MISSION AREA ORGANISATION

The structure of the Mission Area Conference is changing this year, and it is becoming much more formal, with closely specified responsibilities.  Most of the initial formalities will be put in place at the joint Vestry Meeting of the Mission Area Conference in Llanelidan on Sunday 30 April of all 13 congregations – but things will start happening at congregational level before then.
Prior to that Vestry Meeting each congregation may hold its own meeting (formerly known as the PCC meeting but in future to be called that church’s Church Committee meeting).  Apart from continuing to deal with local issues that meeting will nominate:

• a Chairperson and a co-Chairperson
  
• its choice of representative for the Mission Area Conference, together with a substitute representative,
  
• its choice of a Warden – a second Warden being nominated by the congregation’s priest (as hitherto)
• Sidespersons
• its choice of representative to the Diocesan Conference
• a Secretary and a Treasurer.

These nominations (other than those for Secretary and Treasurer) will then be offered for ratification at the Vestry Meeting.
Moving on from this stage the Mission Area Conference will consist of three categories of people (all of whom must be communicant members of the church and aged over 18):

• Ex officio – the Mission Area Leader, other Clergy (unless otherwise agreed between the Mission Area Conference and the potential ex-officio members), any full time paid workers, and the Mission Area wardens (one of whom will have been elected by the Vestry Meeting of that Conference and the other appointed by the Mission Area Leader).  At the discretion of the Ministry Area Conference some or all of the Shared Ministry Team can also be included.
• Elected – the Mission Area Conference representatives nominated by the several congregations and ratified at the Vestry Meeting of the Mission Area Conference, and (with a maximum overall number of 25) lay qualified electors from each congregation.  (A supplementary list of such persons can be prepared to cover for occasions when the elected representatives cannot be present at a meeting of the Mission Area Conference.)
• Co-opted – a maximum of seven persons in total who can offer the Mission Area Conference specific skills or knowledge.  These persons can be taken from among the secretaries and treasurers of each congregation, other lay persons, clerics (other than retired clerics), licensed Readers and Lay Workers – but the choice does not have to be restricted in this way. 
  (It is anticipated that all Congregation Treasurers will be members of a Mission Area Conference finance sub-committee, the chair of which must be a full Mission Area Conference member.)

Having assembled its membership, the Mission Area Conference must, in addition to its many other duties and responsibilities, appoint its own secretary and treasurer (with deputies if required), and may if it so wishes appoint a lay co-chair (who would normally be expected to chair its meetings), a Mission Area Conference Administrator, a Gift Aid secretary, a Safeguarding Officer and (in due time) must appoint an Information Officer.  The Mission Area Conference also has the right and ability to appoint sub-committees including an Executive Committee.
These new arrangements are being put in place in the Mission Area this year.  An early understanding of some of the things that will be involved is outlined above: given time, goodwill and experience it remains to be seen if any scope emerges in the future for further changes and improvements.  Meanwhile, throughout the implementation of these changes, the main focus of the Mission Area remains on mission and growth in our Dyffryn Clwyd part of Wales.