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Bishop Richard issued his third Pastoral Plan for the Diocese ‘The Word Who is Life: The Call to Mission’ in January this year. As part of the plan, church communities currently forming deaneries are becoming a single moderated parish in the care of a team of priests.

Fr Jonathan How from Godalming, pictured above left with Bishop Richard and Fr Rajesh, has been confirmed as the Moderator of the family of churches that currently comprise Guilford Deanery. The community is 8 priests and 5 deacons: Fr Robin Farrow and Deacon John Edwards (Ash and Heath End),  Fr Alistair Simmons (Cranleigh & Bramley ), Fr Niven Richardson (Farnham), Mgr Canon Tony Barry, Fr Tristan Cranfield, Fr Roy Waters, Deacon Sean Evans, Deacon Edward Hopkins, Deacon Ian Hunt and Deacon Michael Phillips (Guildford), and Fr Rajesh Minz (Haslemere, Hindhead & Chiddingfold). Fr Jonathan writes:

“Guildford’s clergy team met with Canon Kieron O’Brien [the Episcopal Vicar for Pastoral Planning] and Deacon Nick StJohn in February, and in March with Bishop Richard…. [Moving forward] there will be times of Eucharistic Adoration in each of our current parishes for the fruitfulness of the pastoral plan, with reflection on the gifs and talents with which the Lord has blessed us - as individuals, and as parish communities. We will also consider how these might contribute towards this renewed vision of ‘Making our Church of today, everyone’s Church for the future’.

“A meeting of representatives from the pastoral teams of each of our current parishes will take place in May to help build a shared picture of our gifs and talents, building means of communication across our communities.

“The new moderated parish structure will make us better able to put into effect the mission of the Church, the mission of sharing the love of God with all people. The structures that we are so used to have served us well, but the world is changing. We need to be able to engage with the world as it is today, and the people of today, who so badly need the Word who is life. The restructuring of our existing Deanery into a single parish is not an end in itself – it is a tool to make us better able to live as disciples of the Lord and witness to his love and mercy...

“This is a new structure, and we will need to feel our way carefully and grow it together. All the clergy in the existing Deanery believe that it is essential that we should involve the lay faithful of the Deanery in the process of change, as well as in the running of the new parish in the future: ‘For in the one Spirit we were all baptised into one body’ (1 Cor 12:13). There may be qualities or expertise that you have been given for the building up of the body of Christ in mission. It is in the interests of us all – and all those people who so badly need to hear the good news, and all the generations of future disciples yet to be born – that we make real the vision our Bishop has set before us, the vision of our parishes as ‘communities of saints’ and ‘schools of discipleship’…

“In May there will be a gathering of representatives from the parishes across the Deanery as a first step in building a shared picture of the way God is at work in our communities. There is a lot of work to be done, please bear with us if the rate of progress does not seem as fast as you might hope… It is the Lord's plan that we need to implement… the world needs the good news; we are the frail earthen vessels that he has chosen to entrust it to at this particular moment in time. We are the ones who have been sent.”

‍Bishop Richard will celebrate Mass at St Joan of Arc Church in Farnham on Saturday 7 September at 10.30am. During the Mass the new parish will be entrusted to its team of priests - it is hoped that many of the lay faithful will come together on that day to pray for the fruitfulness of the new parish. You can Guildford’s update in full in their Deanery Newsletter here (from p5).