Bishops' Mission Orders

The Dioceses, Pastoral and Mission Measure lays down the general principle that it is the duty of any person or body carrying out functions under the Measure or under the Pastoral Measure 1983 "to have due regard to the furtherance of the mission of the Church of England".

Mission means "the whole mission of the Church of England, pastoral, evangelistic, social and ecumenical."

These pages outline some of the possibilities under legislation to provide for "mission initiatives" and innovative and unusual types of pastoral reorganisation.

Part V of the Dioceses, Pastoral and Mission Measure 2007 deals with new bishops' mission orders which bishops can use to endorse and provide recognition and oversight for new forms of Church developing alongside traditional ones. The main provisions of Part V came into force on 31st March 2008. 

Code of Practice

The House of Bishops' Code of Practice on bishops' mission orders was approved by General Synod in February 2008 and can be downloaded by clicking here as a word document.  It includes the full text of Part V of the 2007 Measure.

Skeletons

A skeleton Bishop's Mission Order and Supplementary Instrument have been prepared in order to assist those making the Order and can be downloaded here. This is intended as a guide in framing the documentation; different arrangements can be made locally if the bishop agrees. These documents will be reviewed in the light of experience.

 

As other resources are developed, details of where to find them will appear on www.sharetheguide.org a new resource created by Fresh Expressions and Church Army in order to develop practical wisdom on planting and sustaining fresh expressions of church. It will also hold a developing list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

 

If you have a general enquiry or comments about these web pages please contact Fiona McKenzie.