Gateshead Deanery 'Plan on a page'
We believe Gateshead Deanery is called to:
share a common life for the encouragement of all God’s people; share resources for the building of God’s kingdom; share God’s love for the transformation of the community.
To this end our prayer is:
Loving God, bless your church in Gateshead, that together we may be a blessing to all. Enable us to catch your vision, express your love, and share in your mission, that each community may flourish. Amen.
We believe we are called to work across boundaries to develop our common life together and establish a truly united Christian community. Having our different traditions and practices working as one allows us to experience new and fruitful worship, and offer all in this community a variety of means to access God.
We celebrate the many initiatives that are already happening within the Deanery. These include cross-parish, Deanery and ecumenical working. Some of these are mentioned in the Full Deanery Plan. Clergy already established in the Deanery are very much involved and responsible for the success of such initiatives. We will encourage and support those newly-appointed to engage where they feel called to. We hope to work with the Resource Church to identify and mutually-agree appropriate church planting in 2020/1. We are committed to enabling the laity and will endeavour to offer accessible opportunities for development and growth, encouraging vocations and offering placement opportunities.
Our ultimate goal is to develop a single locality in Gateshead by working together in sharing all that we have and all that we can be with enthusiasm and joy. We aim to work collaboratively so that each community may come to know the depth of God’s generous love for them and become a means of mutual blessing to one another.
Allocation of stipendiary clergy:
4.5 stipends serving:
The Parish of Bensham and Teams
St Helen, Gateshead
St George, Gateshead (Resource Church)
St James and St Bede, and St Edmund, Gateshead
St Andrew, Lamesley
St Ninan, Harlow Green
3 stipends serving:
St John, Gateshead Fell
St Alban, Windy Nook
Christ Church, Felling
St Mary, Heworth
St Andrew, Leam Lane
St Thomas, Eighton Banks
The Deanery is blessed with the support of self-supporting ministers (six, and one 'house for duty'), five retired priests, readers (seven, plus two in training), and five authorised pastoral assistants; all of whom make a valued contribution to ministry and mission.
We have identified specific areas of need within the Deanery in keeping with and in addition to Diocesan Priorities:
1. Children and Young People.
2. Poverty initiatives and issues with an emphasis on mental health.
3. Growth, including development of estates ministry and church planting, and with a recognition of working with Asylum seekers and refugees.
4. Elderly and infirm, including dementia.
This would involve working across all parishes in the deanery to develop the ministry of all people in these areas and develop people's understanding and learning. We believe this will bring laity and ordained together serving the whole community and better use the gifts we have received through grace. Identifying a lead from each grouping for Diocesan priorities means that those leading have a supportive colleague to work with.