During the final months of 2004 plans for Mission and Ministry
Areas were being finalised. By December the plans were offered
to the Bishop of Derby for his approval and he wrote to all parishes
in response to their plans. There are still a few parishes where
the plans are awaiting completion, but for the great majority
of parishes in the Diocese, MMA plans are now clear and settled.
In all there are 58 Mission and Ministry Areas. These range greatly
in size: some are single-parish MMAs, many are new units of mission
and ministry where several parishes are coming together; and in
some cases the MMAs will be large gatherings of parishes. Ashbourne
Deanery has opted for a single deanery MMA, dividing its parishes
into subgroups to help clarify areas of ministerial responsibility
by each of the stipendiary clergy. Most of Repton Deanery will
operate as a single MMA with subgroups, and they have exciting
plans for working this into an ecumenical area with the Methodist
church.
During 2005 these MMAs will come into being. The first step will
be the appointment of Area Vicars, and it is expected that they
will be identified and in place by Easter. On 10 February there
is a clergy training day chaired by the Bishop of Derby and this
marks the beginning of the ongoing training phase of the project.
As soon as MMAs feel ready, they can launch their MMA, and the
Worship Advisory Group is working on a liturgy that can be used
for an inaugural service. The financial workings of MMAs will
not start until 2008, though there will be shadow figures available
for 2006 and 2007.
We now have plans in place to meet the challenges of the reduced
number of available stipendiary clergy from 2008 onwards. Parishes
have more than risen to this challenge, and we now move forward
with God to work at new ways of delivering mission and ministry
to the areas we serve.
