Tonight I have been to Bishop’s council where we have been discussing the joining of three dioceses: Bradford, Ripon and Leeds and Wakefield. It’s a very emotive subject, in other words in some ways everybody loses and so everybody is equally unhappy about it.
I must say that it was being discussed in quite a grown up way with a lot of humour and good grace. As if to emphasise the problems our diocese has in order to have this meeting of an hour and a half I had to go on a hour and a half journey.
There was an interesting discussion as to whether we ought to be turning three diocese into one or whether it would be better to have six diocese. It was pointed out that just as the rest of the world was abandoning mega organisations the church was discovering them.
Is small beautiful? In terms of effectiveness probably yes.
Is big beautiful? In terms of finances probably yes.
So what we need is a big organisation for finances and a small one for effectiveness.
Hmmmn.
Anyone fancy medium sized?
Just had a thought, I suppose the parish is the small effective bit and the diocese the large efficient bit...
ReplyDeleteNah that doesn't sound right either.
Does it have to be either/or? Can it be both/and? Big house for finance, separate houses for everything else?
ReplyDeleteMethodists are busy making new circuits all over the place - big ones (like this one in Calderdale) and megacircuits (much bigger than this one in). It's too early in the process to see whether it's a Good Thing or not. I reckon it's a case of swings and roundabouts - this bigger circuit makes it easier to do some things, and have a better team with a wider range of skills and gifts, but it makes it harder for people to relate to it. I have no idea how the megacircuits work - they seem to me to be too big to be circuits, but I've never been in one so I don't know. The important thing is knowing what your organisation (circuit, diocese, parish) is supposed to do, and find the right size and shape for that. One size doesn't fit all.
ReplyDelete