Consultation on future mission and ministry in Winnersh and Sindlesham

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Sonning Deanery Synod
Consultation on future mission and ministry in
Winnersh and Sindlesham Presentation to Twyford
LEP 16th June 2009
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The Diocesan Vision Living Faith   The Church
of England Diocese of Oxford has set out in its
Vision for the next five years a definition of
our churchs purpose as   To join with God in
creating a caring, sustainable and growing
Christian presence in every part of the diocese
of Oxford, enabling every Christian and every
Christian community to live and share the love of
God, seen in the life of Jesus Christ
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The Deanerys Aims for Winnersh and surrounding
parishes   The Deanery of Sonnings aim for
Winnersh/Sindlesham is to align future mission
and ministry with the growing community of
Winnersh/Sindlesham as an identifiable unit
whilst ensuring the flourishing of the churchs
ministry in Hurst and Woosehill and all parishes
affected by re-shaping.
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Winnersh/Sindlesham is

• a single identifiable residential community
  with retail and commercial activity
• a single civil parish for local government
  purposes
• growing and set to grow larger in the medium to
  long term
• increasingly striving to identify itself as a
  recognisable and cohesive community.

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The Church of England in the area

• Historic parishes of Bearwood and Hurst divide
  Winnersh/Sindlesham in two for mission and
  ministry purposes
• There is not one Anglican church, incumbent or
  ministry team responsible for mission to the
  whole of Winnersh/Sindlesham as a community
• Woosehill Community Church LEP is a conventional
  district in Anglican terms linked to Bearwood
  parish for ministry purposes yet distinct and
  separate as a community from Winnersh/Sindlesham

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Summary of preferred options
Option A Create a new parish covering Sindlesham
and Winnersh, and attach Hurst to Twyford and
Ruscombe, and Woosehill to a Wokingham parish.
This has the merit of making a clear alignment
between the Winnersh/Sindlesham civil parish and
the church parish.
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Option B1 Create a new parish including
Winnersh, Sindlesham,and Hurst village, attaching
Woosehill to a Wokingham parish. This reduces
disruption but the inclusion of the two historic
parish churches and churchyards in one parish may
reduce energy and resources available for
focussing mission and ministry in
Winnersh/Sindlesham.
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A new benefice consisting of Hurst, Twyford and
Ruscombe would need a larger ministry team, or
ministry team with more available time for
parish-based work, than it has currently.   The
support for this enlarged benefice by the Deanery
and Diocese would be as critical as the support
for the new benefice of Winnersh/Sindlesham
because the success of each one is integral to
the success of the whole plan.