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Dictionary

Words on this page

Bishop

‘Bishop’ comes from the Greek word for ‘overseer’. So a bishop is a senior Christian minister authorised to have oversight for God’s people. As well as duties given to deacons and priests, bishops confirm and ordain.

Diocese

‘Diocese’ refers to the geographical territory in which a bishop exercises oversight. The Church in Wales is divided into six dioceses each with its own cathedral in which is housed the cathedra (the bishop’s ‘chair’ or ‘throne’).

Evangelism

‘Evangelion’ means ‘good news’. Evangelism is about sharing the good news of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection in the hope that others may come to believe in and follow Jesus.

Home Pobl Dewi: December 2024 The Learning Community

The Learning Community

Across the Church in Wales, all six dioceses now use what we know as Local Ministry Areas (LMAs). Ten years after their establishment, it’s time to take stock. Sue Henley and Revd Jonathan Wright were part of the process.

As dioceses implemented LMAs in their own way, the vocabulary used and administrative set-up differs. But broadly this structure has the same purpose: the sustainable life of local Christian communities, with a focus on creating teams for ministry and mission.

Each diocese has gone on its own journey with a rather varied picture emerging. So the Bench of Bishops agreed it would be useful to take stock. So, in November, ten delegates from each diocese, along with ten from the Representative Body of the Church in Wales, met in a hotel near Shrewsbury. This was the Learning Community.

The meeting consisted of six sessions. Each was introduced and facilitated by different people attending the event.

  • the journey so far;
  • culture and context, emotional resilience and well-being;
  • identity and vision, then leadership, vocation and training;
  • governance, finance, administration and buildings;
  • what does a healthy LMA look like;
  • reflections and observations.

Did anything useful come out of the event? The straightforward answer is yes. Everyone came away with a sense of the diversity of approaches across the Province, and an awareness of the similarity of problems faced. From the writers’ perspective, the most useful sessions were those where we considered topics as a diocesan group. There was honest discussion. As a diocesan group, we found an increasingly Christ-centred language for discussion.

The Learning Community had some notable omissions. Neither mission nor evangelism were on the agenda - a rather startling lacuna. It was notable that dioceses brought many more archdeacons than lay people, and the room was rather top-heavy. Arguably the discussions would have benefited from a greater diversity of experience and more time for small group discussion

Exactly who will learn, and what, from the event will be found in the coming months. Clearly, bishop Dorrien and the senior staff have plenty to help them as they shape diocesan strategy. But the real impact will come in LMAs. We offer a few questions for the reader to consider:

    • How would you describe a healthy LMA?
    • Does that sound like your LMA? If not, how could you help it in the right direction?
    • How could we usefully encourage and facilitate this kind of event in our diocese? What would be important in the discussions?