To the Congregation of St Faith’s Havant: An Open Pastoral Letter

God’s mission has always been about people and place. The people of St. Faith’s have welcomed me warmly as their new leader. Leadership involves collaborating with others in order to set direction. Effective collaboration is rooted in openness and the building of trust.

Many are the challenges our parish faces at this time. Recent disappointments about the deferral of building development plans and the realisation that our regular income is lagging far behind necessary expenditure being just two among a number of threats that now need changing into opportunities. We need look no further than Paul’s words in 2Cor 12.9-10 in today’s epistle for courage and inspiration: ‘My grace is all you need; power is most fully seen in weakness’.

It is generally accepted that pending the recovery of the economy our original capital projects have to be put on hold. At its May meeting the PCC agreed that the looming financial crisis that last year’s accounts reveal should await the new rector’s arrival. But those two concerns form only part of a range of issues that need careful consideration as we review our strategy in order to provide clear direction.

Under God we too have to begin with people and place; identifying within those two givens the main factors that will shape our mission among the people of Havant Town. These factors form the headings below and under which I offer a brief and first impression or assessment.

So this open letter is inviting you to pass to your PCC representatives your considered view about my observations and how far they provide a legitimate basis for a way forward.

The PCC next meets on 20^th July and by its September meeting will need to have a clear strategy that can be costed for budgeting purposes in respect of the new financial year starting in January.

People:

The church, by definition, must reflect society and include the whole people of God from cradle to grave. As such children and young people are our fellow pilgrims and the C of E’s report ‘Children in the Way’ urges parishes to nurture children within our worshipping family. We have great initiatives already underway here. But there are opportunities in our church reordering plans that can help us ensure that the young are personally affirmed and given appropriate space within as well as beyond the church.

Individuals whose mobility is restricted should not be confronted by a restrictive worshipping or cultural and social environment. Again, necessary re-ordering will need to dispense with obstacles whether it be to receiving Holy Communion or moving between different locations.

Visitors to church throughout the week deserve a welcoming, comfortable and well resourced reception area that enhances their encounter with God and helps the riches of the building speak. Careful thought will be given to the north transept area which is our physical link to the main thoroughfare.

Worshippers at the occasional offices like weddings, funerals and special services can learn a great deal more about the Christian faith when important features, like a baptistry, chapels and altars and iconic pieces of art can be interpreted by the imaginative use of light and well-proportioned liturgical space. Such an approach can turn ‘occasional’ into ‘regular’ particularly when applied to candidates for Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion.

Amid the anxiety provoked by shortage of funds we need to plan investment in a way that reflects the adage that people are ‘caught not taught’ and to pay especial attention to the gospel imperative that bids us look first at the needs of the stranger, the lonely and those on the edge.

Place:

The advantageous central location of our unique building and its adjacency to other amenities demands that it serves both the spiritual and social needs of our community. The present Anglican Christian community is grateful that the cruciform shape of St. Faith’s can present the Parish Eucharist dramatically and powerfully in the main body of the church. This form and order connects us with the earliest Christian communities whilst at the same time we can continue elsewhere to accommodate the later seventeenth century forms cherished by some.

Church Naves have traditionally supported those events which bring the whole community into the body of the church for social and cultural as well as religious reasons. The elegant proportions of our own nave, when divested of modern accretions like pews and west end fonts, can once more provide a frequently used place for appropriate activities.

There are potentially four suitable locations for a Baptistry which more correctly and obviously links the two dominical sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.

 Our Chancel represents the most ancient ‘room’ in the building and is presently woefully underused. By restoring its altar to the east end it can expand its use as a weekday chapel and remain a focus for ‘the big occasion’ when our recognition of God’s transcendence needs reinforcing.

The body of Christ was nailed to the centre of the cross. The altar where this ‘once for all sacrifice’ was made belongs at the centre of our building in a setting designed to reflect the majesty of the Crossing as an architectural feature.  But we need to achieve the correct proportions of space and elevation not only of the sanctuary itself but of the approaches to it where people need ease of access whether as president, server, chorister, sidesperson or – most importantly – communicant. We need to give greater consideration to this. Detailed attention to this will afford us not only a beautiful sanctuary that can complement other restored areas but it will also enable us to raise our profile still further in respect of the performing arts especially if we can afford to retain our fine pipe organ as a feature of both our worship and as an attraction to any visiting orchestra or group.

Last January’s quinquennial survey identified some £70,000 that must be spent in the near future just to preserve the building as it is. It is only common sense that such necessary repair to our fabric should form the platform on which to realise a tasteful restoration and reordering scheme for the existing building that can derive full advantage from those works. It will enable us to achieve at least some of those things envisaged as attainable under the previous ambitious new build plans. We cannot permit the deferment of the latter to retard our spiritual and numerical growth.

I offer these personal and professional initial assessments of ‘people’ and ‘place’ as pointers for your consideration, reflection and further questioning as a preparatory step before the PCC meets to discuss this approach to the options we have available to us in what are now very changed circumstances.

Please commit this work and all who are most immediately involved in it to prayer.

Peter Jones, Rector

Fourth Sunday after Trinity 2009