WITNEY DEANERY VISION AND MISSION ACTION PLAN DRAFT Jan2016v4

Transcription

1 WITNEY DEANERY VISION AND MISSION ACTION PLAN DRAFT Jan2016v4 1

2 INTRODUCTORY MESSAGE FROM OUR AREA DEAN Spiritual renewal is a constant hope for the living church, as our Living Faith initiative reminds us. Such transformation and renewal tends to be generated from within, using limited outside resources. This task begins with the Faithful seeing themselves as part of a creative and dynamic body (Ephesians 4.16), ready to be moulded and changed by God. As we renew our Deanery Mission Action Plan and look again at our Vision, I am clear that real change can only come when our whole deanery starts to think differently about spiritual renewal. In seeking this spiritual renewal our thinking must be radical in the sense that longheld views will be altered, structures torn down and our vision reshaped. Our God is a consuming fire, not a breeze in the park. We must be like the rush of iron filings to a magnet, stirred by the turbulence of the Spirit of Pentecost. For some this will be a challenging stage of our life as a deanery. For others it will be a time of reinvesting and reimagining. For all of us, it is an opportunity. And for all of us there is a need to be attentive to the voice of the God who calls and who is always faithful. There is an old Hebrew prayer which says, Days pass, years vanish, and we walk sightless among miracles. So often today people focus on my spirituality and neglect to focus on the presence of God in community. The awareness of spiritual renewal, grounded in the reality of our communities and the present moment, must lie at the heart of our governance and ministry. Let us be attentive to the miracles around us! As we once more consider our deanery and attend to what the Spirit may be saying to the churches we are called to enable and encourage others to realize that we are being Church together guided by the missionary characteristics of holiness, catholicity and apostolicity. And above all, I hope that we will hold prayer at the heart of our vision and action as a deanery. God our creator and Redeemer, help your church to grow in holiness, unity, effectiveness and numbers. Draw us closer to you and to those around us. Give us enthusiasm in our faith, and wisdom in sharing it with young and old. Open our eyes to new opportunities, our lips to sing and speak of you, and our hearts to welcome the stranger. Grow your kingdom in us and in the world, through the intercession of our Lord Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen. (Mike Bourke) Toby Wright Area Dean 2

3 LIVING FAITH Commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established - Proverbs 16 vs 3 (NRSV) 3

4 MISSION We have readings in Churches every Sunday from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and they in turn tell us about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Gospel means good news how did you feel the last time you received some good news of the birth of a grandchild, a new job opportunity, passing an exam or receiving the all clear? When we receive good news we are excited, elated and thankful and often we celebrate with friends and tell others about our good fortune. The challenge for us as Churches is to remember that we have a message of good news, that can still change lives and bring excitement, elation and thankfulness. Now as much as ever is the time to celebrate this good news with friends and tell others of our good fortune, so that they can share in the hope of this message. How we share this good news across the Deanery will vary but keeping our eyes on those outside the Church, as much as we do the needs within, will play an important part in helping us to make our Mission Action Plan more than just words. 4

5 SOME THOUGHTS TO BEAR IN MIND WHEN CONSIDERING THIS DOCUMENT A Deanery Vision and Mission Action Plan seeks to look at the bigger picture within the Deanery. It is particularly concerned with resourcing the local situation and encouraging Parishes and Benefices to do things better. Over recent years, the Diocese has been committed to the principle of Sharing Life whereby its purpose is to create caring, sustainable and growing Christian presence. Where this is not happening in parts of the Deanery, how can this be addressed? What support and resources will you need to do things better? We recognise that some of the boundaries that exist between Parishes, Benefices, Deaneries and Archdeaconries are at times artificial. We are aware that informally cooperation and sharing various initiatives already occur. It may be that other possibilities could be explored. What boundaries might need to be relaxed in order to respond to the mission and ministry challenges? Are there any relationships that could be developed with others outside your Parish or Benefice? The Church has an enormous resource in the form of lay people, many of whom already perform vital roles within the church and others untrained but wanting to serve. How are we all encouraging and enabling all lay people to grow and develop in their discipleship? What training needs are there and how are these to be met? As the role and structure of many Church of England schools evolves, this should provide us with an opportunity to forge links and build on existing relationships. The presence of the UK s largest RAF base at Brize Norton within the geographic confines of the Deanery, may provide us with another opportunity for outreach. Although the base is not linked to the Deanery, contact has been established with the Chaplaincy at Brize Norton. 5

6 WITNEY DEANERY PRIORITIES (see our web-site) Schools Ministry Building on the local we hope to develop a more strategic focus for our ministry. Within the Church of England almost 1 million school children are educated each year. We hope to support and extend our ministry to schools and to support the Foundation Governors of Church Schools Men s Ministry Why is this important? Over the last 20 years 38% of men attending church left the church. The rate at which men are leaving the church is far greater than the rate at which women are leaving the church. The current UK official statistics is 60% women to 40% men, although many suggest it is getting far closer to 70:30. In addition, there is a real missional imperative in that statistically if we are able to attract fathers to our churches then the family is over four times as likely to join them as when we attract mothers. Missionally this is crucial to the future of the Church. Communication and Gratitude We are developing our website and other means of communication to ensure that we celebrate the great things that are going on across our deanery already and to inspire more to happen. We seek to discover life forces which can bring new ways of working as we focus on the positive. This is an attitude of gratitude; as Karl Barth wrote, Grace and gratitude belong together like heaven and earth. Grace evokes gratitude like the voice an echo. Gratitude follows grace like thunder follows lightening Ch Dog IV/1 Much has already been achieved by working together. In 2014 and 2015, our Deanery paid to the Diocese our full Parish Share this had not happened for many years. This was a good example of clear leadership and management feeding through to Parishes and Benefices by clear communication and with some churches helping others. As more and more Schools convert to Academies, there is scope for many Church of England schools helping others. There may also be opportunities of inter-action with non-c of E schools to mutual benefit. Other churches are pursuing other initiatives to encourage families and children eg Café Church. Much is happening around the Deanery to promote Men s Ministry. These are quite varied and include Men s Bible study groups, Men s Breakfasts, Beer and Curry nights, walking weekends, camping with children, scalextric and model engineering groups. Communication of ideas from around the Deanery is a key ingredient. Please share these when at Synod or other church meetings and perhaps submit entries for the web-site. In future the greater use of social media may be an additional useful medium. As the population in the Deanery grows and hopefully more attend our churches, there will be more opportunities to involve Lay persons to assist our licensed clergy. As mentioned above, just remember there are many with different skills within your community and matching these to the growing needs of our Church can be very rewarding. 6

7 WITNEY DEANERY Anglican Churches and Church Schools KEY Anglican School Anglican Church 7

8 OVERVIEW The Witney Deanery in West Oxfordshire has a population of around 70,000 (with over half living in the towns of Witney and Carterton). This compares with a population of nearly 55,000 in 2001, around 64,100 in 2011 and further significant growth is planned. The Deanery links 38 church buildings and is served by 20? licensed clergy and a significant number of retired clergy and lay ministers. The Electoral Roll for the Deanery was 1552 in For historical reasons, most of the villages in the Deanery have their own church, often ancient and expensive to maintain. There is a general anxiety about the continued upkeep of these buildings combined with the ageing congregations. Optimism and new vitality are needed to address the growth of our churches and this Plan aims to address these issues. Vision and MAP is about spiritual renewal. The growth in population and particularly New Communities around Witney and Carterton, pose particular challenges not only for local infrastructure but matching pastoral support with the needs of those new to the area. However, there are also real mission opportunities here and this is seen as a development area for our Deanery during the life of this Plan. The Oxford Diocese regards deaneries as the key agents for planning and advising on the deployment of ministry resources in support of the church s mission across their area. The Bishop charges the Area Dean, parish ministers and elected lay members of the Deanery synod with developing a clear plan for responding to the current and anticipated future needs of the communities served. Past plans have had mixed success with planning initiatives and we have now resolved to develop a new kind of plan using the principles of mission action planning. Our plan comprises two elements: first, a web of local mission ideas which are determined from the bottom-up by each parish or benefice using MAP; second, a set of strategic areas or themes drawn out from this where there is clearly common interest and/or the need for support and partnership working. The Deanery enables the first element by offering practical advice and support, through sharing ideas and best practice and by being willing to ask the tough questions where necessary. The Deanery enables the second by drawing out key common themes, sharing resources, developing formal and informal partnerships and advising the Bishop on the deployment of resources. We pray this is a plan that continuously reflects local mission needs and gives real purpose to working together as a Deanery. Appendix 1 shows the local mission priorities identified by each of the parishes. Appendix 2 shows the strategic priorities currently identified for the deanery. 8

9 Mission Action Planning Common Framework & Guiding Principles There are potential dangers of a bottom up approach to mission, especially within a wide diversity of church expressions and contexts. It could lead to an unhelpful parochialism without any sense of the wider needs of mission. We have therefore agreed to use the Diocesan Living Faith vision and strategy as a common framework of the aspects of mission that we can reasonably expect every church in our deanery to be seeking to develop (even if locally we use different terminology). As we share and discuss our individual mission priority areas we will consider how they may serve: g vibrant Christian communities; king disciples;, collaborative leaders. And we have also adopted three principles which we have formally agreed as a deanery must underpin our approach to all shared mission planning: as much in depth of Christian discipleship as in numbers by identifying opportunities and the ways in which they can be most effectively pursued locally. This means that we are prepared to confront the facts about our current context and ministry and to assess the strengths and weaknesses of how we are living out our faith. As well as celebrating what is already fruitful, we recognise that every parish must be prepared for the potential and need for doing things differently. of Christian ministry - including for example, different styles of worship and spirituality; provision for baptisms, weddings, funerals; styles of Christian teaching and preaching; pastoral and practical care; disciple-ship support and opportunities to be introduced to the Christian faith. This means that we cannot focus on serving potential areas of new growth without identifying how existing needs in parishes can be met through different and innovative use of ministry resources including the way we deploy our stipendiary, self-supporting and lay ministers. 9

10 to enable collaborative ministry and approaches to mission across the Witney deanery reflecting the conviction that each church expression has gifts to offer others, as well as needs. This means we can help each parish to identify the ways in which they can share with others to the benefit of all. Our plans for the deployment of ministers will not begin from an assumption that there will have to be formal pastoral reorganisation but they will assume that much can and must be achieved through the development of informal collaborative working arrangements. Process The essence of MAP is a bottom-up approach in which each church, parish or benefice is invited to discern and focus on a small number of mission priorities, as best fits with their particular context and circumstances. The key is identifying those things which should and can be done in the next given period and getting on and doing them. It is often better to start small and build up to larger challenges. For some parishes it can mean choosing to do fewer things but to do them better and more consistently. A fundamental strength of our Deanery is the different styles and approaches to mission we take according to our different traditions, contexts and re-sources. The key elements of MAP should be common to us all but the way we each do them should be as varied as we are! Getting a true understanding of the current situation and the needs of the community being served. Our Parish Profile : have we accurately assessed our church life, who is involved, the resources available, the history of the church, recurring mission themes and possible sticking points? Our Community : have we accurate population and demographic information, identifying local organisations and amenities, what are our local needs? SWOT Analysis: Using the data from the Parish Profile and Community audit - what are the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats? What is realistic given our financial, building and people resource? considerations? 10

11 Discerning God s particular mission calling and the particular challenges and opportunities for growth in the community. A Prayerful Conversation: with as many as possible to share ideas and hopes. Being bold not worrying too much about practicalities at the early stages. Then into Vision development work: PCC meetings, away days, church gatherings, sermon series etc. Bringing together - our story, the community s story and God s story - drafting, exploring and refining ideas...seeking a common mind. drawing up realistic plans, in line with the resources available locally and through others. Taking stock: what is needed to realise the ideas that have come out of the vision exercise? Who in the church community could take things forward? Who can we partner with in the community and in the deanery? - Quick Wins : what can be introduced and make an impact quickly? - Medium range : what can we do with time and preparation? - Long range : what will need significant time and investment? SMART objectives: what are the steps required for each of these - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timed. Forming Partnerships: who do we need to approach first? How can the deanery help us? Communicating the plans, celebrating achievements, reviewing and refining in the light of experience Sharing the MAP: setting out the priorities and how to achieve them. Sharing this with the congregation as a collaborative activity to give a sense of ownership. Launch: sharing the vision with the wider community; both church goers and those groups and people who have links with the church. Communicating and Celebrating: through Sunday services, PCC meetings, Parish magazines, Annual Reports etc. Reviewing & refining: agreeing through the PCC how and when to review, updating the Parish Profile and Community Audits in the light of experience and developing new plans Informing and encouraging all to join in this - Sunday services, PCC meetings, Parish magazines, Annual Reports church away-days etc. 11

12 APPENDIX 1 : WITNEY DEANERY VISION & MISSION ACTION PLAN : PARISH/BENEFICE MAP PRIORITIES PARISH / BENEFICE Priority 1 Priority 2 Priority 3 Alvescot Complete build works Encourage visitors Pay off loan Bampton with Clanfield Messy Church (Bampton) & Lay-led Family Services (A&C) Enhance buildings for wider community use Build on School links Black Bourton Increase congregatio n Fix Fabric Financially sustainable Brize Norton Increase visibility Maintain fabric Increase income Broadwell Broughton Poggs with Filkins Better facilities Family friendly Connect with teens Burford with Asthall, Swinbrook Widford & Taynton Review midweek Discipleship and Home groups Finish & launch Warwick Hall Plant two new Congregations In Warwick hall Carterton Work / Mission in community Men s and Women s Ministries New housing Cogges, Witney Redevelop buildings Rejig Service pattern Assist belonging 12

13 Curbridge Install plumbing Community links Build common life o/s worship Ducklington Fulbrook Hailey Continue Outreach Replace Church floor Develop Services Share responsibilities Reduce bureaucracy Dementia accreditation Holwell Kelmscott Kencot Langford Maintenance of building Develop space flex Attract more Little Faringdon Lower Windrush Benefice Grow active core Occasional attenders to deeper, regulars Creative use of IT Minster Lovell Outreach Ministry to tourists Pastoral Team North Leigh School, Open the Book Men's Ministry Enhance Pastoral Support Shifford Shilton South Leigh Develop building Focus Outreach Engage with Village Westwell Witney Even better use of building Enhance welcoming Review real faith 13

14 Wood Green, Holy Trinity Renew and maintain fabric Share responsibilities Enhance community service APPENDIX 2: DEANERY PRIORITIES The Deanery priorities are 1. Schools Ministry Most of the Parishes within Witney Deanery also have within them a church-foundation school, either Voluntary Aided or Voluntary Controlled. In addition to this, all parishes in the Deanery have been forging connections with community schools, many of which have been in place for years. Local churches have provided Collective Worship, Governorship, a venue for key moments in the schools years and other more contextual engagements. We are looking to encourage this engagement to use the Deanery as a means for sharing and developing good practice and as a forum for finding creative ways to tell the story of our faith. We will look towards bringing together Foundation Governors to share their experiences and to encourage a high quality of collective worship by bringing together experienced practitioners with those who are new to its joys. 2. Men s Ministry A variety of events already takes place around the Deanery, some of which are purely social, some focusing on discipleship and others with an element of outreach. As well as the sharing of best practice ideas, we wish to encourage parishes, when practicable and suitable, to invite participation from around the Deanery. The 14

15 Deanery web-site and/or facebook page should be used to publicise and promote events of this kind. Some clergy have found that their membership of community groups and societies, such as sport teams or amateur dramatic societies, has led to them having an informal chaplaincy role which has reached fringe and unchurched men. We hope to encourage this kind of development and provide some training and support. 3. Communication and Gratitude (add paras) 4. New Communities ( add paras) In addition, we will strive to pay the Deanery s Parish Share in full to the Diocese each year, as in 2014 and The future of some church buildings will continue to exercise minds. In keeping with the Archdeaconry Plan, our deepest desire is to see all our churches large, small, successful, struggling, rural, urban, single or multi- parishes to flourish and grow. However, the encouragement of independent sources of income may be needed to generate sufficient income to keep some buildings alive. Inevitably responsibility for that will fall on local congregations and wider members of the community in some parishes and benefices. As Vacancies appear and as population increases occur, the Pastoral Committee will maintain an overview on parochial boundaries and structures to enable mission to function as effectively as possible, within 15

16 the constraints of resources and staffing. There needs to be an outline plan, but sharing experiences, supporting others (including those less able to pay) and praying for growth, are key ingredients. ` 16