Partnership for Missional Church

Partnership for Missional Church is not quick.

It’s not easy. It’s not something you can do alone.
You could say the same things about freedom.
And that’s what we want churches to find: freedom in God’s mission.

“It’s a wonderful journey that helps churches discover a sense of purpose, discern the call of God, and engage in joyful, hopeful mission in their local communities.”

Rt Rev Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham

With so many churches under pressure to grow more, give more, do more – we want to help them discover:

The release that comes from truly relying on God
The liberty that comes from taking the time to listen
The confidence that comes from genuinely connecting with your community
The impact of innovating, risk-taking and not being afraid to experiment
The lightness of living out your call as a church

Partnership for Missional Church is not a course.
It’s not a programme.
It’s not prescriptive.

How does it work?

Partnership for Missional Church is a 3yr process. We told you it wasn’t quick – that’s the beauty of it. And that’s why you’ll be able to see such deep change.

The PMC journey involves clusters of 12-15 local congregations meeting together regularly.

Year 1 - is all about listening, paying attention and discovering where God is already at work. Specific spiritual practices are introduced that help point people towards being naturally missional, rather than doing mission activities.

Year 2 - focuses on experimenting. Based on what churches discover about themselves and their communities in Year 1, the next step is to take some risks and learn from both what works well and what doesn’t. This is done ‘with’ people in the local community, not ‘for’ them.

Year 3 - focuses on recognising God’s particular mission call for your church and figuring out how you are going to put it into action. The outcomes will look different for each congregation.

The journey might not be for everyone.

We won’t sugar-coat it: getting deep culture change can be tough and moving towards freedom in mission can be scary for some. People have given up. But those who have stuck with the PMC journey have seen real growth in things like worship attendance and numbers of people turning to Jesus.

We’ve also seen many who aren’t clergy become empowered for leadership and become more involved. This helps churches thrive. Together, churches have developed creative, innovative and effective ways of making God’s dreams for their communities come true.

Partnership for Missional Church in the UK

Anglicans, Baptists and Methodists have been participating in the PMC journey. Church Mission Society is sharing in the PMC journey with congregations in:

PMC - A New Year's Update

Can you remember what the letters PMC stand for? Forgotten? If so, have a guess and then check below.

2021, and our Church is closed again. Below is what is happening in our church. Our theme for Year 2 - Hospitality (with a difference) – continues to demonstrate ‘our response to relationships and individual needs’. We respond to Covid and create new ideas and transform old ideas. Hospitality, adaptive in its widest sense.

PMC = Partnership for Missional Church. Yes, I know it is a mouthful but at least it makes you think.

‘Missional’ is an attitude and an action. It means ‘looking for what God is up to in the world and then joining in’.

Listening carefully to God, scripture and of course others, is crucial in PMC. ‘Are you listening?’

PMC - An Update December 2020

During 2020, our Church has been open, closed, open again and closed again. Some might think that during the closures nothing has been happening, but this is far from the truth. Below is a summary of what has been happening inside, but more importantly, outside the building - all as a result of the hard work, commitment and energy of many. We last reported that Hospitality was a theme for Year 2 of our Project. Hospitality with a difference. The usual idea of Hospitality is to provide something for others. A ‘twist’ to the concept is ‘our response to relationships and individual needs’. Without being informed of this, All Saints’ has responded to the changing needs brought about by Covid. New ideas have been created and old ideas have been transformed. The message is clear – Hospitality, in its widest sense, exists in All Saints’.

Summary of Activities at All Saints’ during Covid Times Sept – Dec 2020

COVID ACTIVITY	PURPOSE	TIME SPAN	CONTACT
CHURCH COMMUNITY
Sunday Zoom Services / Advent Service	To continue corporate worship in Covid times	Sept to Dec…	Vicar
Children’s Puppet Service / Bedtime Service	To engage children / develop children spiritually	Oct to Dec...	Vicar
Home Group - Thursday	To develop individual spirituality / build relationships / explore the Bible	Oct to Dec…	Vicar
What’s App Group	To provide support in Covid times / share faith / build relationships	Nov to Dec…	Ordinand
Searching Issues	To build relationships / develop individual spirituality / explore Christian issues	Oct to Dec	Vicar
Prayer Group	To build relationships / develop individual spirituality / pray and listen to God together	Sept to Dec…	Vicar
Phone Calls / Shopping	To provide support in Covid times	Sept to Dec…	Pastoral Care Group

WIDER COMMUNITY
Leaflet Drop	To introduce All Saints’ to new families in parish / offer support in Covid times / raise church profile in community	Oct to Dec	Vicar
Advent Treasure Hunt	To raise church profile in community / provide a creative outlet in Covid times / draw attention of community to Advent	Nov to Dec	Vicar
Advent Calendar	To increase community involvement / raise profile of church in community	Dec	Vicar

ONGOING ACTIVITY	PURPOSE	TIME SPAN	CONTACT
Food Bank	To support needy in community	Ongoing	Community Connections
Darlington Town Mission	To help tackle loneliness / isolation / provide support for elderly	Ongoing	Community Connections
Christmas Cakes	To provide Christmas cakes	Annual	Parishioner
Christmas Hamper Raffle	To provide Christmas online activity	Annual	Social Committee
Magazine / Emails	To communicate with Parish	Ongoing	Communicators

PMC: An Update October 2020

Since our early 2020 Elm Ridge Away Day, Covid19 has been turned life upside down. However, the PMC Steering Group has been able to meet via Zoom and we have chatted with colleagues and friends in our Cluster of Durham Churches.

Our Yr2 plan was to set up an All Saints’ MIT - Missional Innovation Team - to respond to the challenges outlined above:

How do we engage with people who come through the building?
How do we actively seek out the neglected and broken hearted?

We are delighted to report that Nick Auty has agreed to set up and lead this Team. He anticipates that MIT will include members of the Community Connexions Group and other interested parties. The aim to identify and refine new, but small challenges. The ethos being to be creative, to experiment and not to be afraid of failure.

In PMC, failure is a positive thing. It infers that you are trying to do something out of your comfort zone - you are committing to the process - never giving up, creatively overcoming setbacks and obstacles, trying new strategies, experiencing success and 'failure', changing tack, starting all over again. This dynamism can lead to powerful changes in the people involved. People - on both sides of the project - can literally be transformed in the process.

The Steering Group will soon meet with the Diocese Leaders, again via Zoom. ‘Hospitality’ is the theme for Yr2, but Hospitality with a ‘twist’. Can you guess what the twist is?

More details later!