Diocesan Synod met on Saturday, 16th June at St John's House in Bury. The session began with joyous opening worship led by (from left) Canon David Onabanjo, Manchester Diocese’s Intercultural Mission Enabler, with support from a backing group of Ima Lomax and Rebecca Aburime who work for the DBF, Godfrey Ntubiro, a Lugandan singer and Clement Ayanleke, a traditional Nigerian drummer. This worship included prayers in Lugandan, Yoruba, Igbo and Urdu.
In his opening address, Bishop David spoke about the General Election campaign, asking everyone to hold those standing for election before God in prayer. Our fellow citizens are urged to vote for people who will promote positive relationships and cohesion between all communities. He drew particular attention to the current dangers presented by Antisemitism and Islamophobia. The full address is available here.
DBF Annual Accounts 2023
Synod adopted the Annual Accounts for 2023. These showed an operating deficit of around £0.5m. Although Parish Share increased by 2% compared with 2022, there was still a shortfall of over £450k against budget. There was an underspend on stipends, partly because of vacancies, most of which we expect to fill in 2024. An additional £484k was spent on parsonages as part of our parsonages improvement programme. The increase in value of over £1m in our CCLA investment funds, was offset by a fall in the value of our investment properties in Bury reflecting a decline in rental income.
Financial Outlook
Canon Phillip Blinkhorn gave an update on the financial outlook for our diocese. There is a commitment to maintaining stipendiary posts at 175, provided that Parish Share keeps pace with inflation and that the proceeds from the sale of surplus parsonages are put into investment funds to generate income. We assume that we will continue to receive £2m+ from national church for our most deprived communities, along with significant funding to help us with our Transformation Programme. Every effort must be made to eliminate our current operating deficits, through the payment of Parish Share.
Progress with our Transformation Programme
An update was provided to Synod on the diocese’s Transformation Programme which has been fully underway for three years. Over this time we have: set up seven new deaneries under the leadership of the Area Deans and Lay Chairs; created 33 new mission communities which are now gaining traction; continued to invest in lay leadership through our ALM programme and our plans for focal ministry; supported children’s work in each deanery through ManDio Growing Faith; and increased our practical support for parishes. Ten key metrics were shared including Average Weekly Attendance which has increased by around 5% in line with the national trend.
The Revd Simon Cook, Area Dean of Bolton, gave an inspiring presentation on how work in mission communities is leading to focused conversations and joint working to address the challenges facing the parishes in Bolton deanery, resulting in new missional energy.
Helen Platts explained that over the coming months, work will be getting underway with parishes and mission communities to agree even more creative and ambitious plans for the future, focusing on:
• Growing younger
• Church planting and revitalisation
• Developing missional leaders – lay and ordained
• Supporting our parishes with mission renewal.
Diocesan Synod Elections
This was the last meeting of the current Diocesan Synod - thank you to all who have served on Synod over the last three years.
Nominations are now open for the election of clergy and lay members to Diocesan Synod for the three years from 1st August 2024. Clergy and lay members of deanery synods are eligible to stand and vote in these elections. As well as providing the opportunity to help shape the diocese’s overall strategy, members of Diocesan Synod are able to stand for and vote in General Synod elections.
The deadline for nominations for Diocesan Synod is 12 noon on Monday, 24th June 2024. Full details can be found here.