Who Does What?

The little stacks of paper - not as high or as colourful as this - spread over my dining room table, then the chairs, and finally the floor. There had to be a lot of them, as each represented a member of the congregation and the jobs they do, or did before covid put paid to so much of our church life. Some people have a stack that is only one sheet of paper high; others have gathered reams of roles. I am reaching the end of a big project of writing role descriptions for everything that everyone does. To be entirely frank, I probably wouldn't have even begun had not incoming churchwarden Grant expressed some irritation with verger Rick's habit of taking responsibility for things when he has not been explicitly asked to: you could describe this as initiative, but sometimes it goes beyond that and we agreed that what he needed was something that described what he is actually supposed to be doing. However, if the verger is to have a job description, everyone must, so Rick doesn't feel singled out.

In fact the diocese has been nagging at us incumbents to do this for some time, if only because it gives an opportunity to state which roles are subject to DBS clearance (or, as the Safeguarding Department insists on terming it, 'eligible for clearance' as though it was a privilege people looked forward to) and which aren't. It has been a colossal and bewildering exercise of drafting and consultation, and this final stage will involve writing a letter to everyone and getting the things to people (not everyone is online and I think in this case physical bits of paper will concentrate the mind). 

One ambiguity is that I don't really know how many of these beloved souls will actually want to resume their former roles once it becomes possible. For a liturgical, sacramentally-focused church, we now have perilously few people who are available to carry out liturgical functions; and then there's the practical but vital stuff, such as serving the post-service refreshments that enable people to get to know one another, the most basic step in building up the Body of Christ as any kind of community. I am starting to see how the pandemic has cut us down to the roots. I would like this to be like coppicing a tree, an operation that enables it to spring back into life and new growth - but I am far from sure!