Circuit Staffing Update

Circuit Staffing Update

The Derbyshire North East Circuit currently comprises 14 churches serving communities in and around the historic towns of Chesterfield and Bolsover, close to the spectacular Peak District National Park and within easy reach of the City of Sheffield. In recent years, we have wrestled with the decline in both our denomination and our local congregations. Financially, we recognised that sustaining a Circuit Team of five presbyters, supported by key lay employees and volunteers, was no longer viable and so took the decision to reduce the team to three ordained presbyters from September 2024.

Following the Stationing review last year, we faced the situation of losing three ordained staff but were unable to bring in the third presbyter to meet our Circuit Mission Plan. The Spring Circuit Meeting of 2024 agreed to employ a Local Lay Pastor to pick up some of the work planned for that third resource, whilst also agreeing to employ one of our Supernumerary ministers as Pastor at Bolsover on a part-time basis. At the same time, the Circuit Office was being expanded to include a part-time Office Manager to help with the day-to-day finance and property management. Therefore we started the current Methodist year with two ordained presbyters and one Supernumerary minister, two full-time and one part-time Lay Pastors, three part-time Circuit Office staff, and a pastoral worker, operating at 0.3 full-time equivalent.

Over the course of the past eight months, much of our staffing picture has developed. Our two part-time Circuit Administrators have both left, but we are delighted to confirm the full-time appointment of Kelly Gibbons as Circuit Administrator. Kelly will work alongside Alex Bradley who has, with Circuit Meeting approval, now increased his hours to full-time. Therefore, we now have two full-time Office staff to support the ministry team.

The Circuit Invitation Committee also made their recommendation to postpone our re-entry to Stationing for a third presbyter until 2026, with the view to having someone in post for September 2027. This was agreed by the meeting, where Bradley Goddon-Smith's contract as Local Lay Pastor was extended until August 2027. That summer will also see changes with regards our funding for the New People New Places project and the stationing of our current NPNP Pioneer, Jonathan Hood, to his probation post as a presbyter. However, another decision made by Circuit Meeting was to consider increasing Tom Surgay's hours, possibly from from September 2025. Moving into a more defined Local Lay Pastor role will ensure Tom's development keeps pace with his own presbyteral studies as he hopefully joins the ranks of Queen's students in 2026. Tom is candidating with a local context, and will be offered a probationer's post with Derbyshire North-East in September 2029, pending successful completion of his training.

Therefore, subject to Circuit Meeting approval in June, we hope to enter the 2025-26 Methodist year with a staff team of two ordained presbyters, a Supernumerary minister, three full-time Local Lay Pastors, two full-time Circuit Office staff, and a pastoral worker.