Maidstone Deanery Mission and Ministry Review 2004 WORSHIP A
range of worship is offered within the churches of the
deanery. This includes: Regular
Eucharistic worship daily, weekly, midweek and Feast days BCP
Mattins, Evensong and Holy Communion Charismatic
and informal services Sacrament
of Reconciliation and Forgiveness Regular
all-age and family worship Healing
services Alternative
worship – Taize, Benediction
of the Blessed sacrament and Meditation of the Rosary As
well as a range of worship settings there is also a range
of styles offered by particular traditions within the
town and we recognise that these attract congregations
from a wider area. There is an emphasis on dynamic
preaching at St Luke’s, an emphasis on the choral
tradition at All Saints. St Michael’s (under the
oversight of the Bishop of Richborough) offers
distinctive orthodox worship, and EVANGELISM The
majority of the churches in the deanery are involved in
some sort of local evangelism. The Anglican
churches support initiatives taken by the umbrella
groupings of Churches Together in As
a deanery there is increasing involvement of Church Army
Evangelists in two regions of the town - Tovil and
Shepway. These two, relatively new, posts are
strategically assisting work in particular priority areas
and will help the deanery in it priorities in coming
years. The
recent appointment of a Church Army Officer as Chaplain
to the Night Clubs is another strategic role and will
help the deanery develop its outreach in new areas not
currently served by local churches, the development of
this particular ministry will be key to our deanery
mission. Other
evangelistic efforts in the town include a regular
lunchtime talk series based at St Faith’s; the
Chequers Carol event run each December by St Luke’s;
the ecumenical Procession of Witness on Good Friday and
an ecumenical Mission on Parkwood. The
majority of churches in the deanery support mission in
other parts of the SOCIAL
ACTION AND CONCERN The
churches in
The
majority of churches support Maidstone Christian Care for
the homeless practically as well as financially. There
are also strong links within churches with the Kenward
Trust, Maidstone Volunteer Bureau, and the Maidstone
Women’s Refuge, Crosslinks Christian Counselling and
within the clergy chapter with the Prison, Hospital and
Hospice. The
deanery is linked to the work of local parish councils
through clergy involvement, particularly in Tovil, with
the Council and the ongoing development of Local
Community Partnerships in conjunction with Church in
Society. A
number of churches offer local social provision,
particularly for the elderly and a community base for
local groups and organisations to meet regularly. Most
of the churches in the deanery have an active web site
and St Nicholas has set up a web site to serve the
community for the ME16 postcode area. NURTURE
AND SPIRITUALITY The
breadth of tradition within the deanery provides numerous
opportunities for Christian nurture and growth. However,
currently little is done together as Anglican churches. Alpha
Courses play a part in a number of churches and some of
these have been held in partnership ecumenically as well
as by individual congregations. A CREDO course is run at
St Michael’s as is a ‘Fan the Flame’
teaching week. A
couple of courses have been run at St Paul’s in
recent years to develop spirituality, particularly prayer
and these have drawn participants from a number of
churches in the town. Successful Weeks of Guided
Prayer have been held at All Saints, A
number of churches support the annual Maidstone Bible
Convention and the annual Detling camp developed by St
Luke’s attracts people from a number of local
churches in the deanery and does a great deal to nurture
a particular strand of spirituality. Events at St
Luke’s also attract people from a wide area. Town
wide initiatives, organised by deanery churches include a
series of lunchtime talks at St Faiths and participation
in the ecumenical Procession of Witness held each Good
Friday. RESOURCES
AND TRAINING There
are currently ten stipendiary clergy and one stipendiary
curate in Maidstone Deanery and three fulltime chaplains
working at the Prison (one), and the Hospital (two). These
clergy are assisted by three non-stipendiary ministers
based at All Saints Loose, St Luke’s and All Saints,
Maidstone and two ordained local ministers at St
Luke’s and St Paul’s. In
areas of priority and development there are four Licensed
Lay Workers – St Martin’s, Shepway (two), All
Saints with St Philip and St Stephen (one) and a
nightclub chaplain. In
the deanery there are currently eleven Readers and these
meet regularly under the Revd Brian Field who is Deanery
Officer for Readers. St Luke’s also employs a
Director of Music and a youth worker. Currently
there is little movement of clergy around the deanery,
however partnerships have begun to develop between
churches in recent years. There are currently no
local Ordinands in the deanery and only one Reader in
training (those who will minister in the deanery
following training), although a couple of individuals are
currently going through the selection process. A
few churches in the deanery offer training. St
Paul’s has held a course in Pastoral Care in recent
years which was supported by people from a number of
local churches, and St Luke’s holds it’s own
school of ministry and has an Ordinands group for those
interested in ministry. A
number of churches in the deanery are well resourced
administratively with All Saints, Loose and St
Luke’s having their own parish offices however the
sharing of resources in this area could be developed. BUILDINGS The
majority of churches in the deanery are well resourced
with worship centres and halls. Recent development
has taken place at All Saints Loose to improve the
facilities and St Luke’s also have developed a
flexible worship space. All
Saints Church is used extensively by organisations across
the town as well as having an important civic function
and the size of this building is an asset to the deanery
and the local community. It also must be
acknowledged that the costs of upkeep to this building
continue to be a strain on the congregation and efforts
to share out the costs of upkeep fairly within the town,
diocese and deanery must go on. Within
the deanery there is a mixture of old and new church buildings,
and none are free from on-going repairs. Creative use of
these buildings must be a priority for the future. PASTORAL Each
parish within the deanery has developed it’s own
system of pastoral care for its parishioners and
congregation. There are some areas of overlap
regarding care of the elderly in nursing homes, and
clergy share with the hospital and hospice chaplains care
of the sick and dying. Individuals
from deanery churches are involved pastorally in both the
hospital visiting team and A
number of churches in the deanery hold annual memorial
services for the departed to which bereaved relatives are
personally invited. Pastoral
issues concerning churches are currently dealt with
through the Standing Committee of the deanery synod and
clergy chapter, where mutual support can be found. SCHOOLS There
are over twenty schools in the Maidstone Deanery and four
church schools: St Michael’s Infants and Junior, All
Saints, The
majority of clergy and a number of lay ministers are
involved in ministry to their local infant, junior and
primary schools in Local
schools regularly visit parish churches throughout the
town. Seven
of the schools in the town are in An
after school club is held by St Nicholas, Allington. Deanery
involvement in the secondary schools is less pro-active,
however a member of St Luke’s staff team does a
considerable amount of work in this area together with
those based largely in the independent churches operating
in Maidstone and clergy assist with the teaching of RE in
some secondary schools. All
Saints has an ongoing ministry to schools due to its
size, musical scope and historical setting. It
accommodates regular school visits and school concerts. MINISTRY
TO YOUTH AND CHILDREN Provision
for children and youth varies throughout the churches.
Most churches provide something for those aged ten and
under and St Nicholas, St
Luke’s offers the most for young people in the way
of groups and has the wealth of resources in this area.
All Saints choir also attracts children and young people.
Work with pre-school children and school age children is
progressing at St
Michael’s and All Saints have young people’s
choirs. Links with uniformed organisations such as cubs,
scouts, brownies and guides are strong in some churches. However
it is acknowledged across the churches that more could be
done in this area. MINISTRY
TO FAMILIES There
is an active Mothers’ Deanery
Churches also have links across the town with local
housing associations. St
Michael’s maintain regular links with baptism
families through a monthly link in with Eucharistic
worship on the anniversary of the baptism. It also holds
a bi-annual service to give thanks for married couples
and especially those celebrating their Silver and Golden
Weddings. MINISTRY
TO THE ELDERLY There
is ongoing ministry through a number of the local
churches to the elderly. St Luke’s, St Paul’s
and St Nicholas run regular lunch clubs for the elderly
living both locally and in other parts of the town, as
well as fellowship groups particularly held for elderly
people. St Michael’s holds a monthly lunch club
together with a mystery tour each year. Ministry
within nursing homes takes place within parishes, but is
also often shared by clergy. A new informal act of
worship for the elderly takes place each Sunday at St
Hilary’s Church, Senacre. A
number of deanery churches hold annual memorial services
for those who have died during the year. ECUMENICAL
LINKS Ecumenical
links are quite strong in the town, particularly through Churches
Together in Maidstone, which unites the Catholic,
Methodist, Baptist, Anglican, URC and Salvation Army for
particular services of worship and annual events. Maidstone
for Jesus also unites the independent churches with
the more evangelical Anglican churches. Ecumenical
links in the town are mainly worship based, however in
local communities joint projects between churches are
being developed, particularly on Shepway. St
Michael’s has close links with the Russian and
|