Revision II November 2014 Black & White Version Our Deanery Mission Action Plan Approved by Synod on 15 November 2014 Back in Autumn of 2013, our Diocesan Synod agreed four Strategic Priorities (see right). Every Deanery was n tasked with developing a Deanery Mission Action Plan, to realise se strategic priorities taking account of our own local situation building on what we are doing well and identifying areas for attention. These in turn shape what benefices and parishes consider when building ir pmaps (Parish Mission Action Plans). All of this is designed to ensure that we turn Diocesan Vision of 'Living Mission of Jesus' into practical reality. We believe that experience of going through process has already brought our Deanery closer toger. We have been fortunate in this Deanery that we collectively began discussions two years ago about opportunities and challenges. This document refore is work of many voices - clergy, laity, schools and community over this period of time. While prepared and co-ordinated by Deanery Mission & Pastoral Committee (DMPC), it represents our shared response to challenge Bishop Tim set for us - to use Mission Action Planning process 'as a tool for discerning what God is saying and doing in each Deanery context'. We began by talking to you, surveying our schools and researching different groups who live, work or serve people in our Deanery, culminating in our Consultation Evening in June. Since n DMPC have met on a fortnightly basis to listen, discuss, debate, research and pray on everything that has been said - and to turn what we collectively heard into realistic workable objectives. While we are not a 'one size fits all' Deanery, this process has demonstrated that we have many shared aspirations and things in common - particularly in our desire for our churches to be more greatly integrated into lives of our communities. We all have different starting points but same goal - to grow as Christians and to draw ors into Kingdom by sharing message of Jesus Christ. Over following five pages you will find proposed plan for our Deanery to take us up to 2017, with a summary of our objectives under each Strategic Priority, and some detail for next three years. We cannot do everything all at same time and you will see that re is less under some headings and more under ors that is quite deliberate. The plan will evolve and grow as we begin its practical application, undoubtedly revising, reassessing and changing as we learn more about our potential and our limitations. We believe that for our Deanery, this Mission Action Plan will enable us to take action for future while rejoicing in present. Under God, delighting in His grace & rooted in Diocesan rule of life, we will be a Diocese in which: We grow auntic disciples, going out as individuals passionately, confidently & courageously sharing ir faith, & coming toger as creative church communities of prayer and worship We re-imagine Church intentionally connecting & engaging with our local communities in culturally relevant ways. We will rejoice in richness of mixed economy of all ministry & proactively promote vibrant parochial & breathtaking pioneering ministries We are agents of social transformation using our influence as a Diocese to transform public & personal life. We will demonstrate loving faith at work in local communities & across globe bringing healing, restoration & reconciliation. We belong toger in Christ, practicing sacrificial living & good stewardship of all that God has entrusted to us. We will combine radical generosity, care & capacity building with a clear focus on directing finance into mission of Jesus. Sharing & multiplying local good practice, using people, buildings & or resources wisely, we will seek to boldly prune, plant & invest in building for Kingdom. Page 1 of 6
: We grow auntic disciples o A clearer understanding of discipleship, spiritual gifts and how y can be developed o Access for everyone to a wide variety of discipleship courses o An online resource centre hosted by Deanery to streamline access to training/resources o People identified to train and lead discipleship courses/events o Greater involvement in church life through use of individuals spiritual gifts o Enthused and active disciples generating a 20% expansion in church communities. 1. Conversations in every benefice identifying what is happening already and what is needed. A document defining 'discipleship, outlining ways of growing disciples and details of available resources to be compiled by Deanery. 2. Parishes to encourage and develop people's understanding of ir spiritual gifts and how se can be grown. All baptised Christians have a ministry : this is to be foundation of encouraging understanding of what spiritual gifts are and how y can be nurtured and developed. 3. Every parish to identify resource needs including any group leadership training. Some parishes already have some excellent resources, eir home-grown or published. Ors have none. The Deanery to build an online resource centre for course/home group leaders and prayer materials along with a database of resources hosted on Deanery website. This to include home-grown courses, links to Diocesan Lent course etc. and external resources. Deanery Office to manage an online diary of discipleship courses and events being run in Deanery and wider Diocese. Knowing what is being done already will be helpful in forward planning. 1. Across Deanery to see people identified and trained to lead courses (at least one per parish/benefice). This ensures an increasing level of quality leadership across Deanery. 2. To see an increase in number of people using ir spiritual gifts through greater involvement in church life e.g. exploring new initiatives and building on existing ministries. 3. To see a 30% increase in number of people coming toger to reflect, study and pray. It is expected that, with newly trained leaders and available resources, re will be a desire to try new groups in different areas and different ways. 4. Every benefice to identify opportunities to extend faith conversations outside church communities, including what resource or help might be needed to achieve this. 1. To see church communities of more confident and active disciples. 2. To see church communities expanded by 20%. 3. To encourage and support people who feel a sense of vocation to various ordained and lay leadership roles Page 2 of 6
: We re-imagine Church o Existing parishes working with ors collaboratively to form Mission Partnerships, sharing resources and taking initiatives across m o An increase in number and variety of authorised ministers, including a focal minister (this role will be clearly defined) for every church o The age profile of each Mission Partnership's worshipping community getting younger o Ordained and lay ministers being able to pursue ir vocation without unmanageable stress o Fresh Expressions of church growing with equal standing in ir own right to complement traditional ministry and not necessarily as a stepping stone to traditional forms of church o An affirmation of existing forms of worship 1. Mission Partnerships agreed between parishes and benefices 2. Each Mission Partnership to hold a Vision Day facilitated by Deanery as part of ir pmap process. This will be followed by a furr six week introductory course to focus on what is meant by 'mission shaped' 3. Identify roles within Mission Partnership and people to fill m who will act as champions e.g. for Fresh Expressions and prayer 4. Parishes invited to review ir worshipping patterns to see if re is duplication (with churches or services nearby) and enough variety The Deanery will recast role of Clergy Chapter as a fellowship of prayer, encouragement, learning and contributing towards spiritual renewal. The Deanery will also compile resources and 'go to' people - starting with a parish audit of skills, interests and resources. The Deanery to identify someone to work with Clergy Chapter on rhythm, practices and boundaries e.g. report 'Affirmation & Accountability' from Society of Mary & Martha. The Deanery will also identify Deanery budget to help with seed grants to get new initiatives going. 1. Establishment of a FEAST (Fresh Expressions Area Strategy Team), ideally ecumenically, to facilitate training, support, launch and development of new Fresh Expressions 2. Training events to help Mission Partnerships set up Messy Church or similar, targeted at children 3. Commence vocations training for church leaders to identify new and existing forms of vocation 4. Aim for at least two Fresh Expressions in each Mission Partnership, one of which may be Messy Church 1. Focal Ministers appointed to every church 2. Training on occasional offices, visiting, welcome etc to grow traditional forms of church and ministry Page 3 of 6
: We are agents of social transformation o Over next three years, each parish/benefice to develop and sustain socially transforming projects locally or elsewhere o The Deanery to take an active role in co-ordinating activities across all Primary Schools, leveraging pools of talent already working successfully across Deanery o Engage all Primary Schools in a feasibility study to research demand for before/after school clubs and launch a number of trial clubs over next three years In addition to above, we believe that for this third Strategic Priority, secondary & furr education must be our focus: will see in o Deanery-wide awareness of Schools Ministry vision which reaches all secondary and furr education pupils o A strong, motivated group of volunteers working with children and young people in Deanery with ongoing training 1. Establish an Ecumenical Social Enterprise (ESE) part funded by Deanery to cover ministry to secondary and furr education students. This will identify current availability, gaps and opportunities, creating a needs-based plan to: build on existing chaplaincy with Peter Symonds Sixth Form College make links with secondary schools (Kings, Westgate, Henry Beaufort, Osborne School) 2. The ESE will: map current secular youth work within Deanery, including uniformed organisations, community centres, etc map and establish links with current Christian youth work in Deanery to make needs-based plan for input in order to compile a database/website of youth work resources accessible across Deanery 1. Peter Symonds: if agreed, a funded college ministry worker to be in post for start of 2016/17 academic year, to work with volunteers to provide ministry and support, primarily to students 2. Secondary schools: if agreed, one funded school ministry worker to be in post in one school (or across schools) for start of 2016/17 academic year, to work with volunteers to provide ministry and support, primarily to students. 3. Youth work: Recruit volunteers for schools ministry and youth work across Deanery with ongoing training Discuss youth work needs with parishes, benefices and Mission Partnerships Hold separate annual Deanery-wide events for 11-14 and 14-18 age groups 1. Peter Symonds: Review post and volunteering with worker and college and secure funding for furr years 2. Secondary Schools: Review post and volunteering with worker and school(s) and secure funding to expand service to a second funded school ministry worker for 2017/18 academic year 3. Youth work: Regular evaluation of youth work across Deanery, including feedback and suggestions from volunteers with continued development of people and resources Page 4 of 6
: We belong toger in Christ o Consultation followed by formation of new Mission Partnerships across Deanery, sharing resources and taking initiatives across m o Greater understanding of diverse forms and rhythms of worshipping life in Deanery o Development of nature of lay ministries and how we use m to benefit of all o Training of new lay and ordained ministers o Identification of need and subsequent implementation of centrally organised mission-based Deanery activities accessible to all o Learning from our partners outside of Diocese and mutually sharing resources with m 1. Following consultation between each parish, benefice and DMPC, Deanery Synod to approve Mission Partnerships in which parishes will join toger. DMPC will issue a paper early in 2015 which will explain rationale for and benefits of Mission Partnerships and include DMPC s suggested Mission Partnerships in Deanery. The consultation process will include a dmap presentation meeting. Deanery Synod will approve proposed Mission Partnerships by end of April 2015 2. Each parish, in consultation with or parishes in its Mission Partnership to identify in its Parish Mission Action Plan (pmap - launching in Nov 2014) nature of lay ministries it may need 3. Each benefice/parish whose pmap establishes a need for lay and ordained minister(s) to identify (if possible) candidates for those posts for training, and subsequent authorisation by Bishop. 1. Training of new lay or ordained ministers to commence 2. Each Mission Partnership to undertake a collaborative process to examine available strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats across whole Mission Partnership 3. Each benefice to identify any help which it feels might be needed and provided at Deanery level. 1. Each Mission Partnership to explore and develop areas of collaboration, including governance. This requires not just consideration of joint meetings, but actual implementation of such meetings 2. After a consultation phase, DMPC to make any necessary recommendations to Norrn Area Team concerning Deanery and/or parish boundary revisions. 3. DMPC to undertake a consultation on optimum way in which to make best use of existing resources within Deanery to support and assist parishes and Mission Partnerships, including possible creation of a Deanery hub. Page 5 of 6
What happens next? We ask that you prayerfully discuss, debate and take time to think over this plan within your PCCs and wider congregation (if time allows) in readiness for our Synod Meeting on Saturday 15 November 9.30am at Christ Church. We are very sensible of fact that timescales laid down by Diocese have been tight. For DMPC this has made us very focussed on achieving a successful outcome although we appreciate re are parts of plan that require much more research. It is se areas where we will work more collaboratively at a parish and benefice level, to fine tune detail and specific lines of responsibility. We will put this document to Deanery Synod vote on 15 November 2014 and hope that it is officially adopted as our three year plan. At this point it will n be submitted to Diocese to be included in Deanery Mission Action Plan Celebration Service on Saturday 22nd November at noon. Everyone is welcome to attend. It is at this service that next step of process will be launched - Parish Mission Action Plans or pmaps. Each PCC will be tasked with electing a pmap Action Group a team of enthusiastic volunteers to take on responsibility for designing ir Parish Mission Action Plans. Multi-parish benefices are encouraged to develop one overall pmap for benefice, whilst recognising that parts of that pmap may be parish specific. It is worth noting that Finance Committee will be tasked with taking forward financial implications of plan. We thank you for your considered time and thought on what we have prepared and look forward to hearing your comments. We will be welcoming all comments at meeting and also welcome any submissions beforehand via email at DeanerySec@gmail.com. With warm wishes The Deanery Mission & Pastoral Committee 15 Nov Synod 18 Nov Diocesan pmap launch event 22 Nov dmap Cadral Celebration Jan 2015 All PCC s to have elected ir pmap Action Group 12 Feb 2015 Deanery Synod - dmap next steps April 2015 Diocesanrun surgeries to assist with pmaps 21 Nov 2015 pmap Cadral Celebration Revd Paul Kennedy Area Dean Revd Philip Cochrane Assistant Area Dean Ruth Guy Lay Chair Anthony Cross Campbell Dye Wendy Jones Revd Karen Kousseff Tom Nell Peter Towler Page 6 of 6