Copthorne Village website

4.  The make up and size of the East Grinstead Deanery

(Deanery ‘H’ of the Chichester Diocese)

The parishes and staff that make up the East Grinstead Deanery, numbered according to the Diocesan scheme. Average Attendance and Electoral Roll statistics taken directly from the 2004 Returns where available (2003/4 data) (older data in brackets). Part-time, additional staff & readers listed in italics. Details as of October 2004.
Parish    Av Att    ER    Churches            Staff
Copthorne H01    104    160    St. John the Evangelist        {    The Revd Alastair Cutting
                    {    The Revd Paul Smith NSM
                    {    Reader Linda Holmes

Crawley Team Ministry H02     225    307    St. John the Baptist    }    {    The Revd Malcolm Liles
            West Green St. Peter    }    {    The Revd Reg Harcus
            Three Bridges St. Richard    }    {    The Revd Francis Pole
            Northgate St. Elizabeth    }    {    The Revd Sue Watkins NSM
            (Lowfield Heath now redundant)    {    Capt Gordon Kitney
                    {    Reader Charles Hull
                    {    Reader John Baker

Crawley Down H03    104    156    All Saints’        {    The Revd Jon Hale
                    {    Reader Barry Bull
                    {    Reader Brian Moore

Crawley Southgate Team H04    331    426    Southgate St. Mary    }    {    The Revd Jonathan Mortimer
            Tilgate Holy Trinity    }    {    The Revd Glen Hocken
            Furnace Green St. Andrew’s    }    {    The Revd Richard Poole
            Broadfield Christ the Lord    }    {    The Revd Simon Taylor
                    {    Ch Worker Jeremy Brown
                    {    Reader JM Rogers
                    {    Reader HE Bristow
                    {    Reader MP Warwick
                    {    Reader D Greenland    
                    {    Reader S Jones
                    {    Reader NB Jones

East Grinstead St Swithun H06    275    528     St. Swithun     }    {    Revd Canon Clive Everett-Allen
            St. Barnabas     }    {    The Revd Richard Catchpole
            St. Luke    }    {    The Revd Julia Peaty NSM
                    {    Reader John Durrant
                    {    Reader John Hill

East Grinstead St Mary H07        (87)    St. Mary        {    The Revd Gordon Bond
                    {    The Revd John Gayford NSM

Forest Row H08    137    173    Forest Row Holy Trinity    }    {    The Revd Nick Lamb
            Ashurst Wood St. Dunstan    }    {    The Revd David Tidswell NSM
                    {    ALM George Amy
                    {    Reader Donna Dewer
                    {    Reader Ann Freeland

Cowden with H’wood H09    22    84    Cowden St. Mary    }        The Revd David Horner
            Hammerwood St. Stephen    }
            Holtye St. Peter    }

Ifield Team Ministry H10    251    379    Ifield St. Margaret    }    {    The Revd Leonard Doolan
            Langley Green St. Leonard    }    {    The Revd Doris Staniford
            Gossops Green St. Alban    }    {    The Revd Harry Jevons
            Bewbush Barn St. Mary Mg.    }    {    The Revd Daphne Goodwin NSM
            Ifield West Jesus@Centre     }    {    Youth Evangelist Chris Cook
                    {    Reader Brenda Wilkins
                    {    Reader Meryl Martin

Turners Hill H11    49    117    St Leonard        {    The Revd David Jarmy
                    {    The Revd Gordon Parry NSM

Worth (was TM) H12        (244)    Worth St. Nicholas    }    {    (Revd Anthony Stidolph 01.05>)
            Poundhill St. Barnabas    }    {    The Revd Vaughan Leonard
                    {    Revd Canon Roger Brown>01.05
                     {    PD Revd Annette Stickley NSM

Also: Gatwick Airport                    {    The Revd Jonathan Baldwin
 
 

The East Grinstead Deanery

 
H01 Copthorne
H02 Crawley Town Centre (St. John)
H03 Crawley Down
H04 Crawley Southgate (St Mary)
H06 East Grinstead St Swithun
H07 East Grinstead St Mary
 
H08 Forest Row
H09 Cowden with Hammerwood
H10 Ifield
H11 Turners Hill
H12 Worth
5.  Staffing
In the last 3 years or so, the Deanery has lost 2 stipendiary posts from Crawley town centre, 1 from EG St Swithun, 2 from Ifield, and 1 from Worth. That is an approximate reduction of 25% in stipendiary posts. There remain approximately 20 stipendiary clergy in the Deanery. Historically, appointments have been made individually within each parish, with minimal consultation with Rural Dean or neighbouring clergy. However, we feel that there can be no further change and certainly no abolition of posts without significant and detailed review of local, neighbouring, and area staffing.

The DRG did not have a full opportunity to discuss staffing on a parish-by-parish basis, or have enough information across the deanery to be able to make specific, legitimate, recommendations on what staffing levels should be in the future at this stage. To make staffing suggestions at this point would be premature, and decisions unlikely to be ‘owned’ by parishes. Some concern has been raised as to what ‘perforated boundaries’ or ‘deanery-wide appointments’ may mean in practise, particularly in terms of ‘sharing staff’, or a ‘base parish’ for staff. The DRG, appreciating that this Review is not an end in itself, but part of an on-going process, trust that further work will be done on what sort of formulae could be used in appointing staff.

It is recognised that ministry across the Deanery - Crawley's neighbourhoods, the town of East Grinstead, the commuter villages, and the rural communities - requires a diversity of strategies and styles.  Southgate has found that for them, their working strategy is: We have a clear understanding of four worship centres, answerable to the PCC and each with its own vision, mission strategy, budget, treasurer and lay team aiding the Vicar.

Although no individual parish has flagged up an urgent staffing issue as part of their response to the Deanery Review, there are some parishes that have issues that need exploring at the next opportunity (i.e. clergy moves):
•    Does the hospital chaplaincy at the Queen Victoria in East Grinstead need to be attached to St. Swithun’s, or could it for example help support Cowden in future?
•    Might East Grinstead be considered as more of a single unit of ministry, potentially working closer with St Mary’s in the future, possibly as some form of Team?
•    To include the ministry in the new building development planned for EG, currently partly in the Felbridge ecclesiastical parish, into East Grinstead parish/s would make sense.
•    Ifield, as another area of potential growth might also want to be included in future staffing plans; and ultimately with another neighbourhood near the crematorium, so might Worth.

Many individual parishes, and particularly the Readers of the Deanery, in reflecting on how staffing changes (especially numbers of priests) has affected parish ministry, put in a strong plea to explore the potential of Extended Communion.

Readers were concerned that amongst the 330 Readers in the Diocese, only 6 were under the age of 40. Sponsoring and encouraging vocations to Reader and ordained ministry were underlined not simply as a principle, but by the evidence of significant numbers of lay pastoral worker, Reader, NSM and stipendiary clergy ordinands there have been coming forward in recent years.

Several parishes raise the issue of the boundaries between Reader, OLM, Deacon and NSM, and for example, whether Readers should become Deacons in future. At least one Reader maintained that Readers remain an important ‘lay bridge’ between the congregation and the clergy; but then not all lay people feel they need such a bridge.