mission communities workbook
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Mission Communities “.....communities supporting one another to grow and flourish in God’s love”
Mission communities - introduction
We have been giving much time and effort to reviewing structures and processes at all levels in the Diocese of Lincoln. Now is the time to move from review to action and help every parish and benefice to focus on the primary tasks of the Church. These tasks include worship, mission and service and the nurture of individual Christians in their discipleship.
We have attempted to reflect this in our Lincoln diocesan prayer:
The Diocese of Lincoln is a vast area, with a wide variety of communities, large and small, urban and rural. We are called, as Christians within the Diocese of Lincoln, to serve the whole of the diocese – and we do so primarily through our local parishes, schools and chaplaincies, resourced and supported by the wider fellowship and networks of the Diocese of Lincoln and its deaneries.
It is inevitable that some of our parishes are more blessed with resources of people than others. Some parishes, especially in our rural areas, are in large groups, sharing one incumbent. Others, especially in the towns, are single parishes.
Our aim is “to respond to the love of God as faithful worshipping communities and as confident
disciples of Jesus Christ, joyfully serving and witnessing to Him in the world through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
To help us to achieve this aim, we are asking each parish to commit itself to become part of a Mission Community.
Almighty God, source of our hope and of all good things; you call us in love to share in the work of creation in making all things new.
Bless our diocese:may we be faithful in our worship;confident in our discipleship;and joyful in our service;
that, through us,the world may catch a glimpseof the love you have for each one of us, made known to us in your son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen.
Mission Communities are a means of helping to ensure that the heart of the gospel is lived out in every community. Mission Communities will be parishes and groups which are
• committedtogrowinginnumbersanddiscipleship
• willingtocontributewhateachcanoffertothewiderlifeoftheChurch
• freeduptobeflexibleinthemanywaysof‘beingchurch’
• willingtothinkcreativelyaboutthedifferentrolesfortheirvariouschurchbuildings,andindicatewhichoffourcategoriesdescribeseachchurchbuilding
• notafraidtomakemistakes–totakerisksinmissionratherthanstickingtoarigidframework
In some places, the existing parish or benefice will be the natural Mission Community. But others may wonder whether they have the human and financial resources to be an effective Mission Community, and may wish to explore sharing with a neighbouring parish or benefice in becoming a Mission Community (so that you can commit yourselves to growing in worship, mission and discipleship without the loss of local identity which we know is so important in many parts of the diocese).
Mission communities - what are they?
Mission Communities “.....communities supporting one another to grow and flourish in God’s love”
Follow the simple process on the next page, and complete and return your forms (one for mission communities and one for church categorisation) by 14 July - this is a very tight timetable, but we would be very grateful for at least an initial response on the enclosed forms from each parish.
1. The papers in this pack will help you to think through the various opportunities.
2. Your rural dean, deanery lay chair, and some trained local church members will be available to support your PCC discussion and work after the May Archidiaconal Mission and Pastoral Committee (AMPC) meetings
3. Your parish ‘spotlight’ will be made available to your PCC: this is a description of your parish based on census data and on the information about your parish that you have submitted through the annual returns. You can collect this from your Archidiaconal Mission and Pastoral Committee, or if you are unable to attend, your rural dean should be able to supply your copy.
4. Some modest funding is available to help support the cost of hiring premises etc if this would help your PCC(s) to explore becoming a mission community. Please contact your archdeacon regarding this.
Workshops on forming Mission Communities will be available on the following dates, where more information and training will be given to facilitate the forming mission communities process:
Archdeaconry of Boston Monday 12 May at 7 pm Swineshead Church Hall, Market Place, Swineshead, Boston, PE20 3LJ
Archdeaconry of Stow & Lindsey Tuesday 13 May at 7 pm Market Rasen Festival Hall, Caistor Road, Market Rasen, LN8 3JA
Archdeaconry of Lincoln Thursday 15 May at 7 pm St James’ Church, Church Street, Spilsby, PE23 5EF
What do we do first?
What happens next?
What help is available?
The Archidiaconal Mission and Pastoral Committees will review the responses in the early autumn in order to support parishes who have not yet identified their Mission Community, and to target the support of the Developing Discipleship Advisors (DDA) in the coming months.
The Developing Discipleship Programme will be rolled out from 2015 to help Mission Communities grow in discipleship and numbers, and to consider what it means to be the Church now and in the future. Categorising your church buildings will help with planning the mission of your church.
The process
Stage OneAt your PCC, prayerfully discuss and consider which other churches
and organisations you work with best and why. Consider other churches and organisations you would like to explore working with as part of your vocation and
mission as a church (you may find it helpful to consider some of the ways your community already engages with those around you, such as those on the next pages)
Discuss the category of your church building(s)
Stage TwoPlease fill in and return the forms (both the Mission Communities form and the Church
Categorisation form) by July 14
Stage ThreeThe AMPC in the autumn will endorse and support of forming of mission
communities. The planning and coordination of the developing discipleship programme will begin
Stage FourYour mission community will be supported in preparing and living out a developing
discipleship plan by the DDAs
Mission Communities should reflect their local
ecumenical and community needs
working ecumenically (churches, projects,
chaplaincy)
opportunities for teamwork
managing / employing volunteers and lay staff
schools - where and what type
sustainable worship pattern
work with children, young
people and families (services, support, youth club,
playgroups)
new models of worship (Fresh Expressions etc)
safeguarding - responsbility and
implementation
finance / governance and administration
Some factors you may wish to consider .....
Mission Communities should reflect their local
ecumenical and community needs
provision for key life events
incl pastoral support and continued engagement
sustainable worship pattern
evangelisation
opportunities for developing &
deepening discipleship
local leadership - lay and ordained
Christian stewardship - talent, time, money
type of church buildings available - are they
appropriate for intended use?
involvement in services to local
community (such as care for poor & vulnerable, food
banks etc)
new models of worship (Fresh Expressions etc)
Some factors you may wish to consider .....
We think that we might like to join with our neighbours to become a Mission Community, but how do we go about it?You could simply contact the clergy or churchwardens of the parish or benefice concerned! But if you need more help talk to your archdeacon or rural dean, to see if they can help you make an initial approach.
We don’t have a comfortable place to meet to talk about something as important as this.We realise that’s a problem in some places – especially if a couple of parishes or groups are involved. Your archdeacon will be able to offer a modest grant from the Transformation Fund to enable you to hire somewhere to meet, and to cover the expenses of a facilitator to help your conversation.
Can a Mission Community include more than one parish or benefice?Of course. We hope that the formation of Mission Communities will be a great way of parishes and benefices playing to their strengths and supporting each other in mission and developing and deepening discipleship – and giving each other the confidence to be attractive and growing Christian communities.
Is there still a role for the deanery?Yes. The deanery remains the main channel of synodical communication between the parish or benefice and the diocese. But deaneries will be freed to focus on encouraging and supporting mission and on initiatives that have added value when they are planned across a wider area than a parish or even a Mission Community.
The deanery is represented, by its rural dean and the lay chair of the deanery synod, on the Archidiaconal Mission and Pastoral Committee (there is one for each archdeaconry) – which has responsibility for supporting the mission at local level and for making sure that there is adequate provision of ministry in the parishes. The Archidiaconal Mission and Pastoral Committee will manage decisions about pastoral reorganisation when this proves necessary - however, the place for detailed planning based on local knowledge will be the Mission Community.
Can a deanery be a Mission Community?That may well be appropriate in some small, rural, deaneries – if that model is what the parishes think will enable them to achieve the aim of growth in confident discipleship, faithful worship and joyful service. But a deanery may be too large a geographical area for this to be realistic. A Mission Community must be large enough to achieve the aims stated earlier in this paper and small enough to be a real and recognisable community of interest.
Don’t forget that a Mission Community can cross deanery (and even archdeaconry) boundaries if this will help you to achieve a Mission Community that works for you.
Questions and Answers
If we joined with another parish or benefice to become a Mission Community, would we lose our vicar or rector?Absolutely not. The Bishop is committed to increasing the number of stipendiary clergy – not to reducing numbers.
Instead, the clergy will be freed to work to their strengths across the whole Mission Communities, whilst retaining their legal responsibilities for their benefice.
We need another priest! If you can identify a real need for another stipendiary priest to work in your Mission Community, please talk to your archdeacon.
We won’t be able to do everything at once, but we need to know where there are real possibilities for growth that might be unlocked by the provision of more priests.
Does this mean we have to change our boundaries?No. Usually, Mission Communities will be existing parishes (or benefices or groups). But if the parishes in a benefice (the area cared for by a single incumbent) think that they should be in different communities, this might suggest we need to explore whether we have the right groups in place. In this case, talk to your archdeacon.
Mission Communities allow you to experiment – to act ‘As if …’. whilst you are seeing if a new initiative helps your life and mission.
If the Mission Community doesn’t work, are we stuck with it?Because Mission Communities aren’t legal structures like parishes or benefices, they are much more adaptable. But ending a Mission Community would need to be done carefully and sensitively – and we would want to think about what hadn’t worked (and what had).
Is this merely a way of hiding an increase of parish share?No. Mission Communities are about ensuring the heart of the gospel is lived out in every community, and developing discipleship.
We aren’t ready to commit ourselves to being a Mission Community now. Will we have another chance?Yes. The formation and development of Mission Communities is a long-term diocesan commitment. Talk to your archdeacon when you think that you might be ready to explore becoming a Mission Community. But please return the reply form, as we’d like to know your response, in this first phase of developing Mission Communities.
This is all too much for us to think about. We are really struggling.Please ask your rural dean to come and facilitate discussions with your PCC to help you.
The Diocese of Lincoln has many church buildings. They are some of the most important buildings in historic Lincolnshire – if not in the country. Of our 631 church buildings, 256 are listed as grade 1; 161 are grade 2*; 162 are grade 2. Only 52 are unlisted.
We recognise that different church buildings have different roles and potential and that local support and capacity varies from place to place. Therefore, we are inviting each parish or group of parishes to look realistically, prayerfully and carefully at the buildings in their parish or parishes, and allocate each building into one of four categories. It will, of course, be essential to review the category of each building in the light of developing local mission, and so the categorisation of a church may change over time to reflect its place in mission.
Please consider which of the following categories best describes your church building. Then complete the Church Categorisation form and return, along with your Mission Communities form, in the envelope provided.
1. Key mission churches • equipped for varied liturgy, learning and activities, and large enough for
collaborative events• has regular attention of a priest and a ministry team, a regular and varied
programme of worship on all Sundays and at least some weekdays• likely to be open to visitors, well maintained, adequately insured and suitable for
wider community use• capable of acting as the focus for mission, discipleship, nurture and outreach.• likely to be church buildings which are inherently significant heritage buildings or
significant town centre churches, or which are identified as centres for mission and ministry
• a high level of local commitment to these church buildings
2. Local mission churches• likely to be rural churches in significant communities• significant church buildings and are important to their communities; with vibrant
(though sometimes small) worshipping communities.• local commitment to these church buildings, with regular worship, ideally but not
necessarily weekly (and perhaps not always on a Sunday).• generally be open for visitors during the week, well maintained and insured. They
may have facilities for the wider community.• may become centres of excellence for particular styles of worship and ministry.
Church Categorisation
The Categories
3. Celebration (or festival) churches
• generally churches where there is
some local commitment to the church
building remaining open – but where there is a low level of support for regular Sunday worship, and where it doesn’t make sense to divert clergy and lay ministers from other churches in the group where there’s a real possibility of growth.
• often typified by low attendance at services and potential for additional use is limited, but with occasional worship during the year. The church will be available to the local community for baptisms, weddings and funerals, and for local celebration.
• lay leadership might take more responsibility here, ending the over dependence on priests and deacons – and if not, are those churches viable?
• may only require basic insurance (statutory obligations must be observed) and will only need routine maintenance, except where the quinquennial inspection identifies concerns, or to keep the church weatherproof. They should be open for visitors if at all possible.
4. Churches where long term viability is uncertainA small number of churches, urban and rural, have little local support for continuing as places of worship. However, there might still be:
• occasional worship during the year• continuing availability of the church to the local community for baptisms, weddings and funerals, and for local celebrations• basic insurance cover• essential routine maintenance
It would usually be appropriate for such churches to cease to be parish churches.None of the categorisations is fixed for all time (apart from a decision to close a church). Churches will be able to move in and out of the different categories as mission opportunities change and develop.
We will need to look at these carefully on a case by case basis, but closure will always remain the last resort.
Forfurtherinformationandclarificationonchurchcategories,pleasetalktoyourarchdeaconorruraldean-theywillbehappytohelp.
ContactsArchdeacons
The Ven Tim Barker07590 950041 [email protected]
The Ven Jane Sinclair07809 521995 [email protected]
The Ven Dr Justine Allain Chapman07715 077993 [email protected]
RuralDeans
The Revd S A Allison 01507 602312 [email protected]
The Revd C J Atkinson 01778 422412 [email protected]
The Revd C P Boland 01476 564781 [email protected]
The Revd P Brent 01778 342237 [email protected]
The Revd Canon N J Buck 01522 788383 [email protected]
The Revd Canon P F Coates 01790 752526 [email protected]
The Revd R H Crossland 01522 730000 [email protected]
The Revd S P Dowson 01205 363657 [email protected]
The Revd M N Holden 01673 857825 [email protected]
The Revd A J Littlewood 01400 231145 [email protected]
The Revd Canon D J Osbourne 01522 682026 [email protected]
The Revd C Pennock 01526 832463 [email protected]
The Revd Canon I Robinson 01472 851339 [email protected]
The Revd D P Rowett 01652 632202 [email protected]
The Revd R J Seal 01406 424989 [email protected]
The Revd Canon T Steele 01754 810216 [email protected]
The Revd J W Thacker 01724 843328 [email protected]
The Revd J W Thacker 01724 843328 [email protected]
The Revd P Wain 01427 613188 [email protected]
The Very Revd M Warrick 01780 756942 [email protected]