All Saints' Church, NottinghamUnification with All Saints'
what's going on?

7th December 2002

It's finally happened! On Saturday 7th December the parishes of All Saints and St Peter with St James in Nottingham were formally united. The new parish was launched by a special service of celebration in both churches. The first part of the Communion service was held at St Peter's Church in the morning, including a sermon given by the Revd Paul Watts, formerly Vicar of All Saints. The congregation then processed to the site of St James' Church on Standard Hill for the intercession. The journey then continued along the Ropewalk, past Canning Circus, and down Alfreton Road and Raleigh Street to All Saints' Church. After lunch in the All Saints' Institute, the final part of the Communion service was held at All Saints' Church, during which Canon Andrew Deuchar was induced into the benefice of St Peter and All Saints, Nottingham by Alan, Bishop of Sherwood.

14 July 2002

The last news bulletin regarding the future direction of All Saints' and St Peter's was published in October 2001. With the departure of Gilly Myers to Durham Cathedral, this bulletin has been written to keep members of All Saints' and St Peter's up to date with developments.

What has happened since October?

  • The last bulletin outlined the progress of the plans to unite the Nottingham parishes of St Peter's and All Saints'. At that point both PCCs had agreed to pursue the possibility officially.
  • The Draft Pastoral Scheme was drawn up. It proposed a unification of parishes and a tidying up of some of the parish boundaries.
  • All 'interested parties' were consulted over the scheme (eg PCCs, Patrons, Officers of the Deanery Synod, Nottingham Archdeaconry Pastoral Committee, neighbouring parishes - where boundaries are under discussion).
  • Responses were gathered, and the scheme was amended, where necessary.
  • The scheme was then sent to the Church Commissioners - at some point around the end of May 2002 - and we are awaiting the second round of consultation [which has just begun - 30/07/02]. This will take 28 days.
  • Both PCCs will have the opportunity to comment again, if there are changes in the draft scheme; but St Peter's PCC has given provisional approval in the anticipation that there will be none. This will ensure no further hold-up.

What's left to do after that?

  • Approval by HM Privy Council in October.
  • Formal unification to take effect on 1st November.

In the meantime...

  • The PCC representatives from both parishes have continued to meet regularly to think about some of the issues that will be raised in the united parish. This group has been meeting for a year, and has just had its final meeting, since much of the work is being handed on...
  • Various committees from the two parishes will begin to work more closely together e.g. the Standing Committees, the Finance Committees and the 'ministry team'.

Now that Gilly has left, how will the interregnum at All Saints' be handled?

  • The interregnum is not going to feel like an interregnum at all.
  • Andrew Deuchar has been given permission to give pastoral oversight to All Saints' in advance of unification.
  • St Peter's Office will become the point of reference for enquires and other contact.
  • Further joint ventures between the two churches are being planned.

The longer-term implications of unification remain the same as in the last bulletin:

  • one, larger, parish, instead of the two distinct parishes - with a new name: Nottingham, St Peter and All Saints;
  • a combined electoral roll;
  • one PCC in due course;
  • Services continuing in both churches.

Specific details regarding wardens, mission, ministry and administration in the united parish, and the use of buildings on the All Saints' site will be determined more locally. These issues are among those currently being addressed by the various committees.

Don't be afraid to continue to ask questions

Members of the Standing Committees will be willing to discuss any issues of concern.
All Saints' members are: Mark Simons, Alan Wild, Arthur Bennett and Diane Mason; and
St Peter's members are: Jane Moore, Keith Charter, Peter Hoare, Hilary Evans and Richard Medford.

Don't forget to pray

We are all seeking God's purpose for us as Christ's Church in the centre of Nottingham. Pray for the city, and pray also for vision and courage as we look to the future in his will.

Gilly Myers

June 2002

All those who attended the Annual Parish Meeting will, I hope, have a clearer idea of the issues which lie behind the decision to bring our two parishes together. They relate both to offering support to All Saints’ at a difficult time, but also to broadening the understanding of mission and ministry in both our parishes.

The legal situation

In order to unite two parishes, the proposal has to go to the Privy Council. You might think it unlikely that the Queen would be too worried about our situation, but this is one of the consequences of our being the Established Church. Before it reaches the Council there are two periods of consultation, the first initiated by the Diocese, which was conducted during April, and one by the Church Commissioners which should be under way at the moment. Unfortunately this consultation process has taken longer than we expected (and were promised) so it now seems likely that it will not be complete until the autumn.

Ministry

It has always been recognised that, as part of the process, we would lose Gilly Myers, Priest-in-Charge of All Saints’. She was, in any case, on a two year contract which ends on 31 October. However, as we now know, she has been appointed to a new ministry at Durham Cathedral - and we offer her our warm congratulations on that appointment - and she will be leaving All Saints’ from mid-July. Technically this means that All Saints’ will enter an interregnum and in normal circumstances would be seeking cover for their services from around the Deanery (and given the strength of our ministry team, we would almost certainly be helping with that). However, it would, I think, be churlish of us not to recognise that the process of unification is well under way, and we should therefore take responsibility for the parish (with the All Saints’ congregation, of course) following Gilly’s departure. This means that I in particular, but all members of the team as well, will be leading their morning service on a much more regular basis than in the past.

Structures

The joint working group continues to meet to discuss the tasks which need to be done, but decisions lie with both PCCs. This could be complicated if the PCCs come to different conclusions. Once the legal process is complete, the PCCs will amalgamate which will simplify things considerably. During the interregnum the All Saints’ PCC would normally meet under the chairmanship of the Vice Chair. That may still happen, but I will attend their meetings to try to ensure some sort of continuity between the two. It will be necessary to review the committee structure of both parishes - something I have wanted to do at St Peter’s anyway - and in due course the PCC will be asked to make some decisions on these matters. For the time being, the Finance Committee has suggested that representatives of All Saints’ should join our September meeting.

Care of All Saints’

Quite naturally, there is a level of anxiety about the care of buildings on the All Saints’ site, and the associated costs. I am delighted that a verger has now been appointed to assist the congregation with looking after the church. Philip Jarvis started work on the Feast of Pentecost, and he will become a familiar sight at St Peter’s as well, as he takes over verging duties from David Stainsby on Mondays and Tuesdays.

For the time being the Vicarage is under the care of the Diocese, although this will change in due course. John Perkins House (the other half of the Vicarage, currently occupied by two tenants) will be vacated in September, so that necessary repair and redecoration can be done. It will then, we hope, be available from the beginning of 2003 for new tenants, and in due course for part of a new ministry team.

The All Saints’ Institute (formerly the school), occupied by a Community Care project and by a number of small ‘start-up’ businesses will, we hope, be sold in due course to ‘New Deal for Communities’. It is currently in the ownership of the Diocesan Board of Education.

In due course it will be important to hold a service to celebrate our new life together. I hope we can do this later this year, perhaps around the Feast of All Saints’, and that we can do it imaginatively, including for instance a ‘beating of the bounds’ of the new parish, and a celebration to include churches of other traditions that are within the boundaries.

Can I just add that if you have any questions or anxieties about the process, please do ask the clergy or churchwardens. We may not be able to answer the question, but we will certainly do our level best!

Andrew Deuchar

October 2001

Back in May 2001, a bulletin was written to inform members of All Saints' outlining the background and rationale behind the impending experimentation with St Peter's, Nottingham during the autumn. Much water has gone under the bridge since then, and this bulletin has been written for members of both All Saints' and St Peter's congregations in order to let them know what has been happening in the meantime and to keep them up to date with the developments.

What has happened since May?
  • Members of the All Saints' PCC joined members of St Peter's PCC on their PCC away-day, and began to discuss issues of mutual interest.
  • Both PCCs met independently in July and agreed to investigate the possibility of uniting the parishes.
  • Five representatives from each PCC plus Eileen McLean (in her capacity as Area Dean) began to meet in August order to explore the possibility of uniting: the advantages, opportunities, drawbacks, questions. This group has met three times and will continue to meet regularly.
  • The parishes began to plan a few joint events (an All Saints' picnic and a Harvest Supper, for example); they began to swap around their clergy and readers; All Saints' began to join St Peter's for Sunday evening services in September.
An important milestone

On 9 October, both PCCs met again (independently), and each decided to take the first step towards officially uniting the two parishes. Essentially, this involves asking Stephen Langford, the Diocesan Assistant Secretary (pastoral) to draw up a 'Draft Pastoral Measure'.

What will happen next?

Inevitably, there are several important stages in the process of uniting two parishes, and the whole procedure is enveloped by consultation. The process is summarised below.

  • A Draft Pastoral Measure is drawn up.
  • Informal consultation with all 'interested parties' eg PCCs, Patrons, Officers of the Deanery Synod, Nottingham Archdeaconry Pastoral Committee, neighbouring parishes (where boundaries are under discussion - see below).
  • If the Draft Pastoral Measure is endorsed, it will be sent to the Church Commissioners.
  • The Church Commissioners re-issue the proposals and send them round the interested parties, yet again, for further consultation.
  • If all goes well, the measure goes to HM Privy Council for endorsement.
How long will this all take?

We have been advised by the Archdeacon of Nottingham that, if all goes smoothly, it is not impossible to envisage a united parish by Easter 2002. However, this is an optimistic view, and hiccoughs along the way may well lengthen the process.

Who are the parish representatives from each church? How can I have a say?

All Saints'

St Peter's

Gilly Myers
Arthur Bennett
Andrew Cairns
Diane Mason
Clarence Rickards

Andrew Deuchar
Keith Charter
Alison Maddocks
Jane Moore
Ann Parker
Andrew Wallis

Please ask these people to express your views, or speak to any member of your PCC (there will be a joint meeting of both PCCs on 27 November). There should also be opportunity to make written representation (positive and negative) at the more general consultation stage to the Church Commissioners' Pastoral Committee.

What are the implications of being a united parish?

Many of the implications are for us to work out for ourselves. However, the obvious changes will be that there will be:

  • one, larger, parish, instead of the two distinct parishes - with a new name (probably something like: St Peter and All Saints with St James);
  • a combined electoral roll (due to be revised next year, in any case);
  • one PCC - the normal rules will apply regarding elections and eligibility to stand (PCCs also have the power to co-opt, should it be necessary to retain a balance between the All Saints' and St Peter's congregations);
  • Services continuing in both churches.

Specific details regarding wardens, mission, ministry and administration in the united parish, and the use of buildings on the All Saints' site are not required to be part of the Pastoral Measure, and will be determined more locally. These issues are among those being addressed by the PCC representatives in their continuing meetings.

Changing boundaries

Within the larger view of the deanery, both All Saints' and St Peter's have some fairly long-standing questions regarding the sense of some of our parish boundaries. It makes sense to use the same pastoral measure to address both uniting the parishes and the boundaries, rather than to go through this whole process again at a later date just for the sake of the boundaries.

Don't be afraid to ask questions

The parish reps are listed above, and they will be willing to discuss any issues of concern.

Don't forget to pray

We are all seeking God's purpose for us as Christ's Church in the centre of Nottingham. Pray for the city, and pray also for vision and courage as we look to the future in his will.

Andrew Deuchar & Gilly Myers


http://www.stpetersnottingham.org/allsaints/bulletin.html
© St Peter's Church, Nottingham
Last revised 15th December 2002