After a period of change in the leadership of our parish in the mid nineties we hoped for a period of continuity.
Accordingly it was a time to rebuild our parish vision and how we saw the parishes’ future.
The PCC, at its AwayDay in November 1995, looked at what had happened in the last few years, and agreed that a new emphasis was needed: to switch more of our time, attention and resources to growth and mission.
Christ's parting charge to his church was to go into the world and preach the good news (Matthew 28:19). Even though all our churches in the diocese were committed to the Decade of Evangelism a glance at our patterns of church attendance compelled us to face up to our need to grow. Looking back through the registers showed that we (and other parishes) had declining attendance figures. We needed to do something to reverse this otherwise we had no future!
Growth isn't just about increased church attendance, though that would have been a sign of it. We needed to grow in our own spiritual life as people who "live the gospel" and communicate it naturally.
Mission isn't just about attracting more people into our "club", but about living with our friends and in our communities in such a way that they can say we have been "good news" to them in their ups and downs, and we have helped them to know God.
How we keep it going for: How we link with those outside for:
Insiders - members Outsiders - non-members
To Rethink; to Regroup.
AgendaHow is the good news of God's love to be told on the Stowe Estate? As Holy Trinity sits on a shopping street how do we attract people in? Who can we find to run the Social Committee? Who will repair the roof? Do we like singing psalms? |
AgendaWhat needs to happen if baptism families are to join the church? How do we use our links with children and parents? What good news do we have for the homeless in Fareham? How shall we raise money for a new organ? |
People who come in touch with us need to be meeting God. Church structures need to create an effective meeting between the surrounding cultures and the living Faith of Christians.
We want to develop our current worship in participation, meaning and relatedness to life, create different styles of worship for different personalities, share prayer more widely than daily services, look at the healing ministry, develop our youth work and offer a programme of retreats, pilgrimages, courses and other ways of growing as Christians, and review our teamwork regularly.
"Becoming a Christian is a process and belonging precedes belief. Eighty percent of new Christians say their friendship with a church member was the most important factor. The church often has bridges but the good news of Christ seldom passes over them."
We need to "open" Holy Trinity to the street and community, begin new non-eucharistic services after proper planning for those new to "church", make more of our contacts with people around birth, marriage and death, festivals and significant life-moments, use regular Christian Basics or Alpha courses for new Christians and develop the specific strengths of each church (school link or town centre location).
As churches and individuals we are busy and we cannot just keep adding more things which we must do. Jesus speaks in John 15 of pruning the vine so that it bears more fruit. These are the hardest decisions of all.
The PCC continues to work through practical suggestions under these three headings and finding out more information where necessary. It can't be done in a year or two but lots can be done in 5 years. With these sound principles, steadily working forward step by step, with much prayer and space to respond to the Holy Spirit when new things come up, we believe we shall grow.