Why reconfigure PCI’s ministry? Following debate and discussion at the last few General Assemblies, Deputy Clerk, Dr David Allen explains why ‘reconfiguration of ministry’ is such an important topic for PCI to grapple with.
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t’s happened with local branches of banks and post offices. It’s talked about with schools and hospitals. Is it going to happen now with Presbyterian churches? Restructuring, realignment, redeployment, reorganisation, rationalisation. Lots of words beginning with ‘r’ can be used. But whatever the word, it seems to boil down to the same thing – an organisation trying to cut costs and save money by having fewer of them, whether it’s banks, or post offices, or whatever. It might make financial or business sense, but many can be left feeling that the people who use them get a reduced service, with the most vulnerable in society being disadvantaged most. In the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the favoured word beginning with ‘r’ has been ‘reconfiguration’. ‘Reconfiguration of ministry’ is a phrase that’s been used a lot at the past few
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Herald December 2024/January 2025
General Assemblies. Some presbyteries have been talking about it already, and some kirk sessions and congregations have had to engage with it. The Assembly in June 2024 accepted a report that was the culmination of three years’ work and consultation across the Church. In doing so, it agreed that a process of reconfiguration of ministry should take place across the denomination. So, is this just the Church’s version of corporate speak, which really means closing churches and linking others so that money and ministers are saved, but ordinary members get a reduced service? Or is the Church different, and is there more to it?
PCI has lost about onefifth of its contributing families over the past 10 years…
Reconfiguration of ministry – why? Why does the Assembly believe it needs to do this? Is it really necessary? Could we not just carry on as we have been for many years, with the odd tweak here and there? There are a number of things about this that Herald readers will know to be true. There’s a shortage of ministers. Readers will know that by looking at the back pages of this magazine, and noticing that the list of vacant congregations has been getting longer and longer. By 2027, there will be more than 70 vacancies in PCI. That’s about one-fifth of all our charges. There’s also a decline in numbers. PCI has lost about one-fifth of its contributing families over the past 10 years, with the picture much worse in parts of Belfast particularly. Some Herald readers will know this by
