| 1a. | Support traditional church |
| 1a. | Support traditional church |
| 2c. | Deepening prayer life |
| 2c. | Deepening prayer life |
| 4a. | Presence in every community |
| 4a. | Presence in every community |
The idea of a partnership between Brent and Hampton Deanery originated from a lunchtime meeting between Phil Stone (Area Dean of Brent) and Andrew Watson (Area Dean of Hampton) at the ‘Slug and Lettuce’ in Richmond! Phil had had previous experience of a partnership arrangement with a church in Abingdon; while Andrew had watched the development of a fruitful link between St. Stephen’s and a Baptist church in Eastern Ukraine.
In both cases it was felt that the links had been highly beneficial for the churches involved, and that there had been no element of being patronised on either side. It wasn’t so much a question of ‘we learnt so much more from you than you did from us’. It was more the dynamic of Psalm 133: that where brothers and sisters dwell together in unity ‘there the Lord bestows his blessing’.
‘London Challenge’ and ‘Time for Decision’ had rightly challenged us to reaffirm our commitment to one another across the Diocese; and the time seemed ripe to develop imaginative partnerships between contrasting parishes and deaneries. In the event four parishes in each deanery expressed interest in the scheme – and of those, three partnerships have now been established.
St. Stephen’s link with St. James’ Alperton began in January 2006 - so these remain very early days. But thus far the blessings on both sides have been clear and tangible. As John Root (vicar of St. James’) puts it: ‘The point I would want to stress is that the link can help challenge both of us: I want St James to get more of a taste of how vision, prayer & giving can enable a church to grow in God's service, including enlarging the staff; just as I think the mission challenges in Alperton can bless St Stephen’s’.
Among the various events over the past year (and looking towards 2007), the following stand out:
PRAYER: Teams from both Alperton and Twickenham have attended and contributed to prayer events at their partner churches. In addition the needs of the partner churches have regularly been brought into Sunday intercessions.
TEACHING: A team from Alperton preached and gave testimonies to a packed St. Stephen’s Evening Service in November 2006. The theme was ‘proclaiming Christ in a multi-faith society’, and the visit was hugely appreciated. A team from St. Stephen’s will be teaching at Alperton in February 2007.
ORDINANDS: A group of 9 potential ordinands from St. Stephen’s was given a royal welcome in Alperton, where they met some of the key leaders of the English, Urdu and Tamil congregations, then attended the church’s five services the following Sunday. This was a tremendous addition to the programme of a ‘potential ordinands’ course which I led in 2005-6.
RESOURCES: St. James’ have now used the St. Stephen’s CrossWay Hall on three occasions for parish days and PCC Days Away. Half of St. Stephen’s Christmas Giving in 2006 (which totalled around £5000) has been given to St. James’. We are currently investigating whether St. James’ could also be involved in our current Intern Scheme, run in partnership with the Norwegian Missionary Society.
JOINT MISSION: As yet we have not engaged in joint mission: but there is a chance that the churches will collaborate in response to an invitation from Bradford Diocese to help provide workers for the Mela (a huge Asian festival, which is generally dominated by Muslims and Hindus and Sikhs).
TRAINING AND MENTORING: John has asked whether St. Stephen’s might offer some mentors for those who will shortly be undertaking a lay leadership course at St. James’. We have also been invited to help with prayer ministry training, and to participate in a St. James’ weekend away in October 2007.
CRICKET: … and finally a Cricket match is being arranged between the churches in July 2007. The glint in the eye of members of the Tamil congregation who made the suggestion makes me fear that this might be a distinctly one-sided contest!
Thus far the link has therefore been life-giving and positive, without requiring huge resources of time and energy. Whether or not this link might have wider diocesan significance may be for others to discern.
Andrew Watson, John Root, January 2007
