The Muddy Boots Rural Mission area covers 26 churches and 156 square miles in the West of our Diocese. The area has a number of ministers and three stipendiary incumbents – Sallie Butcher, Julia Curtis and David Morris, who work closely together to support each other.
The three stipendiary clergy make it a priority to meet together in person once a month. This means each knows what is happening across the whole area, enables them to support each other and provides a safe space where they can discuss anything which might be troubling them.
David said: “The meetings rotate around each of our homes, and we don’t have any agenda, but talk about whatever is on our minds. Being parish clergy, particularly in a rural setting, can be isolating and lonely and meeting together helps overcome that. It’s a different dynamic to Chapter and we can be completely open and honest with each other. By understanding what’s happening in both our work and wider lives, we know when we need to step in and support each other.”
Sallie added: “I am grateful for the support of other local clergy and lay colleagues, but there are certain things that only fall to incumbents, and it is useful to be able to share the weight of our role. Sometimes one of the other two can offer practical support and on other occasions, it’s just a safe space to vent about a particular issue!”
Salle’s husband was recently unwell. She managed to cover all her services in the end, but due to the way the three ministers work together, she knew that the others were looking out for her and were willing to step in to help if necessary.
“We’re able to offer each other both emotional and practical support,” said David. “People sometimes book weddings on the same day at the same time in different churches and together we’re able to cover them all. We can also cover funerals across the whole mission area rather than just in our own churches.”
As Sallie has lived in the area for much longer than the other two, she will often know parishioners right across the patch and will get calls even if it’s not regarding her own churches.
“People will often say, I know you’re not the vicar, but can I just talk to you…” She explains. “If we all know what’s happening across the whole mission area, it makes it much easier. We talk about being one Church, but can sometimes be quite parochial, which can give a confusing message to people. It’s great that we actually talk to each other and if a person has spoken to one of us, they know they’re speaking to all of us.”
Sallie, Julia and David began working in this way before David had even moved to the area. The monthly meetings are very intentionally arranged and are a valued date in the diary with all three making sure they make time for them. They have also started working together on other things – wedding preparation now takes places jointly with all those who have booked to get married in any of the churches meeting together for a two-hour Saturday session with short films, tasks for the couple to complete, a run through the service and a practical explanation of the legal documents.
“Those who come have said how much they value it and enjoy meeting both other couples and the clergy,” said Sallie. “It’s designed to be an ice breaker and people definitely leave with a different impression of what church is like!”
A Lent course has also been run across the whole mission area with five different sessions available on different days and times, including some online sessions.
David said: “If we weren’t working together in this way, we wouldn’t be able to offer such a breadth of sessions. If people can’t make the session they’ve been attending one week, then they’ll pop into a different one. It is helping people to get to know each other across our whole area.”
Looking to the future the team are also hoping that the summer children’s activities will be open to the whole area and are exploring how they can work better together to reach more families.
Julia reflects: “A key benefit of committing to work together across our rural area is that we can share gifts and our passion for rural ministry. Together we are able to offer an exciting training ground for others who have a similar enthusiasm, and we are delighted that in this summer we will welcome a stipendiary curate. He will be based with David, but Sallie and I will both have a role in this training. This is something that would not have been possible if we were not working in partnership and offers exciting opportunities for the years ahead”
