Once again the pain of Ministerial re-stationing has been the focus of much of this evening's edition of BBC's An Island Parish. Regular readers of this blog will know that long before any of tonight's episode had been filmed the Rev David Easton had already been re-stationed to a circuit in Aberystwyth.
Sadly the film makers have left out this crucial detail and given the impression that David was still "job hunting". Good for drama, bad for the facts and the the image of Methodism. As one of our former Ministers, the Reverend Martin Freeman, used to tell us, whatever the outcome of the circuit vote "the Methodist Church has to provide me with a house and a car". David Easton was not in the process of being made unemployed. He is guaranteed a position elsewhere. Not many secular employers give such an undertaking.
Nor has the programme explained that the Isles of Scilly will not be left without a Methodist Minister. There is a well tried and tested process for replacing Ministers. This is a continual process with about 12-20% of ministers changing station each year. I don't think this point has been made in the programme. By the time this current series was filmed in early summer 2009 the replacement would have almost certainly have visited the islands and met the local Methodist community. Much of what has been shown is normal procedure and is never know or understood outside the walls of the Methodist Church.
There are some powerful lessons for the Methodist Church to learn from this exposure of our stationing system and the itinerant ministry.
However the image of Methodism was certainly improved by the actions of Steve Wild, the Chair of the Cornwall District. In earlier programmes last year he seemed a bit at sea in handling the difficulties. During this series he is much more relaxed. He is especially fortunate to have the help and support of Clarence, though quite how Clarence will go down with the Scillonians is something we will find out next week.
By chance I met Steve during the summer, (that's he and I with the Minister at Polzeath above) and even had a chance to mention this blog, which apparently he hasn't seen. I came away with the distinct impression that he loves God and God's people. This was certainly evident this evening and I have a feeling that this story will have a happy ending.
If you wish to know more about this story click the label below marked "An Island Parish"
Posts
9 comments:
David,
Although The Reverend David Easton has apparently moved on I have to say that his long drawn out departure from the Islands has been at times painful to watch. It also begs the question of why The Methodist Church needs to have what is known as it's 'Stationing System' where by it's Methodist Ministers are moved around from Parish to Parish. What is the reason for this?
Now the Islanders have got to go through the whole process of familiarizing themselves with a new Minister. It doesen't seem that long ago since Father Guy Scott had moved to the Islands from Mullion Cornwall, and that was not an easy transition for him. For quite a bulk of the tv series he has been quite invisible preferring not to be on camera. But they never did get round to explaining his absence and return. He seemed to re-emerge as soon as the new Island Church Bells arrived.
I wasn't quite sure why The Reverend Steve Wild mustered up his Methodist supporters for his 'Mission To Scilly' trip to apparently show support for Rev David Easton. It seems like some sort of public relations exercise on behalf of The Methodist Church which is partly to blame for the removal of Rev David Easton through it's 'Stationing System.'
I'm sure that even you found The Rev Steve Wild's 'Clarence The Frog' scenario on the ships bridge slightly embarrassing. Perhaps next week's open air Mass for Rev David Easton will be some sort of an apology on behalf of The Methodist Church.
I suppose like many viewers I was hoping that there would have been an opportunity to have that vote reversed so that he could stay and carry on in Scilly, but it wasn't to be. So no happy ending there.
It's hard to believe that any one of those Scillonian Islanders could of had anything to do with the removal of such a warm, friendly, and generous human being.
But I do wish him well in his new Parish.
But I dont think I can remember any of my local (Catholic) Parish Priests abandoning their posts and moving on to new posts in a different Church as I was growing up. I'm not sure if all Church's have this Stationing System.
Of course I love The Isles Of Scilly. I managed to get in a one day visit this last Summer.
But on the tv show's front it's slightly dissapointing that the show doesn't feature the young people on the Islands, informing us of their hopes and dreams and what lies ahead in their futures. We already know that house prices there are sending many of them to the mainland.
David. North London.
Many thanks David of North London.
I agree that the long drawn out nature of the departure - decision in Summer 2008 and actual departure in August 2009 must be detrimental for all concerned. However where children are involved there are issues about schooling and on this occasion we appear to have avoided that area of controversy.
The reason for moving Ministers around is that we have an itinerant Ministry. That means a change of leadership every few years. This extends to all offices in the church - earlier this decade I had to stand down as a Steward as I had served my six years. I think the Island Parish programme has highlighted the issue and Methodists would do well to ponder whether it is the most effective use of effective Ministers. (It does have some considerable compensation when dealing with ineffective Ministers).
When Methodist Ministers are ordained and accepted "into full Connexion" they are already aware of the itinerant Ministry. I obviously don't know the full story on Scilly but there may be good reasons, of which we are unaware, why the Methodist leadership on the islands decided not to "extend" David Easton's stationing. This would or should have been the result of a detailed consultation by a standing invitation committee.
Yes I do know of cases where Roman Catholic priests have been moved on - sometimes at quite short notice - to new appointments. But these decisions are made at a higher level of the Church. The re stationing of David Easton is an example of local decision making by lay people, something that we value even if the results do not always turn out the way we expect.
I wasn't at all embarrassed by Clarence's appearance on the bridge of the Scillonian, nor do I suspect were the crew. The use of puppets in Biblical story telling is a tried and tested technique and much appreciated by children, my own, when they were younger included. The one thing that comes through about Steve Wild is that his focus is on proclaiming the gospel. He is unlike many of the boring church bureaucrats that inhabit much of the higher reaches of our - or any other - church.
As to the visit to the Isles of Scilly by 150 Methodists from the Cornwall District, once again I'm not certain we know the full story. In our circuit we have recently voted not to extend a Minister and a visit by 150 Methodists from other parts of the District would have been met with a very negative response as we are quite capable of making our own decisions, thank you. But it is normal to have a farewell service for departing Ministers which I think this must be. (Incidentally on a liturgical point Methodists do not say Mass as we are a Protestant denomination).
The real issue here seems to have been the negative publicity following this programme. As I have said elsewhere I noticed how the Anglican Minister has kept out of sight once the first series had been concluded (there was comment in the Methodist trade press that in the first series David Easton had barely been mentioned - a case of be careful what you wish for).
Perhaps it would have been wiser for the Methodist Church to simply stop, take stock, take advice, and wondered whether we should have stopped digging ourselves in further after the second disastrous series
Nevertheless we are now where we are. It is clear that our system is not understood by the wider community. What has happened on the Isles of Scilly is played our in every Methodist Circuit every few years. We need to assess what impact this has on the local church and try to understand how it is perceived by outsiders.
In the end I think that some good may come out of this programme and that there will be a happy ending.
Thanks for your comment because I think it demonstrates how little our long standing Methodists practises are understood by the outside world.
Test (there's a problem displaying the comments on some browsers, apologies)
Thanks David for explaining things. Yes I too dont recall seeing Rev David Easton in the first series of An Island Parish. Those early parts seemed to focus more on the troubled times of the Island's new Anglican representative who later took a backseat once David Easton emerged as the main face of The Church on Scilly.
How brave and entertaining he was in the Island's annual panto after receiving his vote of no confidence.
Oh you are right about the comments not showing up. I only found your reply by clicking on this blog post's title 'Steve Wild To The Rescue Of Island Parish.'
Thanks.
David... North London
I actually caught some of this programme last night and I thought Steve Wild came across as a great character who is full of fun. I have always believed that Jesus had a sense of humour and therefore so does God the Father - if I have any doubt I just look at myself in the mirror in the morning. As far as the puppet goes I have used them myself and thought it was bit of light hearted fun.
In respect of the Methodist Stationing system I think that one of the potential problems is where the churches have been consulted and given positive feedback to the invitation committee who then make a positive recommendation to the circuit meeting. The reality then is that the circuit meeting can overturn the recommendation of the invitation committee. If we bear in mind that an invitation committee consists of 1 representative from each church and certain circuit officers they could easily be outvoted at the circuit meeting given that each church send 4 representatives and all circuit office holders attend.
However bad the Methodist system might seem there does not seem to be any real way of doing this that is more effective given the itinerancy of the Methodist Ministry.
In respect of MP's final pint about lack of understanding of the methodist system I am not sure that only applies to none Methodists.
I live on the Isles of Scilly and possibly know a little bit more about what really happens down here and to be honest our lives are just as normal as anyone else’s. Island Parish constantly seeks drama and many of the lives and issues have had the truth stretched somewhat. Some of the participants have been encouraged to turn their mole hills into mountains!
The procedure for deciding David Easton’s future is something that myself and many other non church goers know little about, we do know he didn’t get enough votes to remain and I think that this did cause (or widen?) a split within the Methodist Church, I believe that a pole amongst the congregation would have shown a majority in favour of David staying here.
Although I’m painting Island Parish in a poor light it does have one saving grace in that it shows the spectacular beauty of the Islands whenever possible and as we rely on tourism there’s no doubt that overall it is in fact a huge plus.
Thanks for these contributions.
FP - I think the problem with the circuit having a vote is that a duff Minister can be extended on the votes of people who don't actually worship at a church where s/he actually has Ministerial responsibility.
I think there is a rule that the presumption is that Ministers will move on and the threshold for extension increases with the years.
Thanks David for your comments.
Thanks Mike Brown for your comments. It is interesting to get a local angle, one that has been missing.
My personal (and as it happens professional view as I work in PR) is that "fly on the wall documentaries" should be avoided at all costs. I just don't know how some of the people featured in the programme must be able to function after seeing their sometimes very personal lives paraded before the cameras.
I take your point about the spectacular scenery. Myself and my son visited Scilly earlier this year and a wonderful few hours. He wants us to go back for a longer stay. Let us hope that any splits in the local Methodist church are soon healed.
Hello FP/David
You may know that following this years conference the rules have been changed (or so we were told at our district synod), such that in a situation where the invitation committee has been given broadly positive feedback by the churches concerned, that there will now no longer be a vote at the circuit meeting. This avoid the possibility of a recommendation being overturned.
The circuit meeting vote has always had issues, as highlighted here, in that people from churches other than those which the minister is in charge of could vote. In those situations I've always just voted with the recommendation. It's different for superintendents of course, who also have a different threshold.
Quite what different quirks the new system can/will produce remains to be seen I suppose. I can imagine that some people will not like the idea that it "disenfranchises" them.
The itinerant ministry is an 18th Century hangover no longer suited to today's needs. The Circuit system of hit-and-run preaching by Ministers and Local Preachers is Methodism's biggest weakness. It militates against proper pastoral care and sound, continuous teaching. The 'itinerant ministry' is a joke. In every other denomination 'itinerancy' means evangelists, prophets and some teachers. Pastors and most teachers are not supposed to move around. It does not mean here and there for five to seven years at most, unless we are talking about an effective apostolic-style ministry based in one place. The continual moving of ministers, even when they are serving with in a circuit, creates power vacuums which the flesh and the devil are quick to fill. Methodism's great strength is its use of lay people. Its great weakness is the kaleidoscope of preaching and teaching without consistency and continuity. Bad ministers and preachers will move on and it is too easy to put up with them till the next time. Thus a thriving church can find itself with 17 years of ineffective and even destructive ministry and the hope of removal prevents reform. Methodism is dying. A combination of Wesleyolatry and legalism consistently and continually strangles every move of the Spirit at birth or shortly after. Instead of Jesus we find Wesley, instead of the Bible, it's the rule book and instead of the Holy Spirit we are living on the legacy of the past and good works. Methodism isn't the only Church to be so afflicted, but it's probably the worst case.
The end result is that when faced with real evil in high places we use diplomacy and politics, but fail to recognise the spiritual war. Where is the corporate prayer, the nights (and days) of fasting, the corporate seeking of God's will, the united intercession...? Are we too scared of what someone might say or do? Lives are at stake, eternal destinies hang in the balance but with the best will in the WORLD, everything carries on as before.
He who has ears, let him hear...
Post a Comment