ONE BODY, ONE SPIRIT 

Some of us have, over the last few months, been learning in the Pastoral Training Course together with 12 members of another local Anglican church. This is the second time that we have run the course here at Christ Church and it has been amazing seeing people from two different churches sharing experiences in this cohort. New friendships made and a common purpose – to release gifts into our churches for caring for others.

In yesterday’s session we concluded by reflecting on how good it had been to share in this way. Members of the other church expressed surprise that the course had ben offered to all in the Deanery but only they had taken up the offer. “Wax lyrical about it to others at Deanery and we might get some more on the third cohort” was my reply!

It might be worth a little diversion here, because I may have lost you at “Deanery”. The Church of England is broken down geographically like this – Diocese – which has a Diocesan Bishop (Southwark) ; Area – which will have a Suffragen/Area Bishop (Croydon) ; Archdeaconry – which will have an Archdeacon (Croydon – confusingly!) ; Deanery – which has an Area Dean (Croydon South) ; Parish (Purley – Christ Church)….and don’t get me started on benefices, peculiars and chapels of ease!

Our Deanery includes the Church of England parishes in Purley, Kenley, Coulsdon and Sanderstead. We have close links with Emmanuel South Croydon but they are not in our Deanery and so this is an informal arrangement based on relationship. There is no legally defined link other than being in the same Area and Archdeaconry.

Ecumenical links – with churches of other denominations – are differently delineated with Churches Together existing separately in Purley and Kenley, Coulsdon and Sanderstead. And Croydon Churches Forum umbrellas the whole lot!

It means that a church leader in 2019, as I was when I came to Christ Church, could be invited to attend Diocesan meetings, Area meetings, Deanery Chapter (clergy) and Synod (all representatives) , Churches together meetings (different area and agenda) and Croydon Forum breakfasts , on top of which any meetings related to other networks – for me it was New Wine.

By saying yes to all of those,  already full diaries can become fuller still.

And then came Covid 19, lockdown and all that this brought with it.

Meetings then had to grab attention , feel worthwhile attending , and serve a purpose, for people to attend.

And many stopped attending, finding that they did not hold attention, did not feel worthwhile or serve a purpose.

The result is that Churches Together, here and in many places, effectively stopped meeting. Chapter is sparsely attended once every two months. The New Wine Network meetings that met at Christ Church for over 15 years have ceased.

And yet, in the words of St Paul:

⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)

And in the words of Jesus as he prayed on the night before he died:

²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23)

There is much talk of Christian unity in the Church and dismay that these historic structures are not working as they once did. But there is great fruit, if only we would seek it out. Jesus once said that sometimes a plant needs to die to produce fruit through the seeds, and while he was speaking of his own death and resurrection, the analogy might apply here too.

Jesus tellingly prayed “that they may be one as we are one”. Jesus and his Father are perfectly in step in mind and spirit. They are the sweetspot of truth and purpose. And so, that is our model.

The new fruit is, in my experience, born of bilateral arrangements between churches of like mind and purpose. Here are some examples that Christ Church has been involved with recently:

• Joint services with Grace Vineyard and Alive City Church
• Youth Worship Night with Alive City and Purley Baptist Church
• Christianity Explored with Alive City Church
• Pastoral Training course with All Saints Sanderstead
• Street Evangelism with Purley Baptist Church and Grace Vineyard
• WOW Party, Carrotty Wood etc with Purley Baptist Church
• Witness course with Emmanuel Croydon

Even the New Wine Network model is changing towards Learning Communities where regional Leaders Events are taking place and structured materials provided so that churches in the local area can come together to learn and grow together. A refocused purposeful event.

Fellowship and prayer together is important but it seems that in the current climate of church Leadership , it is not enough to bring leaders together. But focused , purposeful , enriching and missional collegiality is bringing churches together to bear fruit.

It was announced this week that I have been appointed Area Dean for Croydon South from February 2026. That means chairing the Deanery Synod, convening the Chapter meetings of clergy, and having certain responsibilities for annual inspection of parishes and overseeing parishes in vacancy.

The question for any regular meeting in the church these days is “what would make this meeting un-missable?”.

I hope that we can continue to find the ways to make the meetings we do have unmissable for as many as possible in the future. The task is too important and the time too precious to do otherwise.

Pray for me, that by God’s grace, this can become more of a reality in meetings I attend and those we arrange.

In Jesus name we pray.

Amen.
 
Doug
 
 WORSHIP AND POWER