- prayer: listening to the Holy Spirit, meditating over Scripture and listening to what God is saying to others
- eating together: sharing in hospitality
- studying: drawing closer to Jesus through studying, and challenging each other.
- Clergy and lay leaders from Cowes, Northwood and Gurnard
- Clergy and lay leaders from Ventnor, Wroxall and Shanklin
- Clergy and lay leaders from Newport, East Cowes, Whippingham and Wootton
- Clergy and lay leaders from the Meon Valley parishes
- Clergy and lay leaders from the Western Wards, Fareham (read more about them here)
- The Petersfield deanery chapter
- Deacons from the Havant Deanery
- Clergy and lay leaders from South Central Portsmouth (Cathedral, St Mary’s Fratton, Harbour Church, St Luke’s Southsea, Holy Spirit Southsea and Church of the Ascension, North End)
- Clergy and lay leaders from Havant (Hayling Island, St Faith’s, Bedhampton, Leigh Park and Warren Park)
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8 January 2025
Cairns launched with clergy and lay leaders
Bishop Jonathan and senior staff gathered together clergy and lay leaders from some of the ... read more
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6 January 2025
New Lead for Revive will support clergy and lay leaders
The Rev Neil Smart has been appointed as our diocese’s new Lead for Revive. This ... read more
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2 November 2024
Major investment will help diocese to rejuvenate
The national Church of England has endorsed our diocese’s strategic plans for the next five ... read more
Cairns launched with clergy and lay leaders
ONE of the key parts of our vision and strategy was launched with clergy and lay leaders from across our diocese.
We showcased the idea of ‘Cairns’ – small groups that meet to eat, pray and study together – with an initial get-together over tea and cake at Harbour Church in Portsmouth. Bishop Jonathan and other senior diocesan leaders outlined the idea before inviting those present to participate.
It’s a key part of the Revive strand of our diocesan strategy, which aims to offer our clergy and lay leaders the support, inspiration and resources they need to maintain a close relationship with God and to thrive in their roles.
All of the clergy and lay leaders invited to the event, which took place at St George’s Church in Portsea, had signed up to be part of the nine ‘Pilot Cairns’, which are trialling this method of working collaboratively.
The Archdeacon of the Isle of Wight, the Ven Steve Daughtery, began by explaining our diocese’s overall vision and strategy. He explained how we are seeking to become a rejuvenating community of Kingdom-seeking, Jesus-centred disciples, and that our strategy was an invitation to parishes to join in. The ‘Revive’ strand is a call to prayer and discipleship for all of us, so that we can be continually refreshed by the Spirit.
Bishop Jonathan then outlined what a Cairn is. He said it would be a mistake to regard the Christian faith as an individual project, as our faith is actually shaped by the discipline of working in community with other Christians. He suggested that Cairns of five to 10 people across the diocese could create a regular space for people to listen to the Holy Spirit and minister to each other. This could be achieved by:
In some churches, these groups are already called cells, home groups, life groups or Bible study groups. But the principles are usually similar. These could be created within all our congregations, and also between clergy and lay leaders from different churches, choosing to work collaboratively. In some cases, such as the Western Wards of Fareham, this has been happening already.
Steve Daughtery then outlined how ‘Pilot Cairns’ would be part of this network of Cairns. These nine Pilot Cairns, three in each Archdeaconry, would each bring together between five and 12 clergy and lay leaders, each of which would work to a specific programme, testing out a way of working and giving feedback on the difference it makes to their spiritual and working lives.
They would be asked to meet monthly over a meal, to use study materials such as Divine Renovation, to read specific books, and to come up with a mission action plan at the end of that first 12-month period. The idea is that each of these mission plans can be funded by £50,000 of strategic funding.
He said: “The diocesan strategy and this funding is designed to support and liberate you to do the mission that you need to do, the mission that the Holy Spirit is guiding you to. We then hope to share what you've learnt with others.”
The nine Pilot Cairn areas are:
Isle of Wight:
Bishop’s Waltham, Fareham, Gosport and Petersfield:
Havant and Portsmouth:
The session ended with some words of wisdom from some of those clergy who have already been meeting together. The Rev Mike Terry, joint vicar of Hook-with-Warsash, has been part of the Western Wards group of clergy and lay leaders for many years. He emphasised the importance of building relationships, and that independent parishes could become inter-dependent.
The Rev Annie McCabe, vicar of St Luke’s, Southsea, spoke about the different styles of church in her very diverse Cairn in the centre of Portsmouth. And the Rev Chris Bradish, team rector for Newport, Carisbrooke and Gatcombe, said the crucial factor would be trust in each other.
Andrew then introduced our diocese’s newly-appointed Lead for Revive, the Rev Neil Smart, who will be in charge of this strand of our strategy from March. His role will include supporting clergy and lay leaders with training, spiritual direction and wellbeing.