Diocesan Synod met in Liverpool on Saturday where they voted in favour of a comprehensive motion regarding Fit for Mission which welcomed Strategic Investment Board funding and noted the progress made. The vote was carried overwhelmingly.
The motion was subject to an amendment which called for a full debate on whether to approve or reject Fit for Mission. Synod voted 37 – 19 against the debating the amendment. The amendment was then moved to be voted on without debate and again that vote rejected the amendment, again by 37 – 19. The amendment was lost.
Synod heard an outline of Fit for Mission from the Archdeacons and representatives of the two deaneries – West Derby and St Helens – who have elected to be part of the first cohort for Fit for Mission. Synod members heard and debated the anxieties that this time of change brings. One member wanted to see a greater theological emphasis on why we are embarking on Fit for Mission and others expressed concern over the details and the threshold for the number of parishes being included in a deanery. Other members expressed strong support for the vision of Fit for Mission and were excited by its possibilities.
Addressing a number of the concerns the Archdeacons acknowledged that at this stage we don’t have answers to all the questions and essentially this was one purpose of the pilot and the funding. We need to establish what will work in the Fit for Mission process, as we have seen in other parts of the diocese, giving us a range of learning as we work to the future.
The Synod debate was another part of the long conversation that our diocese has been having around getting fit for mission. These plans have been discussed at every level across our diocese and we anticipate we will continue to discuss and debate as we work to discern what God calls us to do in the long obedience to his call for growth and justice.
The approved motion read that Synod
i) Welcomes the decision of the Strategic Investment Board to award Strategic Transformation Funding for Fit for Mission 2;
ii) Notes the progress being made by the two pilot deaneries; Archdeacons & Deanery Reps
iii) Encourages other deaneries to begin thinking and praying as to whether they wish to be in a future cohort
It was carried overwhelmingly.