St. Martin in the Bull Ring Birmingham Parish Church Discovering the Heart of God in the Heart of the City A Vision & Strategy for 2010-2013 1
Discovering the Heart of God in the Heart of the City A vision and strategy for St Martin in the Bull Ring 2010-2013 CONTENTS A Dream 2 Introduction 3 What we will do: 5 Prayer & Worship 5 Pastoral Care 6 Discipleship 7 Mission 8 Evangelism 9 Administration: Fabric, finance & personnel 10 Conclusion 11 Appendix 1: What are our values? 12 Appendix 2: How did we get here? 15 2
A Dream I walked the streets of a city that I knew but didn t. Recognised buildings with a light and energy never experienced before. As I wandered around the strange familiar streets I came to The Heart of the City. There was a truly holy place alive with people and prayer. I watched as the old and young The able and the sick, The rich and the poor, The local and the visitor, The resident and the foreigner, The happy and the sad The hopeful and the helpless entered the busy stillness. I watched children and others learning from screens and welcomers about the one to whom the glory is given. They ate meals and had the chance to create in word and form, paint and clay their response to this day. People were praying some alone others with helpers, listeners to the cries of the heart, lighting candles, seeking. The needs of the world brought to its creator through shabby scraps of snatched thoughts and pleas. Laughter and smiles mixed with silent tears as people gathered to share and greet. A broken group waited for their chance of wholeness through dance and art as the work continued around them. If hope and love could be a colour or a taste or a fragrance or a place I sought an explanation from someone at the door. What is this place? I asked, hopeful for a simple answer. This is the place where we discover the heart of God in the heart of the city. Come and join the celebration. (Stewart Jones) 3
Introduction Remain in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. (John 15v4) In 2006 the first version of this vision and strategy document was produced. It set out our mission statement Discovering the heart of God in the heart of the city under six main areas of church life. These six areas are: prayer and worship; pastoral care; discipleship; evangelism; mission and administration: finance, fabric and personnel. Objectives were agreed for each of these areas and we have been working hard to achieve what we believed God was calling us to do. Some we completed, others we did a bit and in some cases we didn t achieve the objective at all. As a community we have learned from this experience. In 2009 a review took place of our vision and strategy. The community was asked what they liked and disliked about St Martin s. Ideas for what we should be doing were asked for and received. The Church Council and staff teams worked on this review with papers being produced for the Church Council in October 2009 to discuss. A day away in January 2010 was organised and the discerning and honing process continued. This document is the final result of all that discussion and prayer. In addition the Diocese launched their strategy of Transforming Church in September 2009 and we became fully committed to that process at St Martin s. Four things became clear in all of this work. We did not want to lose or change our overall mission statement. We remain committed to Discovering the heart of God in the heart of the city. The six areas of church life remained as helpful descriptions of what we believe are essential to St Martin s church community. Our core values remain the same: Christ centred, inclusive, compassionate, innovative, community, inspirational, celebration. (For definitions of these see Appendix 1) We need to be careful that we do not try to do too much. Pruning is part of the work of God in our lives both individually and as a community. 4
The document that follows is what we believe God has called us to do in the next three years and we believe with prayer, commitment, sacrificial giving and His blessing we can be amazed at the fruit he will produce in the months ahead. The original document contained some very important explanations on how we got here. (Our history, see Appendix 2.) This remains the same and we continue to both honour all that has gone before as well as building on those foundations in the years to come. Crucially in our deliberations we have come to realise that we must not try to do too much and we have identified two main priorities for the immediate future. We must be a community that focuses on prayer. We need to be a people of prayer and a place of prayer. We must be a community that grows leaders. We need to help people deepen their faith and service in the name of Christ. Everything that is described in the rest of this document has to be measured against these two overall priorities. Do our objectives in all six areas of church life help us make these two priorities happen? This question is what the Church Council will be asking in the coming months when we review what we are doing. It is what we believe will transform our community, our mission and our ministry as we continue at Discovering the heart of God in the heart of the city. Discovering the heart of God in the heart of the City: Deepening prayer and worship. Growing leaders. 5
What we will do Prayer and Worship Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6v5) At the centre of the heart of our church life together is prayer and worship. This is what we do no matter what else happens. It is the reason we exist, the reason we come together. We glorify God and receive from him to enable us to live lives in service for him. Without prayer and worship there is no church. This means we have an enormous responsibility in the planning and leading of our services. We also need to be a people of prayer both in our own homes but also together as a community. The services we have at St Martin s are not just for those people who count themselves as part of the community but are also opportunities for visitors and guests. They give them a chance to enter into a time of worship to help them discover for themselves the love of God in Jesus Christ. As the church at the heart of Birmingham we need to ensure that we remain a place of prayer, sanctuary and spiritual hope for all the people of the city. Aim: To go deeper in our relationship with God through prayer and worship. How: By creating three specific prayer events in the year. By establishing prayer networks for the community. By exploring the possibility of an additional midweek after work service. Discovering the heart of God in the heart of the City: Deepening prayer and worship. Growing leaders. 6
Pastoral Care Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. (2 Corinthians 1v3-4) A church is fundamentally about people and caring for them. The care of all whoever they are will always be at the heart of who we are and what we do. We have a long history of being particularly concerned for the poor and those on the margins of society. This is part of our mission. We also need to be a church community that cares for those who see themselves as members of this church. Our pastoral care has therefore both inward looking and outward looking aspects. Aim: To ensure that everyone has the opportunity to receive a genuine expression of Christian care. How: By reorganizing the structure and administration of the pastoral care network. By encouraging pastoral care through Life groups. By establishing training for pastoral visitors. Discovering the heart of God in the heart of the City: Deepening prayer and worship. Growing leaders. 7
Discipleship Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28v19) God is personal but never private. Our faith is always about how we live it out each day of our lives. It affects how we use our time, our talents and our money, in fact the whole of our lives. We all need to keep learning how to grow in our discipleship. Jesus calls every person to become more like him by learning from him. Learning from the Bible, each other and our experiences of life can help in this transformation. Aim: To transform every aspect of our lives so that we grow in our daily walk with Christ. How: By establishing a growing leaders course. By revitalizing all aspects of our life groups. By employing a youth worker. Discovering the heart of God in the heart of the City: Deepening prayer and worship. Growing leaders. 8
Mission Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, Go I wish you well; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2v15-17) Church history shows what happens when a church community becomes obsessed with its own life and not those outside the community. It ceases to have any meaningful existence. St Francis of Assisi said: Preach the gospel, if necessary use words. In addition to our services and the way in which St Martin s as a building is our mission we also have the work of the Tea Lounge, the Shop, The Centre for Health and Healing and St Martin s Arts. These are also an expression of our mission. Often this is done without using words revealing the love of God to a large number of people who are not yet members of our faith community. The mission of this church is not something we can do on our own. We need to be working with other churches in the city centre and beyond to help us fulfil what God is calling us to do. What we hope to do can only be achieved with partnerships across the city allowing our resources to be shared and used more effectively. Aim: To reach out to the city centre of Birmingham with the love of God in Christ. How: By discovering the people and needs of our parish. By developing the St Martin s Festival. By reviewing our mission partner links. Discovering the heart of God in the heart of the City: Deepening prayer and worship. Growing leaders. 9
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Evangelism When the people heard this they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? Peter replied, repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. (Acts 2v37) One of the greatest joys of the Christian life is to see people come to a living faith through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Evangelism is finding appropriate ways to make that happen. One of the key ways for churches to engage with evangelism is through fresh expressions of church. This is finding ways of reaching people in new ways with the gospel which might not look like traditional church. In particular we need to be looking at how we will respond to the changing nature of the city centre with more people coming to live within walking distance of the church. Aim: To proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. How: By creating a wide range of events (both special one offs and regular ones) that develop personal relationships. Through sermon series. By running an enquirers group on a regular basis. Discovering the heart of God in the heart of the City: Deepening prayer and worship. Growing leaders. 11
Administration, Finance, Fabric, Personnel Now you are the body of Christ and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed those with gifts of administration. (1 Corinthians 12v27; v28 adapted) This is the very life blood of a church s heart. Without good stewardship, good administration, adequate funding, a well maintained building, staffing (both paid and volunteers) then the rest of the church s life will slowly cease to work in an adequate way. To make the life of our community effective we have to invest in our people with training and support. We have to invest in our plant with good quality equipment and materials. We have to invest in our administration with the best and most appropriate of modern technology. This is not easy for it will cost us a great deal in time, money and skills but if we want St Martin s to be a strong community then we must face up to these challenges. Aim: To ensure we are good stewards of all the resources we have; people, plant and finance. How: By running a stewardship campaign in 2010 and 2012. By improving the personnel function within the church. By completing the demands of the quinquennial report. Discovering the heart of God in the heart of the City: Deepening prayer and worship. Growing leaders. 12
Conclusion I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4v13) Over the next three years we have set ourselves 18 objectives. These objectives are all aimed at helping us be a church that depends on prayer, worships the living God and grows leaders for the ministry and mission within St Martin s and beyond. How these aims will be achieved is not set out in detail in this document but will be explored and implemented by the church leadership in the coming years. This will include identifying who is responsible for what and how we can resource these activities in terms of money, time and talents. There are many things that have not been included in this document. It is simply not possible to do everything. Neither can we fully know how God will work with us and through us to further His mission in and through St Martin s. That is what makes being part of the community so exciting for we follow the Lord Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit not knowing what he will do next. One thing we do know: it will not be dull or boring. I hope this vision excites you as it does me and that you will do all you can to be part of what we are trying to do at St Martin s. To find out how you can be involved and how you can respond through our current stewardship campaign please contact the parish office (0121 600 6020 email: info@bullring.org). Or log onto our website www.stmartininthebullring.com for more information. Please pray that God will honour this work and that we will see this vision come to fruition. Sovereign God In Christ you make all things new. Clothe us with power from on high, that with generous lives and hearts on fire we might work with you to grow your church and transform your world. To you be glory through Jesus our Lord. Amen Discovering the heart of God in the heart of the City: Deepening prayer and worship. Growing leaders. 13
Appendix 1 What are our Values? We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. (The Creed) Introduction As a Christian church community we can easily assume that we know what really matters to us. We can say the right things in church language but we can easily fail to be agreed as to what foundations we are building such statements upon. Our core values need to be articulated so that we know and we can tell others what St Martin s stands for. There are many places we can find material to work from when it comes to our values. As part of the world wide family that is the Anglican Church there are three that continue to serve as a good starting point: Scripture The Bible is the book from which we discover the acts of God in history and above all the story of God coming into the world in the person of Jesus Christ. From the Bible we can learn a great deal about what is in the heart of God and what should be in our hearts too. The Bible needs to be at the centre of who we are and what we do. Tradition We live in an age where tradition is not looked upon as being particularly valuable. This is a mistake. We are who we are because of what has gone before and the people who have sustained the church in the past matter because without them we would not be here at all. What we must not become is enslaved to the past. It is there to be learned from, built upon and celebrated but it cannot be repeated. At St Martin s we have a long, rich and varied past which includes something of the character of St Martin himself as well as the many wonderful faithful people who have worshipped and served here over the years. Reason God gave us minds with which to think. We are to use them in our reflections, discussions, debates and decisions. Sitting back and expecting a miraculous hand to sort everything out without our 14
contribution is bad theology and demeans us as human beings. We need to be a community that uses our minds, questions and reflects before we decide to act. This is not just for the trained leadership but involves everyone and is a partnership between us and the Spirit of God acting in our world today. Scripture, tradition and reason are the foundations upon which we can define our core values. We want these values to be life enhancing in a world where so many are trapped in a life of destruction, suffering and death. We want these core values to reflect the heart of God. So what are the core values for us at St Martin s and upon which we will build in the years ahead? What values do we believe have been discovered in our reflections on the heart of God in the heart of the city? Core Values Christ Centred We are a Christian community and he is the one we proclaim; the one we live for and the one we serve. All that Jesus is we are striving to become. We long to be people who can be as close to the Father as he is; to treat others as he does and to live a fully human life as he did. Inclusive St Martin s is a place where we welcome everyone no matter who they are, what their lifestyle is or what they have done. We welcome people just as they are but like all who come to Jesus Christ we long to help everyone who comes to have their lives transformed more and more into his likeness. Compassionate Our first motive when meeting people is to show mercy for we are trying to live in a way that reflects what God has done for us namely shown us mercy. We strive to be a forgiving and compassionate community of acceptance and love. Innovative St Martin s has always endeavoured to find new ways of being church and of expressing the mission of the church in ways that meet people where they are rather than where we would like them to be. New ideas and taking risks are at the heart of what we do and how we live. 15
Community We do not believe that being a Christian is a private affair but requires us to live in relationship with other people. The church is the hope for the world. We are stronger when we act together and the church is the place where we can find support, be held accountable and reach our full potential as human beings. Inspirational The world can be a tough place and we can often be crushed by what life throws at us. We want to be a community that has our expectations raised higher than we could ever have imagined and to be inspired by what God can achieve through us and for us and for His world. Celebration Jesus said that he came to bring life in all its fullness and that includes a celebration of the life we live and the wonderful world we experience. We want to be people that celebrate the greatness of God, the good in other people, the good in ourselves and the richness of this world. Discovering the heart of God in the heart of the City: Deepening prayer and worship. Growing leaders. 16
Appendix 2 How did we get here? Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. (Hebrews 11v1-2) This document has not arrived without coming out of somewhere. It is partly formulated from the responses people have made through the consultation process and partly from my reflections and thoughts. But there is also the past life of St Martin s which has brought us to this place in the ministry we are called to fulfil. We might like to think we can ignore the past but we would be foolish to do so for many of the good things we have and some of the challenges we face arise from the decisions and work of those who have worshipped here over the years. Martin of Tours The church is named after a man, the characteristics of whose life is expressed even in our time. When you read the story of Martin it is amazing to see how the things that mattered to him and were a key part of his ministry are still true for us in this church today. His concern for the poor (made well known by the story of how he cut his cloak in two to share with a poor beggar), his ministry to the mentally ill and his life of prayer are all still key parts of what we do and try to be here in this community. We are well named and we still need to continue in these things in the years ahead. The Tradition of St Martin in the Bull Ring There has been a church in the heart of Birmingham for over 700 years and we are now the current stewards of that amazing faithful witness to Christ. We have a great calling and great responsibilities. It would be impossible to detail all that has happened and all that matters in that time but in the post war period of the life of the church three things stand out as essential to the ministry of this place: Preaching. Many people have been helped in their walk with Jesus Christ through those who have the privilege of proclaiming the Word of God to those who come. In our time it may be that preaching is not as highly regarded as it used to be but nevertheless we as a church community need to be aware of the heritage we have and seek ways to build on that and develop it. St Martins should always be a place where we are trying to preach in a 17
way that is accessible, challenging and relevant to all who come in order that they may discover for themselves the person of Jesus Christ. This will require us to be imaginative in how we do that but it is something we need to continue to take seriously. On the side of the poor St Martin s has also a very long history of standing alongside the poor and marginalised in our society. This is as it should be for where we are in terms of the city centre means that those who are struggling with life for whatever reason come for help and sanctuary. Sadly even in the twenty first century we still have people being left behind in our society and the need for the church to support and speak up for the poor remains a vital and important ministry. It is who we are and it is what we will continue to be in particular through the work of the Centre for Health and Healing but also in the many other aspects of the community. Parish Church of Birmingham This is Birmingham parish church. The place to which Brummies look if they look anywhere for a spiritual home. This may not be true for those of other faiths but it is certainly true for the majority of citizens in the city who would describe themselves as Christian. Even though they may rarely come to church, St Martin s offers them a place to look and hopefully encounter the living God through Jesus Christ. This places upon us a great opportunity and a great responsibility. We should always ensure that this is a place of openness and welcome. We should see it as a place where we can strengthen links with the city authorities, businesses shoppers, and tourists to give them a chance to encounter a spirituality that is real, relevant and challenging. However it is Christianity that we proclaim and it is a Christian way of life that we want to share with all who do come through our doors. Fully Human, Fully Alive We can see what impact this vision document has had by just looking at the building and seeing the work of the café, the Centre for Health and Healing and the ways in which the worship has developed. Of course not everything in a document such as Fully Human Fully Alive has been achieved and some things haven t worked in the way we hoped but like everything else in our past it is part of who we are. In recent years it is has made an enormous impact on St Martin s. 18
Discovering the Heart of God in the heart of the City In 2006 this new vision and strategy began to make an impact on the life of St Martin s. Crucially some of the work started under Fully Human, Fully Alive had to be ended. In particular this was the St Martin s Centre with important reorganisation of staff taking place; the ending of the learning and advice service and what was then called the cafe closing in 2007. At this time there were very serious financial pressures on the church which are still being worked through. This has had a major impact on the mission and ministry of St Martin s and a great deal of the three years between 2006 and 2009 have been about ensuring the survival of the community. Discovering the heart of God in the heart of the City: Deepening prayer and worship. Growing leaders. 19
Birmingham Parish Church St. Martin in the Bull Ring Edgbaston Street BIRMINGHAM B5 5BB Tel: 0121-600 6020 Fax: 0121-600 6021 Email: office@bullring.org Web: www.bullring.org 20