Youth team serving Brighton and Hove churches to be scrapped

The youth work team that supports churches across Brighton and Hove and the wider Diocese of Chichester is to be scrapped.

The team has been sent letters telling that their posts have been deleted as part of a restructure at Church House, the diocesan headquarters in Hove.

The Church of England said that the restructuring was necessary because the diocese’s unrestricted reserves were close to being exhausted.

In a statement the diocese said: “The Diocesan Board of Finance had to announce a restructuring proposal for Church House.

“This will result in several staff redundancies. Such a decision is never easy, and is the result of the severe financial pressure experienced by parishes over the last few years.

“The loss of posts at Church House is no reflection on the competence of the current post holders nor their significant contribution to the life of the church.

“It is a very hard decision based on our current financial situation.

Ali Campbell

“Considerable anxiety has been expressed about the future of YES (You, Equipped to Serve) and youth work in the diocese.

“This will be continued within an expanded education department, a development that links and underlines our commitment to young people.

“The diocese has run at a deficit for several years and the budget approved by Diocesan Synod earlier in the month accepted a prospective deficit of £241,000 for 2014 on the proviso that everything possible would be done to minimise costs and maximise return on assets.

“Running such deficits is unsustainable as the diocese’s unrestricted reserves are close to being exhausted. The status quo is no longer an option.

“Sadly, the restructuring proposal is the practical outworking of both this decision and the need to restrict requests for contribution increases to parishes to a realistic and affordable level.

“The primary agent of mission is the local church – and where resources are limited this must be the first call on our income.

“The Diocesan Board of Finance took the view that wider pastoral reorganisation will allow us in the medium term to come to a balanced position, but that these difficult decisions needed to be made in the short term.”

The youth team leader Ali Campbell wrote an impassioned blog post about the decision. He said: “We are now in a consultation period until (Thursday) 9 January.

“The actual wording pertaining to my post reads as follows: ‘I am sorry to say that your post has been deleted in the new structure and, as you will see, a single post of youth officer has been created that will eventually be part of the education team.’”

Mr Campbell said: “We engage weekly with dozens of our churches around the diocese.

“Much of this work is unseen. Much of this work is supporting those at the grassroots of church ministry – volunteers engaged with children’s, youth and families work.

“I am struggling to see how any of what we are doing is understood, never mind valued by this restructuring.

“We have seen, over the last 18 months at least a dozen youth groups or new initiatives begin with young people.”

Mr Campbell has led the youth work team, known as YES (or You, Equipped to Serve), for the past eight years.

He said: “This is a sad day for the Diocese of Chichester.”

He criticised the diocese for “thinking in such a short-term way about finances” and for prioritising the wrong things in terms of mission.

He cited the Archbishop of York John Sentamu’s recent comments when he said that Church needed to “evangelise or fossilise”.

And he reiterated the former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey’s comments about the church being one generation from extinction, adding “we need to do more to engage children and young people with church”.

Mr Campbell said: “There are 350,000 children and young people in Sussex. The church as a whole needs to be seeking to reach all children and young people with the gospel.

“Having a larger schools team or prioritising education will not do that.

“I honestly don’t know what we will do. I am stunned. I am angry. I am in pain.

“I would value your prayers – for myself and our family (Lisa, Hannah aged 8, Ellie just coming up 6).

“As I am on a stipend, we potentially loose our house, Lisa’s job (and) the children’s school and friends if we have to move away and I don’t apply for this remaining post.

“Regardless, I don’t want to see the YES team hit the wall … We are a team, this impacts us all and we are devastated.”

As part of the restructure the diocese plans to create a fourth archdeacon to provide support for the growing number of women in the ministry.

Successive bishops of Chichester have not supported the ordination of women.