A new partnership of churches in Burton upon Trent is hoping that B.E.E.R. will refresh their life and mission together.
From 1st January 2025, the parishes of St Aidan & St Paul in Burton and St John the Divine in Horninglow became formally linked as a new benefice.
To guide them in shaping their life and work for the future, the churches are adopting a ‘Rule of Life’, with the memorable abbreviation B.E.E.R.
Revd Simon Archer, vicar of St John’s and priest-in-charge of St Aidan and St Paul’s, explained: ‘Being part of the fabric of a famous brewery town, I thought this would be a fitting and easy-to-remember acronym for us.’
The B stands for ‘Believe’, the first E for ‘Explore’, the second E for ‘Engage’ and the R for ‘Respond’.
Fr Simon said: ‘Whilst we have become joined as a benefice and have a shared Anglo-Catholic tradition of worship, each parish will have distinct Parochial Church Councils (PCCs) to administer themselves.
‘There are also a few differences in the physical settings of the churches, their resources and the backgrounds of the people who are part of them and live around them. That means there may be distinct ways of mission and pastoral care required for the parts of the new benefice.
‘However, our new link also gives us a wonderful opportunity to understand what it is that we share and explore ways we might do more together, so achieve more than could be done separately.’
In looking for a way to enable the churches to shape a joint life whilst respecting their differences, Fr Simon has drawn on the monastic tradition that has been an important thread in the life of the Church from its earliest days to the present in different forms.