I am always impressed by the way that Deanery Synods look to learn from each other, to support each other and think about what they can do together which wouldn’t be possible on their own.
Lothingland Deanery Synod had a lively and engaging meeting of over 50 people in July, which reminds us all the worth of Synod meetings.
There was an excellent mix of inputs. We started with cheese and wine as a way of getting to know each other. It was an open meeting so people came from all of the churches in the Deanery which made the sense of welcome and friendship even more important. There was a fun quiz about which Saint’s name goes with which parish church and nobody (including the Rural Dean) scored full marks. Synod then planned a Saints’ Trail in October which would be held across the Deanery and invite the community to come into church buildings and hear about the lives of a holy person.
The Guest Speaker was Richard Lamey, the Director of Mission and Ministry, who introduced himself and then described the strategy process the Diocese is following. He drew out the four key elements and urged everyone to send in their ideas for what the strategy should contain.
He led an interesting discussion on what is working well in each Church, whether the four key elements resonated with people and then opened up the meeting to questions. It was a rich and wide-ranging conversation, covering such things as how to make young people welcome in church, whether our lay leaders are being supported and treasured enough, what styles of worship are available and the impact of parish share on how parishes support each other.
Afterwards, Richard said: “It was a real encouragement to be invited along to a Deanery Synod which was clearly enjoying being together and enjoyed having fun together. I have come away with some new ideas and some new questions to think about, and I hope that many more conversations in the Deanery will have been inspired by what we were all part of together at Pakefield Church. Every Synod I have been to has been keen to think about new ways of being Church and new ways of engaging with their community and that bodes very well for the future of the Church in Waveney and Norfolk.”