Diocesan Mission & Pastoral Committee

Diocesan Mission & Pastoral Committee

The Diocesan Mission & Pastoral Committee (DMPC) is a statutory committee established by the Dioceses, Pastoral & Mission Measure 2007. It replaced the established Diocesan Pastoral Committee at the beginning of 2009.

The DMPC is made up of the Bishop of Southwark (who chairs the Committee), the six archdeacons, the Chairs of the Diocesan Board of Finance and the Diocesan Advisory Committee, the Canon Missioner and two lay and one clergy member from each of the six Archdeaconry Mission & Pastoral Committees (AMPC) (see below).

The duties of the DMPC are laid down in section 53 of the Measure.

These may be summarised as follows: to review the arrangements for pastoral supervision and care in the diocese and to make recommendations to the Bishop. In practice this involves consideration, after consultation with the AMPCs, of suspension of presentations to a benefice, pastoral reorganisation (e.g. team and group ministries, union of benefices, creation of new benefices/parishes, changes in parish boundaries, redundancy of churches, etc.), local ecumenical projects, Bishop’s Mission Orders, etc. The DMPC can also be concerned with other matters of Diocesan policy and finance, e.g. deployment of clergy.

The Measure states that “in carrying out any of its functions the mission and pastoral committee shall …. have regard to worship, mission and community as central to the life and work of the Church of England.”

The DMPC is serviced by the Pastoral Department at the Diocesan Office and any questions relating to the procedures outlined above should be addressed that department or to the Diocesan Registry. Any proposals from parishes that fall within the area of ‘pastoral reorganisation’ should be discussed, in the first instance, with the archdeacon before consideration by the relevant AMPC and the DMPC.

List of suspended and restricted benefices

Archdeaconry Mission & Pastoral Committees

Archdeaconry Mission & Pastoral Committees (AMPCs) are sub-committees of the Diocesan Mission & Pastoral Committee. AMPCs are kept relatively small, most commonly one lay and one ordained member from each deanery.

The function of the AMPC is to consider matters before they come to the DMPC, and occasionally to other Diocesan committees, in considerably greater detail than would be possible at DMPC meetings, and make formal recommendations to the DMPC. They also monitor pastoral and legal matters within the archdeaconry, sometimes referring items to deanery (e.g. synod, standing committee) and archdeaconry (e.g. meetings of Area Deans) bodies.

The archdeacon is ex-officio chair of the AMPC. AMPCs have the power to co-opt, used most commonly where a Secretary is appointed who is not already a member, though occasionally for members of long experience of the committee but not re-elected by their Deanery Synod. Area Deans (and, in some cases, also Lay Chairs), if not members in their own right, are usually invited to attend and speak, but without voting rights, for items dealing with parishes within their deaneries. The archdeaconry ecumenical officer is also invited to attend the meetings, normally as a member.

As AMPC members gain experience in pastoral matters, they can become involved in useful discussion with representatives of parishes considering their future pastoral strategy (including possible redevelopment of land and buildings).

 

For further information or assistance, please contact Andrew Lane or Stephen Craven at the Diocesan Office.