Copthorne Village website

8.  Working as a Deanery

Bishop John has underlined that the Deanery is the unit best suited to be the primary focus for mission. As such, we should be seeking ways to make the Deanery operate more smoothly, and to ease collaboration between parishes.

Comments relating to Rural Dean are about the role, rather than any personality past or present, and are offered ‘without prejudice’. The East Grinstead Deanery is large - arguably too large for a single Rural Dean, with significant parochial responsibilities as well, to be able to manage. Ways that could ease this situation include:
    Making sure the RD has adequate staffing (e.g. a curate or an NSM) and administrative support within their own parish
    Having a second ‘deputy or assistant Rural Dean’ in another part of the Deanery from the RD
    The role of Rural Dean could be done by a Team Vicar, with slightly less parochial responsibility, or an early retired, or an NSM member of clergy
    Use the Diocesan Mission Fund/deanery vacancies to support a non-parochial Rural Dean, whose primary remit would be to support the mission of the parishes and be a pastoral support amongst the clergy of the Deanery

So at one level, lightening the load of the RD is important. And yet there are a number of areas where perhaps an increased level of involvement could also be useful/expected. Surely the RD should now automatically be involved (even though not currently legally required) in the early discussion processes when a parochial vacancy occurs, bringing a wider, on-the-ground experience. A RD perhaps needs to have a good grasp of not only the deanery, but of those neighbouring parishes, and their RDs too.

It is important that the deanery is kept ‘vital’, through regular, fairly frequent, meetings of the Deanery Chapter and Synod, engaging with issues where parishes and staff are ‘itching’. The Deanery should not always appear to be ‘all work and no play’.