We encourage you to respond to the Church Commissioners’ review of the Mission and Pastoral Measure (MPM) 2011.
The main aim of the review has been to consider how the legislation and processes associated with the Measure can be improved and simplified. The Measure makes provision for the legal re-organisation of parishes and benefices, dioceses, and the closure and re-use of church buildings no longer needed for public worship.
It is this legislation that governs how we implement the changes to the mission and ministry structures that are discussed within your parish, deanery, and diocese. The archdeacons and Pastoral Team are working on a response on behalf of the diocese, but the Church Commissioners are encouraging a real breadth and depth of response and would value written contributions from officers, clergy, and laity.
The consultation page is on the C of E website and the deadline date for responses is Thursday 30 September 2021.
You can respond in the following ways:
- Complete the on-line survey at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/MPM2011review which goes through the specific consultation questions which have been asked. Free text boxes are included for additional comments. You will need the consultation paper (GS2222 Mission in Revision - Review of the Mission and Pastoral Measure 2011) with you to make sense of the questions.
- Provide a written submission by email via the consultation page or to mpm2011review@churchofengland.org.
General Synod met in July and on Monday 12 July discussed the green paper on the review of the Mission and Pastoral Measure. If you wish to watch the proceedings the link is below. The debate was introduced briefly by the Third Church Estates Commissioner and 17 people spoke, including Simon Fisher and David Brooke from our diocese. There was coverage also in the Church Times and a useful summary of the debate in the Bathandwellchap blog (see below).
Synod recording (Debate starts 22 minutes 30 seconds): https://youtu.be/RQ2sG1qooSM
Blog: https://bathwellschap.wordpress.com/2021/07/12/still-crazy-after-all-these-years/
The Church Commissioners will collate and analyse all the feedback from the consultation and that will be reported back to February Synod, along with proposals for the draft legislation.
If you have any queries about this, then please do get in touch with your archdeacon, or one of the Pastoral Team: BPO Phil Saltmarsh, ABPO Sarah Peppiatt, ABPO David Brooke, ABPO Glyn Thomson or MPO Kim Stanley.