Welcome to the website of the Deanery of Hertford and Ware in the Diocese of St Albans.
You can find some basic information about the Deanery through the menu options. We invite you to read the Synod Report for 2023, a summary of the year’s activity. This was also circulated to individual churches to inform the APCMs.
Over the last few years, our meetings have covered a lot of ground. We spent 2018 looking at the Diocesan priorities: Making New Disciples (with the help of the Reaching New People team), Working with Children (with the Diocesan Children’s Mission Enabler) and Improving the Quality of our Worship (with the Diocesan Liturgical Committee). It had been our intention to work together as a whole Deanery towards one of these Diocesan priorities, however, it was not easy to find consensus, with even the three parishes of one benefice each selecting a different preferred option!
Through 2019 we considered our responsibilities towards the environment (with the help of the Christian Environmental charity a Rocha), how we might best minister to and with “the elderly”, and the Diocesan Director of Ministry enthused us about Lay Ministry and related training.
Our diary for 2020 included a presentation on stewardship and raising funds for major projects (Christ Church, Ware, had just completed a major reordering of their building) and we had plans for speaker to raise our awareness of the tragic reality of modern slavery (and help us to combat it). Sadly, COVID19 affected everything, though we did hold a virtual meeting in November with Revd Harry Steele from the Flourishing Churches team.
2021 saw virtual meetings considering Clergy Wellbeing, “next steps following Covid” and a presentation on Youth Ministry. The September meeting was in person, led by the new Rural Dean.
At our first meeting in 2022, we agreed a to adopt a new governance structure to facilitate mission and ministry across the Deanery by the formation of a number of working groups. In the summer, we had a most interesting presentation on the work of the Waterways Chaplaincy, which addresses a range of social needs. At our third meeting, we welcomed the Beds and Herts Historic Churches Trust to give us an insight into their work and received a presentation from the Diocesan Pastoral and Advisory Secretary about steps we can take as churches towards Net Zero.
In 2023, we shared experience and expertise about how we might make our churches and churchyards more environmentally friendly. We had a presentation from the Diocesan Racial Justice Group and a session with Revd Dan Drew on how our churches might grow younger and more diverse.
Do check the calendar for up to date details of all the upcoming meetings.