Vicar

Simon Bessant was instituted as the 7th Vicar of Ecclesall on 31st August 2007.  For some time he had been wanting to move to a challenging new ministry and believes that All Saints Ecclesall is exactly the sort of parish that he was looking for.  Deeply aware that he has taken on a parish where much fine ministry has been undertaken for many years, he is proud to have been trusted with the Church's future leadership.  He is committed to the multiple congregation (multiplex church) model with differentiated styles of worship that All Saints has developed, plus the concept of a large staff team with specific areas of responsibility and distinctive gifts.  Simon is passionate about worship, preaching, mission and growth.  He is also unashamedly Anglican and committed to both the Diocese and the Church of England.

Simon is committed to mission, and believes that the Five Marks of Mission of the Worldwide Anglican Communion is probably the best definition that is currently available:

• To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
• To teach, baptise and nurture new believers
• To respond to human need by loving service
• To seek to transform unjust structures of society
• To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth

Alongside of the traditional aspects of being a vicar (prayer, leading worship, baptising people, taking funerals, being a community leader, visiting the sick etc, all of which he loves doing) Simon believes that he has a particular challenge in his role as the senior leader of a large church.  This he believes is:

1. To discern, articulate and promote the church's vision and mission within the busyness of a large and complex church.
2. To preach the gospel to those who have not encountered it in a way that is accessible and meaningful to them within their own culture.
3. To plan, resource and lead worship that resonates with people's search for spiritual meaning and which enables them to enter the Christian story, to make it their own and to find purpose and direction in their lives through it.
4. To teach scripture to church members so that they are made aware of their identity in Christ and to discern their role in the world through the sharing of the good news and participation of the coming of God's kingdom of love, peace and justice.
5. To enable every member ministry within the church through giving people clear areas of responsibility with appropriate support, training, accountability structures and encouragement.
6. To make sure that the church has the right spiritual energy and appropriate structures so that it is able to grow, both in quality and quantity, for the sake of God's Kingdom.

Whilst some of this responsibility is shared with others, Simon believes he has the particular  task of keeping these particular aspects central to his leadership.

It was with this challenge in mind that Simon accept the offer to be the vicar of All Saints Ecclesall.  It is this ministry that he seeks to fulfil by the grace of God.

History

Born                1956                
Family              Married to Ruth in 1978 with three children and one
                        grandchild
Ordained         1981
1981-84           Curate in Liverpool
1984-85           Curate in Holloway (inner London)
1985-91           Priest in Charge (same parish)
1991-98           Vicar - Church of the Redeemer in Blackburn
1998-99           Rural Dean of Blackburn
1998-2007       Director for Mission in Blackburn Diocese
2000                MA in Mission Studies
2001-2007       Member of General Synod
2002-2005       Director for CME 1-4
2005-2007       Honorary Canon Blackburn Cathedral (now Emeritus)
2006-2007       Member of Archbishops' Council
2007+              Vicar of All Saints Ecclesall

From 1998 to 2007 Simon was the Director of Mission for Blackburn Diocese, being the Executive Officer of the Board of Mission and Unity.  His portfolio included evangelism & church growth as well as ecumenism, world mission and Diocesan links with Germany and South Africa.  Simon also had a major commitment to inter faith work during these years.  He set up Lancashire Council of Faiths and worked very closely with Lancashire Council of Mosques.  During the time that Simon was a Diocesan officer without a parish he led worship and preached in churches all over Lancashire as well as leading parish missions, taking PCC away days, leading quiet days and speaking at Alpha courses etc.  For three years Simon worked with three colleagues, from very varied churchmanship, in developing, training and encouraging the parishes of Blackburn Diocese with the task of creating a culture of growth under the title of "Growing Up; Growing Out".  This was the one of the most creative and fulfilling periods of Simon's ministry.  During these years he was also a member of the Bishop's Extended Staff Team.

Simon was an elected member of General Synod from 2001-2007.  During this period he gained a little notoriety for successfully getting Synod to accept both his private member's motion articulating the Church's strong opposition to the BNP and his amendment to a Diocesan motion which led to the Church of England apologising for its role in the slave trade to the descendents of those who had been the victims of this gross injustice.

For several years he was elected from within Synod to be a member of the Mission & Public Affairs Council and was involved in helping to shape and develop the Church of England's work in mission and social responsibility.  In particular he played an advisory role in regard to "Mission Shaped Church" and was a member of the national group on ministry and other faith communities which produced the report "Presence and Engagement".  Additionally, Synod nominated him to serve on a group creating legislation for the new Dioceses Mission & Pastoral Measure which would enable rather than restrict mission opportunities.  He operated in this group as a mission consultant.  He then chaired a group which wrote the Code of Practice for the House of Bishop for Fresh Expressions, seeking to integrate missiological, ecclesiological and legal issues.  He still works with the Church Commissioners in commending the Measure around the country.  Finally, for a period Simon represented the Church of England as a member of the Churches' Commission for Racial Justice.

In 2006 Simon was elected to  the Archbishops' Council and therefore had a role in the governance of the Church of England.  During his time in this role he sought to fly the flag for evangelism, mission, church growth, inter faith issues, racial justice and the needs of the parochial clergy.  He resigned this post in 2007 upon his appointment to Ecclesall.

Contact Simon Bessant 0114 236 0084 Send E-mail