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.