Our Glastonbury Festival

Information from the Interim Leadership Team

The Interim Leadership Team for the proposed larger Circuit has now presented its initial proposals to the recent Circuit meeting. In summary, these are as follows:

• The new Circuit shall be formed, initially, by the merger of the present West Mendip, Frome and Somerset Mission Circuits in their entirety. Any adjustments to the Circuit at its boundaries, with Churches moving into or out of other Circuits or Districts, will be left until after the new Circuit is formed, and decisions will be taken in conjunction with the relevant Circuits and/or Districts.

• The name of the new Circuit shall be the Somerset Mendip Circuit, and it shall come into being in September 2009.

• The Superintendent Minister of the new Circuit shall be Rev. Nick Lakin – presently Superintendent of Somerset Mission.

• The Circuit will be divided into three sections for the purposes of assigning churches to the pastoral care of Ministers. It must be emphasised that this is the only purpose of these sections – the new Circuit will be a single Circuit, and there is nothing to prevent churches in close geographical proximity working together, even though they may have a different Minister looking after them.

• The proposed three sections are shown on the map overleaf.

• The proposed staffing for the sections is as follows:

Section A - New Minister plus Rev Carol Chaplin (half – time)

Section B – Rev Nick Lakin, Rev Ken Chalmers and Rev Gwynne Brindley (half – time)

Section C – Rev Roly Sims, Rev Jill Warren plus 3 Church (Lay) Workers – these being
Mrs Janet Day, Mrs Monica Sandy and Mr Archie Rowe

• The new Circuit will not simply be an enlarged Circuit. Its size and geographical spread will mean that its structures and operation will need to be different. The size of the Circuit will give more opportunities for shared working across current Circuit boundaries, sharing of gifts and experience, team working (lay and ordained), strategic planning and partnerships and the application of greater resources to specific mission projects.

Please give any constructive comments (good or bad!), on these proposals, in writing, to your local representatives on the Interim Leadership team (your minister or a Circuit Steward in your area) by 30 April 2008.