year Ten milestones. 4 Closure The Fredericton Archdeaconry Commission would like to thank the Parish of Prince William for their warm hospitality and for their sharing with us during our meeting. We would like to thank their Rector for his willingness to meet with us following the meeting to discuss our preliminary findings, and to later provide comments on and corrections to our report back to the Parish. 5

8 As with our original report, we pray that the Lord has been in this additional work, and that those who will consider these recommendations, in the parishes and in the Diocese, will be inspired by his Holy Spirit. We pray that God will mould the Parish of Prince William seamlessly into our Archdeaconry, and that the Parish of Bright will be open to discussions regarding potential shared ministry models. We pray that these parishes will be supported in their ministries, that they will be a support to others, and that, together, we will re-vitalize the church in this area such that it will encourage and inspire us anew to continue and expand his work in our part of the vineyard. Without Him we can do nothing. With Him, what He will do through us will be amazing! April 5,