Synod has given a mixed reaction to a motion that could threaten the job security of ministers in provisional parishes.
Bishop of South Sydney, Robert Forsyth’s Reforming Parochial Structure and Administration Report received a cool reception from Synod on Tuesday night, with paragraphs regarding the review of a minister's tenure attracting the most discussion.
The Policy 4 Committee's report seeks to reform the administrative structures under which churches and parishes operate.
It states that "the existence of flexible ministry structures within the diocese is critical to the multiplication of Bible-based Christian fellowships and congregations'.
Bishop Forsyth acknowledged most reforms in the report would likely have full support of the synod, but a number of issues might garner strong criticism.
"There are one or two things that are significantly controversial " perhaps foolish," he said.
Synod voiced little opposition to the committee’s proposal to form a single ‘parish’ category by unifying existing parish and recognised church categories.
Likewise, its suggestion that a new category of "experimental ministry' be created to make it easier to establish "fresh expressions of church' outside the parish context.
However the proposal that provisional parishes " parishes unable to entirely support a minister from the own resources " would have the tenure of a minister reviewed by a suitable body after a fixed period received strong criticism.
Deaconess Margaret Rodgers, lay synod representative for St Stephen's, Newtown said the process of pulling leaders out of parishes would have an unsettling effect on parishioners.
"Don't do things that will take away parishioners' morale, pulling men away, giving us somebody else. We couldn't cope with that in Newtown, and I don't think anybody else will be able to," she said.
"If we're going to have review of clergy, I believe this review should go from the top down," said Ms Rodgers to an applauding Synod.
Her statement was met with an audible, good-humoured "no, no, no!" from a seated Bishop Forsyth.
The committee recognised the need to balance the potential benefit of such a review process with the potential danger of discouraging clergy taking on challenging ministries precisely because of the existence of a review process.
Curate-in-Charge of the Provisional Parish of Ashbury, the Rev Peter Sholl asked Bishop Forsyth how the review process would take place and how it would benefit both the church and the minister.
"We don't want the review to be win " lose, fail " success. But where a provisional parish is forced to review itself and its ministry; to judge where it is going and what its prospects are; and what changes may be appropriate " rightly handled, this kind of review would be extremely helpful for a minister," Bishop Forsyth said.
Bishop Forsyth appealed to the Synod for answers.
"I am asking the Synod, can you imagine a way we can do this which is helpful?"
Curate-in-Charge of the Provisional Parish of Riverstone, the Rev Andrew Monk queried why a review of a minister's tenure was restricted to leaders of provisional parishes arguing that it would dissuade ministers from taking up ministry in provisional parishes.
"To ask those ministers [in provisional parishes] to place themselves under the question of their tenure, I think it is unfair that ministers in full parishes do not have the same question asked of them," he said.
"There may be full parishes where because of strong lay support things are continuing on in a plateaued stage. The minister may not be doing the work that the minister in a provisional parish is doing with far less resources. I do not think the issue of tenure ought to be included in this review."
Bishop Forsyth concluded that the proposal was still too broad and recognised that the issue of tenure was the main sticking point. However, he stated that a review of tenure for ministers of provisional parishes still had merit.
"I want to give the word provisional some teeth. But if you say don't go there, we won't go there."
