UNITING CHURCH IN AUSTRALIA PRESBYTERY OF GIPPSLAND Part 1 of 3 October 2015 Part 1 of 3 VISION: Growing in Christ and sharing His love and hope OBJECTIVE To revitalize the Mission Areas of the Presbytery: o as a key to the identification of mission initiatives and ways of being church. o to equip and encourage congregations to respond to the call of Christ to be a missional church. 1
This Mission and Strategy paper is in three parts: Part 1: the journey so far beginning to reimagine the church your church its context Part 2: a number of suggestions about how you might plan mission and strategy to revitalize your church and Mission Area Part 3: further information about the key area of Presbytery Responsibility, the call for the church to be missional and develop a strategy to achieve the mission. THE CALL TO BE A MISSIONAL CHURCH It is not the Church of God that has a mission in the world, but the God of mission who has a church in the world. o The church is called to be incarnational; that is, like Jesus, going to where the people are; offering ministry sensitive to their needs and ways of experiencing life. It is likely to include hospitality, respectful listening, and openness to learning from the people you meet. o God is present with all people; so, part of the missionary task is to look for, recognize and name that presence and the life God gives. Essentially, the call of Christ is to discipleship. Being missional and growing disciples are the DNA of a church. STRATEGY IS HOW WE ARE MISSIONAL The Call to Mission Areas and Congregations to be a dynamic part of the Mission and Strategy of the Presbytery is not a call to run more programs, but to engage with the call of Christ to be a vibrant church within the Presbytery. This may lead to the development of new forms of church, new missional life across the Presbytery. RESPONSES FROM TABLE GROUPS AT PRESBYTERY: priority areas for Presbytery mission and strategy A number of areas were identified at Presbytery meetings during 2015 as important to rediscovering our calling to grow in Christ and share His love, being a vibrant church of faith and hope: 1. Reimagining the church, 2. Congregations, 3. Discipleship, 4. Mission, 5. Organizational structure of Congregations and mission areas, 6. Ministry and worship, 7. Social Justice. Over two meetings there were three clear areas of agreement: 1. Reimagining the church what are we currently doing, what do we celebrate, how is it missional, how could it be done differently, how can we celebrate what we do now, how can we work better together. 2. Small congregations how do we care for them, how do we celebrate what they do and who they are, how can they be supported, how do they connect with other congregations, what are their dreams and visions? 3. Discipleship...a number of Groups also highlighted the need to grow disciples and faith sharing...how do we share our faith, how do we live our faith, how do we grow our faith, how do we journey from being members to disciples. 2
It is clear from discussion at Presbytery that the key topic to begin thinking about is Reimagining the Church where your congregation is now and where it might be. All other topics grow out of thinking about reimagining the church. For 2016, each Mission Area is encouraged to: o Then: o o Then: o o begin its thinking with Reimagining the Church this provides an introduction to the context of the church. other areas grow out of this one. select one of the other six areas identified in this paper or another that the Mission Area considers of greater importance identify what its mission is in that area and the strategies that are to be used to work towards achieving that mission For 2017, each Mission Area is encouraged to select another of the other six areas identified in this paper For 2018, each Mission Area is encouraged to select another of the other six areas identified in this paper As a guide it is suggested that the SMART approach be used strategies should be; Simple, Measurable (Can you see any change? How would you do this differently next time?), Achievable, Realistic, Timely (It s the right time to be doing this.) How could Mission Areas function? Some ideas for consideration: 1. At the first meeting elect a person to act as coordinator. 2. Meet on a regular basis. 3. Determine the most appropriate meeting place and time. 4. How to ensure that people attend: deal with matters of critical importance to all congregations. 5. Need for balance of attendance people from a large congregation dominating? Small congregations not attending etc. 6. Could be an occasional Mission Area event such as combined worship and lunch, maybe followed by a Mission Area Meeting. 7. Publicizing Mission Area Meetings. Through the Mission Area, encouraging and equipping congregations to respond to: the call to share the good news of Christ as a missional church listening to the call of God in prayer, worship and the study of Scripture discovering each other s God given gifts people as being more important than agendas the opportunity to encourage and affirm the opportunity to experiment a permission giving environment to encourage the exercise of initiative the importance of compassion and reflective listening the imperative of peace making, reconciliation and the restoring of relationships mistakes being met with grace, patience and understanding the human resources and the energy of our congregation to make a difference in the world. (from the Ringwood East Uniting Church website) 3
REIMAGINING THE CHURCH 1. On the map of your mission area (MAP 1) which shows the congregations, write the frequency of worship, average numbers attending and distance from the nearest Uniting Church. 2. Look at the map of your Mission Area that was produced at Presbytery and highlight the location of all churches. 3. In your mission area, if there were no Uniting Churches at all, where would you establish a UC church today? a. Why? b. Think about churches that already exist in the area, current population and population trends, distances (and easy) of travel etc. 4. Mark on the map where you would locate a UC if the area did not have any churches. a. Does the present location of UC congregations match where you would commence a UC if there were none? b. What does this say about the need to establish a UC, the possibility of sharing more with another denomination, amalgamating congregations? Discuss these questions. 5. What decisions for action can the Mission Area make? a. What? Why? How? When? b. Discussions with congregations? c. Feedback? d. Action? For each strategy, decide the following WHAT? State clearly what you want to do. WHY? Why is this important? HOW? How can this happen? (List the steps and identify a person [people] who will be responsible for making it happen.) WHEN? When will this start? HELP? What help and resources from Presbytery will we need? EVALUATE How will we evaluate the impact, short and long term effect. PART 2 of the Mission and Strategy document contains suggestions about how your Mission Area might begin to explore its chosen area of focus. PART 3 of the Mission and Strategy document contains additional information about The Key Responsibilities of Presbytery and a Theological Framework for Mission, and Strategy. Approved and adopted by Standing Committee16th September, 2015 Produced by the Strategy Task Group of Presbytery Please address any enquiries to: Rev Dr Des Parker, Presbytery Minister Mission & Education (Supply) Telephone: 0428 197 092, Address: 82 Charles Street, Warragul 3820, Email: desparker@dcsi.net.au 4
Uniting Church in Australia PRESBYTERY OF GIPPSLAND Part 2 Part 2 offers a number of suggestions for a process you might use to plan mission and strategy to revitalize your church and Mission Area using the topics identified by Presbytery in Council. RESPONSES FROM TABLE GROUPS AT PRESBYTERY: priority areas for Presbytery mission and strategy A number of areas were identified at Presbytery meetings during 2015 as important to rediscovering our calling to grow in Christ and share His love, being a vibrant church of faith and hope: 1. Reimagining the church, 2. Congregations, 3. Discipleship, 4. Mission, 5. Organizational structure of Congregations and mission areas, 6. Ministry and worship, 7. Social Justice. Approved and adopted by Standing Committee16th September, 2015 Produced by the Strategy Task Group of Presbytery Please address any enquiries to: Rev Dr Des Parker, Presbytery Minister Mission & Education (Supply) Telephone: 0428 197 092, Address: 82 Charles Street, Warragul 3820, Email: desparker@dcsi.net.au 1
CONGREGATIONS The following questions are designed to be discussion starters and may or may not lead to decisions. 1. What is each congregation in the Mission Area doing in mission? a. Make a list of these areas of Mission. b. How do we (should we) celebrate this mission? 2. What sharing exists between each of the congregations in the Mission Area? a. Ministry, Lay preachers, expertise (book keeping, maintenance etc) b. What do congregations share with each other at present? How? Why? What? c. Could there be more sharing? How? Why? What? 3. Which are the strong congregations in your Mission Area? a. Why do you think they are strong? i. Can some of these reasons assist other congregations? b. How do they share their strength with other congregations? c. Is there opportunity for more sharing? How? 4. Are all congregations viable in terms of membership, mission and finances? a. If not what are the options? 5. How are struggling congregations cared for? a. Some small congregations are weak numerically but very strong missionally how do we encourage them? b. Is there a need for some congregations to join with others so that the capital released can be used for mission? c. Is there a need for some congregations to close so those assets can be used for the ongoing life of God s mission in other places? What strategies can the Mission Area agree upon and implement to achieve what has been agreed? Some areas such as ideas about Property, new congregations, hubs will need Presbytery input and approval. For example: If sharing church library resources is identified as important: WHAT? Sharing library resources. WHY? HOW? WHEN? HELP? EVALUATE Why is this important? How can this happen? 1. Develop a borrowing system? 2. Share a box of books every second month with another congregation? 3. Appoint a contact person in each congregation to make sure that this happens and to keep records of borrowers. When will this start? What help and resources from Presbytery will we need? How will we evaluate the impact, short and long term effect. 2
DISCIPLESHIP The following questions are designed to be discussion starters and may or may not lead to decisions. 1. How do we equip people to be disciples? a. How do we engage people who attend church to take part in training sessions, studies of the faith? b. How do we make sure that training and studies are relevant and attractive? c. Developing a commitment to the call of Christ to be a disciple prayer, faith sharing, faith living the work of the Spirit. 2. Issues of sharing faith being able to know our faith well enough to share it, and have the language to share our faith. How do we do this? a. Need to find ways to help people overcome the discomfort that ma ny f i nd w i th s ha r i n g their faith, but don't want to be intrusive and overwhelming like some Christian groups can be, but do need to be open about our faith and sure of our own commitment. b. Need to encourage our people to be inviters. (it takes on average seven personal invitations for people to first attend) God is already out there in our world and our societywe are too limited if we only see Christianity and God being in the church building. c. Opening our eyes to see where God is already. Spiritual hunger in the community, and interest in life/faith/spiritual issues that may not translate into wanting to attend church. How do we do this? 3. To what extent do we share knowledge about our faith and/or experience of the Christ as a real living presence? a. What is more important, to share a lived experience or bible knowledge? b. In practical terms, how do we do this with other church people, with people who know and understand little about the Christian faith and belief talk about this. 4. Is what we are offering appropriate for our community? If it is, can it be done more effectively? How? a. Need to think about what groups/ programs/ opportunities we can offer, shouldn't be limited to the 'old' models, should not be about trying to offer more and more. 5. What might be some new and relevant models of ministry for people engaged with community sport etc. at the weekend? 6. Sometimes the church fails to take its opportunities, eg with craft groups that have a devotional time which MUST be relevant. What strategies can the Mission Area agree upon and implement to achieve what has been agreed? Some areas such as ideas about Property, new congregations, hubs etc will need Presbytery input and approval. For each strategy, decide the following WHAT? State clearly what you want to do. WHY? Why is this important? HOW? How can this happen? (List the steps and identify a person [people] who will be responsible for making it happen.) WHEN? When will this start? HELP? What help and resources from Presbytery will we need? 3
EVALUATE How will we evaluate the impact, short and long term effect. MISSION: The following questions are designed to be discussion starters and may or may not lead to decisions. 1. Mission Areas have the potential to become centers for the enhancement of mission in response to its local areas. a. What are the needs of the communities that are not being met by others? b. What are members of the different congregations currently involve with? i. How do we celebrate these? c. Are these missional? How? d. If they are not missional, how might they be missional? 2. What does it mean to be missional? a. Discussions/studies/ talk about examples and experience/role play and analysis. 3. How do we provide Mission Area support, encouragement, sharing of ideas and living out its mission. a. Assist congregations to understand the call of the Gospel to be a missional church can a group of people be a church if they are not missional? b. Assist congregations to live out their mission. c. Assist congregations to have a clear vision, mission and strategy. 4. Share expertize in many areas eg. Information Technology, finances, keeping records, ministry to different groups (children, youth, young adults, families, singles, elderly etc). a. How are the resources for mission provided? b. Pooling of funds? c. Each congregation looks after its self? d. More than one congregation engaged in a mission outreach? e. Other What strategies can the Mission Area agree upon and implement to achieve what has been agreed? Some areas such as ideas about Property, new congregations, hubs will need Presbytery input and approval. For each strategy, decide the following WHAT? State clearly what you want to do. WHY? Why is this important? HOW? How can this happen? (List the steps and identify a person [people] who will be responsible for making it happen.) WHEN? When will this start? HELP? What help and resources from Presbytery will we need? EVALUATE How will we evaluate the impact, short and long term effect. 4
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF CONGREGATIONS AND MISSION AREA: The following questions are designed to be discussion starters and may or may not lead to decisions. 1. What is the current organizational structure of the Mission area? a. Is it too large/small to work well as a mission area? What changes could be made to make it more workable? b. Refer to Map 1. 2. Many table groups at Presbytery identified that consideration could be given to the formation of clusters or hubs. a. Is this an option for some of the congregations within your mission area? b. Which congregations could be involved? c. How would you engage these congregations in discussion? d. How might a cluster or hub work there is more than one model? e. How do you care for people with different opinions? f. Any move towards forming a cluster or hub will involve discussion with congregations and Presbytery. 3. Are all congregations viable in terms of membership, mission and finances? a. If not what are the options? b. How can they be supported? c. How can they best live out the call of the gospel to be a missional church? 4. How are struggling congregations cared for? a. Is there a need for some congregations to join with others so that the capital released can be used for mission? b. If this is so, what consultation and discussion needs to take place? c. How do we care for the faithful people of the congregation? What strategies can the Mission Area agree upon and implement to achieve what has been agreed? Some areas such as ideas about Property, new congregations, hubs will need Presbytery input and approval. For each strategy, decide the following WHAT? State clearly what you want to do. WHY? Why is this important? HOW? How can this happen? (List the steps and identify a person [people] who will be responsible for making it happen.) WHEN? When will this start? HELP? What help and resources from Presbytery will we need? EVALUATE How will we evaluate the impact, short and long term effect. 5
MINISTRY AND WORSHIP: The following questions are designed to be discussion starters and may or may not lead to decisions. 1. How does ministry (leading worship, pastoral care, contribution to the wider church, building up the people of God to be the people of God in word and deed etc.) happen in your congregations at present? Make a list. 2. What other ways might these ministries happen? Make a list. 3. With a shortage of Ordained ministers what alternatives might there be? a. Worship teams. b. A resource minister who trains members of congregations to lead worship, lead studies, encourage and inspire others, pastoral carers. c. Electronic Media, IT [DVD, share a service with another congregation; join another congregation]; etc. 4. What is worship? a. Can it happen differently? How? b. What do the words we sing and say mean to you and others in the church non churchy language please? c. What do the words we sing and say mean to people outside of the church or the casual visitor with little or no church background? d. Not using any churchy language, how are the scriptures relevant to the concerns and events of today? How do you engage others in a discussion about this in a way that they will want to discuss? 5. How might worship be different and why? a. Different days. b. Over a meal. c. Meet in different places. d. As a starting point for discussion, use the newspaper, book, film etc. e. Other ideas? 6. How do we engage with the community? a. Organize a film night and invite those attending to talk about the film. b. Part of markets etc. c. Publicity and communication local paper, website, facebook etc d. Forum on issues important to the community eg. Fracking. e. Etc. 7. What are other ways of being church? a. See 4 and 5 above and many other suggestions in this paper. b. How we reach a balance between what is new and what is valued as part of the inheritance of the Church? c. What are the essentials in Ministry and worship that need to be retained? Why? What strategies can the Mission Area agree upon and implement to achieve what has been agreed? Some areas such as ideas about Property, new congregations, hubs will need Presbytery input and approval. For each strategy, decide the following WHAT? State clearly what you want to do. WHY? Why is this important? HOW? How can this happen? (List the steps and identify a person [people] who will be responsible for making it happen.) WHEN? When will this start? HELP? What help and resources from Presbytery will we need? 6
EVALUATE How will we evaluate the impact, short and long term effect. SOCIAL JUSTICE This is a broad area which includes Asylum Seekers, disadvantaged, disregarded, displaced, homeless, abused, disenfranchised, victimized, etc. Social Justice matters require more that recognizing an injustice, it requires action doing something. The following questions are designed to be discussion starters and may or may not lead to decisions. 1. Talk with Community organizations about the social justice issues that they face every day do not just rely upon your ideas. a. Maybe invite a person from two or three organizations in your area to talk at a meeting of the Mission Area. For example, about the everyday reality for the disadvantaged in the area (eg. Homelessness, food vouchers for families, drugs, abuse and what is being done and what needs to be done). 2. Divide a large piece of paper into three columns. Head column 1 Mission area, head column 2 broader community, head column 3 nation. List the social justice issues for each column. a. What are the churches in the mission area already doing to make a difference to a lack of social justice in their area and more broadly in the community and nation? i. Make a list of each church and what its members are doing. ii. Are these activities an individual response or a congregational response? iii. How effective are the responses? What changes can you see happening? b. Use another large piece of paper to list examples of a lack of social justice in the Mission Area in one column. i. In a second column list what is happening (action) in the community to redress the social injustice. ii. In a third column on a scale of 1(lease) 10(most) rate how effectively you think those issues are being dealt with? (What real difference is the action making?) c. In column 1: i. place a tick alongside the areas that you think are being dealt with effectively as shown in column 3 (score of 8 10). ii. underline the areas that need more attention (scores of 5 to 7) iii. draw a circle or box around the area that are not being dealt with (scores of 0 to 4) 3. How can the churches in the mission area make a difference in the areas that have been identified as needing more attention or not being dealt with (scores of 0 7)? a. Response by members of the congregation? How? What? b. Ecumenical cooperation on some matters. c. Delegations to members of Parliament and local councils? d. Form a lobby group(s) to actively pursue a particular issue(s)? e. Inviting members of congregations to be involved. f. Sponsoring, organizing, community meetings (with guest speakers?) to inform people about issues, action, etc. g. Reporting to congregations, Mission Area, Presbytery about what is being done and why. h. Reports in local papers. What strategies can the Mission Area agree upon and implement to achieve what has been agreed? Some areas such as ideas about Property, new congregations, hubs will need Presbytery input and approval. For each strategy, decide the following WHAT? State clearly what you want to do. WHY? Why is this important? HOW? How can this happen? (List the steps and identify a person [people] who will be responsible for making it happen.) WHEN? When will this start? 7
HELP? EVALUATE What help and resources from Presbytery will we need? How will we evaluate the impact, short and long term effect. 8
Uniting Church in Australia PRESBYTERY OF GIPPSLAND Part 3 Further information about the key areas of the Presbytery Responsibilities, a theological framework for mission and the call to the church to be missional and develop a strategy to achieve the mission. SUMMARY OF SOME OF THE KEY RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PRESBYTERY (from the Regulations of the UCA) 1. Pastoral and administrative oversight of all Ministers and pastoral charges within its bounds. 2. Oversight of Congregations a. Formation of, the alteration of the bounds of and the dissolution of Congregations and other pastoral charges within the bounds; b. Conducting consultations on the life and witness of Congregations c. Receiving and dealing with matters referred to it by Congregations and Church Councils and the transmission of these matters where appropriate; d. Encourage and support a variety of expressions of church, faith communities and forms of church for a changing world. e. Encourage and assist people engaged in pioneering something new, whether in extending the reach of the church, or entrepreneurial ministry. 3. Presbytery's role should be like a 2 way linkage and liaison between other Church bodies and congregations, between parishes and congregations and between congregations within the Presbytery linking through communication, fellowship and through sharing ideas and resources. It is in Mission Areas that much of this communication should take place. 4. To encourage congregations to actively explore and support (through people, financial and other resources) the development of new forms of church and planting a variety of expressions of church. 5. The promotion and conduct throughout the presbytery of activities and events which will encourage and instruct people generally toward a better and a fuller participation in the whole range of Christian witness and service. 6. The supervision of vacancies in pastoral charges and arranging supply ministry where possible. 7. Receiving and dealing with applications to acquire property or to sell, mortgage, exchange or lease the property of pastoral charges. 1
THEOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK FOR MISSION Basically Mission means a sending forth. It describes purpose. Although widely used in many settings, mission is fundamentally a Christian word. As God sent Jesus into the world, so the church, the body of Christ, is sent into the world to continue Christ s mission. People and society have changed and continue to change; so the truths of God need to be celebrated and communicated in new and fresh ways. The church is called to fresh responses to our changing world and we do so with the assurance that Christ is with us enabling faithful witness. To be a pilgrim people means that we are constantly becoming the church. We never make it as the church, but we are called to be the church anew in every historical moment. In developing new forms and expressions of church and encouraging new missional life in existing congregations, we seek to give expression to the dynamic pilgrim nature of the church. This recognizes that in each historical moment the church is called to hear afresh the call of Christ to be faithful witnesses to the Gospel as we live as the community of Christ in our changing world. This is undertaken in response to the call in our changing world. As we proclaim Christ crucified and risen afresh in our changing world, we do so in the confidence that Christ, through the Spirit, makes disciples and transforms our world. All of our attempts at being the church anew rely upon and respond to the work of the Triune God in awakening faith and transforming the world. We seek to be faithful as witnesses to the Gospel in word and action, and depend upon the Spirit of Christ to awaken faith in our life and the life of those whom we love and serve. The Basis of Union reminds us that: The Uniting Church acknowledges that the Church is able to live and endure through the changes of history only because its Lord comes, addresses, and deals with people in and through the news of his completed work (Paragraph 4). The Church lives between the time of Christ s death and resurrection and the final consummation of all things which Christ will bring; the Church is a pilgrim people, always on the way towards a promised goal. (Paragraph 3). Through human witness in word and action, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, Christ reaches out to command attention and awaken faith. (Paragraph 4). Adapted from the Basis of Union, Presbytery of Port Phillip West Regeneration documents, Alan Matthew s report. 2
STRATEGY IS HOW WE ARE MISSIONAL The Call to Mission Areas and Congregations to be a dynamic part of the Mission and Strategy of the Presbytery is not a call to run more programs, but to engage with the call of Christ to be a vibrant church within the Presbytery. This may lead to the development of new forms of church, new missional life across the Presbytery. For some congregations, this might mean releasing people for mission initiatives. For others, it might mean being a supporting partner with another church, upholding others in prayer, releasing financial and property resources for the future church as a radical act of discipleship. For all congregations it means rethinking how we share all of our resources, human, material, capital for the mission of God. This means the people of the congregation, visiting, encouraging, know how ; what we have such as library, sporting equipment, furniture; finances, property. 16th September, 2015 Approved and adopted by Standing Committee16th September, 2015 Produced by the Strategy Task Group of Presbytery Please address any enquiries to: Rev Dr Des Parker, Presbytery Minister Mission & Education (Supply) Telephone: 0428 197 092, Address: 82 Charles Street, Warragul 3820, Email: desparker@dcsi.net.au 3